The Boiling Crab in Rowland Heights, California
I love seafood! Nothing makes a meal greater than enjoying fresh seafood cooked in various ways -- from steamed to fried, from baked to grilled whichever way you take you'll surely enjoy your seafood plate. When my cousin invited us to try the much-talked-about The Boiling Crab for lunch last week, I was very excited that I was up at 7AM eagerly waiting for our 12NN lunch date.
Thanks to our handy GPS, we got to The Boiling Crab at Rowland Heights just in time. I love the laid-back wharf-like ambiance where vandalism is allowed. Yep! You read it right, check out the walls and you'd see scribbles from customers whether it bears their names or a short message stating their presence in the restaurant.
Head to the table and you'd be led to a bear table-top with a wax paper cover. No utensils here as they mean real business about getting your hands dirty to enjoy their freshest catch. All you get is a plastic bib to shield your clothes from the possible mess that you'll be making.
To start off, we got a basket of Cajun fries ($2.99) that has a very mild hint of spiciness. I love how they can make their fries thin and crispy here. A great starter to every meal.
Then here's where things get serious. Order from their short list of seafood. Unfortunately, they were out of crabs that day so we went for a bag of two pounds worth of Shrimps ($8.99/lb). You get to choose what sauce you want to go with your seafood (Rajun-Cajun, Lemon Butter, Garlic Butter or the whole Sha-Bang) and how spicy you'd like it to be. Taking the preference of the majority, we went for the mild spicy level with the whole sha-bang sauce.
My cousin also ordered some corn and sausages to go with our shrimps. I love the meaty sausages that's also covered with The Boiling Crab's signature sauce. Despite getting a mild spicy sauce, my mouth was instantly put on fire. I have a very low tolerance for spicy food thus I was busy stuffing myself with rice to help tame the fire.
I love the plump crunchy shrimps! Here we get huge size shrimps that makes it all worth the price. Imagine, two pounds of shrimps is enough for our party for 4 and we all got a generous amount of seafood at that. The shrimps are steamed and mixed into the special sauce. After peeling the shrimps, make sure to dip it back into the bag to get the extra flavor before enjoying this alone or with a spoonful of rice.
To balance out the spicy seafood bag that we had, Ahia Jeff ordered a basket of Fried Catfish that's equally as fresh and delicious too. Be careful on your first bite as it's served straight from the deep-fryer so the inside is piping hot. It comes with garlic aoili sauce but Paul enjoyed dipping this once again into our bag of shrimps. Yes, TBC's the whole sha-bang sauce is a winner or to quote my cousin-in-law Jun, it's the BOMB!
We had a wonderful seafood feast and I can just imagine if they had crabs available, that would have really been a messy treat! It's a great concept to allow customers to use their hands and to get their seafood and meats from a huge plastic bag. No utensils, no frills. I'm not really the type who would eat with my hands but the shrimps are so good I just couldn't resist as well.
Oh my mouth waters by just recalling about our The Boiling Crab experience. This is one restaurant that I will definitely re-visit the next time I find myself in California again.
*photo credit: Paul Ang
The Boiling Crab is located at 18902 E. Gale avenue, Rowland Heights, California 91748. They also have 8 other branches in California and some in Texas.
Click here to see the map.
Thanks to our handy GPS, we got to The Boiling Crab at Rowland Heights just in time. I love the laid-back wharf-like ambiance where vandalism is allowed. Yep! You read it right, check out the walls and you'd see scribbles from customers whether it bears their names or a short message stating their presence in the restaurant.
Head to the table and you'd be led to a bear table-top with a wax paper cover. No utensils here as they mean real business about getting your hands dirty to enjoy their freshest catch. All you get is a plastic bib to shield your clothes from the possible mess that you'll be making.
To start off, we got a basket of Cajun fries ($2.99) that has a very mild hint of spiciness. I love how they can make their fries thin and crispy here. A great starter to every meal.
Then here's where things get serious. Order from their short list of seafood. Unfortunately, they were out of crabs that day so we went for a bag of two pounds worth of Shrimps ($8.99/lb). You get to choose what sauce you want to go with your seafood (Rajun-Cajun, Lemon Butter, Garlic Butter or the whole Sha-Bang) and how spicy you'd like it to be. Taking the preference of the majority, we went for the mild spicy level with the whole sha-bang sauce.
My cousin also ordered some corn and sausages to go with our shrimps. I love the meaty sausages that's also covered with The Boiling Crab's signature sauce. Despite getting a mild spicy sauce, my mouth was instantly put on fire. I have a very low tolerance for spicy food thus I was busy stuffing myself with rice to help tame the fire.
I love the plump crunchy shrimps! Here we get huge size shrimps that makes it all worth the price. Imagine, two pounds of shrimps is enough for our party for 4 and we all got a generous amount of seafood at that. The shrimps are steamed and mixed into the special sauce. After peeling the shrimps, make sure to dip it back into the bag to get the extra flavor before enjoying this alone or with a spoonful of rice.
To balance out the spicy seafood bag that we had, Ahia Jeff ordered a basket of Fried Catfish that's equally as fresh and delicious too. Be careful on your first bite as it's served straight from the deep-fryer so the inside is piping hot. It comes with garlic aoili sauce but Paul enjoyed dipping this once again into our bag of shrimps. Yes, TBC's the whole sha-bang sauce is a winner or to quote my cousin-in-law Jun, it's the BOMB!
We had a wonderful seafood feast and I can just imagine if they had crabs available, that would have really been a messy treat! It's a great concept to allow customers to use their hands and to get their seafood and meats from a huge plastic bag. No utensils, no frills. I'm not really the type who would eat with my hands but the shrimps are so good I just couldn't resist as well.
Oh my mouth waters by just recalling about our The Boiling Crab experience. This is one restaurant that I will definitely re-visit the next time I find myself in California again.
*photo credit: Paul Ang
The Boiling Crab is located at 18902 E. Gale avenue, Rowland Heights, California 91748. They also have 8 other branches in California and some in Texas.
Click here to see the map.
