Calamari and Gambas at Crabby Jo's
Howth. It is a fishing area (bay area) here in Ireland that we usually go to during the summer months. To be honest, there is really nothing much to see there except if you want to buy fresh seafood from the market, have a look at the outdoor market, or dine at the reputable restaurants around the area serving fresh seafood! If you are living in the city center, you can find other restaurants serving seafood but there are not many options around. So if you are craving for some fresh crabs or lobsters, or to have a meal with the “catch of the day”, you might just get disappointed. So instead of spending the time in the city, we decided to go to Howth and head off to the place perfect for lobster: Crabby Jo’s.
Last weekend, we decided to take that 30-minute train ride to Howth and dine at Crabby Jo’s. I hurriedly rushed to finish my grocery shopping so we are there in the area just in time for lunch. Restaurants open between 12-12:30 anyway, so I thought I had a lot of time in my hands. And just as I planned, I was done with my grocery shopping at 11 PM – hah! Still have a lot of time for that train ride!
We seldom go to Howth because it is not really nice to go to the bay area during the cold winter months. And if you are in Ireland, you know that cold winter months meant strong chilly winds, too! The weekend was not too sunny but it is already mid-June and we haven’t been here yet for this year’s summer – we don’t want to miss this chance for the world!
We were lucky that Crabby Jo’s wasn’t packed with people yet when we arrived. It’s been a while since I had lobster so I thought I’d give in to my craving and order it! My husband decided to be a copy-cat and ordered lobster, too. (boo!) The staff promptly took our orders and gave us some tap water to start. She even gave some arts and crafts stuff to my son to keep him busy!
To start, we ordered some calamari and gambas. I don’t cook calamari at home (I don’t know how!) and the gambas tasted really nice. The prawns were big and fatty so the garlic-butter sauce complemented the prawns really well. The calamari was lightly battered, well-seasoned and cooked to perfection, too!
The starters were great and were a nice way to begin the meal. I was so looking forward to our mains (lobsters) that I keep on looking at the servers. Finally, our order arrived and it made my mouth drool. Too bad they don’t smash the claws and I have to do it myself. But I love the garlic butter sauce (again!).
Lobster at Crabby Jo’s
The lobster was slight, slightly overcooked so it was a little bit chewy. But the heck, it was a long time since I had one so everything was really yummy to me!
Burp!
To end our meal, I ordered some apple crumble for dessert. It was not the best I had but it was OK. A nice sweet treat to end the meal!
Apple Crumble at Crabby Jo’s
Overall, I love Crabby Jo’s and it feels nice to be back and dine there again. The staff was really accommodating and prompt to our requests! Our food tasted great (apart from the slightly overcooked lobster) so we will definitely go back again!
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@cessy08 You made my mouth water too looking at those images. Yes. I too would have preferred lobsters that were there with their claws crashed. When we cook crabs at home we do that before cooking them.
It is only of late did I come to know of the health properties of sea food.
HAHA, I know! I also start to crave again for seafood after seeing the photos! We don't regularly cook or eat it since the price is a lot more expensive compared to meat and vegetables. But it nice to have it sometimes, you know. :)
Crabby Joes is absolutely amazing, I live right on the beach so we have plenty of sea food restaurants and crabby joes is always on the top list of places I really enjoy eating at. The food is amazing and fresh and the desserts are even better. They have almost anything you could possible want to eat and the people are so friendly there its one of the best restaurants I could suggest to someone. I have to say tho I have always noticed a huge difference in the amount of food that the uk and ireland serves compares to what they serve over here in the USA especially here in the south. I am sure the food amount served here is tripled the amount they serve you over there and for the same price which is interesting.
Oh my gosh, you live right next to the beach area?! Jealous! We have to to take the 30-minute train ride to Howth just to get our hands on these amazing fresh seafood. It is not much but with a baby, sometimes it makes a difference, LOL! My husband's been to NJ (on work assignment) and he loved being there because seafood's really cheap! I think he always end up having Japanese for the fresh sashimi. That's why he craved for lobster at the time we went to Crabby Jo's cos he remembered his HUGE lobster lunch in NY!