The Boiling Pot, Austin TX

Austin, supported by an annual influx of geeks every year, supports an intimidating quantity of eateries. Joyously, many of them are very, very good indeed.

One of the more unique experiences is The Boiling Pot, a seafood restaurant of simple premise: Make selections based on the number in your party and the quantity of seafood you’d like to consume, and shortly after an inevitably large bowl of shellfish, potatoes and sausage will be emptied onto your table.

Tables are lined with greaseproof paper (crayons are provided for entertainment before food arrives), the food is emptied right in front of you. Your only cutlery is a small wooden hammer, for breaking the shells of crabs and lobster legs. A pot of butter is available as condiment, the rest is up to you and your quickly greasy fingers.

It is, to be blunt, brilliant. The food is good and the dining experience unpretentiously fun; how uptight can you be, eating with a mallet?

One Comment

  1. Posted April 22, 2008 at 8:26 am | Permalink

    This serving food onto greaseproof paper seems to be something of a Texas tradition; they do much the same at Rudy’s BBQ (perhaps at other Texan barbeques too?), where you are given a plastic box tray lined with greaseproof, along with another sheet to serve as your plate. The Boiling Pot does indeed sound awesome, were it not for the fact I’m not massively keen on seafood (or rather; it’s not massively keen on me…)

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