Hai Cang

Almost any place with tables blanketed in a thick layer of plastic tablecloths secured by a giant lazy susan means business. Hai Cang Harbor Seafood Restaurant, a Vietnamese-Chinese seafood restaurant in Chinatown, is one of those places. Expect massive platters of crab, lobster, and noodles perfect for a big group dinner, or anyone who can put away seafood by the truckload. 

Hai Cang has an absolutely massive neon sign hanging outside, mostly because it’s set far back from the road in a Bellaire strip center. But also because there seems to be a restaurant-wide preference for all things gigantic, especially the plates of food. There are platters piled high with wok-fried lobster tails thickly coated in savory dry spices and garlic. Mounds of fried rice get crowned with  entire fire-red Dungeness crab carcasses speckled with glistening roe. Within minutes of ordering, heaving plates are plonked into the center of the table so you can dig in medieval feast-style as servers flit around swapping plates and scraping away piles of cracked crustacean shells.

Roll as deep as possible to Hai Cang. The restaurant is built for groups, celebrations, and anyone hosting their own informal seafood eating contest. Make sure to pick a giant crab out of the live seafood tank—one, because Hai Cang will cook it up in sticky sweet tamarind sauce, and two, because the resulting photo will be a great relic for your ancestors. And always ask for more napkins.

photo credit: Richard Casteel

photo credit: Richard Casteel

photo credit: Richard Casteel

Food Rundown

photo credit: Richard Casteel

Snow Pea Leaves And Garlic

The sautéed snow pea leaf tendrils get tossed in a savory garlic sauce, retaining a sweet, vegetal quality.They’re great at revitalizing your taste buds between mouthfuls of seafood.

photo credit: Richard Casteel

Spicy Lobster Hong Kong Style

The only question you should ask yourself before you order this dish is: “Why settle for a boring lobster in a butter sauce when you can get it seasoned, stir-fried, and, well, probably also topped with a little butter?” And then order at least three pounds.

photo credit: Richard Casteel

Tamarind Dungeness Crab

With this dish, Hai Cang really said, “Oh, so you think you like crab now? Just wait until you try this.” And wow, does this giant mound of savory-sweet-chili-tamarind drenched crab absolutely delivers. You will make a fool of yourself attempting to crack open the slick shell, but so will everyone else, so just have it.

photo credit: Richard Casteel

Shrimp And Scrambled Eggs

The velvet-like texture of the soft scrambled eggs is deceptively simple, but impressively executed. It’s great over white rice.

photo credit: Richard Casteel

Stir Fry Singapore Rice Vermicelli

In stark contrast to most of the other dishes at Hai Cang, the stir fry vermicelli noodles have an intense perfume and flavor of toasted curry spice. You will find yourself sparring over the last fleck of noodle with the person beside you.