Fresh Crab & Squat Lobsters

As soon as we drove off the ferry and onto Islay, we headed straight to Lagavulin for the first of distillery open day of Feis Ile 2013. Yes, even before we headed to our self-catering house and unloaded the car!

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There I happily spotted the mobile Seafood Shack and quickly bought myself a portion of fresh crab claws, served with either marie rose sauce or garlic mayonnaise. At £4 for a generous serving, I was in heaven! Pete and our friends wandered around, tasting drams and watching a cooper explain how he makes barrels.

I sat at a table, chatted to the first of many fellow visitors, and attacked my claws with vigour, tapping a toe away to the live music that was often being played.

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I determined to enjoy Seafood Shack’s bounty every day of our holiday, though in the end I missed two days – on one they took a well-deserved day off and on the other I arrived at the distillery after they’d sold out and shut up shop! I did, of course, find seafood elsewhere on those two days, so all wasn’t completely lost!

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Some days I added a portion of scallops cooked in butter and whisky. Other days I added a pint of squat lobster, a crustacean I’ve not encountered before but quickly came to adore; easier to split open with a hard thumbnail or plastic knife and flesh that is sweet and utterly delicious…

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The annual whisky (and music) festival is held at the end of May and this was our third time attending. You can read more about the various open days on Pete’s blog. This summary post contains links to a full post on each one.

We plan to go back again in another couple of years, and I’ll be looking forward to finding the Seafood Shack there when we do!

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10 Comments to "Fresh Crab & Squat Lobsters"

  1. Meemalee

    Squat lobster look kinda terrifying when they still have their pincers etc 😉

    How much were they? And the scallops? Love this kind of thing.

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Yeah I was very happy they’d prepped them to serve tail only!

    Scallops were £6.

    Pint of squats was either £4 or £5, but I think £4.

    All so incredibly fresh!

    Reply
  2. Lesley K

    Squat lobsters are gorgeous. I remember eating them every day overlooking the harbour when I was on holiday in Oban. Wish we saw them more often!

    Reply
  3. Snigdha (Snig)

    Hi Kavey,

    Now you’ve made me feel hungry and deeply jealous all at the same time! That looks like wonderfully high quality seafood and at such a reasonable price!

    Those pictures show food to die for!

    Rumble, rumble goes my tum(ble).

    xx

    Reply
  4. Conrad

    My ex Fisherman nieghbour often gets a kilo or so (by catch) and occasionally drops me some off as well.
    Easy to cook, a bit of a pain to clean but as others have said, there’s no shellfish sweeter.

    Reply

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