Soft-shells gone already?!?

[silverlakebodhisattva]

Got into towon last night, from Los Angeles, with my heart set on soft-shell crabs, preferably in a po' boy; when I asked the waitress at Felix, she said "season's over, all we've got are frozens..." Doesn't sound right to me, but this is about a month later than I'm usually in town. Is this the straight scoop? Anywhere in town have FRESH soft-shells this week?

[22ndstreet]

Two Tony's Restaurant in Bucktown has them right ow. They are huge,fresh and meaty.I would call to make sure before you go.

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Two Tony's
105 Hammond Hwy, Metairie, LA 70001

[Crawfish King]

Feelings Cafe serves fresh frozen Softshell Crawfish when they are not in season. They are extra large and served over an avacado butter. They also have some live ones in the pond on their patio. They are Louisiana farm raised in Baton Rouge.

[bustaduke]

The Crab Trap restaurant in Frenier owned by Louie Lipps has the best soft shell crabs around but you have to cook them yourself if you want them fried. He also has the best boiled crabs, crawfish and cold beer.

http://blog.nola.com/brettanderson/2007/06/the_fresh_prince_of_frenier_lo.html

http://ourhouse.biz/stories/food-wine...

busta

[mrsfury]

I knew they had a few items that were not boiled but I didn't know about the soft shell crabs. Must go. Must go. BTW the snowballs upstairs are wonderful.

[bustaduke]

Yep, just don't tell anyone because I like to have the place to myself lol.

busta

[Samuel Smith]

The Dakota in Covington had them last week as well... just depends on who takes the time to search for purveyors with the fresh crabs.

[Davebr]

I hung out in the Commanders Palace kitchen over the weekend and they had a ton of fresh soft shell crabs.

[oystershell]

I JUST got home with some very fat and FRESH soft shells for tonoght's dinner. They are available fresh, just be sure to inquire before ordering them in the restaurant. Frankly, their a lot easier to handle (shelf life) if frozen, but it does mess with the texture and taste. Good eatin'.

[eugenegirl]

I didn't think to ask if the soft shells at Mandina's and Brigtsten's were frozen, but the staff told me they were in season. And yummy!

[silverlakebodhisattva]

Mandina;s came through with the perfect po' boy. If I'd had room, and sisn't need to save room for my dinner plans (see my post about duck) I'd have gone for the "Soft-shell crab Bayou", which I believe involved smothering it in crawfish etoufee!

[ScarlettNola]

As far as I know, ALOT of softshell crabs are farmed so it should not be a problem. I am not a fan of farmed seafood, so if Felixs' states that they have frozen wild softshell crabs, I am in love forever.

[hazelhurst]

You'd haveto call around but the way it works nowadays is that the producers move the almost molting crabs to a cage in the water and have the things almost all the time. "Fresh Forzen" though gets rave reviews from lots of people.(One friend had whet he said were the best soft-shells he's had in years, in Baton Rouge of all plces, and teh restuarnt owner told him that they were frozen and from SE Asia. "Better than ours" he supposedly said but added the caveat that he preferred to buy locally...

[HalfShell]

Don't know much about the season, but call Mandina's on Canal. They have them often. 504-482-9179‎.