CrabShakk

So good was this restaurant that apparently you need to make a reservation 2 months ahead before getting a reservation. That however did not stop us from getting a table one fine saturday afternoon. It wasn't a planned outing at all. Somewhat impromptu when we were passing by the place and I mutter to Aa, "hey there's no one in crab shakk". "Really!" Aa.. The next thing I know he had already made a detour and was ready to park the car and called C to meet up with us.

Its almost impossible to spot this restaurant on Argyle street with its greyish dull exterior that spells more "I am a paint stall rather than HEY FRESH CRABS INSIDE COME GET ME" but trust me as you open the doors, you will be spell bounded by the clean wood and steel finishes that will instantly remind you that you are walking into an expensive restaurant.

My expectations were high and I so much wanted to try every single bit of crustacean on the menu. Unfortunately, I knew that was impossible and we opted to share a few dishes amongst the 3 of us.

We had 2 soups. The one in the foreground is the crabshakk bisque. Pretty much a crustacean bisque that was in every essence full of a smokey shellfish flavour and embedded with a handsome portion of crab meat. I found it abit too overwhelming at times and if it could be diluted down by 15%, the magic would been better. The seafood chowder on the other hand hit every single tastebud in me. Do not be fooled by the plain appearance in the picture because beneath that milky cream, you will find muscles, fish and crab meat. It was probably the best seafood chowder I have had in Glasgow.

Fried food is always nice. This dish is an example of how presentation and portioning can allow you to sell food at 10 times the price you normall pay at street hawkers. There's nothing complex about this dish. Whitebait, salted heavily and deep fried. So good and tasty you wish the portion was doubled but before you jump on to say please give me another plate, I would like to remind you that this starter cost 7 quid.. !!!!!!!! ( I can almost hear my mum screaming wah you know how many kilos of ikan kunning I can buy . hahaha)

Moving on... we have crab cakes. Yup how can you not have something crabby in crabshakk. These little patties are about an inch in diameter. I can reassure you i tasted only meat and none of that starchy stuff that you find in frozen crab cakes. These were alittle disspointing as they were over deep fried and tasted really dry.

Lastly, a plate of vongole pasta to share. Simple, clean and tasty. If only there were more clams hee ;)

Well... I can't say I will come back here anytime soon mainly because its just too expensive to do so and it dosen't feel you up. Food is good and certainly one of the best place for scottish seafood. Definately want to come back someday to try the scallops and brown crab . Going to have to save some $$ first....

CrabShakk
---------------------------
1114 Argyle Street
Finnieston
Glasgow G3 8TD
0141 334 6127