2.17 Cracked Crab
Posted on May 14, 2008
Filed Under American, Best of the Best, Extra Hard Core, Seafood |
Cracked Crab is my seafood fantasy come true.
Many years ago my dad knew the owner of one of those really ghetto seafood places on the Redondo Pier. I’m talking newspaper-spread-out-over-the-wooden-table, sit-at-the-bench-with-a-bib and eat-while-fighting-off-the-seagulls kind of ghetto. And since dad knew the owner, the seafood came like a tsunami and I was spoiled beyond belief. Unfortunately that place closed down years ago and I’ve been at a loss for a hard core, bang-on-the-crab-with-a-mallet restaurant.
But all it took is a road trip out to Morro Bay to solve my problem! Cracked crab is right off the 101 in the sunny and relaxed town of Pismo Beach, CA. About 180 miles north of Los Angeles. Walking in, the place is so clean it made me wonder if it really was a hard core seafood place, the place is bright, and since it wasn’t even noon on a monday, the place was deserted.
So, the Cracked Crab is supposedly a lot like seafood places on the East coast. You pick three seafood items, and they cook it in a pot with corn, sausages and potatoes, and dumped onto the clean butcher paper on your table. Their speciality is the $68 Big Bucket for Two. You choose three kinds of crab / seafood from the list, and certain upgrades are available, i.e. it’s $3 extra for Alaskan Bairdi, $10 to go to a WHOLE Dungeness Crab. The Bairdi is definitely worth it, I also went with the whole dungeness crab and the local rock crab.
At the recommendation of our waitress, we ordered the crab bisque. It was excellent. Smooth, rich and aromatic but not heavy, it’s got little chunks of crabs in it and the it ends with a little spicy kick that just lures me back for more. Excellent, excellent bisque.
In preparation for the battle to come, you’re given tools. From left to right, shell cutter, mallet, chopsticks, cracker, shrimp fork, and for cleanup afterwards, wet-naps. I’ve found that the shell cracker to be especially useful. Chopstick good at pushing little bits of meat out of the little nooks and crannies, while the mallet is the nuclear option and should only be used with something to cover the crab to prevent flying debris.
After that, I suited up for battle a bib that says “crab” on it. Here I am, fully dressed for battle with crabs. Note the popeye-like-game face.
A real nice touch is the little cup of drawn butter that’s kept warm by a flame at your table. Two sauces are also available. I like my crab fresh and meaty and sauce-free, but the butter makes it taste so good!
Soon our awesome waitress Courtney came by with our bucket and dumped it all on our table. It was just glorious.
Up front is the local rock crab, below is the big fat legs of the Alaskan Bairdi, in the background is our whole dungeness.
Close-up of the corn, sausage and potatoes. That’s the dungeness crab on top.
The alaskan Bairdi is fantastic, with a rich buttery flavor and huge chunks coming out of the shell like the Alaskan King. I busted one out whole and it’s such a joy to behold.
The local rock crab is extremely fresh, the meat is full and flavorful. There’s no way you can screw up with local seafood.
We went one by one through the crabs and as we finished the Bairdi and the rock crab, we needed a couple minutes to catch our breath. I posed our dungeness with the mallet for fun. Seconds later, we tore this guy apart. It was delicious.
The restaurant is filled with nice little touches, the chairs even had crab cutouts on the back. It’s such a nice place that you wouldn’t expect to see mallets swinging and shells flying.
The menu changes and is printed daily depending on what’s fresh. The quality is top notch and the service is wonderful. Mike the owner likes to come out and chat and I had the pleasure of speaking with him for a little bit. The meal is exhausting, it took us an hour and a half to eat the three kinds of crab. It takes concentration, creative problem solving skills, manual dexterity and a good amount of determination to pick through the massive amount of crabs. But hey, if you’ve made it this far out of town, you might as well go for the whole nine yards. This place is quite a find for me and I can’t wait to come back.
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