Xam-Yu Seafood Restaurant, Toronto

I made a request, well in advance, to have the restaurant bring in a giant Alaskan king crab, now in season, for the centrepiece of our meal. What a wonderful experience! The crab was perfectly cooked and prepared in 3 ways, the first, boiled to a tender doneness, the the thicker portion of the legs split and the sweetly addictive meat easily accessible and served with the crab juice and roe, all in the shell, with chopped scallions.

The second way, terminal parts of the crab legs were split so that the ever so sweet meat was easily accessible, and sauteed with scallions and ginger. Another delectable experience. Sorry, there was much more food on the plate, but the ravenous scavengers got to this dish before I could photograph.

The third way, the chunks of crab arrived buried in a "ton" of crisp, sauteed, finely chopped, slightly bitter tasting garlic, which for a garlic lover such as myself, is addictive. Even when I finished the very lightly battered, deep fried crab that went with it, I managed to eat all the remaining garlic (don't sleep with me tonight dear). 

Frankly, for those of you who are not trenchermen, the crab done 3 ways and perhaps the best veggie dish, the sauteed snow pea shoots and king mushrooms, would be the max to order as just these dishes would easily satisfy 3 people, if not 4.

Giant fresh scallops with their sweet roe sac attached, were also available, flavoured with a bit of chopped scallions and garlic. We each had one.

Our final dish was mixed seafood and sliced mango (what a great combo) in a crispy "bird's nest".