The Crab Cooker — Restaurant in Tustin

Tustin Crab Cooker is like a long lost friend. We finally made it back to shake that friend's hand today. They serve bold mouth-watering clam chowder & delectable char-grilled seafood in a no-frills way. Chowder comes in wax-coated cardboard containers & entrees arrive on paper plates. Plastic cutlery is what you'll be using to eat with. You don't eat the silverware or plates, so as long as their prices are affordable & their seafood is the star, we'll keep coming back to this place.

We dined inside, though they did have an outdoor tent for folks who are still uncomfortable about eating in the restaurant.

A huge red building greets you, and it's hard to miss, really. As you enter the front door, they have a lengthy seafood case on your right, loaded with fresh seafood, like King Crab Legs, Dungeness Crab, plus whatever fish & seafood they've acquired. It's the freshest catch you'll find anywhere. You can also get quart containers of their amazing red clam chowder to take home from here.

The first inside eating room is my favorite, decorated with a Jaws-sized Great White dangling from the rafters, in the center. Large taxidermy ocean-going fish line the walls, including dorado, yellowtail, marlin & others. Far wall has a massive stuffed Black Sea Bass anchored to it. This Goliath denizen of the deep was caught long ago, before these fish became a protected species.

Now about the food...

My wife & I LOVE their red clam chowder, served steaming hot, and absolutely loaded with succulent clams. The chowder has tomatoes, celery, potatoes, green bell pepper, onion, celery seed, plus their seasonings & special roux makes this soup over-the-top good. We ordered 2 bowls because we love it, but for a lesser price, you could start with a cup of their chowder. We dunk buttered-up slices of their Fisherman's Bread into the chowder. Yum!

For our entrees, my wife ordered the Lunch Halibut, with Rice Pilaf, & Cole Slaw. I ordered the Lunch Swordfish, with the same 2 sides. We each got a nice-sized piece of buttery grilled fish, but you can order the dinner-size entree and get a larger size filet, and of course you'll pay more for this.

The flavour of each one of these fresh fish filets which arrived at our table was other-worldly! The swordfish is a bit more dense and meaty than the halibut, which is more light & flaky. Both were delicious! Both our filets were tender & perfectly grilled. You don't need it, but they provide a small cup of tartar sauce on the plate.

We also love & order their White Sea Bass, whenever this fresh fish is on their menu. My wife & I washed down all this good food with their fresh-brewed iced tea.

Wish they had a Crab Cooker in Oceanside. I love...

Let me start off by saying that I used to come here as a kid and teenager and enjoyed it thoroughly. Granted that was 15 to 20 years ago.

Today was my first time back since then. I came with my wife, giving her rave reviews about the place before we got there and how much I used to enjoy it. The service was great, very attentive and knowledgeable. Quick with refills and never left us looking around for our waitress. The food was made promptly after ordering, and came out hot and quick. First I'll start with the good. The cheesy potatoes are very good and complement well with the rice pilaf and any fish or skewers. Wife had the king crab legs, also very good. Hard to mess up. The chowder, was not good. Manhattan chowder that tasted like chef boyardee ravioli. If I didn't physically see the clams in the chowder, I would've never known they were there. The shrimp cocktail was disappointing, this day in age most shrimp cocktails are mixed together with the ingredients allowing the shrimp to absorb the rest of the flavors of the sauce/marinade. This was chilled shrimp in a cup, with Sysco/canned cocktail sauce on the side. And the mussels! I * love mussels, but this... Was the worst mussels I've ever had. I've been in the industry for 15 years, never had I've seen half shell mussels where you reduce all the natural juice inside and the seared the surface until it's a nice piece of chewing gum. All of the moisture was removed and you serve it with a side of butter?? I understand in previous generations this might have been considered good. But what you did, is take a perfectly delicious ingredient on its own and ruined it, quite spectacularly. Sauteed half shell mussels like that aren't on menus anywhere anymore and for good reason. Steam them, like the rest of the world with some garlic, white wine and a little lemon. No need for the butter.

To be honest, I didn't look at the menu beforehand. I was expecting there to be steamed fresh crab of some kind, the only thing is the king crab legs or cracked chilled crab. I didn't see a water tank for any live creatures. Based upon the seafood display in the front, the only fresh seafood coming in here seems to be the "catch of the day". The crabs are already cooked. I'm not sure if I'm expecting too much or this just...

Had the Fish salad, sourdough bread, and clam chowder. Fish Salad -NOT great, not good either.... Seems like they threw all the junky leftover fish, mashed it up and made a ice cream scoop of it and reserved it to the public. Not insulting their style, I'm just sayin' Clam Chowder -"Meh. I've experienced better" It was a red chowder which tasted like a marinera or tomato soup base. It might've been fine, had I been in the mood for that style of clam chowder but I prefer creamy white chowder. Obviously, it's the Crab Cooker's take on clam chowder and perhaps that's what sets them apart from other places. Sourdough Bread -EXCELLENT. Surprisingly excellent. The butter came out in wrapped packets and was hard. Our kind server, Jennifer said that a little secret to quickly warm them up is to place them under the clam chowder for a minute. Obviously that worked to soften it it. Kudos to Jennifer for pointing that out.

I took a few bites of the salad and sent it to the edge of the table and again our server Jennifer commented that she noticed that I didn't like the meal. She recommended next time, should we decide to come back that I consider getting the salmon instead. She was such a kind and knowledgable server. She and the sourdough bread actually made for a positive experience so as not to take anything too negative away from it.

The decor was very ocean-like. If you're a waterman, it's pretty amusing to look at. It kinda has the feel of visiting the San Clemente Historic Cottage and Museum in San Clemente State Park. Nothing that 'blew' my mind...