beyond toxicity

Do you dig seafoods ?  What about Thai cuisine ?

12 December 09, Saturday –My family and I met up with our good friend, Rob at our usual meeting place of 16 years and counting, where else but Shangri la Mall.  Rob, who works as a paramedic-nurse in a rig in the middle of nowhere, comes home every 3 months for his days off.  He treated us for a lunch and to another family-kiddie fun activity which I opted to post soon.  Hours after we kill the afternoon, we had grande cups of Starbucks and a slice of cake for Gabby.  Then our friend had to leave for an errand before dusk. 

My wife, Tina and I were already eyeing a restaurant when we’re having frapuccinos.  It took me no sweat to convince her to eat dinner there so that we can just freshen up and immediately hit the sack at home (it’s also our common logical defense for being lazy to prepare dinner at home).  What I like best about my wife is her weakness when it comes to food!  It’s our kyrptonite, LOL! I know she’ll wry my neck for this but  it’s one of the reasons why I so love her, naks!   Food effortlessly binds us together! (babaw!)  

And so mutually, we decided to have our evening meals at CRUSTASIA’s THAI SHRIMP HOUSE.  

Yes! Tina, Gabby and I had pig-out again-on a dinner buffet! It’s a guilty pleasure but heck, what’s a holiday season without a feast? hehe.:D Important thing is we’ve enjoyed every moments together  bite!  

We’re honest to state that we cannot be biased with Thai cuisine, for my wife and I cannot handle too spicy foods.  We just like it mild. Never to forget that as a family, we always put Gabby’s preference to food as our priority or at least there should be something that he can munch as we enjoy our meals together; best,  Gabby still eats for FREE in most buffets including this one.   Although Thai cuisine doesn’t top our list of favorites, how can you say no to seafoods ?

Crustasia and Red Crab are known for freshest seafoods cooked into Vietnamese, Singaporean and Thai dishes .  It was our first time to try their buffet and unsurprisingly, we were delighted.

On the spread …

Starters include salad, sushi, soup, a cripy-pita-like bread, and what won my palate were those  Thai spring rolls, Spareribs, Siomai and Chicken feet.

On my plates :

Perhaps unlike you, I am not fond of Chicken feet.  The first and the last time I’ve tasted them was in NZ when my cousin’s relative drove us to her favorite Chinese resto; I ‘chicken-out’ to say no to Chicken feet! But Crustasia’s version isn’t bad! It was tasteful actually; so with the Spareribs.  They may have the smallest bite-sized Siomai in the Metro but believe me, they’re one of the most delicious!   And those Thai Spring Rolls ?  I fell in love with them, LOL.

I was thankful that there was soup on the spread; even though it wasn’t Tom Yum, it’s enough to warm our tummies.  The spread has less dishes compared to other restos and hotels but volume isn’t always essential in a buffet but tastes.  For meat lovers, one cannot resist Crustasia’s Angus Beef Shortplate – it’s so tender, flavorful you’ll be asking for more!  Look at my surf and turf plate :

There were 2 choices of rice – the common steamed and Nasi Goreng, an Indonesian-Malay-Singaporean fried rice.

Because Tina passed on the salad, she never failed to eat greens with that dish called Lohan Mixed Vegetables that she coupled with Nasi Goreng and a few slices of Angus Beef and a piece of crab.  Her comment – She should have paired the viands with steamed rice! Not because Nasi Goreng wasn’t done right but it’s almost a complete meal like paella sans ulam!

Above on the left was Tina’s Nasi Goreng + her choice of viands; on the right my second plate for the entrees :  I got few slices of White Chicken in Ginger Sauce – I like it’s tenderness and it’s less gingery which I favor;  I also tried Salt and Pepper Porkribs -which wasn’t bad either;  Nasi Goreng and can’t get enough of those Angus Beef Shortplate!

Pasta lovers won’t be disappointed in Crustasia’s Thai Shrimp House’s dine-all-you-can!  On the buffet table :

Seafood Spaghetti and Chicken Pad Thai…

Char Kway Teow and our sampler plate of those pasta.  It isn’t Crustasia’s but just me : my personal taste still partial to Chinese noodles, Italian pasta and our very own Pancit Malabon, LOL

I think the only dish on the spread that we didn’t try was Catfish in Caramel Sauce. I find the name bizaare, sorry.   The crabs were so-so; they were tiny in size -I’m not sure if it’s because of the season or was it because it’s an eat-all-you-want.  The crabs were simply cooked with sotanghon however, if diners would like to order ala carte, there are lots of choices from their menu.  On our future visit, I’ll try to sample their Crab Maritess, the one sauteed in olive oil, white wine, garlic and chili.  

To end the buffet, desserts cannot be missed!  Some tropical fruits and panna cotta in 2 colors, some fritters and tiny pudding topped with sesame seeds.

We ordered 2 refillable glasses of iced tea (at only PhP 49+ each) and paid PhP 790+ only for 2 buffet plates.  All in all we paid PhP 968.34; not bad for an eat all you want dinner   They have lunch buffets too!   

I was almost impressed with the dishes on the spread and I think it’s a steal for its price but I wonder why there were no shrimps included in the buffet.  Did they run out of shrimps last Saturday or do they have to rename their restaurant ?  Just asking!   I know we can order any shrimp dish from Crustasia’s ala carte menu but can you blame me if I thought of looking for some from the buffet spread?

For more of Crustasia’s Thai Shrimp House menu, view here .

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CRUSTASIA’s THAI SHRIMP HOUSE, The Ledge, 6th fl, Shangri La Mall, EDSA, Mandaluyong City.