Shelling Out

After months of construction and a blizzard of publicity, Crustacean in Beverly Hills is open. The owners, three generations of the An family from Vietnam, who have two restaurants in San Francisco, have spent lavish amounts of money on this posh new Euro-Asian dining spot.

A huge aquarium looks out onto the corner of Bedford and Little Santa Monica. Inside, a “stream” sunk in the travertine floor and stocked with koi meanders from the front door, through the spacious bar, under the wooden footbridge and on into the two-story dining room. Stately antiques, twirling ceiling fans and a bamboo garden in the middle of the dining room do their bit to evoke the Indochina of the French Colonial era. The food is chef Helene An’s nostalgic interpretation of French-Vietnamese cuisine with some contemporary touches.

Once we’re seated on the main floor, next to two women, both attacking the whole roasted crab in front of them, we wait for menus, wait to order wine and wait even longer to get anything at all. Our waiter, when he finally arrives, is eager to make a couple of suggestions, namely two of the most expensive dishes on the menu: roasted Dungeness crab in garlic sauce and secret spices ($27.95) and butterflied prawns char-broiled with secret spices ($26.95).

The roast crab looks terrific, but is woefully overcooked and swimming in vast amounts of garlic butter. Those colossal prawns are unappetizingly greasy, too, set on a bed of wiry Chinese egg noodles inundated in garlic and oil. Hmm, and these are the real specialties from the “Secret Kitchen” part of the menu.

It was hardly a true test of the menu. Still, with a very ordinary bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, two appetizers, no dessert, our bill is $111.54, plus tip, for dinner for two, most of which we didn’t eat.

BE THERE

Crustacean, 9646 Little Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, (310) 205-8990. Open Tuesdays-Fridays for lunch, Tuesdays-Sundays for dinner. Major credit cards accepted. Valet parking. Appetizers $7-$12; entrees $13.95-$29.95.