Jan 6

Jan 6 The Boiling Crab - Garden Grove, CA

Although I'm a born and raised SoCal girl, it had been over 7 years since I had been "home". Don't get me wrong. I've traveled to CA, even southern California to San Diego, but nothing beats going home. Being in your old neighborhood, driving down familiar streets, seeing familiar signs. I got nostalgic over Sizzler for goodness sake! I'm sure you southern Californians think I'm crazy getting nostalgic over Sizzler of all places. But I never really thought little things like that would be "homey" until I moved away. It felt great to be home and even better to have boiled seafood from The Boiling Crab.

The Boiling Crab is small local chain that has locations throughout southern California with a few locations also in northern Cal, Nevada and, much to my surprise, Dallas, Texas. It's a seafood lovers dream, especially if you don't mind getting your hands a little dirty....OK maybe a lotta dirty. And with great company, like my forever and always will be crazy high school besties Tea & Nik, it's an even better experience! xoxo

We started with the lemon pepper fries. They were some of the yummiest lemon pepper fries I've had in a while. I judge fries not by the flavor alone. Anyone can make a fry taste good. At The Boiling Crab, in addition to the lemon pepper they added a decent seasoning of salt and that brought the flavor full circle. What really made this a stand-out fry was the crunchy texture on the outside paired with the pillowy soft potato on the inside. Just looking at it again takes me back. Ah, memories.

1/2 lb shrimp, 1 lb clams flavored with "The Whole Sha-Bang"

It wasn't just all shells; it was deliciousness in a bag!

The main event truly is ordering your very own bag of seafood that's flavored to your liking as well as spiced to your level. If you not a seafood fan, I really shouldn't have to tell you to avoid a place with the word "crab" in the title, but if you really don't like the smell of seafood (who? what?!), leave this place to the true seafood lovers.

You can get everything from traditional blue crab to harder to find specialties like crawfish. You order by the pound and are charged market price. I was eyeing the lobster for a bit until I realized I would have to eat an entire 2 pound lobster by myself. I opted instead for a 1/2 lb of shrimp and 1 lb of clams. The nice thing is you can continue to order more if you're still hungry. Tea order shrimp and Nik got shrimp and mussles.

Once you pick your "catch" you pick your flavor, which includes Rajun Cajun, Lemon Pepper and Garlic Sauce. You can also opt for "The Whole Sha-Bang!" with all three flavors. That's what I went for with no spice added. I loved every single bite! The clams were tender and easy enough to eat. The shrimp was also perfectly cooked and seasoned well. I admit I a hard time with the shrimp at first. It was head-on, peel-on, everything-still-on and that took some getting used to. Overall I'm glad Tea and Nik recommended the Boiling Crab and you should check it out. Don't worry. They provide you a bib and wet naps so you're covered, literally.

But we couldn't just end it there. No, no. Nik mentioned The Loop, a new churro place that opened up nearby. It was open late and it's churros. Once cannot say no to churros. I'm so glad we stopped by. The line was reasonable when we got there and grew to outside and almost around the building while we enjoyed our delicious treats! But with a churro like this, who can blame folks for wanting to wait. I had the seasonal red velvet churro with some hot chocolate. They make it fresh to order so it was crunchy and hot along with being perfectly sweet. Loved it and would go back again and again.

Stay tuned for more foodie adventures from my recent trip home!