"Crab feast" or just crab course in Vancouver?

Hello friends!

Trying to finalize our itinerary in Vancouver before/after the cruise and one of our priorities is availing of the chance to taste some fresh Alaskan King Crab!! Don't know if we should commit to a traditional "Crab Feast" as we are only a party of 4 (though we do have big appetites and wouldn't hesitate to order a 3 course meal under most circumstances). Also, one member of our party has Celiac Disease and cannot eat any gluten or experience cross-contamination, so we are really wary about doing a family meal thing with her safety in mind, especially at an Asian restaurant, unless they are expressly Celiac-friendly. We have 3 nights, 2 before the cruise and one after. We plan to do first dinner on Granville Island (thinking about either Edible Canada or the Sand Bar - could we do crab at either of these)? I was considering doing a fine dining experience one night, maybe Five Sails or Blue Ocean? Other recommendations will gladly be considered!! We are staying in downtown hotels and prefer to walk everywhere, but would be willing to take a cab for an outstanding experience.

For those who have experienced the Crab Feast, what are the best 3 places to experience this (with a gluten problem considered)? And are there other ways to experience the king crab without the feast? Where would you recommend doing so? Could we kill multiple birds with one stone, for example, order king crab at Blue Ocean or the Sand Bar?

Thank you so much in advance for clarifying my fogginess about the King Crab!

Short answer first - for AKC, it's a whole crab or no crab when you're talking about fresh, which means it's a 'feast' or nothing. There are virtually no restaurants with live crabs except asian - the only exception I know of is probably the most expensive seafood in the city, Blue Water Cafe (which I'm guessing is actually where you meant by 'Blue Ocean' as there's no local resto with that name). If you wanted a giant pile of seafood and price was no object I wouldn't hesitate to recommend their seafood towers - which is pretty much the only way you'll get them to cook up one of their Kings barring something specially-arranged, I can't ever recall seeing a la carte King Crab dishes there. That said, there are various seasonal specials so there might be some dishes they're confident they'll sell enough of on a special menu to make cooking up one or more crabs and spreading their tasty bits across multiple meals worthwhile - try contacting them with the dates you're in town to see if there's anything likely to be happening (my best guess is any AKC crab specials will be very early in cruise season, as lowest AKC price usually happens in April/May down here).

Edible Canada is a significantly better resto than Sandbar, no question about it - none of the Sequoia Group even come close to matching other restos in their price point, they depend on their rep and locations to make their money. Not that they're BAD - especially for simply prepared dishes like fish - just that the same funds would get you a much more interesting meal elsewhere.

You biggest complicating factor though is the Celiac issue. While Vancouver is trendy, and Gluten Free for folks who feel they WANT to eat that way as opposed to have a medically-diagnosed NEED to do so will find a metric buttload of restos, ones that are truly Celiac friendly and can guarantee no cross-contamination are much rarer. Rather than depend on my own memory, I'll point you right to the best horses mouth in the region - the local Celiac Society website which maintains a list of Celiac-friendly restos here. The good news is that all your mentioned spots except Five Sails are listed, but the bad is that even this list does not guarantee a cross-contamination free environment - just one where staff are aware and can potentially use different fryers/prep areas etc to minimise the risks. I don't know if there's a single guaranteed GF kitchen in the area other than some of the bakeries who specialize in all GF products.

None of the good AKC feast restos are listed - as you're already aware, Chinese cookery doesn't seem to lend itself well to a Gluten Free kitchen, so if you all want to take part in a feast you're out of luck. Maybe you can find some other folks on your roll call to join those of you not Celiac, in which case I'll personally recommend Sun Sui Wah (they invented the concept and still have a good rep) and Dynasty Seafood (the most award-winning Chinese resto in the region over the last 4 years or so, and I think they were also the first to start frying up the crab 'knuckles' as an extra way to eat AKC).

I do eat out a lot, including at many of the restos on the list, and as a diabetic I'm also used to asking detailed questions about menus and asking for alternative preparations - so if you have any further questions about specific restos on the list, fire away, I'll tell you anything extra that I can.

And if you do want Asian to skip the Boil 'n butter. Call ahead to reserve your crab. Also think about how to have it served.

https://missfoodiesgourmetadventures.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/alaskan-king-crab-dynasty-seafood-restaurant-vancouver-bc/