Category: Travels

Shackin’ Up? Get Crabs. The Crab Claw – St. Michael’s, MD

Behold – the Crab Claw! An entire roll of paper towels will be absolutely necessary during your quest for sweet, sweet crab meat!

I went to the Crab Claw with my girlfriend and her family earlier this summer. My first time at a crab shack. Yes, yes – well don’t blame me – I grew up a vegetarian!

Holy smokes – a first time crab shack experience. On camera! It was one of those “Ah-ha” moments – like when I first tried Guacamole. Green and gooey – almost designed to repulse children. Then the guy made it tableside and voila – Todd was hooked.

The along came the crab. The delicious Maryland Blue Crab’s at the Crab Claw – my thought process went something like this:

“Wow – this place is a bunch of picnic tables and bars on a dock.”

“I never knew that I could love smashing my food open in a man-fest of barbarian crustacean destruction.”

“Hmm…there sure are a lot of seagulls around here. The temptation to misuse this crab mallot is growing…”

“Holy CRAB this is good! HAha – get it? ehhh….. I need another beer”

“Are you going to eat that last one? Really? Well…I’ll fight you for it. I swear to God I will fight you for that Crab, sir!”

Anger growing! Growing!! GROWING!

So half the time my girlfriend’s family is looking at me like I’m crazy.

Now that I think about it, maybe I did go a bit crazy. After all – I was covered in bits of shell, Blue crab goo (ewwww), clarified butter, and my own drool. One roll of paper towels is never enough…

Daze of crab eating glory….

The Crab Claw
304 Mill Street at Navy Point
Saint Michaels, MD 21663
410-745-2900

September 9, 2009
Tart Yogurt gone Krazy! Mr. Yogato – Washington, D.C.

The tart yogurt craze seems to be sweeping the nation. One particularly neat spot is Mr. Yogato, a novel frozen yogurt place in D.C. and Baltimore (although there may be more!). This is a pretty interesting idea – give customers a couple of different flavors of yogurt, and then bring out their inner child by giving them the option of topping it with 50 different types of candies, fruits, cereals, chocolates, or anything else your little, sugar-crazed hearts desire!

Willy Wonka has nothing on this

Some of the rules in this place can help you get nearly free FroYo, or actually add to the cost (don’t get the trivia questions wrong!). Anyone remember the Poison Cup Speech? Tried to build up confidence while waiting in line…

Gummi bears, mochi, and Mandarin orange slices on this little number. Also note the Nintendo Classic in the background. Nothin quite like eating FroYo and playing Duck Hunt. Nothing at all. Gold stars to whoever can ID games in this blurry photo.

Things can get a little weird though…

Free toppings include all manners of sprinkles and classic ice cream toppings. Notables also include bacon bits and balsamic vinegar. Yeah. Vinegar and ice cream. Different strokes, right?

Variety is the spice of life, and with this kind of yogurt, the world is your sugar-filled oyster!

Mr Yogato
1515 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
202.629.3531
http://www.mryogato.com/

August 30, 2009
Putting the ‘Phu’ in FUN!

If you don’t love Phu, then you either 1) haven’t heard of it, 2) are allergic, or 3) need to get your freakin’ priorities in order. Phu (pronounced “Fuh,” rhyming with “Uhh…this is goddamn delicious!”) is a vietnamese beef broth soup served piping hot, which contains thinly sliced meat and rice noodles. The meat selection (not necessarily always beef) usually includes your choice of brisket, flank steak, eye-round steak, and tripe, as well as knuckle, cartilage, and other interesting cow bits. The Phu in the photos here included flank steak and brisket, and came with a giant basket of fresh basil, lime, jalapeno peppers, and sprouts (the big ones you often find in pad thai). Oh yeah – and fish sauce and Sriracha – choose your destiny.

Sriracha and Jalapenos, oh my!

One note – this is the REGULAR size bowl. I miserably failed previous attempts to take out the big bowl.

Defeated. Tears for two more days.

However, in my own defense – I watched two big fat business men also fail to demolish the biggun – and they didn’t even add the heat! Made me feel better. Make sure to observe all those Jalapenos and note that I put half a bottle of sriracha. The remaining Phu was good for another tear-filled lunch and a half. Did I mention all of this was $5.50?

August 8, 2009