I had crabs in Hokkaido, July 2016

Yes. You heard it here first. I had crabs in Hokkaido. Not just any crab. If Budweiser is the king of beers, then the King crab is the king of crabs. I highly recommend you to get crabs. You don't get this sort of advice over at Dim Sum Diaries. 

Destroyed

Otaru is a pleasant port city somewhere in Hokkaido with a bit of a crappy canal. At the time I felt a bit like Woy - I don't know what I'm doing here.  But I didn't go there for the canal. The seafood market is tucked away somewhere near the train station so all you gout sufferers can limp your way onto the train back home. Japanese seafood markets have to be the cleanest affairs since the immaculate conception. There were no signs of broken barriers or spillages anywhere. Even the toilet was remarkably clean for a market. So clean that I would even drop my pants for it. 

Ghastly

The name of the restaurant is on yellow sign (extra crab legs if you can read it). To add extra character, the lady boss is a bit of a double hard Japanese version of M. 

The best part of having crabs is choosing the chosen one. Getting crabs is often a lottery but here you get to pluck the lucky winner from the jaws of captivity. Pontificating over which crustacean critter to get, I felt like Williams in Enter The Dragon except that I'm not a premium sort of guy and could not afford most of them. With the crab chosen we retired to our table and waited in anticipation. Our boiled crustacean meal arrived about ten minutes later as red as a Brit returning from a summer holiday, and thankfully didn't look like such a ghastly bed bug. Some prawn sandwich lovers like their crabs already dressed but I don't buy my sandwiches at Waitrose. I'm a hunter so I seek and destroy like John Rambo. Legs off, twist, pull, cut then suck. It was dribbling out all over the shop. Love it. The meat was chewy but not too chewy - a perfect chewy with a sweet tang. Certainly not like the crab sticks you get next to the prawn sandwiches. Don't lose the l'eau de mer that spills from the shell either. It is the perfect natural condiment. I'm not usually a leg man but I enjoyed these legs very much. Not so much of a crab paste man though especially in its boiled virgin form but I'm sure it tastes like Ishikari Bay on a nappy. The financial damage was well worth it. So much so that we came back for more. Of course, double hard Japanese M welcomed us with a smiling open cash register too. 

The Ho Down says: Get crabs. It is good.