Live crab and lobster from the Gower boats, dressed crab made here every morning, Menai mussels, oysters, scallops in the shell
Shellfish and crab
The crab and lobster come from three boats off the Gower and arrive alive; we cook them in the yard each morning and dress the crab by hand. Menai Strait mussels by the kilo, rock oysters from Pembrokeshire, scallops in the shell when the divers go out, langoustines, prawns and a cockle from Penclawdd. Lobster to order, cooked or live.
The crab comes up on Monday night and Thursday night from three boats that work the pots off the Gower, and it arrives alive in the yard at seven. We cook it that morning in a copper of sea-salted water, cool it, and Siân dresses the crab by hand at the back bench, which is the slowest job in the shop and the one people come for.
Brown crab dressed with the brown and white meat separate, or whole cooked for you to pick; cock crabs for the claws, hens for the brown meat. Lobster cooked on the morning or live if you want to do it yourself, from about six hundred grams to two kilos, priced by the kilo and never by the "half lobster". Spider crab in summer, which is cheaper than brown and sweeter, and we will tell you how to get into one. Menai Strait mussels from a rope farm, cleaned and debearded; rock oysters from a Pembrokeshire creek, opened at the counter if you ask; scallops in the shell from two divers out of Milford when the weather lets them, with the roe on; langoustines live when a boat lands them; and the Penclawdd cockles, boiled, in a tub.
Shellfish is where the season matters most, and we say so: crab is at its best from May to November and thin in the spring after moulting, lobster is best in late summer, oysters are fine all year now but sweeter in the cold months, and scallops come when the sea is calm enough to dive. If it is thin or out of condition we say so, and we do not sell berried hens or undersized anything. Order ahead for a lobster or a dozen oysters and they are set aside with your name.
What you get
- Live crab and lobster from three Gower boats, Tuesday and Friday
- Cooked here in the yard on the morning; crab dressed by hand
- Menai mussels, Pembrokeshire oysters, hand-dived scallops
- Spider crab in summer; langoustines when landed; Penclawdd cockles
- Lobster live or cooked, by the kilo, from 600g
- Honest about the season and the condition
What it costs
Dressed crab £7.50 each, whole cooked crab £12 a kilo, lobster £38 a kilo cooked, Menai mussels £7.50 a kilo, rock oysters £1.60 each or six for £8.50, hand-dived scallops £2.80 in the shell. Today’s board has every line with its price and whether it has gone; the order page takes a Friday box, a counter order or a seat at fish school.
Questions about shellfish
When is crab best?
From May to November, when the shell is full. In early spring the crabs have moulted and are watery, and we say so on the ticket and sell fewer. Spider crab is best in June and July.
Can you cook a lobster for me?
Yes, every morning the boats come in, or to order on any day for the next morning. Cooked, cooled and split if you ask, with the claws cracked. Live if you would rather, in a box with ice.
Fish and chips at home this Friday, from this morning's boat.
A box for two, four or six: haddock or cod landed that morning, batter mix, blanched chips, mushy peas, tartare, a lemon and the card. Order by Thursday 6pm, collect Friday four till seven or have it delivered within five miles. The same form takes a counter order, a lobster, or a seat at fish school.