Red Crawfish

Cajun Specialty Shrimp 

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Stir-fry Garlic Noodles 

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Honeydew Smoothie and Watermelon Juice

Rosie and Cheney's plans to eat Indian food on a drizzly Sunday were foiled when it turned out that Lahore Karahi was closed for the next month. Red Crawfish, our backup option, is the San Francisco version of Boiling Crab, a staple of our San Jose hometown. The concept behind both is offering bib-clad customers seafood sold by the pound, a-swim in cajun-style spicy sauce in a utilitarian set-up. Cheney insisted on mild seasoning, to the dismay of Rosie's Sichuan-trained palate, though the real shortfall of the resulting sauce was that it was nowhere near as concentrated and savory as Boiling Crab's. Disappointingly the shrimp stuck stubbornly to their shells, and were likely not as fresh as they could have been. Though the seafood may have been a barely serviceable replacement for B.C., the garlic noodles and drinks were a surprising standouts. The noodles had the particular delicious chewiness associated with being cooked at high heat in a large wok with noisy sizzling. Cheney's watermelon juice was a refreshing complement to the salty shrimp and Rosie's honeydew smoothie tasted exactly like a liquid version of those obscenely good Melona Creamsicles you can find at Asian grocery stores. Afterwards, we wandered over to the Asian Art Museum and were stunned by the marble grandeur of its interior. Being our usual high-brow selves, Rosie was completely transfixed by a Thai theatrical deer headdress, while Cheney occupied herself with taking pictures of particularly plump looking guardian spirit statues. With perfect timing, the rain stopped as we stepped out of the museum, capping off our afternoon of small unexpected pleasures.