Voodoo Crab of Rockville Centre — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

I came here with some friends last week and the ambience of this place reminds me of small bar and grills I've been to in Brooklyn. The staff is very friendly, and our server Max was very attentive and informative. Im a seafood fanatic, so let's get to it. I was given a complimentary basket of fried calamari for posting a pic and shouting them out on Instagram and tagging them in it. The calamari was too good! You can taste the freshness. Now it's time to peruse the menu and order...I was disappointed to see that there were no King Crab legs on the menu and that they sell items by the 1/2 lb as opposed to 1lb like similar restaurants. Max explained that they wanted to give the option of being able to try more items instead of having too much of one thing, that they're trying to get a feel of what works and what doesn't and also that it's still their soft opening. That's understood, but I realized that you'll end up spending more money. For example...1/2 lb of shrimp is $9.50...if you get a lb..you'll be spending $19...similar restaurants are much less. Anyway on to my order... I ordered a 1/2 lb of shrimp, 1/2 lb black shell mussels and a lobster in garlic butter sauce...it comes with 1 potato and 1 corn... I complained about this and was given more. Other places are more generous. Ok..what makes the seafood hit is all in the sauce... the garlic butter was thin and watered down...I guess due to the boiled seafood, so we ordered sauce on the side and let me tell you... it's so delicious! It's thick and very flavorful...now if they can just figure out how to keep this consistency when it's in the bag... they would take 1st place in my book when it comes to sauces. The shrimp, and lobster was fresh, but the mussels was just a little undercooked. Let the shell fully open before serving. Drinks were on point...they're served in a see through pouch similar to a capri sun with a plastic ice cube that turns different colors. Get the Voodoo Juice...its so good! Overall this is a nice place to get good seafood.

The review I wrote up above was in 2020.

8/10/23 Tonight my daughter had a bday dinner with a friend, and I asked her to bring me an order of their soft shell crab. I told her to inquire about whether the crab was blue or some other kind of crab... she said they told her it was indeed blue. Once I dug into the order I soon realized what I was eating was not a blue crab, but some other tasteless crab. It was a nice size, but it didn't have a blue crab taste whatsoever. Blue Crab is very distinct and one knows if they're eating it. It's one of the best tasting crabs out there in my opinion, so I knew right away that this was a fraud. Voodoo please stop being deceptive about your menu items when patrons are spending their money. Not cool. I think they're serving up the tasteless white crab with the brown spots( I dont know the name) on it, and saying that it's the blue crab. Only real seafood connoisseurs like myself won't be deceived.

They're serving the Korean Flower Crab as opposed to the Maryland Blue Crab*

Had to do...

Our family loves seafood. We eat and breathe seafood and celebrate all aspects of life with seafood. One might assume we were fishermen in a previous life but, we all deadly terrified of water. I don't think anyone of us can swim but, we can tear up a plate of seafood in a minute.

We came here to celebrate my uncle's birthday. We tried making reservations but, the phone rang and rang without anyone picking it up during business hours for days. When we finally got a hold of someone, they said that they do not take reservations and it's first come first serve. On their Yelp page, it says they do take reservations but, this isn't the case.

Upon arrival, there was a crowd of people waiting to be seated. We were told there was a 30 - 45 minute wait but, we must have waited closer to 1 hour and 45 minutes. The restaurant looks bigger on the outside but, they have a smaller dining area, a bar area, and outdoor area. I am not sure if we are at 100% dining capacity but, this place was jam packed. Getting in and out of this restaurant required maneuvering.

When we finally got a table our server, Rachina, came by to take orders. She wasn't very friendly or outgoing and we had to remind her a few times for things. She took our order and disappeared. We had an asked for a surprise birthday song for my uncle and she failed to remember our request. She just dropped the check and walked away.

For drinks, Football Head ordered a Summer Delight ($10) and Crayons ordered El Diablo ($10). They both liked their respective drinks. The rest of the table ordered Pepsi ($2). The sodas were from a fountain and were cold and tasty. The soda had enough bubbles and didn't lose their flavor after sitting for awhile.

For apps, we ordered Grilled Oysters (6pc - $16), popcorn shrimp ($10.50), baked Clams (6pc - $11.50), and Raw Oysters (6pc - $11). I don't really care for oysters and clams but, everyone else enjoyed them. I enjoyed the popcorn shrimp. The batter was delicious and they gave a generous portion. The sauce was delicious and had a bit of a kick to it.

We all did different variations of the a seafood boil with different add-ons. However, we all did the special Voodoo sauce which was a mixture of all sauces. The prices of each seafood item is listed per a half pound and if you buy a pound of seafood, you get 2 potatoes and 2 pieces of corn (it's the size of half of a cob). Everyone loved their boil and this was their first type eating a seafood boil. This wasn't my first time but, I enjoyed it. I felt like that they were a bit stingy with the sauce as it barely covered my shrimp. Personally, I felt the sauce could have used a bit more salt too. We all agreed that we liked seafood boils and would be opened to trying similar things.

I do like that each table include a roll of paper towels, a bucket, bibs and disposable gloves. I wish that they gave more wet napkins though. I would have loved this place more if the wait time wasn't so crazy (and people who came after us was seated before) and that the place was packed like a tin...

We went on a Sunday and there were 2 of us dining. Service was attentive and good overall and the Food was okay. I've eaten at a few of these (boil in the bag) seafood spots. Its like the same formula you order your seafood pick the sauce and the seasoning or spice level...then they bring you gloves and a bib like a big Ol' seafood eatin baby lol. Anyway ate in their outside so I didn't pay too much attention to the inside decor so I wont speak on it. Their outside eating area is adjacent to a parking lot but when we were there there wasn't much traffic so it was cool. Its the times we live in now it can be expected. We ordered an alcoholic punch and a margarita the drinks were strong and flavorful but we are both not real drinkers so depends on your own tolerance for alcohol. We noticed that all around us people ordered the adult capri sun drink pouches...I assume that they're good. We ordered 2 appetizers fried calamari and fried fish basket. It tasted okay. For the dinner we ordered salmon which came with mashed potatoes and greens but we also tried a side of chicken fried rice. For the seafood bag ...the thing that I actually came for we ordered a bag of crablegs with headless shrimp. We got the bag crablegs only. We ordered another bag of crablegs and asked for the headless shrimp. They brought them out in separate bags...the shrimp tasted like bland what a waste no seasoning. The crablegs were fine. Overall it was decent I'll try again but not ready at this point. I hardly go out now I'm an essential worker so I am always working...when I do get the opportunity and I take a chance to go out to spend my time my energy and money I definitely want really great food and service to match. I actually am an awesome home cook...all types of cuisine so my expectations are that my restaurant experience will be above my skill levels. I will definitely give another try in a few weeks and see if it was...