Captains Boil - Center St 13th Ave NE

[TomcoPDR]

It was packed during 7pm on Friday night... They sell warm Tsing Tao now, as they're in process of license and apparently maybe a real beer fridge. (Wasn't my order)

A little pricey, expect around $50-60 per adult

I love the sausage slices ad potatoes.

The bags were a little annoying imo, by the time everything comes out on the table, you're basically guessing what you're grabbing.




And if you're going as a group, you'd have ppl putting their garbage and empty shells back in the bag. So then mid meal, sometimes you're chancing grabbing real food, or second hand clams already sucked out.




Or I suppose you could dump the contents on the table as we've seen some tables do, I'd say would work for party of 2-3, and light ordering. But then you're not concealing or segregating multi flavours.




Even though franchise model, franchise backed. (i.e. if local owner fails, headquarter could take over or sell to next investor eager to give it a shot); I too wonder the sustainability of western Caucasian seafood in a place with AAA+ beef loving province like Alberta. It's not like a coastal city where everyone wants to visit a fish market or walk around with a bread bowl of clam chowder.

[RealJimmyJames]

Eating food out of a bag is for astronauts and soldiers. That looks awful.

[Seth1968]

^ Ya. Looks ghetto and gross.

[know1edge]

.

[max_boost]

Yea I think that's gonna be a no for me

[bleu]

Thanks for the pictures...I’m also out.

[Seth1968]

And to add insult to injury, the expected cleavage is covered up by a tacky bib

[killramos]

Is there a reason they can't serve the food on a dish?

[TomcoPDR]

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Yea I think that's gonna be a no for me

It's definitely not really good value for the money, imo. Don't even think will be good date place neither, expect fingers to get all seafood stinky. Those thin cheap plastic gloves don't work neither, those who wore gloves not only was it inconvenient and takes away the feeding pleasure, but in the end, every single glove got punctured regardless. You end up with fluid contact anyways.

[Seth1968]

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Don't even think will be good date place neither, expect fingers to get all seafood stinky.

That will end up happening with or without the seafood

[TomcoPDR]

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That will end up happening with or without the seafood

ok, maybe in some cases, better to get your fingers seafood coated first

[tirebob]

We went to a similar place in Florida called the Crab Shack and it was pretty damn Good, but it looked like they had there system down much better than the pics you showed. Rather than big old bags, the seafood was in a plastic netting tied at the top and set on a plate and you just tore into it. Also each table had a big hole in the middle with a garbage can in it so everyone just threw their shells and waste right into it so the table was never cluttered and was pretty clean.

Looking at the pics you posted is a bit of a turn off honestly... ��

[D'z Nutz]

I can't figure out if eating food from plastic bags with plastic gloves is prissy or ghetto, but it's definitely stupid.

I thought that was take-out until I read the whole post.

[taemo]

From my experience with seafood boil restaurants in the US, they have always been served in a plastic bag.
Twice I recall being served with an aluminum tray instead in hardcore crawfish restaurants.

My guess for using plastic bags is that they can put all the seasonings, garlic and seafood inside the bag and shake it so that all the flavor mixes in.
The restaurant will also provide you a bucket to dump the empty shells.

Like I said, this restaurant is new and the first in Calgary so perhaps they are still getting used (I had to ask them for slices of lemon).
Also I found it a little wasteful that they use one bag per pound, usually in the US as long as the spices and heat are the same, they will mix everything in one bag.

And yeah, we've always had bad experience with plastic gloves so we never use them. Just wash your hands afterwards.

[killramos]

Have they ever heard of a mixing bowl?

Eating out of a bag is something I expect in Thailand or something. And sure as fuck not for 60pp.

[Tik-Tok]

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We went to a similar place in Florida called the Crab Shack and it was pretty damn Good,

There's a lot of places called "crab shack" in Florida, but was it Joe's Crab Shack in Jacksonville Beach? Because that place is hands down the best one I've been to.

[raceman6135]

As a few others have posted: thanks for the pictures, and I'll take a pass.

Having had fresh-caught crab (soft shell, blue, etc.) while in Baltimore a few years ago (where they dump everything on the table, which is covered with brown craft paper), I think this place would be a disappointment.

[RX_EVOLV]

I've been looking forward to trying this place so quite disappointed to hear it's not that good. We LOVE these kind food (seafood in a bag) and we try to go to them every time we are in the States (Crab Shack, Hot & Juicy Crawfish, etc..) and had a blast every time we go. It's a must-go for us whenever we are in Vegas.

I'll probably try this place regardless but the expectation is pretty low now...

[taemo]

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I've been looking forward to trying this place so quite disappointed to hear it's not that good. We LOVE these kind food (seafood in a bag) and we try to go to them every time we are in the States (Crab Shack, Hot & Juicy Crawfish, etc..) and had a blast every time we go. It's a must-go for us whenever we are in Vegas.

I'll probably try this place regardless but the expectation is pretty low now...

it's not the best but it's the first and only type of restaurant in Calgary.
if you like this type of seafood cuisine,then give it a try and make your own judgement.

Most Beyonders that have decided to pass on it doesn't look like they have been to this type of restaurant in the states.

We'll be going again later this week so hopefully they have ironed out some of the kinks.

In terms of price, we usually spend on average about 30US$ per person in the states.

For the same amount we usually order, our bill at Captains Boil was about 27CAD$ per person.
It might get pricier once crawfish is in season.

[RX_EVOLV]

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it's not the best but it's the first and only type of restaurant in Calgary.
if you like this type of seafood cuisine,then give it a try and make your own judgement.

Most Beyonders that have decided to pass on it doesn't look like they have been to this type of restaurant in the states.

We'll be going again later this week so hopefully they have ironed out some of the kinks.

In terms of price, we usually spend on average about 30US$ per person in the states.

For the same amount we usually order, our bill at Captains Boil was about 27CAD$ per person.
It might get pricier once crawfish is in season.

The prices actually alright. We are used to paying $12-14/lb for shrimps/mussels/clams in Vegas so $16 CAD/lb seems to be pretty decent actually. I might wait a few more weeks until they have cold beer. Having a cold one w/ saucy seafood is the only way to go hah.