CAPTAIN’S BOIL

When Captain’s Boil opened their first location, just blocks away from my condo, I was eager to try out the concept but weary of the long wait. In just a year, Captain’s Boil has opened 3 more locations with 6 more GTA addresses in the works. I heard that lines at the downtown location were more manageable and was able to get a reservation with a bigger party.

Atmosphere: The downtown location of Captain’s Boil attracted lots of pedestrian attention. While The Hubby and I waited outside for the rest of my family, we saw many curious passersbys pause to peer into the restaurant windows. The restaurant was full when I arrived and pretty much remained at full capacity the entire night. Customers were lively and there was a hum of excitement as everyone dug into the seafood with their hands. I liked that there was a sink and washing station in the dining area. Each seat was set up with a pair of disposable gloves and a cute plastic bib.

Service: I have to thank the host at Captain’s Boil for being so kind and letting us keep our table even outside of their strict rules. My aunt and uncle were visiting from China and I was excited to have them experience a seafood boil, but they were stuck in traffic and so late. I was already looking for alternate restaurants, even with my heart set on Captain’s Boil. I was so happy we were able to enjoy our meal at the busy restaurant. Once we placed our orders, the piping hot bags of seafood arrived within minutes. Servers placed orders on iPads and checked in on us frequently.

Food: Ordering at Captain’s Boil was a 3 step process. First, choosing the type of seafood (of 9 choices including chicken slices), second the type of sauce (of 4) and third the level of spice (of 4). Lobster, crawfish and dungeness crab were priced at market price. Both the lobster and dungeness were over $30/lb, which I felt was a bit pricey, especially as I would’ve liked to order 2 pounds of each for everyone to try. We passed on them this time. I also choose to skip the clams, as I found they had more weight in the shell than the meat.

In total we ordered 2 pounds each of the crawfish, shrimps, mussels and snow crab legs. The four sauces available were garlic, cajun, lemon pepper and a mix of all three. Our server recommended pairing the stronger cajun and garlic sauce with the mussels and shrimp while using the lighter lemon pepper on the crab. For the crawfish, I choose the Captain’s mix, which was also my favourite. As for the level of spice, I split the pounds of seafood between medium and spicy and spicy and fiery. The fiery was burning hot. My aunt and uncle enjoyed the heat, but it was a little too much for me to handle. With the fiery spice, it was hard to taste the flavour of the seafood. I would highly recommend the medium cajun and medium Captain’s Boil mix sauces.

All of the seafood was fresh, especially the crawfish that is shipped in live from the Southern US. The shrimp were plump and the mussels meaty. To round out our meal, we also ordered a basket of cajun fries, a bag of sausage and corn. The fries were crispy and well seasoned and the corn wonderfully sweet. Captain’s boil also offers sizzling fried rice dishes for those with bigger appetites.

Overall, our meal at Captain’s Boil was a fun and delicious experience. I would recommend visiting with a group of 4 or more, to be able to try a more variety of menu items.