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| - Angry Crab Shack is Arizona's version of Boiling Crab/Hot 'N Juicy, and this version is not bad. It sucks that it's located all the way in Mesa, which means that I have to drive 40 minutes to eat here, but that's still better than having to drive 400 miles to LA or 280 miles to Vegas to eat at the aforementioned Cajun seafood spots. So, can't really complain. Would I come here again? Maybe - onto the food:
There were four of us, so we ordered a lot The first thing we requested was the crawfish, but were told that they were out of it that day. Bummer. We then ordered 4 pounds of shrimp (with a few potatoes/corn/sausage mixed in), a pound of clams, the biggest Dungeness crab available, and a pound of mussels - all medium/trifecta. We started with a dozen oysters, got a couple orders of Cajun fries, and ordered a few IPA's.
The food looks and somewhat tastes like the offerings at Boiling Crab - plastic bags, oil & juices spilling everywhere, etc. To start off, the oysters were great - fresh, meaty, and bright. The shrimp were decent, but the seasonings/spices didn't penetrate the meat enough, and I pretty much mopped up all of the sauce/poured on hot sauce to help give it more flavor. Likewise with the clams and mussels, with about a 1/4 of the mussels still closed and the clams being the most flavorless.
I liked the crab the best out of all of the dishes - for 3 pounds (at $12 per, it's a little pricey considering how much meat you actually extract from the animal), there was barely enough meat for each of us to get a decent taste, but it was delicious nonetheless. I ordered a side of rice to mix in with the best part of the crab, the innards and soup that is exposed when the carapace is ripped off. Two bucks well spent! The fries were good, and the chicken tender baskets we ordered for the kiddos were good too, although they took way too long to come out (with impatient kids, that is no small issue).
I don't know, it wasn't a bad experience at all - it's definitely a fun place to eat, as all eat-with-your-hands establishments should be. I just wish all of the seafood was seasoned better. In the meantime, I guess this place'll satisfy my Boiling Crab craving whenever that craving hits.
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