Kepiting hitam manis means: fried Dungeness crab served with the house special black pepper sauce. We had chosen it on our first visit, as we saw it handwritten on the special board. We ordered plenty other things: how many pieces of crab could there be for $7.50? Well, one. One whole crab, a whole big Dungeness crab first fried, then sautéed in a thick and lightly sweet dark pepper sauce.

When it was brought to us, we were shocked. And we don’t use the word shock to make our prose more lively or anything: we just were. Doubt crept in: did we misread the board, was it $17.50, or maybe $7.50 per pound? It would be worth every penny nonetheless: the frying batter was thinner than, say, the famous salt-and-pepper crab at R&G Lounge, and the sauce never got cloying, and just enhanced the perfect meat.