Celebrating Fat Tuesday at the Crab Shack

My wife enjoys eating food that represents the holiday. For example, we’ve eaten French food on Bastille Day and Corned Beef Hash on St. Patrick’s Day. For Fat Tuesday, we’ve eaten at the same place and decided to try something different this year. After doing a quick search, I selected Crab Shack in Gardena.

Crab Shack is located in busy Tozai Plaza in Gardena. Tozai Plaza is home to first-rate ramen, udon, Japanese fried chicken and Korean tofu. Consequently, parking is often challenging. Fortunately, we decided to dine early and parking wasn’t a problem.

I was looking forward to New Orleans Abita beer. Unfortunately, Crab Shack lacked regional beer and offered draft Sapporo and Modelo. I arrived first and ordered a pitcher of Sapporo and a half dozen oysters.

Oysters on the half shell

Draft Sapporo in a Corona pitcher

Draft Sapporo was surprisingly refreshing and tasty. It was the perfect match for the oysters. I took the extra time to peruse the menu and pick a few options. What I ordered depended on what my wife and our friend ordered.

My wife and our friend arrived and joined me. Both seemed to be happy with my beverage selection and received chilled glasses. I was happy that my Yelp check-in earned me a free order of Cajun fries. We also ordered fried oysters, Cajun fried rice, garlic bread and Dungeness crab.

Watching the others in the restaurant, I quickly noticed that the combo was the item to select. These were delivered in plastic bags filled with crawfish, shrimp, mussels, snow crab legs and corn on the cob. Everything is boiled in the bag with their Cajun seasonings. They slice the bag open at the table and diners simply pull their selections from the bag.

Fried Oysters and Cajun Fries

Cajun Fried Rice with sausage and shrimp

We were impressed at the quality and the taste of our food. The Cajun seasoning was delicious and not too spicy. My wife’s Cajun fried rice was mixed with sausage and shrimp. Garlic was the ingredient in the rice that made it extra flavorful.

Cajun spiced Dungeness crab

My Dungeness crab arrived in spectacular fashion. The legs and body of the crab were separated from the shell. They filled the shell with a delicious Cajun crab sauce and stacked the body and the legs upwards to create a visually stunning dish.

I selected medium spicy which gave it a nice amount of heat. The sauce had the perfect Cajun seasoning and I dipped the crab meat and the garlic bread in the sauce. Even after I finished the crab, I found myself using my spoon to enjoy the remaining sauce.

Glancing at the clientele that evening, I could tell it was all about the food. The restaurant was unusually quiet and that was because everyone was eating as opposed to talking. Observing this, I felt vindicated.

I’m sure I will be back before the next Fat Tuesday.

Crab Shack
15460 S Western Ave Ste 101, Gardena CA 90249. Tel: (310) 808-9908
1451 W Artesia Blvd Ste 1 Gardena, CA 90247. Tel: (424) 329-3080
552 E Carson St #101, Carson, CA 90745. Tel: (424) 337-0111
http://tcrabshack.com/