Ya’ll know, I look up the food options around wherever I am. The place I go to therapy is in the general area, so I had noted it down as a place to visit. My girlfriends wanted to go to dinner, and seafood was the top choice. The Nauti Lobstah was the first option that popped into mind.
The Parking: I did not know how popular this spot was! I’d heard of it here and there, but didn’t expect a line right at 5 PM. We were told it would be an hour wait. In reality, it was about 15-20 minutes. There are some parking spots around and a small lot across the restaurant. I found parking pretty quickly in a space off the street. My friends had to look around a bit and eventually found some spaces. It’s manageable, but I figure it can get rather difficult if it were any busier than the evening we had.
The Atmosphere: Both my friends are from the Midwest and said it reminded them of a place they could find there. Not necessarily a seafood spot, but the vibes are there. One of them also mentioned it feels like a renovated home. And I fully believe it was. I found the place super laid back. Very much like a neighborhood joint, which it is. Almost leaning kitschy. Every time someone orders the two-foot lobstah roll, the crew comes out with some jingling bells. It was something. We found it a great spot, not just to kick back and relax, but also to people-watch.
The Meal: Obviously, this is a seafood spot. Somehow, though, we all gravitated to crab over lobstah. My one friend ordered a cup of lobster bisque, so I suppose that counts. I thought it was okay. Lacked flavor in my opinion, definitely needed some salt. For her main, she got the crab-stuffed shrimp, which was decent. I thought it was a good amount of crab stuffing. I would have liked the shrimp to be crisper, since it was fried to add extra texture.
My other friend and I split our meal. We got an order of the snow crab legs with a whole lot of sides. A whole lot being… Hush puppies, cole slaw, hot honey dill carrots, garlic mashed potatoes, and brussels sprouts. So almost all of them. And I thought they were all rather mid. I’ve only had Hush Puppies a few times, so I thought these were decent. I don’t always love cole slaw. Sometimes it grosses me out; other times I’m just fine. I thought this cole slaw was rather solid. The hot honey dill carrots confused me. It didn’t taste like any of the flavors I was expecting. I’m always a fan of roasted carrots. It’s one you really can’t make wrong. So know that they weren’t bad, just not flavored as advertised. The garlic mashed potatoes were, on the other hand, as advertised, very garlicky. A standard mash, nothing to write home about. And the most disappointing of all were the Brussels sprouts. It was boiled or steamed with a drizzle of something on top. A skip for me.
The crab itself was alright. By no means the best I’ve had. A batch of steamed crabs with parsley sprinkled on with butter and lemon on the side. The quantity was plenty for the sticker price of $60, which included two of the sides mentioned above. The rest we added on. I appreciate that seafood like crab, with minimal additions, is delicious. However… I am spoiled. I haven’t had it probably for a couple of decades, but I still remember the South Indian-style crab curry my dad made. It is to this day one of my favorite things. And I ask him about it from time to time, but it’s a labor of love that he retired… A few decades ago. And so now, if I indulge in getting crab, I order the spicy seafood boils. I was definitely missing that next-level flavor or freshness with this meal.
And of course, we had some desserts. My friend and I split again, with Aunt Peggy’s Wicked Whoopie Pies. For $10, it came with 2. And our friend ordered the cheesecake with fresh berries. All of it was okay. In concept, I think I’ll like whoopie pies, because I’m expecting whipped cream in the middle, but it’s usually leaning more toward buttercream. And this was leaning buttercream with Cool Whip, double time of what I wasn’t looking for. The cake was okay. Could have been chocolate-ier and moister. I tried a couple of bites of the cheesecake, of course. The whipped cream accompanying the cheesecake is what I wanted in my whoopie pie. The cheesecake portion itself was decent, but the crust was not for me. It was wet?
I would try this place again to have a lobstah roll or lobstah dish. Unfortunately, otherwise, I was a bit underwhelmed. By no means was the food bad. I wish there were one stand-out dish. Other than getting some good bits of the crab, everything was just okay. The company was great. And a good place to unwind.
Rating: 6.7/10
Address: 311 S Forest Ave, Apopka, FL 32703
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