Bite of the Moment: Aqua Boil

When I first heard about Aqua Boil, the new seafood by the pound spot in Hells Kitchen, I initially thought it was suspect.

See, I'm the type of dude who loves my fresh seafood. You will find me in New England chomping down on fresh-caught lobster, or in Maryland going to town on some crab, or in Tokyo enjoying fresh tuna carved straight from the fish. Seafood, when done right, is one step closer to nirvana. When done wrong, however, seafood can become a bland mess. Sure, you can get flash-frozen seafood from across the country, but I usually relegate any restaurant more than 5 miles from the dock as automatically shady.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by Aqua Boil.

Aqua Boil takes all of the fun of those family crab boils and contains it a medium-sized restaurant in Manhattan. Their mantra of "let's get messy" applies here. There are no forks and knives and they give you a bib and bucket once you sit down. Food is ordered by the pound, so Lauren and I got the combination 2 lb lobster and crawfish special, which included potatoes and corn--as is tradition. You have your option to choose the sauce and the spice level. As with any backyard seafood boil, the contents of your meal come out in a plastic bag and you are obliged to dig in. (Note: if you don't know how to eat both lobster and crab, there is nothing here to help you. I would advise that you watch some YouTube videos before you dig in. Also, it might be nice if the restaurant provided some guidance on this.)

OK, so I have to admit, the food here was spectacular. The combo meal gets you a whole lobster, and over 10 crawfish, drowned in a buttery garlic sauce. One thing I loved about the lobster is the fact that it was steamed, so the shell came off perfectly without much fight. And as expected, the meat portions were huge. The crawfish were equally as tasty. But the low key stars of the meal were the potatoes and corn, which were fully soaked in the garlic sauce by the time we got around to them.

Outside of the seafood by the pound, the restaurant offers a menu of other specialties such as crab cakes, fries, and lobster rolls. We opted for the catfish sliders at the insistence of our waitress and were pleased with how tasty they turned out.

All in all, I was shocked by not only how much I enjoyed Aqua Boil but how much they were able to recreate about the lobster boil experience. It may not be a Saturday at the shore, but it's damn near close.

Full Disclosure: Aqua Boil provided the meal for review. We paid the tip. Thoughts and reactions are our own.