One of my favorite places for seafood in the Bay Area isn't right on the coast, and isn't a Mom & Pop joint...it's the Boiling Crab! Eating there is an experience--the table is covered in waxed paper, writing things in ketchup is encouraged, patrons are bedecked in bibs, and your food comes to you in a big bag of sauce. My friend Pia (we've known each other since we were 9!) took me on my maiden Boiling Crab experience last year, and it's delicious, so it's only fitting that it was the first place we went once I got to town.
Pia's classic denim and converse...
...and festive nail polish!
Another lovely thing about the Boiling Crab is that most locations are in these super-Californian giant beige mega shopping centers, which are nothing but massive retails space and parking lots. After cramped Manhattan, this sprawling commercial wasteland is most welcome.
We each got: a half pound of shrimp with a piece of corn, medium spicy, with the whole shebang (which means with all three kinds of sauce: Cajun, Lemon Pepper, and Garlic Butter), plus an order of sweet potato fries to split.
The waitstaff bring out a bucket of lime wedges which they strew on the table, as well as little cups of salt and pepper for mixing with the lime juice. An extra dipping sauce for your shellfish!
My bag of delicious shrimp!
The aftermath.
This is just a single snapshot of the ubiquitousness of Vietnamese food in my hometown area. So far I've had two or three banh mi, and that number is only going to increase.
Endless freeways! Another bit of home I missed while underground and gridlocked in the city.
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