Restaurant Review: Under Bridge Spicy Crab

Famous to Mainlanders as a ‘must visit’ in Hong Kong for their enormous crabs covered in mountains of caramelized garlic, scallions and chili, Under Bridge Spicy Crab (Qiao Di La Xie) owners have had the business savvy idea of opening a branch in Shanghai.

As many will know from hairy crab season, the Shanghainese are a crab-loving people. Couple this with an equally fervent enthusiasm for exotic or hyped Hong Kong exports and you have something of a perfect storm.

Since its recent opening, Under Bridge is phenomenally popular, so popular even that it’s impossible to make a reservation. On our visit (at 4.30pm, no less) hordes of hungry locals were already queuing up. As manager Joe explained to us, it’s not uncommon for people to wait three hours for a table. Truly, the extent of their patience in the pursuit of crab knows no bounds.

So does Shanghai’s Under Bridge compare, or is it a pale imitation to the unique and unapologetically bold original? We’re pleased to say the crowds aren’t waiting in vain; Shanghai’s Under Bridge is just as excellent as its Hong Kong counterpart.

We’ll start off with the main event: Under Bridge ’s enormous king crabs. Hailing from Southeast Asia, the crustaceans are chopped and cleaned before being deep-fried and topped with what can only be described as a startling amount of scallions and chopped garlic, the crumbly appearance of which is not dissimilar to a mountain of golden sand. Size and spiciness can both be altered to preference; medium spicy should suit if you can handle a little là, and a small (above) or medium crab (RMB380/480) will suffice for two if you (rightly) plan on ordering supplementary dishes.

Without spoiling the surprise, Under Bridge’s most famous offering definitely lives up to expectations. Explosive and richly indulgent, perhaps it’s the inherent informality of this dish that makes it such a joy. Which leads to our next point: this shit is messy, so don’t show up in a dry clean only outfit, or with anyone you think might be prissy about getting their hands dirty. On the other hand, the “we’re all in the same boat” experience of tearing apart this carnal ocean delicacy could serve as a very effective ice-breaker. We’ll leave that as your call.

Crab alone is reason enough to come to here, but Under Bridge has more to offer than that – smaller dishes for sharing are also of excellent quality.

Deep-fried calamari (jiaoyan xianyou 椒盐鲜鱿, RMB78, above) is as crisp and delicate as can be, frail battered shells scattered with caramelized garlic. Another must-order is fried noodles with scallions and sesame (qiaodixie you yinya shaomian 桥底蟹油银牙炒面，RMB58, below), which is as robustly flavored as it is oily.

Last but not least, the most surprising element of our experience came in the form of roasted suckling pig (cuipi shao ruzhu 脆皮烧乳猪, RMB178, below), which was arguably one of the best we’ve had in Shanghai. Perfectly crisp without being too fatty, the crunchy golden skin was an apex example of this classic Cantonese dish done right. Throw your diet plan to the wind and dunk it first in hoisin sauce, finishing with a final flourish in granulated white sugar. The arch enemy of dieticians everywhere, the deliciousness of this combination is worth breaking every rule in the book.

Other than these dishes, Under Bridge is also famous for serving jumbo forearm-sized shrimp (fugui xia 富贵虾, RMB268) braised sea snails (la jiu zhu hua luo 辣酒煮花螺, RMB118) and razor clams with chili and vermicelli (suanrong fensi chengzi 蒜蓉粉丝蛏子, RMB58, below).

These are all great, but don’t let them distract you from ordering the crab. Yes, at RMB380+ it’s expensive, but trust in Under Bridge’s unique capability in cooking these bad boys and you won’t be disappointed. Note that the enormous beast in the picture is a ‘small’ crab, should you need a point of reference.

Mango and pomelo pudding (yang zhi gan lu, RMB26)

Now for the drawbacks. Menus here are exclusively in Chinese (for now), but can be deciphered with a little rudimentary knowledge coupled with a Chinese dictionary app on your phone. Aforementioned manager Joe is an English-speaking Hong Konger and happy to help/recommend, so provided he’s around you shouldn’t have too much of a problem.

The other, more serious problem is wait times. At time of writing, it’s simply not possible to make a reservation, even early or late in the evening, and due to Under Bridge’s exceptional popularity with locals, waiting can stretch into hours rather than minutes. So is it worth it? If your schedule isn’t looking busy and you’re feeling hungry, it’s hard to think of a better seafood place to spend your time and money. And on the bright side – it’s definitely quicker than a trip to the Hong Kong original.

Price: RMB200+ per person.

Who’s going: Seafood fanatics, locals, Hong Kong expats.

Good for: Casual dinner, medium-sized groups, out of town guests.

> See a listing for Under Bridge Spicy Crab.  

See more Shanghai restaurant reviews.