Maggie X.
Yelp
Probably my last review of 2016! Where has the time gone?
I'd always wanted to try live seafood, and this seemed like the perfect time to do so since fishing is a huge part of Lamma Island. After taking a ferry to the island, we walked around for a while before settling on Rainbow Seafood Restaurant. It had one of the bigger displays of seafood tanks, an extensive menu, and a cleaner atmosphere than some of the other restaurants we saw. It's located on a small island where time seems to move a little slower, but it's a nice intersection between a simpler time and modern cuisine.
The live seafood is sold by weight, and all are cooked to order. There were so many varieties that I had trouble picking! I wanted to try everything: sea snails, scallops, cuttlefish, so many types of crab, lobster, razor clams, baby clams, huge clams, mantis prawns, dancing shrimp, abalone, and more.
Sea snails in rice wine:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=B7aS03tjocD4zbw5XUTLHg&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
These were huge! I'd only had the smaller sea snails before, but these were at least the size of my palm. I wished the rice wine taste had been a little stronger because I think it complements the seafood flavor of the snail very well, but the sauce was still tasty. The spiciness was just right, and the protein was cooked well so that it wasn't rubbery. Sea snails require some work to get at (as with most seafood), and the end part mostly consists of guts so there's not much meat, so this served as a nice appetizer.
Clams in black bean sauce:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=YcT7SSYyjvZvWgI-37bu8w&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
This yielded pretty good flavor, but it's a pretty standard dish. I did think it was a tad salty, but the clams themselves were juicy and fresh.
Salt and pepper mantis prawns:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=zR9xt5Qg3zptIT4fOyW31g&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
These were great! I hadn't had mantis prawns before, but they are certainly some of my favorite proteins now. This portion served seven people with leftovers, and the chef did an amazing job frying them so that even the spiny shells were edible. The meat on the inside was juicy and semi-sweet, which I couldn't get enough of. Even having other variations on this trip, this was still the best preparation.
Stir-fried razor clams:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=W4bJr3A8CvQthKbrY_eoFQ&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
I'm not sure if it was because of the strong sauce flavor, but I couldn't really make out a distinct flavor of these razor clams. I'd had them before and remember that they were pretty fragrant, but I didn't get that this time. Perhaps they were of a different variety? I do think that an excessive amount of onions, as was the case here, overpowers any delicate seafood flavor though.
Honey pepper crab:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=hS-gx-SsB8Addjs4eNdsUA&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
With the mantis prawns taking first place as my favorite dish of the meal, this crab preparation definitely comes in second. The honey was apparent yet nicely balanced by the pepper, and the crab itself was deliciously cooked. There was also a lot of crab roe, which is arguably my favorite kind of cooked roe!
Steamed baby geoduck:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=gag8Qv2t48tfSXbAh8vP_w&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
These were milder in flavor than larger geoduck. I liked the preparation with vermicelli and black bean sauce, but I might prefer the larger variety more.
Steamed lobster with garlic:
(https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=1Vr7CwjCqlssx7vk4_2viw&userid=1ug7EtH4blOzzbqqkmkenA)
I have never seen a lobster butchered as well as this one was; there's no contention that the chef was very skilled in cutting up lobster. There was an ample amount of garlic and I had initially thought that it would mask the lobster, but it paired surprisingly well with the delicate flavors of lobster and green onion.
Service was fine, although it did take some aggressive flagging to get tea refills and extra napkins. There's a restroom close by for post-seafood handwashing, which is convenient, and the hiking path is a few minutes away.