Su Xiao Cai Crab Maw Noodles Wulin Night Market 蘇小蟹·蟹黃麵 武林夜市店 (Hangzhou, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Right around the time when I was about to depart from Xiaohe Zhijie (小河直街), I got a ping from one of my colleagues asking if I wanted to join them for a hairy crab feast. I have to admit, I’ve never been a fan of hairy crab but leaving Hangzhou without trying any would have been a huge disappointment. So, without a second thought, I said yes!

Apparently, my colleagues had already arrived at Wulin Night Market (武林夜市) and picked out a place called Su Xiao Cai Crab Maw Noodles (蘇小蟹·蟹黃麵).

Jiangnan crab roe noodle (江南蟹黃麵) (¥98) — According to social media, this is Su Xiao Cai’s bestseller. One of the most eye-catching features of the dish was the “tic-tac-toe board” (九宮格), with separate little "compartments" for crab meat, crab roe, and seasonal accompaniments such as cherry tomato, peach, peanuts, wood ear mushrooms, and pickled cucumber.

The key, of course, was to add the crab meat and roe while the slightly sticky noodles were still warm, then mix everything together. It was pretty tasty and, to me, well worth the price of a signature dish. That said, there are plenty of crab roe noodle restaurants across China—including some close to home in Shenzhen—so why make a point of trying them in Hangzhou?

The key, of course, was to add the crab meat and roe while the slightly sticky noodles were still warm, then mix everything well together. This was pretty tasty and, to me, well worth the price of a signature dish. That said, there are plenty of crab roe noodle restaurants across China including some close to home in Shenzhen — so why make a point of trying them in Hangzhou?

Steamed hairy Crab (大閘蟹) (¥45) — For me, this was the main event. I arrived late so didn't really bother to ask whether it's male or female crab, before digging in. Even as someone who isn’t usually a fan, I thought the roe was pretty good. At that price, it was hard not to appreciate the value.

Xiao long bao (手工蟹黃小籠包) (¥29) — These took the full 15 minutes listed on the menu to arrive. Unfortunately, despite having a relatively thick wrapper, they broke easily, sending the delicious broth spilling everywhere. To make matters worse, the meat had far too many tendons, and that's never good.

It was nice to finally cross hairy crab off my to-do list. By then, it was almost 10pm. Perhaps I should skip my FaceTime call with little nugget and go straight to bed.

Food Rating: 5.3/10

Price: ¥¥¥

Address: 2/F, No. 167 Wulin Road, Wulin Subdistrict, Gongshu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China 

浙江省杭州市拱墅區武林街道武林路167號二樓

Tel: +86 17328870336

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 12:00am daily

Map: https://j.map.baidu.com/c8/H-NM