Shell Out started with their Kota Damansara outlet in mid 2013 and late last year, another outlet in Setia Alam was opened. Working on the “Louisiana Boil” concept where seafood is boiled in pots of sauces and then poured onto tables sans crockery or cutlery, Shell Out has been a tremendous hit. I guess we Malaysians love to eat with our bare hands – there’s just something so primitive and basic in attacking food with fingers. I heard their Kota Damansara outlet is still crazy busy and there’s always a queue to get into the restaurant.
The owners decided to open another branch in Setia Alam late last year. It’s gradually getting very popular as what we found out one fine Sunday afternoon. Seafood lovers started to fill up the crazily fun restaurant just after noon.
The ordering here was simple, in 4 easy steps.
Step 1: Decide on your catch – take your pick from live mud crabs, king prawns, crawfish, clams, mussels, scallops, octopus, Canadian lobsters and even king crab legs!
Step 2: Choose the sauce – original Louisiana-style lemon pepper, butter garlic or shell bang (both the sauces); or opt for the locally-inspired “curry curry” or black pepper.
Step 3: Determine the level of heat – mild, medium or OMG!
Step 4: How about some add-ons like broccoli, corn-on-the-cob, potatoes or sausages
While waiting for our seafood mains, we dug into fresh-off-the-wok Deep-fried Baby Crabs with Sweet Potato Fries and Onion Rings. The crunchy baby crabs were delicious and I couldn’t decide if the crabs were better than the sweet potato fries or vice versa.
Crunchy baby crabs that you can’t stop eating!
Then came our seafood. Onto the table was poured lots of mouth-watering seafood, cooked in a variety of sauces. We really got down dirty to savour the sweet bouncy Prawns cooked Shell Bang-style and the little Octopus in Curry Curry sauce. I loved the Curry Curry sauce for its spicy lethal-looking appearance. Despite its “fierce” look, the heat level was tolerable.
Shell-bang Prawns!
These babies were really addictive!
Curry Curry Lala – we should have ordered more!
In fact,the Curry Curry was such a hit with us that we had it again with the fresh mud crabs and lala. We just couldn’t stop licking our fingers – the curry paste was really delicious and hit all the spice and heat levels for an enjoyable meal. We had their Garlic Bread to mop up the sauce. The garlic bread pieces were toasted perfectly – some of the best we’ve had, really.
Fresh mud crabs – definitely our favourite!
Some of the best garlic bread we’ve had
It’s a wise move for them to “Malaysianise” the sauces as the seafood turned out to be something many of us are familiar with. Families were enjoying their favourite seafood with plain rice, drenching the rice with the tasty sauces and eating everything with bare fingers!
Everything is poured on to the table – just dig in!
Giant Scallops in garlic butter sauce – for those who can’t take the heat
The smaller local scallops were delicious too!
Deep-fried Golden Shrimps (RM14.90)
Fried Chicken Wings (RM14.90/4 pieces)
There are several deep-fried items on the menu too just to satisfy those crunch cravings. Besides chicken wings and shrimps, there are shishamo, soft shell crabs, silver pomfret and of course the delightful baby octopuses and baby crabs!
Yeah, we can’t wait to go back for another session of shelling out there, getting down and dirty with those crabs, shrimps and everything else!
SHELL OUT
No.11 Jalan Setia Dagang
U13/AK Seksyen U13
Setia Alam
40170 Shah Alam
Tel: 03-5879-4397/019-355-8573