Not Feeling Particularly Crabby Today

While visiting a seaside town, I was dining at the sushi bar inside a big seafood restaurant right on the water. Part of it extended on a pier out over the bay. I had seen some mad lads catching themselves a free crab dinner nearby the day before, just by leaning over the edge with a pair of rakes and grabbing.

I was quite surprised to overhear the owner and a waitress discussing what to do about a customer who was irate about their meal — I forget what, but maybe pasta — coming with that vile from-frozen fake crab instead of the real crab the menu promised.

The owner apparently was sick to death of shelling crabs and decided he was not prepping any more crab that day. That’s his choice, but he should have just said he was out!

Obviously a diner is going to be expecting real crab when A: the menu says that’s the meat, B: there are swarms of the critters almost within reach of their table, and C: it’s the best-reputed seafood restaurant in a seaside vacation town.

But no, he just tried to substitute a vastly inferior ingredient without warning anyone, and acted annoyed that the diners had the nerve to call him on it!

I ate there many times over the years, and he seems like a good guy, who usually prides himself on quality, but on that day he was Not Always Working, for sure.