Bodega Bay’s Pride: Spud Point Crab Co.

You know when the end of your vacation comes, and you simply want just “ONE MORE DAY” before it has to draw to a close?

Earlier today, I was at that point.  After a lovely four days in wine country, in a beautiful hotel room eating the best that Napa has to offer as far as cuisines go, I found myself wanting just one more day.  The year had a wonderful start, and sure, call it avoidance, but I didn’t want to come home back to reality; I just wanted to extend the dreamy little getaway for as long as possible.

But check out, we must – and so we started heading home.  It was perhaps 5 minutes into this drive when we decided that we’d take a slight (rather big) detour to Bodega Bay — just for kicks.  A little over an hour later, we arrived in Bodega Bay from Sonoma.  A quick search on Google Maps helped us decide what we’d like to have for lunch — and the name “Spud Point Crab Co.” simply did it for me; I chose that and we drove over immediately.

It’s a tiny little building that focuses on fresh seafood, and it’s apparently a family-run establishment (plus one for that). We were just visitors, so I didn’t notice anything special in the service today — but it has a feel of one of those places where if you’re a regular, they would welcome you warmly…..but I could be wrong, I suppose.

The weather was simply perfect today.  What chilliness was in the air was made up by the warmth of the massive sunshine.  In fact, it was so sunny that many of my photos are simply washed out, as you’ll see.  It’s a good thing, too, because Spud Point solely offers outdoor seating.  If it rains, it will undoubtedly change to a “take out and eat in your car” place — but I’d opt to do that than not eat here.

Their menu is simple.  But what I was craving for was simple, too: CRAB!!!
Mr. K and I both ordered the same thing — one crab sandwich and one clam chowder.  Their chowder, afterall, is allegedly the best in Bodega Bay, which is a rather big statement given its coastal location with countless fishermen supplying seafood to quite a few restaurants in the area.

I am so happy we ordered the same thing because love or not, sharing this meal is more than anyone should really expect out of a foodie like me.  It’s not that I don’t “want” to; I do!  It’s that it’s actually impossible to peel food this good out of my dying grip.

The clam chowder was perfection.  It’s not the super chunky kind, and it’s not the really thick kind.  It’s the exact creaminess to keep the taste of clams alive, and the consistency is just dense enough to be comforting but not “chunky”.  With thin chunks of potatoes in there, along with tiny bits of carrots and parsley, I can’t think of what they could have put in this to make it so much better than any other clam chowder I have had to date.  Perhaps crack?

AND THEN THERE’S THE CRAB SANDWICH.
I was not altogether impressed when this sandwich presented itself.  For what it cost ($9.95?), it wasn’t big, it wasn’t fancy, and it didn’t look special in any way.  About one-quarter into my soup, I finally decided to give the soup a break and take a bite out of this sandwich.

The crab being fresh is not all that surprising, though how delicious it was in addition to tasting fresh was surprising.  The special “Thousand Island-esque” sauce they spread on the bread being really good contributes to this sandwich but that’s not all.  This bread is simply DIVINE.  This bread is, without a doubt, what God munches on while sitting in His throne in Heaven.  It looked like a hard baguette but one bite into it, and you realize it’s a wonderfully toasted ideal piece of bread that simply melts in your mouth and enhances everything that fresh and sweet crab meat as to offer.  Combined with the sauce, it creates an ideal balance between sweet and savory.

It is, without a doubt, the best crab sandwich in the world as far as I am concerned.

Spud Point apparently smokes their own salmon, makes a fine tri-tip sandwich, has crabcakes worth dying for, and so forth.  A lot of goodness comes out of this little shack of a spot that also serves as a local gathering point for fishermen before they head out to sea for the day.  But what else is good here — I will probably never find out because I am hooked on this combination of crab sandwich and clam chowder.  Short of taking an extra stomach with me or forcing someone who comes with me to order something else, I am not sure how I’d go about trying the rest of their menu.

According to their website, the owner is the crab fisherman who catches all of the crab they serve.  What fun it would be to be able to head out crabbing with him (I love crabbing)!!  Wherever it is that he is setting his nets out, he sure knows how to catch the very best.

This wonderful little restaurant is located at 1860 Westshore Road in Bodega Bay.  Do yourself a favor if you live in San Francisco, or even if you’re visiting.  Take the short hour plus drive up here and go to Spud Point — and give this a try.  If the weather cooperates and the skies are as blue as they were today, I assure you that sitting outside in their picnic area, this will be the lunch of a lifetime.  Comforting, yet light in taste — quite filling but unusually guilt-free — Spud Point gets my full endorsement. When busy, I imagine parking can be a bit difficult as even on a Monday afternoon, we parked a bit down the street.

I will undoubtedly be back in no time at all.  You can’t keep me away from something this good.

And this meal ended what was a truly wonderful, fun-filled weekend full of Sonoma County’s finest foods with the greatest man in the world.

Service:  7/10
Ambiance: 9/10 (just for the view)
Food: 9.9/10
Addictive Factor: 9/10

Overall Rating: 9.3/10