Grab A Yabby is a hip and happening seafood bar on Beaufort Street, just at the back of block of shops near the IGA. Bright and airy, the menu consists of mainly seafood, but also some steak and ribs options. Our waitress, Rory was a delight – she made us feel welcome and explained the menu in detail to us.
When you sit you are presented with various helpful options for your meal, which can be a messy affair (not advisable to wear your best frock or a white shirt!). You get a plastic bib, napkins, and disposable gloves. Seafood comes with a mallet to crack open the shells and a knife to dig out the flesh, and of course a bowl for the waste shells etc.
We chose a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to drink – a very nice drop indeed, with great fruit on the nose and very reasonably priced.
To start we chose the signature soft shell crab sliders, and to be honest, I could have eaten a whole plate of them – they were outstanding. Crispy soft shell crab, mayo, lettuce all in a cute brioche bun. Yum.
For mains we selected a combo – the freshwater crayfish combo – 1lb (about half a kilo) of crawfish and yabbies in our chosen sauce which was XO – a classic Asian sauce of shallots, lemongrass, dried shrimps and scallops. This was served in a bag which was a great idea for ensuring that the shellfish were coated in the sauce, and the bag contained potato and sweetcorn. We also received a pot of rice which was lovely with the sauce drizzled over the top. It was messy fun peeling and extracting the fish meat from the crustaceans, and the staff were readily on hand to give yabby peeling lessons. Once we got into using the mallet, a few pieces of shellfish did go flying, but it was all good delicious fun. Everything was wonderfully fresh and tasty. I really would have loved some bread to soak up the rest of that lovely sauce.
We also chose a rack of pork ribs which was beautifully presented and served with chips and a lovely little watermelon salad. After finishing the seafood and washing our hands (there is a convenient wash station with soap and paper towels), we disrobed our bibs and moved across the table to the less messy side to eat the ribs.
The meat on the ribs was succulent and they were well flavoured. The chips were top quality too. If I had one criticism it was that the rib meat didn’t fall apart from the bone and another 30-60 minutes cooking would have made all of the difference, the coating was also a bit on the salty side for me, but not unpleasantly so. At the end of the meal there was no room for dessert, and we went home with very full tummies.
I will definitely return and try some of the other seafood on offer. Grab A Yabby is ideal for groups, it’s fun and it’s good. Give it a try.
Last Visit Date – March 2018
Truly Scrumptious 
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