Crawfish Boil: A Report
On Saturday, Jessica, Elizabeth and I headed down to Victory Park for the 2nd annual Crawfish Boil. The weather was perfect for being outside and JJ in particular was excited to eat some crawfish. The party was kind of a bust. For some reason people didn’t come out for it (was it the $10 cover since it was free last year?), and we waited about 45 minutes for our crawfish, which were dumped into a canoe and then scooped out by waiting customers like us (Which was the reason it was all running out so quickly–people were taking two and three styrofoam containers overflowing with the things. Really people!). When we finally got them (see picture), the afternoon got much better. We sat in the shade, drank beers, and got our fingers dirty. This got us talking about where else we can go to do this same thing next weekend? Dodie’s? Aw Shucks? Advice please.
8 Comments to “Crawfish Boil: A Report”
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it might be a little bit of a hike north, but I think Nate’s in addison usually has the best crawfish in town. they have some outdoor seating too, but it’s not the greatest patio/people watching. ive always enjoyed aw shucks on greenville too. stay away from pappadeaux. i had horrible crawfish there early in the season.
I’m not from N’awlins, but my wife is. One thing I’ve learned from going on 13 years of being a sorta-cajun is what distinguishes good boiled crawfish from not.
Good boiled crawfish require a well-seasoned boil, thus flavoring the crawfish meat properly. Dodie’s is about the only place I’ve found around here that does it right. Nate’s and Aw Shucks both take the loser way out and dump a bunch of hot spice on the outside of the bugs after they remove then from the boil, which results in a less-flavorful mudbug but, conversely, scorching-hot lips, gums, tongue, etc.
My advice is to go to Dodie’s for the best boiled crawfish in Dallas. And don’t forget to suck the heads.
Also, if you save the shells and then boil them for about an hour on a low simmer, you can make a great stock. After it cools, I bag it 2 cups per baggie and freeze. It’s about 2000% better than chicken stock (or, heaven forbid, water) in gumbo or jambalaya.
i make the best mudbugs, ever! and rb is right about pappadeaux. i have a friend who has crawfish farms and they were his cliet @ one time. no longer, they are buying(****) from china
i make the best mudbugs, ever! and rb is right about pappadeaux. i have a friend who has crawfish farms and they were his cliet @ one time. no longer, they are buying(doodoo) from china
Al’s Hideaway, $3.99lb last weekend, big and tasty.
The 2nd best place for crawfish, and quite possibly the best place to go for a great environment is Nate’s Seafood in Addison!
if you want to stay a little south, Shuck N Jive, Aw Shucks, and Hurricane Grill all have crawfish
The Grapevine Bar is having free crawfish & $1 drinks (ANY drink) from 1pm to 2am on Sunday, the 27th. $20 cover but none for “VIP regulars,” whatever that is.