June 25, 2011
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Song of the Day
Eating Around in L.A. – THE BOILING CRAB - is operated by a Vietnamese family from southeast Texas and caters to a predominantly Chinese clientele in the San Gabriel Valley. They are known for incredibly cheap Cajun seafood served in an informal atmosphere — so informal that slip-and-slide runners are rolled over the tables and the food is served almost entirely in plastic bags. Utensils? Nope, unless you ask for it. Just big plastic bags of seafood plopped down in the middle of the table, shrimp and crab and crawfish ready to be plucked from the bag and dismembered, heads smashed and sucked, meat stripped from smoking-hot shells until you reach a gross seafood orgasm.
The Gumbo – Your choice: with or without rice. We chose rice to go with it…..
You choose seafood, all sold by the pound, boiled with your choice of supersaturated garlic butter, lemon pepper or a fiery Cajunesque seasoning that will stain your fingers and seep out of your pores — or more likely what the restaurant calls the Whole Sha-Bang, a mixture of the three. (It is good to remember that what the restaurant calls spicy is extremely spicy, of an intensity that more or less blots out the flavor of the seafood. Medium-spicy will be just fine.)
The restaurant claims that all the seafood is delivered fresh daily, but crawfish is not in its peak season right now, although the plump shrimp may always be at its best. Alaskan king crab legs respond extremely well to the Boiling Point treatment. Dungeness crab may also be out of season, but the plump, sweet backfin meat hidden inside the shell is still pretty great with garlic butter…..
A wax-paper tablecloth piled high with shrimp shells and mangled crawfish bits, oozing green crab guts, shattered claws, orange bits of liver and dismembered spinnerets, and a dozen human elbows smeared with garlic, peppers…..IT IS A PRIMAL, SATISFYING FEAST AFTERALL!!!
THE BOILING CRAB | 3377 Wilshire Blvd. #115, Los Angeles, CA 90010 | (213) 389-2722 (CRAB) | www.theboilingcrab.com
Comments (22)
loved the place, hated the smell it left on my hands the next two days. hahah
@CaKaLusa - Yeah, it’s quite a foodie adventure, I suppose?
looks delicious. i can’t wait for our lab’s crab party next month!
aha……such a relaxing way to enjoy your cajun seafood festival!!!
That looks great! Recently had a seafood boil at a friend’s house and it was awesome!
yummy! I ate at the one in Westminster several times, long lines and ton of food. I love Cajun when I visit Houston and New Orleans area. Nice that u and W both enjoy good food
@kunhuo42 - Oh, I guess that means there’ll be a lot of shells to crack! *nom nom*
@agmhkg - Hot n’ spicy feast yum yum!
@yang1815 - Seafood boil! That must be a lot of seafood!
@stevew918 - Yes, we waited for almost an hour too! It was worth it!
I’ve always wanted to go there…Boiling Crab!!! That’ll be my very first stop when I visit LA…whenever that is.
@oxyGENE_08 - I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy this place, order the not too spicy option! Haha~
@CurryPuffy - It sure was! We had crab, shrimp, and clams!
I don’t know Gary, I am kind of a fussy eater and want things neat and tidy. But the food looks yummy.
@CurryPuffy - I’ll keep that in mind. I don’t really love spicy. hehe
@ZSA_MD - Yes, me too, I like to roll up my sleeves and get down and dirty once in a while!
You are a real food, eating at the most interesting places. Eating out of plastic bags…remins me of the time I went camping in Malaysia and we bought food from the hawkers and having to eat out of the plastic bags for lack of utensils.
Haha~this is like picnicking on the table, without the need to clean up the mess afterwards, kinda fun!
Wow… how did you keep your hands clean to take pictures?
@ElusiveWords - I’m right handed, so my left hand picks up the food while my other hand operates the camera….heehee
oh no, i want crabssssssssssssssssssssssss :p
Delicious! *nom nom*