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[tearsintherain]

So friends from out of town visited tonight and we took them out to dinner, live in Vegas and had a 2-1 buffet coupon so took them to a seafood buffet on the strip. $40/person but with 2-for-1 it was pretty reasonable for 4 people ($80+taxes and tip, wine included).

Every freaking table was loading massive amounts of snow crab legs onto their plate and cracking and chomping away like Klingons at a ship dinner.

I grew up in the midwest so seafood wasn't really much of a thing other than canned tuna once in a while. Still, I've grown to appreciate and enjoy sushi, sea bass, scallops, and other "lighter" fish that don't taste very... fishy. I gag on anything super fishy smelling, like herring or oily fishes or some smoked salmons.

But I just don't get snow crab legs. First its a huge effort just getting the damn meat out of them, especially the buffet ones which tend to be smaller than store legs. Second, by themselves they just sorta taste like.. shrimp, a fairly clean and light "sea" taste but really nothing amazing. Sure, you swirl them around clarified butter and it tastes good but its pretty much butter you are tasting, I'm sure anything soaked in butter is gonna taste good.

Just from a effort/reward ratio and total messy pile up you make, I just don't get why so many people love crab legs. And yes, I know the "fast" ways to open them and more or less used the method below, it still takes time and effort and I much more enjoyed my fried calimari and oysters and clam linguini which were all pre cooked and just let me eat them without having to do anything else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQRmqgmWD54

I do tend towards spicy foods, like I LOVE spicy crawfish cajun style, I totally get why sucking the meat is awesome from there because the spices infuse the meat and its just a whole lot of spicy soup with some white crab meat soaking it in. But buttered up snow crab legs... so bland and boring

 

[NoblesseOblige]

If it's buffet then it's going to be low quality. That said, I do think crab legs, just like lobster, is not worth the cost.

 

[mlclmtckr]

I don't really know what they taste like

I did just eat like forty mussels for my birthday dinner tho and hoooooooly shit those are good

 

[Septimus Prime]

I like them, but they are a poor substitute for king crab legs, which is what I assume a lot of people think they are.

 

[jiggle]

They are great condiment for drawn butter

 

[disappeared]

They're amazing! Lobster with a side of crab legs mmmmm

 

[99Luffy]

Not a fan of buffets that just serve cold crab legs.

Steamed with a heck load of melted butter is the way to go. Crab fat with rice is great too.

 

[LyleLanley]

Any buffet that doesn't slice the crab legs in half so you just scoop out the meat should be shut down by the police.

 

[Walter White Walker]

You need some Dungeness Crab in your life. Salty and sweet and so good.

 

[Nester99]

You're not going to get a quality sample from a buffet, even in Vegas.

Regardless, i am going to vegas soon and you should take me out to a buffet.

 

[Moppeh]

Any buffet that doesn't slice the crab legs in half so you just scoop out the meat should be shut down by the police.

Truth

 

[Aiustis]

If it's buffet then it's going to be low quality. That said, I do think crab legs, just like lobster, is not worth the cost.

This: It's a buffet.
I think they taste good but not that good:
Not worth the cost or the work.

 

[illiniguy05]

You need some Dungeness Crab in your life. Salty and sweet and so good.

Preach.

 

[Kitsunebaby]

Of all the crab varieties I've had, I prefer Maryland blue crab meat or Alaskan king crab legs. Snow crabs are kind of lacking, in comparison. Also, crab is much tastier hot than cold.

 

[GreatestHits]

If you want to judge a chain, go to Papadeux. Crab is beyond delicious. I can't believe you're basing an entire thread on a buffet version though, yuck.

 

[Sandcrawler]

Blue crab is the best crab imo, even if they're smaller and more annoying to crack open than snow and king crabs.

 

[shira]

If it's buffet then it's going to be low quality. That said, I do think crab legs, just like lobster, is not worth the cost.

Basically ocean cockroaches

I imagine the more we pollute our oceans the worse they are going to taste.

 

[norm9]

Did you save some for everyone else?

 

[Van Bur3n]

I fucking love snow crab and I don't even like eating it with butter. Only issue I've ever had with it being it just doesn't end up that filling for the price. Although that can be said about crab in general.

I remember I went to Red Lobster once and I was feeling rather conflicted with what I wanted to get between crab or a shit ton of shrimp and the waiter starting going on a rant about crab not having enough meat to justice spending the money on it and I was like "Huh, you know what, you're right". Then I got the shrimp.

 

[tearsintherain]

Did you save some for everyone else?

I only ate two, but everyone else at my table had like 20 and by the time I was finished eating dinner they were still working on their goddamn crab legs. Oh well, I got to drink a few extra glasses of a nice cabernet so I didn't mind sitting and watching people wrestle with bug legs.

I get that buffet crab legs are not the best, but still I'm not sure its gonna be much better if I go to a seafood place and order my own. Maybe I'll try in a few weeks, have a bunch around here including some extremely high end places that definitely fly them in from Maine and Alaska daily - RM Seafood, Morimoto, Emeril's, etc.

Just one buffet (Caesars) serves 2,000 lbs of crab legs every single day, multiply that by the dozen or so places that serve them and thats a lot of goddamn crabs being killed and flown around the world every day.

 

[GreatestHits]

I only ate two, but everyone else at my table had like 20 and by the time I was finished eating dinner they were still working on their goddamn crab legs. Oh well, I got to drink a few extra glasses of a nice cabernet so I didn't mind sitting and watching people wrestle with bug legs.

I get that buffet crab legs are not the best, but still I'm not sure its gonna be much better if I go to a seafood place and order my own. Maybe I'll try in a few weeks, have a bunch around here including some extremely high end places that definitely fly them in from Maine and Alaska daily - RM Seafood, Morimoto, Emeril's, etc.

Just one buffet (Caesars) serves 2,000 lbs of crab legs every single day, multiply that by the dozen or so places that serve them and thats a lot of goddamn crabs being killed and flown around the world every day.

As long as real chefs are preparing them, screening them etc, it's a unique type of meat, very easy on the palate, and ends up becoming a favorite for a lot of people. The meat is sweet and clean, goes really well with a neutral and good-tasting, flavorful fat like butter

 

[GoldenEye 007]

If it's buffet then it's going to be low quality. That said, I do think crab legs, just like lobster, is not worth the cost.

Maybe, but crabs and crab legs are infinitely better than lobster. Seafood in general is overpriced. But I've never had a lobster that had as much flavor as crabs. Maybe I've always had bad lobster, but crabs are just sweeter and more succulent overall in my experience.

 

[Stinkles]

Best crab I ever ate was like a bland lobster. Too much effort for a flavorless briny bug. Fried soft shell though? I can get aboard.

 

[Ricerocket]

My parents are like that, grab a plate full of crab legs and I see them working on getting tiny pieces of tasteless meat. Skip the crabs, go for the crayfish or raw oysters if they serve them and pinch lemon on them for that seafood craving.

 

[marzlapin]

Dungeness is the most superior crab

 

[disappeared]

Best crab I ever ate was like a bland lobster. Too much effort for a flavorless briny bug. Fried soft shell though? I can get aboard.

I'm almost salivating right now over the thought of some lobster or crab. No good seafood joints in my small town but there's a good sushi place nearby. Going there tomorrow.

 

[itwasTuesday]

No, absolutely not. I could live off of crab every day.

The sea won the war of the tastier bugs.

 

[TheGameshark]

Blue Crab master race

 

[CitizenCope]

If it's buffet then it's going to be low quality. That said, I do think crab legs, just like lobster, is not worth the cost.

Crabs don't skip leg day bro!

 

[gamz]

Pain in the ass. King crab legs or go home.

There was a year that I ate so much King crab legs from Costco that I got sick of it for two years. I'm ready again...

 

[exmachina64]

In general, snow crab is fucking delicious.

 

[Clefargle]

If done right, they are really worth the effort of procuring, cooking, cracking, and eating. But if the taste/texture doesn't wow you like it does me, then i could understand people thinking it isn't worth it.

 

[DietRob]

Any buffet that doesn't slice the crab legs in half so you just scoop out the meat should be shut down by the police.

I have never ever been to a buffet that does this. Sounds like a terrible idea. Who wants cold crab meat. Half the fun of eating crab legs is feeling like an animal cracking into the things.

 

[Media]

Of all the crab varieties I've had, I prefer Maryland blue crab meat or Alaskan king crab legs. Snow crabs are kind of lacking, in comparison. Also, crab is much tastier hot than cold.

I like crab, King is great too, but king can cut you up. Getting at King crab is great, but not worth the 'You might bleed btw' cost.