Soft Shell Crab: Has anyone had any good ones yet?

[Famous Blue Raincoat]

I'm looking for a restaurant with fresh seasonal soft shell crab. Any prep style is fine. Doesn't have to be Water Grill (though I do like WG), just somewhere that does great soft shells. Looking to eat them tomorrow night or Saturday. Anywhere between Downtown, Hollywood, WeHo to the Beaches. Thanks!

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Water Grill
544 South Grand, Los Angeles, CA 90071

[mamapitbull]

This restaurant has the best soft shelled crabs every season and they fix them 3 ways. They're at The Commons in Calabasas. All 3 are delicious! Call first and make sure they've started them this season.

[maudies5]

Incredibly delicious soft shell crabs at The Hungry Cat in Santa Monica Canyon tonight. They were beautifully, delicately fried and served in a bed of warm white grits, and garnished with the most delicious farmer's market poached peaches.. These crabs were not spidery. These were big and meaty. Although, sold as an appetizer for $15.00, one could have served 2 as an app. I got that and one other appetizer.What a wonderful dish! Now I want to try to get to the "Crabfest."

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The Hungry Cat
100 W Channel Rd, Santa Monica, CA 90402

[BSW6490]

Surprizingly, Le Chine Wok at Beverly Glen Center (near Mulholand) does very good and reasonable soft shell crab. Its the house specialty.

[darrelll]

Ask them if they are fresh or frozen... Finding fresh are tough because as soon as they molt their shell, they are killed. We used to find them in downtown Chinatown fresh killed, but nowadays it's been over a decade since I've seen non frozen crabs.

[bigredd]

Rustic Canyon. Pan fried in a light tempura batter. Delicious!

[Louisiana Mouth]

Has anyone had the soft shell crab at Son of a Gun? Any good?

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Son of a Gun
8370 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048

[New Trial]

I just had a good one at Hungry Cat tonight--a Southern prep with roasted peaches, grits and collard greens (the element which worked least well). A week ago, I had an even better Asian-inspired prep at JAR (available as appetizer or main).

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The Hungry Cat
1535 Vine St, Los Angeles, CA 90028

[maudies5]

Just looked at Sunday Supper Menu for Lucques this Sunday. Looks amazing:

soft shell crab with sweet corn salad,
jalapeno and avocado in green harissa

* * *

wild mushroom and aspargus ragoût over
parmesan polenta with mascarpone and pistou

or

grilled country-style pork chop with cornbread,
chorizo, cavolo nero and glazed cherries

* * *
wildflower honey panna cotta with
last-of-the-season citrus and blood orange granita

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Lucques
8474 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90069

[Dommy]

Yesterday we had the most fabulous soft shell crab at Spice Table.

We are huge fans of soft shells and these were the best we've ever had. The batter was crisp in a way that it didn't seem like batter at all... The flavor was crabby, but quite savory and not the slightest bit funky... But the best part was how meaty they were. We were told the chef was VERY picky about the crabs he was using and that is why they were just a special. So call them before you go... hopefully they'll have them for a little while longer... ;D

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dommichu...

--Dommy!

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The Spice Table
114 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

[Famous Blue Raincoat]

Which Spice Table?

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The Spice Table
114 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

[Dommy]

The one that is linked... the new place in Little Tokyo...

--Dommy!

[revets2]

We liked the Soft Shell Crab so much at Spice Table, we had it two nights in a row!

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The Spice Table
114 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

[Dommy]

Ladies and Gentlemen... the smartest person in L.A... ;D

--Dommy!

[Porthos]

I won't be able to make it there until Thursday night. Hopefully, you two soft shell crab locusts will leave a couple for me...

(Full credit to Parigi from the France boards)

[Porthos]

Add a +1 for Spice Table having one of the best soft shell crab dishes ever. Tonight, it was served with a creamy salted duck egg sauce. An order comes with 2 huge chubby soft shell crabs. Perfectly crispy on the outside. Meaty and tender on the inside. The brains were creamy and slightly tart. Superb. Thanks for the heads up Dommy.

Been to Spice Table 4 or 5 times now and Lazy Ox 4 times for a full dinner. My vote goes Spice Table 3.5 times out of 4. Lazy Ox's beer list is my favorite part about Lazy Ox.

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The Spice Table
114 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

[Dommy]

YAY!!!!! So glad you liked it! :) Even happier that they still have it! :) I have to admit, I like Spice Table a little better than Lazy Ox too... The vibe there seems more 'genuine'. I love Lazy Ox's food, but the people there are so plastic... bleh!!

Although it's a short list, I found the beer list at Spice Table to be nice. Even better that they do the small pours so you can do your own mini beer tasting or pairing throughout the meal! :)

--Dommy!

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The Spice Table
114 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

[Porthos]

Ouch! Just decided on Marche Moderne in OC tonight instead of Spice Table. You're making me regret my decision.

Spice Table is stellar.

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Marche Moderne
3333 Bristol St 3001, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

The Spice Table
114 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

[rickym13]

just had good one at father's office two days ago....with chorizo vinaigrette

[Famous Blue Raincoat]

Guessing this was the Culver City one? That's definitely on my short list.

[maudies5]

Sounds fantastic!