*** Crawdaddy's has closed, and is now a Karaoke/Shoju joint.
It's kinda amazing how the mind works…….most days, I can't remember where I park my car…but at any given moment, I'll remember all kinds of stuff…like opportunity cost. Where the heck did that come from? Sheesh…opportunity cost is one of the 2 things I still remember from Econ class(the other being Elasticity…like you really wanted to know). Opportunity cost often hits home when trying out restaurants……every decision has a cost. In order to try 'A', you give up a chance at lunch at 'B'. When it comes down to it, this can be a pretty depressing way of looking at things….
On a Sunday a few weeks past "Mr S" called and asked if I'd like to check out CrawDaddy's the new Asian Owned Crab/Crawfish boil restaurant that recently opened in the spot formerly occupied by Jamillah Garden.
Mr S and I arrived at about noon, and found the restaurant to be empty.
The interior of CrawDaddy's is neat and clean, and in an interesting touch, the butcher paper covering the tables seem almost discreet.
The place has a sports bar kind of feel. Brown woods, high ceiling, but really cold A/C.
Mr S is a fairly big eater, and started ordering right away. Starting with a pound of Crawfish(market price – on this visit $8.99/lb) with Spicy Cajun seasoning:
Based on my previous experience with Crab Hut, I almost freaked when Mr S ordered this seasoned "spicy". When the bag of "bugs" arrived I was ready to have my lips burned off….but this was mild, very mild……that is not to say there was not flavor, we both thought the flavoring pretty good…. But Mr S ended up dumping half a bottle of Hot sauce on this. The Crawfish were not the best….the meat was watery and mushy. I asked if these were live or frozen, and was told these were "fresh"(not live or frozen, but "fresh"). I know that Crawfish aren't very big this time of the year, so I can understand that these were on the skimpy side…but it didn't seem to be cooked correctly.
Large Shrimp(1lb – $10.99/lb) seasoned with Garlic Butter:
Again ordered "spicy" these were also really mild. Not enough garlic flavor, and too much butter. The quality of the shrimp was good, and these were cooked to perfection; plump and juicy.
When Mr S ordered the Jambalaya($10.95), I had my doubts:
When the plate arrived, I perked up. This "red"(uses tomato) Jambalaya looked promising! This was a mixed bag…the seafood; shrimp, crawfish, et al, were tasty and cooked to perfection. I could actually make out the slightly smokey flavor of the sausage. On the down side…this was much too dry, there was not enough spice, and other than the seafood and sausage this was fairly bland. I expected the zip of some cayenne, the hint of some oregano and thyme, and some smokiness beyond the sausage.
The Seasoned Fries($3.50):
These fries were on the dry side, and also confirmed that the Cajun Spice used was much too mild. I did enjoy the Cajun Aioli.
Of course I had to have the Fried Okra($5.95):
Nice creamy okra in a crunchy cornmeal batter. This was by far my favorite of the day. My only complaint was that the okra were haphazardly battered, and some pieces had a huge coating of batter, while some pieces had barely any at all.
At the end of the meal, Mr S shook his head, and said, "maybe we should have gone to the other place." Yes, opportunity cost…. Still, I held on to this post for a while…because, well, the young men working here were very nice, and I really wanted to like the food. So I decided to give it another go. This time solo.
I ordered the Fried Catfish($7.95):
This was quite a generous portion of food, five large catfish fillets, crusted with a thick ground cornmeal batter, making for some major crunch. Again my major problem was with the execution, three of the fillets were decent, flaky, yet moist…two of the fillets tasted a bit off, slightly sour, and very muddy. Well….it was a bit too much food for me anyway…
This time the fries were seasoned a bit better, and were crisp on the outside, and moist on the inside:
In the end, I enjoyed the very laid back atmosphere at CrawDaddy's. The Guys working there do a good job. Perhaps the laid back attitude also reflects the inconsistencies I perceived with regards to the food. The portions are generous, and the prices very reasonable.
CrawDaddy's
4681 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Oh yes…opportunity cost:
I’ve been meaning to try this place for some time now. My friend helped the owners launch this restaurant and designed their crawdaddys logo.
I hope the food won’t be mushy for me!
I also have to factor in babysitting fees $10 an hour when calculating opporunity cost of eating out!
opportunity cost! this is why i don’t try as many new places. ‘why try x if i know y is so good?’. i also admire the fact that you give places a second chance. i would never do that. that’s why i love your blog!
Luckily for us, you’ve done the legwork to help us calculate the opportunity cost. This place looks promising, but I think I might try Crab Hut first.
Seems like a decent shop. The fried catfish looks good.
RIP Jamillah Garden. It was always good when we went there.
Thanks for linking my blog, Kirk!
I have never tried deep fried okra, since I don’t think anywhere in Hawaii serves this (I could be wrong) will have to try making this!
hahah LMAO!
first of all i LOVE this post- not only because i recently had some seafood/cajun plates but because i’m taking Econ too right now and the same type of thinking has been running through my mind lately. For some reason, Econ just doesn’t run smoothly in my head (bummer i’m dying in the class) but yah! great pics !
I’ve never tried fried Okra, sounds delicious, the pictures make it all look really good. I’m waiting for Mr. K to boil our crabs right now, might run over and throw some zataran boil mix in for a bit of the cajun kick…
Hi Dennis – Let me know how you liked it! The shrimp were pretty good, but they cooked the bejesus out of the crawfish.
Hi SK – Not to mention the gas!!! ;o)
Hi Dave – I know, it’s very easy to go with what is known and dependable…..this blogging thing has really made me get out there are try stuff. Thanks, as always for the kind words and encouragement.
Hi Howie – Yes, check them both out….similar menu, but very different.
Hi Billy – I dunno, not bad, but not that good either…..
Hi GF – It’s my pleasure. Funny thing, we used to complain about how inconsistent the food was at Jamillah Garden, and even New Shanghai before that…could be the curse of this location.
Hi Kat – We love okra…..though many don’t.
Hi Momo – Oh my…good luck with the class. I remember having problems getting my “head around the theories” as well.
Hi Sandy – Deep fried okra is really good, when prepared well. Crunchy crust, soft and creamy interior….
Fried okra! Nice, I’m from Oklahoma and we get it all the time there, but I didn’t know there was a place to get it in SD. Thanks, I love your blog.
Hi Jason – There are a few restaurants in San Diego that do deep fried okra.
I tried the shrimp and I think it lacked flavor so we asked for more sauce. The crawfish places in Orange County are waaaay better than this place. It doesn’t even compare but they do have other things on the menu.
I did enjoy the shrimp toast. When we asked for crab they said they were sold out from last night which was a total lie because no one was there the night before (we peaked in before heading to tajamas)
I heard this place is for sale too. Maybe business isn’t picking up.
Hi Jen – I think that CrabHut does a better job. I understand that this place had been for sale even before they opened.
um jen…wut night were u there???saturday…? u sed it was empty? saturday was packed with like 100 people…some party…dj and lights flashing…
I dunno but things seem really different now. I think the place was on a learning curve back then but now the boils are excellent, lots of flavor and spiced perfectly. I had the king crab legs with spicy cajun/garlic butter combo and it was soooo good! then we had the beignets and banana foster for dessert (oink oink), oh my goodness! i really think they’re better than crab hut if not for the superior service alone. When i went it was pretty busy too so it looks like whatever wrinkles they started out with have been smoothed out and business has picked up as a result.
Hi Annie – Sounds great…..we’ll give them another try when we have the chance. I thought the flavor of the boil was good, but the cooking technique was not.
these guys stole crawdaddy’s name from san jose, CA. I smell a lawsuit.