COUPEVILLE – Having lunch on Saturday at The Mad Crab means missing the live blues downstairs in the lounge that follows in the evening. Consider going for dinner because The Mad Crab is building a reputation for being a home to very good music. And food.
The Mad Crab opened about a year ago on Coupeville’s historic waterfront. It’s located in the 1866 John Robertson store. The restaurant’s owned by Jack and Melissa Lamy and, according to the menu, they chose the name “from the delightful experience of pulling a fresh crab from our local waters and always making the obvious statement, ‘That is one mad crab.’”
The dining room with its span of windows offers a sweeping view of Penn Cove and the tables are turned to the view rather than the dining room. It’s a fabulous view but I found the seating disconcerting because my back was to the door. Also, I couldn’t watch the flow of food from the dining room, see what other customers were ordering or time how long it took from order to table delivery. If this lunch had been a golf game, I would have been given a high handicap. But this was lunch so I settled back and ordered a glass of Montevina Pinot Gris from California ($6).
The Mad Crab’s wine list specializes in California and Washington wines in the $20 range with one French sparkling wine at $52 a bottle. My glass of wine arrived promptly as did my water, rustic bread cubes and a dish of balsamic vinegar-olive oil for dipping. The bread was fresh and so melt-in-your-mouth good that I didn’t rush to order my lunch.
I tried to sneak peeks at what others around me had ordered but the seating arrangement made my efforts entirely too obvious. After all, I was at The Mad Crab and knew that I was going to eat as many crab dishes as possible even though several island residents have highly recommended the pizzas.
All the pizzas are topped with fresh mozzarella and basil. Choices include the standard pepperoni, meat-lovers, vegetarian and Hawaiian ($8.95 to $10.95). There’s also a seafood pizza topped with shrimp, mussels, clams and calamari over an Alfredo sauce ($10.95). Pasta, sandwiches and burgers round out the nonseafood choices.
I selected a cup of the Mad Crab bisque ($4) a Mad Crab crab-cake appetizer ($8.95) and that day’s lunch special three-piece fish and chips ($7.95). This meant I skipped over the steamed Dungeness crab, crab Louie salad, steamed mussels or clams, fried oysters or calamari, blackened salmon and halibut and garlic prawns with a filet mignon ($7.95 to $19.95).
The menu warns that the crab bisque “has a kick.” I suspected a hint of roasted jalapenos as being the kicker in the creamy tomato-based soup filled with chunks of sweet Dungeness crab pieces. The crispy crab cakes were served with a delicious basil aloli sauce and, of course, lemon wedges. Salmon, cod and halibut were the three fish fillets composing my lunch special and they were served with shoestring fries and coleslaw.
The fresh fish filets were deep-fried to a light brown. For some reason, the coating separated from the fish and after a few bites, I went with the flow and eventually ate only the fish. The fries were what we all expect not overly cooked or soggy. The coleslaw was the surprise. It’s made with the traditional cubes of green cabbage, but there’s a kick in the dressing, just like the one in the bisque.
The dessert menu offers carrot cake, pie a la mode, flourless chocolate cake and house-made tiramisu ($4.40 to $5). After this huge lunch, I would have been mad to order dessert.
The Mad Crab
10 Front St., Coupeville; 360-678-0241
Specialty: seafood and pizza
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Price range: moderate
Liquor: full bar
Smoking: no smoking in the dining room
Reservations: recommended for large parties
Disabled accessibility: stairs
Credit cards: MasterCard, Visa
Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers’ suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.
Anna Poole: features@heraldnet.com.
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