Crustacean

We’ve been enjoying the amazing cuisine at Crustacean for about 30 nears now. Everything has always been spectacular and cooked to perfection. Family favorites are AN’s Famous Garlic Roasted Dungeness Crab, Tiger Prawns with AN’s Famous Garlic Noodles, and Tuna Cigars. We were saddened to see the removal of the Papaya Salad from menu. The new, larger, upscale location with beautiful full bar is a huge plus. The attentive staff completes the perfection of Crustacean!

You can't go wrong at Crustacean. I call it elevated Vietnamese cuisine. It's always a hit with friendly staff, great upscale vibe, excellent chef creations beautifully presented, and bar service rivaling top bars I've seen worldwide. This spot is in demand so make your reservations in advance.

Crustacean was a place I had to check out after seeing it featured on a TV segment a few weeks back, and then hearing someone rave about it in my yoga class. Clearly this spot has a buzz around it, and walking in, you can see why. The vibe is cool, upscale yet approachable, and it feels like a quintessential San Francisco dining experience. Service was good overall, attentive and professional without feeling overbearing. The menu offers a wide variety of options, which makes it easy to find something for everyone, especially if you enjoy sharing dishes. You can tell this is a place people come to explore the menu rather than just order one entrée and call it a night. We started with the Signature Crab Puffs, which were good but not very flavorful pleasant, just not memorable. The Crispy Chicken Rolls weren’t my favorite at all, though my partner really enjoyed them, so that one may come down to personal taste. The Spicy Butter Chicken Dumplings were interesting, but for me the spice completely overpowered the dish and that’s all I could taste. The standout for me was the Tuna Cigars, hands down my favorite item of the night. They were so good and easily the most balanced and flavorful dish we had. From the secret kitchen, we also ordered AN’s Famous Garlic Roasted Dungeness Crab, which was really good and clearly one of the reasons people come here. Rich, indulgent, and well-executed. Crustacean definitely has a following and is talked about throughout the San Francisco area. That said, for the price point, there are definitely better options nearby. Still, if you want to experience the famous garlic noodles and crab, I’d recommend making a reservation and stopping in at least once to see what the hype is about.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Crustacean never disappoints. We wrapped up our evening here and it was absolutely incredible from start to finish. The Truffle Hamachi was light, buttery, and perfectly balanced with rich umami flavor — one of the best bites of the night. The famous garlic noodles were everything they’re known for: savory, silky, and addictive. The roasted crab was cooked perfectly, loaded with flavor, and worth every crack of the shell. My wife ordered the ginger sea bass, and it was tender, flaky, and infused with just the right amount of warmth and spice. Every dish came out beautifully presented and packed with flavor. On top of the food, the ambiance and service were top-tier. This is one of my favorite restaurants to visit whenever I’m in San Francisco — a must-stop every time. Food was delicious across the board. Highly recommend if you’re looking for an unforgettable dining experience. Mark McClenton

The food portions are extremely small and the prices are extremely high. Quality of food is definitely excellent however, if you’re going to pay prices at a level of a five star restaurant, then perhaps the chairs and some of the finishes have to be that too while the staff were accommodating the small portions really made it difficult to enjoy anything. We were a party of six and we spent over $900 we ordered one crab out of the shell and one cracked previously years ago had been at the sister restaurant Thane Long and I recall the portions were much bigger.