House of Crabs and Ba Gua Live Seafood Restaurant/蟳之屋和八卦活海鮮
House of Crabs and Ba Gua Live Seafood Restaurant
◎English text by Peng Hsin-yi
◎Photos by Yang Wei-ren
Kaohsiung is also known as the "Maritime Capital" of Taiwan and offers an abundance of seafood restaurants. "House of Crab" and "Ba Gua Live Seafood" are two unique restaurants, where you can sample local delicious seafood delicacies.
※House of Crab
True to its name, the House of Crab offers a variety of crab dishes. Some of these include fried crispy crab sprinkled with a dash of salt, steamed, or porridge crab. Its delicious crab cuisine is not only popular in southern Taiwan, but visitors from Japan, U.S. and Europe ask for the restaurant by name.
Established in 1976, House of Crab was the first seafood restaurant to feature the famous cuisine of Penghu (an archipelago in the Taiwan straits) in Kaohsiung. Thirty years ago, it was rare to encounter this style of cuisine outside of Penghu, even fewer restaurants featured crab. House of Crab soon became popular.
Crab Porridge is the House of Crab's signature dish. Made with hand-picked "virgin crabs" (female crabs that have never laid eggs) sauteed with garlic and scallions and simmered in rice. The dish is cooked slowly until it reaches a soupy consistency and is transformed into golden deliciousness. Another signature dish is Golden Pumpkin Rice Noodle. The rice noodles are cooked al dente style and accentuate the sweetness of the pumpkin. Thick, rich flavorful giant dried shrimps unique to Penghu are also added. This combination of flavors will leave you wanting for more.
※Ba Gua Live Seafood Restaurant
Ba Gua Live Seafood Restaurant features a large menu. Quality, freshness and commitment to delicious food however have remained consistent.
Twenty years ago, Ms. Wu Li-huang (owner) and her husband came to Kaohsiung to pursue their dream. At first business was slow, sometimes there was a lot leftover, but they stood by their principle of freshness.
Ba Gua purchases only top quality, fresh seafood from several different locations, including Penghu, Dong Gang, and Kezailiao. The dishes are made-to-order and seafood couldn't be fresher. Ba Gua's menu features Taiwanese seafood dishes that are simple, yet flavorful. The most popular dish at Ba Gua is the Eohippus Rice Noodle Soup. The clear, broth soup is infused with deep fried eohippus fish, golden shallots and various other ingredients served over thin rice noodles that soak up its wonderful flavors. No trip to Ba Gua is complete without trying the Eohippus Rice Noodle Soup.
Restaurant Information:
House of Crab
Address: 93 Minsheng 1st Road, Sinsing District, Kaohsiung City
Business Hours: 11:00~14:00, 17:30~21:00
Ba Gua Live Seafood Restaurant
Address: 122 Boai 2nd Road, Kaohsiung City
Business Hours: 11:00~14:00, 17:00~22:00
蟳之屋和八卦活海鮮
◎文．攝影／楊為仁
海洋首都的海鮮食材豐富又新鮮，眾多海鮮餐廳中，「蟳之屋」和「八卦活海鮮」均頗富在地特色。
※蟳之屋
「蟳之屋」以螃蟹料理取勝，不論是鹽酥、清蒸或是煮粥，都將螃蟹最誘人的滋味發揮到極致，不但在南台灣享有盛名，甚至威名遠播海外，就連日本、歐美觀光客到高雄，也都指名前來嚐鮮！
創立於1976年的「蟳之屋」，算是高雄第一家澎湖海鮮餐廳，業者原本在澎湖經營海產，30多年前來到高雄開疆闢土，以澎湖海鮮料理為訴求，由於料理手法有別於一般海鮮餐廳，加上食材特殊，經由客人口耳相傳，「蟳之屋」的大名不逕而走。
到「蟳之屋」，絕不能錯過他們的螃蟹料理，就拿招牌菜「蟳粥」來說，主廚挑選蟹膏豐富的處女蟳，加入蔥、蒜爆香後，再用稀飯燉煮，蟹膏渲洩而出，將原本白皙的米粥染成金黃色，散發出香醇濃郁的味道；另有一道「金瓜米苔目」，口感超Ｑ，食材除金瓜外，還綴以澎湖特有的狗蝦，鮮美的滋味令人吮指回味。
※八卦活海鮮
經營10幾年的「八卦活海鮮」，提供多樣化的海鮮料理，除了美味料理，對品質的堅持更是好口碑的由來。
「海鮮一定要新鮮！」老闆娘吳麗凰說，20多年前和夫婿南下高雄打拼，剛開始因為生意清淡，有時進的食材，到打烊還剩一堆，但他們寧可回收，也不再拿出來賣。
「八卦活海鮮」每日從澎湖、東港、蚵仔寮等地進貨，對海鮮品質嚴格把關，現點現煮，簡單好滋味的台式海鮮，深獲在地人青睞。其中人氣料理「白鯧米粉」，用魚的鮮味和油蔥酥的香氣，配上滑潤順口的米粉，緊緊扣住饕客的胃，已成為「八卦」的鎮店之寶。
蟳之屋
地址：高雄市新興區民生一路93號
營業時間：11:00～14:00、17:30～21:00
八卦活海鮮
地址：高雄市左營區博愛二路122號
營業時間：11:00～14:00、17:00～22:00