The Boil may possibly be the best/worst thing to happen to Cajun food lovers in New York. Nestled in the LES with a full bar in front and a large open-style room in the back, this place plays great 90’s music and serves up some ridiculously delicious seafood buckets that may be a little pricey for portions but well worth the experience. Your appetite for all things butter, garlic, and Old Bay related will be beyond satisfied at this joint. However, you will probably suffer random withdrawals from tasty crawfish tails or perfectly fried catfish throughout the course of your non-Boil-eating days.
Every meal at The Boil is really a delicious game of Risk. First, you must ready your stomach in advance. You can’t show up too hungry, or you’ll eat too fast and end up too full; wishing you could eat more. Make sure you’re ready to handle some serious butter too, this isn’t a place for vegans. Then, it’s strategy time. To order an appetizer or not? This one is pretty challenging. If yes, we recommend the catfish, oysters, and sliders. If you’re playing it safe, then hurdle right through to the finish: buckets of seafood! There’s a bounty of options available including crawfish, shrimp, clam, lobster, and crab legs (King and Snow). We recommend the shrimp if you’re looking for the most meat-to-dollar ratio, but the snow crab legs if you’re looking for pure unadulterated joy. The combinations are also a great choice, as the sausage and corn are excellently complementary. The most difficult part now is the wait as you watch other tables receive their buckets of food first. Once your food comes, remember pace is key and there’s never anything wrong with a good slurp of sauce!
So go and get addicted. It’s definitely worth it. There’s nothing better to satisfy your want for perfectly cooked seafood slathered in rich Cajun sauce and paired with some great beers and fried Southern favorites.
David is the resident nerd around these parts. Running a popular tech blog (TheUnlockr.com) for the past 6 years, he’s taken his over-analytical mind and made the transition to food.
