Mud City Crab House - Manahawkin, NJ

It is a gorgeous Sunday for a top down cruise down the shore for some crabs!  That said, Zelda and I hopped in the car and headed down to Long Beach Island, and Mud City Crab House for some fresh seafood.  We pulled up and got a good parking spot out front, overlooking the sea grass surrounding an outdoor patio, adorned with big red market umbrellas.

Upon walking in, we were immediately seated, and the restaurant was a little more than 3 quarters full.  All kinds of crab and fish décor covered the walls, and it looked like a classic crab house.  Our server came over quick and took our drink orders since we didn’t BYO today, and explained how the different crab on the menu worked.  We both started with some soup, Zelda ordering the seafood bisque, while I wanted to try the New England clam chowder.  Both soups were rich, delicious, and very flavorful.  The bisque was nice and thick, and from the bit that I got, it had a nice clam and large piece of shrimp in it.  The base was thick and buttery, and a pleasure.  The clam chowder was nice and thin with good spices.  The first bite I took had an over abundance of thyme flavors, but the following spoon full’s were perfect.  Nice large chunks of clams and potatoes filled the bowl, and it was just darn good “chowda!”

For entrees, Zelda went for the Dungeness platter, flown in from the upper northwest, while I opted for the Blue Crab, served garlic style.  These are smaller blues, cleaned and halved, and slow cooked in the house garlic sauce.  A nice cluster of Dungeness crab legs came out, still on the joints, and these were sweet and succulent, steamed to perfection.  Zelda opted for slaw and fries on the side, and this came with a nice helping of extremely clear, melted butter.  These were great.

My blue came out, almost looking as though it was covered in a buttery, garlic gravy.  6 ½ small blue crabs, split in half, with nice fresh meat inside them.  Next time around, I think I would order the Maryland style with the Old Bay, as the garlic sauce was almost overwhelming, and took away from the taste of the fresh crab.  There was plenty of meat in these, and seeing as they were steamed alive, you can’t get them much fresher.  The claws were very tasty as well, and the crab meat just had such good flavors.  All though it was a lot of work to crack these open and get the meat out, it was worth every second!

All in all, we had a great meal and great service.  The tab came to $57 and change, which is pretty reasonable considering the fact that you are down the shore, and for the amount of food you got.  I know that I left stuffed!   What is there to say other than fresh seafood and a nice drive with the top down!  Cheers!  -F. Scott

1185 East Bay Avenue
Manahawkin, NJ  08050
Phone:  (609)978-3660
http://www.mudcitycrabhouse.com/