Plymouth seafood spot serves up vacation vibe
The Blue-Eyed Crab Grill & Raw Bar
170 Water St., Plymouth
Telephone: 508-747-6776
Website: blue-eyedcrab.com
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
Accessible to wheelchairs
Major credit cards accepted
The snow has melted. Spring is finally here. But if you're longing for some summer heat after a drawn-out, dreary winter, head down to the Plymouth waterfront to soak up the vacation vibe at the Blue-Eyed Crab.
It's hard not to shift into vacation mode when you are surrounded by bright blue walls, the colors of which seem to have come straight out of a Crayola box. Cheery yellow tulips grace tables. Bar stools mimic the color of the limes floating in the huge selection of parasol drinks. A school of whimsical stuffed fish of every hue hangs from the ceiling.
But you'd be well-advised to arrive early. With only 10 tables and a small bar inside, and a few tables on an outdoor terrace, this pint-size place fills up fast.
Chef and owner Jim Casey opened his primarily seafood restaurant about a year ago in a tiny space in the Village Marketplace just across the street from the ocean. It's casual, but it's not your typical touristy, fried-fish joint. One blackboard lists the pedigree of each fresh seafood: Island Creek oysters from Duxbury, Chatham clams, crab from Maine. Another lists that evening's creative specials.
And it's not all seafood. Beginning in March, the Blue-Eyed Crab began serving an all-day barbecue on Sundays featuring smoked wings, brisket, baby-back ribs, Cajun catfish, and pulled pork.
On the evening we visited, we began with two selections from the incredibly extensive cocktail menu (cocktails $8): the pretty, pink Cranberry Fields (cranberry vodka, honey, cranberry and lime juices) - not to be confused with the Cranberry Bog (this is cranberry country, after all: Makers Mark, honey, lime, mint, and white cranberry juice) - and a spicy Bloody Mary that contained curious saltless olives.
While we happily sipped our large cocktails, our friendly server brought over a small loaf of warm corn bread and maple butter - a nice New England twist on the typical baguette bread basket.
From there we moved on to the small simple salad ($4.95) and the crispy Maine crab cakes with habanero pumpkin puree and toasted pepitas ($9.50). The "small" salad was actually good-sized, chock full of crisp veggies, and came with a choice of freshly made dressings served in a Grolsch beer bottle. We ordered the Thai peanut dressing, a nice spicy-sweet change from the usual Italian or ranch. The crab cakes were crunchy outside, meaty inside. The sauce, with just a hint of spice, served as a nice accompaniment.
For our entrees, we ordered a special, the hickory-smoked prime rib with horse radish-mayonnaise sauce ($22.95) and the grilled Rocky Mountain grilled rainbow trout ($19.95). Our server informed us that the 16-ounce cut of beef was slowly smoked all day to infuse it with a hickory flavor. If you like your meat with a smoky undertone, this creative treatment is for you. The prime rib was as tender as could be and cooked medium, as ordered. It came with a run-of-the-mill baked potato and equally run-of-the-mill sauteed asparagus.
The trout, which tasted fresh from the lake, was grilled in a tasty rub of ground cocoa and coffee beans and chili pepper that didn't overpower the delicate fish. Its refreshing mango-salsa topping nicely offset the spicy heat of the rub. And the accompanying tropical rice drew raves for its delectable sweetness.
After all that, we opted to take a dessert home to sample when our appetites would allow it, which proved somewhat difficult. At first, we ordered the white-chocolate mousse with a strawberry-mango compote ($6), but our server came back to inform us the chef could not see his way around preparing it for takeout. We had more luck with the scrumptious warm, chocolate, flourless cake ($6) because we agreed to take it home without the vanilla ice cream, which would not travel well. It was delightful, served with whipped cream and berry coulis, even if after it had cooled off.
Our only concern with the Blue-Eyed Crab is its comfort level. Chairs are small and uncomfortable. And on a cool evening, it was hard to get out of the way of the chilly breeze each time the host opened the door to allow new diners into the tiny space.
But with warmer weather on the way, one won't worry about such things as he or she dreams of Margaritaville on the outdoor veranda.
KAREN HAYES 