• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Greedy Gourmet | Food & Travel Blog
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Restaurants
    • Where To Eat in England
      • London
      • Berkshire
      • Essex
      • Surrey
    • Ireland
    • Italy
    • Montenegro
      • Ireland
    • Netherlands
    • Serbia
    • Spain
  • Places to Visit
    • Places to Stay in England
    • France
    • Italy
    • Netherlands
    • Norway
    • Portugal
    • Spain
  • Work With Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Snapchat
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Tips & Tricks
  • Places to Visit
  • Restaurants
  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×
    You are here: Home / Restaurants / Where To Eat in England / Isles of Scilly / Crab Shack

    Crab Shack

    23 May 2014 - By Michelle Minnaar
    This post may contain affiliate links.

    Facebook108TweetPin9YummlyShares117

    Fresh seafood straight off the boat and cooked in front of you is my kind of idea of heaven.

    When you are about to travel to a new destination you start forming opinions and expectations before you arrive that sometimes turn out to be misconceptions. Imagine my puzzlement when I visited Piccadilly Circus for the first time in 1997 and after looking down every street realising that there actually wasn’t a …. well, circus.

    Let’s look at the map of UK – it’s surrounded by water, right? In my books it meant the shops will be brimming with myriads of seafood. Imagine my dismay when I arrived only to find out the selection and display of the overpriced fishy stuff is decrepit compared to what’s available in the Far East.

    Bowlful of Scallops

    Crab Shack on Bryher Island

    Even worse was the British take on seafood platter which consists of cold seafood, boiled in salt water, and served on ice. As a landlubber from Africa with high expectations, I was seriously bummed out.

    Crab Shack Interior

    Portuguese Cataplanas

    The Crab Shack is like a dream come true for me. Very rustic, it is located in a converted cow barn a stone’s throw away from Hell Bay Hotel. The produce is fresher than fresh. Chef Richard fetches the shellfish at 5pm from a local fisherman’s boat and he cooks it at 6:30pm. A maximum of 45 seats are available.

    Crabs ready for cooking

    Monster Crab

    Chef holding live crab

    You’re welcomed with a glass of bubbly on arrival and staff proudly shows off the catch of the day which is chilling on ice. You are then seated at long tables and benches where you get to mingle with your neighbours, European style. Bread and olives await at the table.

    The menu, a black chalkboard hanging on one of the walls, is simple, comprising scallops and mussels respectively for starters, crab as a main course and one dessert or cheeseboard for the end of the meal. Along with a dressed salad and fries as side dishes, three different types of sauces are served with the shellfish:

    – lemon and garlic butter
    – lime and chive
    – ginger and chili

    Chef Richard at the Crab Shack

    Pan Frying Scallops

    Scallops with Chili & Lime Butter

    Scallop in Parsley Butter

    Due to their small size, both the scallops and mussels were super sweet and succulent.

    As for crab, you have to be a certain type of eater to enjoy it. If you’re a lazy one, you’ll give up before you started. I’m the kind of person who has no qualms taking on a whole rotisserie chicken with my bare hands and picking the bones clean with my fingers to save the meat for a later occasion. Afterwards my hands are usually covered in grease and the only way to get them back to their normal state is plenty of soap and hot water.

    The same goes for eating crab. Forget table manners, this is your opportunity to connect with your primal self. Not caring that there was a handsome fellow dining opposite me I dug in with such ferociousness that made onlookers gawk. Cracking and devouring crab takes determination, planning and effort. If anything else, you go into a meditative state – or as I call it being In The Zone – focusing on getting all the prized white meat out of the shells. You either love it or hate it.

    Waiter Serving Scallops

    Mussels in cataplana

    All food are served in Portuguese cataplanas, which were really handy because the lid could be used to discard empty shells. Prices are reasonable – the monster crabs cost £30 each to share between two people.

    This was one of the most memorable meals of my life. I’m trying to think of all kinds of adjectives I could use to describe the food and experience. I can’t. Words don’t cut it. Oh wait, here’s one – perfection. Just go and find out for yourself and you’ll understand.

    For more great seafood, be sure to visit Ruin Beach Café on Tresco.

    Smashed crab legs

    Cooked Crab Claws

     

    Quick Overview

    Food

    10/10: Everything was fantastic.

    Value

    8/10: Crab is a rarity on menus and to share a monster one at £30 between two people is very reasonable.

    Service

    8/10: Staff were attentive and friendly.

    Toilets

    8/10: You have to walk to Hell Bay Hotel’s guest loos.

    Ambience

    8/10: No music is needed to accompany the tranquility of dining next to the beach with amazing views. You will get to know everyone sitting at your table.

    Recommend

    10/10: If I could I would go back in a heartbeat.

    Crab Shack
    Hell Bay
    Bryher
    Isles of Scilly
    TR23 0PR

    Website

    P.S. I was a guest of Crab Shack.

    Facebook108TweetPin9YummlyShares117

    DON’T MISS A THING!

    New recipes, tips & tricks, reviews and giveaways every week!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Laura@howtocookgoodfood

      May 23, 2014 at 7:15 pm

      This is somewhere I would live if I could, crab served like this is my idea of heaven. The crab in Devon is amazingly good too. I am off to Salcombe tomorrow and they sell whole fresh cooked crab from the boat yard. You can order them in the morning & pick them up later. Lobster too. The fishmonger also sells fresh pots of picked crab but a restaurant of this quality would also make a killing there!

      Reply
    2. Nazima

      May 26, 2014 at 8:24 pm

      fabulous pics. I totally agree – supply of fish on a retail scale as well as variety and quality of seafood restaurants is not great considering we are as small island. This sounds like a super place. I know there are some lovely places in Norfolk too that I need to visit.

      Reply
    3. Sarah, Maison Cupcake

      June 03, 2014 at 8:24 pm

      I’m loving the copper pans in this place, they’re beautiful. I often order crab in coastal France but you’re right you rarely see it in the UK.

      I was looking in a French supermarket last week at various sea foody crab picking implements and kicking myself for not buying some – because you can’t buy those in the UK easily either. Although I should probably investigate on Amazon.

      Loving these Scilly Isles posts, hoping there will be more!

      Reply
    4. Jude Magee

      June 03, 2014 at 8:43 pm

      Nothing beats fresh seafood, do they cook the crab in those teeny pots though? What a beautiful setting, it looks entrancing. I saw some photos from Paris last week, the French have express trains from Roscoff (& other ports I’m sure) bringing Cornish, Welsh, Scottish & Irish caught crab & lobster to Paris. Why is it not being brought to our markets?
      Your trip looks amazing, and I’m glad you have found seafood within our shores.

      Reply
    5. Jan Bennett

      June 04, 2014 at 5:42 am

      Fantastic photography! I love crab and that sounds like an amazing place to go.

      Reply
    6. Kim Styles

      May 06, 2018 at 9:44 pm

      that would be my dream come true!

      Reply
      • michelle

        May 07, 2018 at 7:55 pm

        hehe 🙂 nice

        Reply

    Make my day! - Share your thoughts... Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Primary Sidebar

    Food Photographer & Blogger

    about michelle

    Welcome to my eclectic collection of recipes from all four corners of the world. I hope to inspire you to get into the kitchen and never eat a boring meal ever again. Want to know more?

    More about me →

    Join the
    Greedy Gourmet club!

    Latest Recipes

    • The Best 11 Ricotta Salata Substitutes
    • Mousseline Potatoes
    • Can You Reheat an Omelette?
    • Sautéed Marrow Seeds

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About
    • Copyright, Privacy & Disclosure Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Accessibility Policy
    • Cookie Policy

    Services

    • Food Photography
    • Recipe Development
    • Food Videography

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Work With Me
    • Media Kit

    As an Amazon Associate and affiliate marketer I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 Greedy Gourmet