Special Report: Crabbageddon (Bonefish Grill, part 2)

Oh Yeah!

Oh Yeah!

Bonefish Grill on Urbanspoon
https://www.bonefishgrill.com/

On my first date with the woman who would become my wife, we didn’t eat crab. I knew I liked this girl, but I wasn’t about to drop crab money until I knew we were compatible. And, I knew she could eat. This was no “I’ll just have a salad” girl. So after a couple of months, we went to a restaurant and I watched Katina, this beautiful, feminine light of my life, completely ravage at least a pound of snow crab legs. It was actually a little scary, and I remember distinctly pieces of crab shell flying by my head as she cracked her crab legs. I had never had crab legs before, and eventually she got me to try them (boy was I missing out). I returned the favor be introducing Katina to lobster, and those of you who follow us know how she feels about lobster.

Bonefish Grill is one of our favorite seafood restaurants. It may not be the most expensive or the most swanky, but it’s up near the top on both of those lists. We’ve reviewed Bonefish Grill before, and our feelings toward the restaurant have not changed. The have the absolute best appetizer we’ve ever had – Bang Bang Shrimp. If you have never gone to Bonefish Grill, or you’ve been but not tried the Bang Bang Shrimp, then wake up because you’re missing it. The shrimp are the perfect size, and the sauce that they’re tossed in is to die for. So, of course on this most recent visit, we ordered the Bang Bang Shrimp. For drinks, I opted for a mojito followed by a beer, and Katina ordered some drink that was really strong and fruity, but I can’t remember the name of it (old age). The point is that Bonefish makes some mighty fine drinks, and they have really good sangria if you’re in to that kind of drink.

What brought us out to Bonefish Grill on this particular evening was crab legs. In the past, we’ve raved about Bonefish’s twin lobster tail dinner – it’s probably our favorite lobster dish ever (or it’s at least tied with Jeff Ruby’s). Bonefish cooks the tails to perfection, but the real draw in the butter (pun intended). Mixed with cream, Bonefish’s drawn butter is creamy and thick, so it sticks to the seafood and explodes in your mouth. So we figured Bonefish would use the same butter for the crab as they do for their lobster tails. We were right. For a limited time, Bonefish grill is offering up a pound of king crab legs pre-cracked, so all of us lazy folk can eat crab without all the work. The whole purpose of this post is that we are afraid some of you may not get to Bonefish and try the crab, and that would be a shame. The legs were cooked to perfection, and since they were already cracked for us, we were able to snag all of the tender meat – and there was a lot of it. In a moment of insanity, I subbed my standard sides with a cup of crab and corn chowder (note: more crab) and Bonefish’s new side, rice with lump crab meat. Note that there was yet more crab. Katina pretty much ordered the same thing, but elected for broccoli instead of the soup (I know…it confuses me, too). With the exceptions of our drinks, we pretty much had crab in or on everything. If you are a fan of crab, stop what you’re doing AND GET TO BONEFISH as soon as possible. It was perfect. Our first date in quite a while, and we were pretty much ready for the post festivity cigarette before we left the restaurant. I would like to mention that at one point, Katina poured her left over drawn butter on her crab and rice. On the surface, it was gross, but deep down I am peeved that I didn’t think of it first.

Crabbageddon wasn’t cheap. But I swear it was so close to heaven that I might of heard Jesus speak. Bonefish definitely wins the prize for the best promotion menu we’ve tried all year, and I need to reiterate that if you like crab, you have to get to Bonefish before it’s all gone. And don’t tell Katina, but I almost went back a few days later while she was a work. She’d kill me if I did, though. This was probably our last dining out experience until after the New Year, and what a way to go out. Check back near the end of 2014 (in a week or two) and check out our 2014 Best of the Best, where we’ll revisit some of the stellar establishments and dishes we got to experience in 2014. Cheers.

 

 

Report Card: Bonefish Grill

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Bonefish Grill on Urbanspoon
www.bonefishgrill.com

Overall Grade B+

The Breakdown:

Atmosphere:  Grade A:  We hit Bonefish Grill at around 4:00pm on a Friday.  We actually arrived at a good time, since we did not have to wait for a table nor was the restaurant packed (I’m sure that changed once we left).  As always, Bonefish Grill provided a really nice atmosphere.  The restaurant was clean and noise level was at a minimum, but that’s nothing new.  We’ve always had a pleasant experience when we’ve visited Bonefish Grill.

High marks:  Clean and quiet

Low marks:  Décor is pretty standard – no real “wow” factor

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Service:  Grade B:  The service at Bonefish Grill is consistently really good.  Our server, Heidee, made sure that we had drinks when we needed them and that the meal proceeded with no delays.  Food arrived promptly, but that is probably also due to how few people were eating at the same time as us.  But, as previously stated, service at Bonefish is always really good, and we’ve been there a lot.  Bonefish Grill received a B for service primarily because the service on this particular day was a good as usual, but nothing about it really made this visit any more memorable than any of the dozen other times we’ve eaten there.

High marks:  Good service, minimal wait for drinks and food

Low marks:  Nothing spectacular about service

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Food/Spirits:  Grade B:  If you go to Bonefish Grill and do not order Bang Bang Shrimp as your appetizer, someone should sew your mouth shut.  This is simply the one of the BEST appetizers we’ve ever had (Columbus Brewing Company’s calamari is up there as well).  So of course we started with the Bang Bang Shrimp.  Once again, it was amazing.  The only negative is that you can’t order it by the bucket.  If that were possible, you’d find me at Bonefish nightly with a bib and an empty bucket at my feet – with only the telltale presence of Bang Bang sauce on my face to give me away.  For drinks, Katina had the red sangria and I ordered the massive Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale.  The sangria at Bonefish has really improved over the last couple of years and now is on par with the Bonefish on Franz Road.  The beer was awesome, as expected.  I could actually feel my chest sprouting more hair – definitely a man’s beer.  Here’s where things get good, and a little bad.  If you’ve read our Honor Roll, you know that we gave Bonefish Grill top honors for a seafood restaurant.  This was primarily due to the strength of their twin lobster tail dinner.  This is the place you need to visit if you like lobster.  The secret is the drawn butter they give you for dipping your lobster.  I’m not sure if they put heavy cream in it or crack cocaine, but it’s instantly addictive.  On this visit, Bonefish was running a special that allowed you to add a lobster tail to any entrée for $7.90 – good deal, right.  Bet you can guess what we did…we ordered the twin lobster tail dinner and indeed we did add a third tail.  We almost single handedly put lobster on the endangered species list.  This was going to be as close to heaven as one could expect, right.  Wrong.  While the lobster tails were still tasty, they were nowhere near the same quality as the lobster we received on our previous visits.  It was a little disappointing, but we got 3 lobster tails for less than $40, so we should probably not complain.

High marks:  Excellent appetizer and drinks

Low marks:  Lobster not on par with usual offering

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Value:  Grade A:  The meal was still delicious, and you would think we were off our rockers if we gave Bonefish Grill anything less than an “A.”  You did read the previous paragraph, right.  Remember the 3 lobster tails….good.  Enough said.

High marks:  Once again, 3 lobster tails

Low marks:  None