Throughout my travels I have noticed crab restaurants starting to pop up. There was one that opened in Lakeland, Florida called Crafty Crab. I thought I would check them out.
As soon as I walked in, I was transported to the beach. There was fishing décor everywhere. It reminded me of the seafood restaurants I visited as a kid on vacation.
I ordered a few appetizers to try. The fried calamari were the first to come out. These were thick rings that were extremely tender. The breading was very crispy. They served a marinara sauce on the side. The sauce was slightly salty. The calamari go perfectly with this sauce. It gives the dish a savory feel.
I also tired the crab bites. These were basically mini crab cakes. The breading had a slight hint of sweetness, like a hush puppy. It came with a tarter like sauce, but I did not try it. I really was enjoying the flavor from the crab bite itself.
I saw crawfish on the menu and decided to order that for my lunch. They serve all their seafood in boil bags. So, I got this giant bag filled with crawfish, red potatoes, and corn on the cob. There is a choice of seasoning for all the seafood ordered. I got the Crafty Cajun original seasoning.
When the bag came to the table I started laughing because it was so big.
I opened it carefully and put everything onto the metal tray. Naturally I was wearing a white skirt, so I had to be very careful not to get sauce on everything.
I made sure to wear the bib and gloves. It is messy to eat crawfish. The gloves helped prevent my fingers from smelling like the sauce all day.
The crawfish were jumbo in size. They were full of meat. I really got the hang of opening them up. I just kept repeating the phrase “Pinch, Twist, Suck”. The seasoning was perfect, it had a hint of Old Bay. It is amazing how well that seasoning goes with seafood. The crawfish was tender and sweet. That was a great complement to the saltiness of the sauce.
The red potatoes were tender and sweet as well. I made sure to soak them up in the sauce as well. The corn was the last thing I ate. It had all the spices mixed in between all the kernels. By this time the sauce started to get a little spicier to me. It paired well with the sweetness of the corn.
I really enjoyed the food I tried at Crafty Crab. I am looking forward to going back and trying another one of their seafood boils.
Check out their menu at www.craftycrabrestaurant.com
Enjoy!
T
