Those of you who know me know that I love seafood. So this weekend, we ventured out to City Island, all the way up in the Bronx (so, so far away... I know, right?) I can't believe this place! It's like one of NYC's best kept secret... at least it was kept from me! haha. You get a bit of that small town feel with a bit of that lazy beach town feel, but you're minutes away from the City. I am moving to City Island... and eating crab all the time... and lobster. The
Original Crab Shanty is a dream come true. Looking for some fancy restaurant with seafood dishes you can't pronounce? You're on the wrong Island, or at least in the wrong shanty, cuz this one's chock full of crab shanty kitsch with plastic bib and all... but charming, nonetheless. The menu is ridiculously packed, I didn't even know where to start. So I just decided to stay focused on what I was there for... crab. There were snow crabs and dungeoness crab, king crab, Maryland crab, crab cakes, crab lover's dinner for two, spicy crab, hard shell, soft shell, crab and lobster combo, crab and bbq combo. For the love of crab, what's a girl to do? I settled for the snow crab and whole lobster combo, which I didn't realize included your choice of a baked potato or fries and a soup or salad. The food came out promptly, and my platter was huge! I had eaten all my soup (I can't resist a good clam chowdah) but I didn't even bother with the potato. I needed to save room for me crustaceans. I had a pretty good sized lobster; it was cut in half, stuffed and broiled and the three large snow crab halves were dusted with some type of seasoning before going under the broiler. $30 for all that food was not a bad deal. The seafood itself was delicious, fresh, and sweet. Everything was well seasoned and served with a side of butter and lemons. I'm a simple girl, and that's all I needed. Now if you don't like seafood or in the company of these other non-seafood eaters, no worries. They have something for everyone. Let them eat cake. Eat whatever you want. Just don't talk to me when I'm eating crab :)
