We just got back from probably one of our favorite places in the world, the Boiling Crab in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Garden Grove, Calif. It’s about a 45 minute trek south of here, but totally worth it if you’re into Cajun-style crawdads. And if you’re not, one visit here and you will be. Assuming you’re not a vegetarian of course. I first discovered this place right after moving here when the L.A. Times did a write up on this little phenomenon occurring in Little Saigon, where a good 10 restaurants had recently opened featuring a dish you wouldn’t normally find west of the Gulf Coast. The first and best of them (not that we’ve tried any of the imitators) is the Boiling Crab, which was started by a Vietnamese family that lived somewhere along the gulf coast for a time and thought it would be a great idea to bring crawdads back to their community. The place has been hopping ever since, with waits of 45 min. – 1 1/2 hours common on a weekday evening. Hence the market for the imitators. The restaurant is usually packed with locals who feast on the shellfish that are sold for only $8/lb, making it an attractive option for even teenagers. A party of two can feast, including beer, for around $40, which is way cheaper than blue crabs on the east coast if I recall. If you’re ever anywhere in the L.A. area I recommend taking the drive down to experience it for yourself. We keep going back any chance we get and have also taken members of each of our families when they were visiting. This photo was actually taken on our last visit, which was right after we went down to photograph Sumo Dan and the sumo tournament I posted about a few months back.