Ninjago City (70620) - Let's All Go Crabbing

I had originally intended to talk about the second floor in a single post but there was just so much to say about the outsides of the buildings that I decided to split the posts up. We'll have a closer look at the crab house in this installment.

There is an alleyway tucked in beside the restaurant where town folk disembark from the elevator and make their way to the walkways that surround the second floor. There are viewing windows on all sides of the restaurant, allowing people to look in and tantalize themselves with the sight of roasting crabs and also allowing diners to view the hustle and bustle of shoppers around them.

There is a small placard on the side of the wall proclaiming the availability of fresh roasted crab inside. Above the sign are some air ducts - both for ventilation purposes as well as to pump the aromas outside and entice more customers to come in. :)

We also get a close-up shop of the "lava lamp pillar" as I have taken to calling it. It was made by filling the inside of a hollow transparent column with little neon orange circular tiles. It just gives the restaurant that extra something in appearance and makes it really stand out. There is no doubt that the crab house is the focal point and main attraction of this second level.

Here we take a peek inside the restaurant from the perspective of a customer coming in the front door. Even before entering, you can tell that it's an upscale place from the gold decorative sidewalk in front as well as the stolid red pillars that frame the entrance. The main draw of the interior of the restaurant is definitely the crab roaster which is prominently on display.

This would be an amazing place to eat in real life. There is a sushi bar type setup where customers sit with a direct view into the kitchen. In fact, there is no separation between the customer and the kitchen at all, which is great because I've always thought that watching your food being prepared really adds to the whole dining experience. On the left wall of the restaurant, you can see of the tools that the chef uses to open up the more difficult specimens.

The crab roaster is definitely the coolest part of the restaurant. It's a large cylindrical contraption that has a rotating platform sitting in the middle. There is a crab on each side of the platform - one that is a light beige colored (to represent a raw crab) and the other a darker golden color (to represent a cooked crab). There is a gear that comes through the wall of the restaurant leading to a knob that can be turned on the outside. This knob rotates the platform so that you can alternately display either the cooked or raw crab. This, of course, gives the illusion of putting in the raw product and then having the cooked one come out a short while later. Very very cool and very very yummy!