Eating King Crab in Ushuaia, Argentina: Beware of the Chinese restaurant Bamboo ⚠️⚠️
1️⃣ Day 1: Trying out Bamboo with curiosity
On our first night in Ushuaia, we decided to try a King Crab. We found a highly rated Chinese restaurant online called Bamboo, which had mixed reviews, but the rating was decent, so we thought we’d give it a try.
We asked the owner for the largest King Crab, extra big size, and she picked a live crab from the tank. Seeing a live King Crab was quite exciting, and it looked pretty big, so we didn’t think much and ordered it.
However, when it was served, although the size looked okay, the overall weight and meat quality were just average, not very impressive.
This was our first impression of Bamboo: decent, but did not meet expectations.
2️⃣ Day 2: Tia Elvira outperforms Bamboo
We originally planned to go to “The Old Captain Restaurant,” but found out it was closed on Sundays. While looking for a restaurant, we passed by many places and noticed that the King Crabs in their tanks were generally larger than those at Bamboo. I was a bit unhappy about this, as I wanted a large King Crab, and the crabs at other restaurants seemed bigger than those at Bamboo.
Finally, we went to Tia Elvira and ordered their largest King Crab, also extra big size. When the waiter brought it out, we were shocked! Tia’s King Crab was at least twice the size of Bamboo’s, with full, sweet, and fresh meat. The steaming method really brought out the freshness of the crab. What surprised me even more was that such a large King Crab cost the same as at Bamboo!
(Around two hundred dollars) In comparison, the value for money at Bamboo was really poor.
3️⃣ Day 3: Christmas Eve at Bamboo, the all-you-can-eat King Crab was disappointing
On Christmas Eve, most restaurants were closed, including Tia, and we missed the chance to eat at The Old Captain Restaurant. We initially didn’t plan to return to Bamboo, but the options of pizza shops and cafes were too ordinary, so we thought we could order à la carte at Bamboo and went back.
When we got there, a Chinese person (not sure if it was the owner or an employee) said, “Today, there is no à la carte, only buffet.” They told us to check the dishes, saying the buffet was more abundant today. I saw that there were indeed a few more dishes than the first day, but not significantly more.
The most outrageous thing was the price – it went up from 38,000 to 99,000 pesos (about 100 dollars).
Although it included King Crab, but!!! The King Crab in the buffet was frozen! The meat was mushy like mud, with a fishy taste, completely like a dead crab, with no sweetness at all, and definitely not worth the price.
It was cut into pieces and placed with other foods (you had to get it yourself), one leg cut into six pieces, which seemed convenient for diners, but the quality and texture of the crab meat were terrible, far inferior to fresh King Crab.
