Manila's Signature Dishes 2010: Red Crab Alimango House

My bestfriend and I are trying out Manila’s Signature Dishes 2010, prepared by Unilever Food Solutions. The first restaurant we went to was Red Crab Alimango House which is located at the 2nd floor of Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center in Makati. Apparently, it is also one of the sister comapanies of the Fish Out of Water, Crustasia, and part of the Red Crab Group of restaurants.


At first you might notice that the ambiance in the restaurant is a bit gloomy, but wait until you try out their food selection from the newly revamped menu. The distinct characteristic of Red Crab Alimango House, compared to the other Red Crab Group of restaurants, is that it sticks more to the original Pinoy or Filipino taste, according to Sheila Pingul, the restaurant manager. Red Crab Alimango House offers buffet meals for lunch (11am-2pm) and dinner (6pm-9pm).

Originally, we were to try out the King Seafood Platter Set by Chef Arman Alvarez, but since Red Tide broke in Bataan, they didn’t have supply of fresh shellfish (claims, mussels, etc) that time, Miss Sheila decided to do away with the King Seafood Platter, and replaced it with the Typhoon Shelter Crab instead, one of the bestsellers in the restaurant, and one of the dishes the Red Crab Group is famous for.

The set includes an order of the Crab Relleno Salad, the Typhoon Shelter Crab, which weighed more than a kilo, Grandma’s Chocolate Cake and a glass of Red Iced Tea, with a complimentary refill.


The Crab Relleno Salad is made up of lettuce, tamiaw leaves, 2 pieces of crab cakes or patties which made the dish alive and tasty, topped off with a sweet tamarind based dessing. The crab cakes/patties held the whole dish together. The greens were fresh and the overall taste is more than good.


The star of the night was the Typhoon Sheltered Crab, which is made of deep fried king crab in olive oil on a bed of efu egg noodles, topped with lots of garlic, tausi and chili. Although we preferred the way of cooking of the Thang Nang Crab, which is only available at Fish Out of Water, the Typhoon Shelter Crab is equally fresh, humongous and appetizing.

If you ask my family, they would say that I do not know how to eat a crab, because I only eat the pincers. But that day was different; I felt that I already needed to learn how to eat a crab properly. I used my hands in trying to get the crabmeat out. Luckily, we were successful in finishing the whole king crab.


To cap off the meal, they served us the Grandma’s Chocolate Cake for dessert. It’s made of layers of chocolate which adds to the really rich and delicious texture of the cake. One problem though, it’s just too sweet for my taste. Personally, the presentation was simple yet it worked.

One thing is for sure, you can never go wrong with Red Crab Alimango House when you are craving for different styles of cooking of crabs. I would definitely go back maybe to try out their Crabs Martiess. Yummy!



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Unilever Foodsolutions (UFS), being the preferred foodservice business partners among restaurateurs, felt the need to acknowledge notable restaurants who are developing Manila as a culinary city. They have partnerered with select restaurants within the metropolis in coming up with signature dishes. UFS has synergized with these restaurants, both through dish development and promotion campaign for these signature dishes, in achieving one common goal: coming up with a different culinary experiences that provide value for money and culinary memories for diners.

If you're a restaurateur (or an aspiring one) and in need of help in coming with your signature dish, call (632) 588-8855 or email at foodsolutions.philippines@unilever.com.