FANCY THIS?

This is one of the crown jewels at The Atlantic .... it is a crayfish, not a lobster, as it does not have claws. Caught in waters near Stanley Tasmania, King Island, I am told these giants weigh 3-4 kilograms. It says MP in the menu ie Market Price. Half of a 1.7 kg crayfish will set you back A$300 or US$315 or HK$2,460 and if you are not sure the 'poor man's version' at 1.1 kg is 'only' A$210 .... do not forget the 10% service charge on top of that. That said, it carries enormous appeal, be it in wood fire grilled mode, or poached and served on a cold platter with its crustacean cousins. An unstoppable 'head turner' they are, when paraded around the dining room. Regrettably, the closest I could get to one was helping the section head in charge of cold seafood appetizers last night, when he single-handedly prepared 30 (!!) yes 30 platters of Tassie Crayfish, Spanner Crabs, Tiger Prawns, Oysters, Clams etc etc ... when John Galbraith coined the term conscipuous consumption at Harvard I do not think he had these babies in mind, not in his wildest dreams!