The Luscious Crab - St. Paul, MN

After seeing Disney’s The Little Mermaid at the Ordway, the kiddo and I both thought it apropos to have seafood for dinner.  So wrong.  At least we didn’t get lobster or flounder?  I certainly could have gone for a platter of mermaid . . . a little “surf & turf” if you will

Anyways . . .

. . . we hit up The Luscious Crab on Uni in STP.  Six-ish on a dark rainy December Friday, we were only the second table occupied on arrival.  Leaving an hour later there were a few more tables, and a few people waiting for a to-go order

We started with orders of Hush Puppies and Gyoza, which were both ok.  Nothing special, but the kiddo dug in

For the main event, we ordered the Family Combo in the Mild House Cajun Sauce ($80 for Snow Crab (1 LB), Shrimp (1 LB), Clams (1/2 LB), Mussels (1/2 LB), Crawfish (1/2 LB), Sausage (1/2 LB), 3 Corns, 3 Potatoes, and 3 Eggs).  Hard boiled eggs were new to me in seafood boil, but they worked.  The sausage was maybe a sliced andouille hotdog?  The crawfish are a big waste of time to me for a meager amount of meat.  The sauce was fine, but I wouldn’t say luscious.  A bit oily, lacking a depth of butter and loads of garlic.  The side dish of “hot” sauce wasn’t very hot

Overall, with a last push by me at the end, the three of us powered through all but most of the sausage.  Nearly a perfect sized meal for three people

How does Luscious stack up in the proliferation of seafood boil joints that have exploded in the past handful of years?  We’ve been to Captain Crab in Brooklyn Center, Crafty Crab on Central, and King Crab down the street from Luscious on Uni.  I’d rank them in that order so far from best to not best, but Luscious was no slouch.  All fail to reach the heights of Grand Catch on Grand (R.I.P.) . . . ohh I can wax nostalgic about the shocking tonnage of thick sliced garlic, roasted to a gentle yet pungent perfume, and laying the bedrock under a spicy sauce

That said, the service was good.  The woman who took our order was a bit cold, but put on a pair of plastic gloves and showed us how to find the meat in the crawfish.  Alternately, the guy who tended to us was very friendly, and was especially cool with out kiddo.  That led to her delight with a small dessert of Mango Mochi with dollops of whipped cream on a swirl of chocolate sauce.  Nothing fancy, but she dug it

Luscious wouldn't be the first I'd go back to, especially with Ragin', Golden, and Juicy seafood boil places in the in the vicinity yet to try

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www.thelusciouscrab.com 

651-600-3374

The Luscious Crab - 501 W. University Ave, St. Paul, MN 55103