Is $280 King Crab Worth It?

A Vegas food account posted his favourite king crab in town this week: Joe’s at Caesars Palace, chilled, cracked at the table, “around $280 for 1.5 pounds.”

He’s right about the price. Joe’s Las Vegas menu lists Alaskan red king crab at US$189.95 for a pound, or US$279.95 for a pound and a half, shelled tableside and served chilled with drawn butter.

This isn’t a review of Joe’s. It’s a look at the number.

A pile of cooked king crab legs — King crab legs. Photo: missbossy / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

What $280 buys

That works out to about US$187 a pound. For the whole plate, that’s roughly HK$2,200 or MOP2,260. (I used 7.85 HKD and 8.08 MOP to the US dollar.)

And that’s the crab only. Sides and drinks are extra, and it’s America, so tax and tip go on top.

What the same crab costs elsewhere

Hong Kong, retail. city’super sells frozen, cooked king crab legs from Tsukiji Kanisho at HK$658 for 800 g. That’s about HK$373 (US$48) a pound. Joe’s charges roughly four times that.
Hong Kong, buffet. Hotel Alexandra’s King Crab x Abalone dinner buffet lists Alaskan king crab legs among its highlights. Adults pay HK$698 plus 10% (about US$98), or HK$558.40 (about US$71) through its eShop, with beer and house wine included.
Macau. Hotel Cantonese rooms like Jade Dragon and Lai Heen list Alaskan king crab at market price. There’s no number on the menu, so ask before you order.

Retail isn’t a restaurant, and that’s fair to say. At Joe’s someone shells it for you at the table, in a Strip casino, with real service. You’re paying for that. Still, four times is four times.

An opened king crab leg on a plate — Opened up, this is what you're paying for. Photo: JIP / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

My honest take

Is it worth it? Sometimes.

Worth it if it’s the one big dinner of the trip, you’re sharing it, and the tableside shelling is part of the fun. Joe’s started out serving stone crab in Miami Beach in the 1920s. They know shellfish.

Not worth it if you just want a lot of crab. A Hong Kong buffet costs a third of the price or less. Or buy the cooked legs, warm them up and do it yourself.

I’ve done this maths before. In Macau I once wrote that a seafood spread was the freshest I’d had in town, but that without a discount it might not be worth MOP988 a head. Same logic here. Good and fresh isn’t really the question. The question is whether the price matches the night.

King crab has never been cheap, either. Years ago I posted a huge Hokkaido taraba crab (taraba is the Japanese name for red king crab) sitting next to a HK$1,088 tag.

Live seafood tanks outside a restaurant in Sai Kung, Hong Kong — Seafood tanks in Sai Kung. Photo: Jpatokal / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The short version

$280 for a pound and a half is a celebration price, not a crab price. Order it when the night is the point.

If you want a no-fuss shellfish night instead, I’d still take a pile of oysters and a couple of apps.