Alternative title: the time we took a chance at Shane’s shrimp allergy not sending us to the hospital by picking a place that has a hell of a lot of it on the menu.

Check back later to see how this ends.

At least he did tell them upfront about his allergy, which has not always been the case. Shane picks strange ways to live dangerously.

OK, so let’s just first try to get past the obvious horrible name and blatant rip off of the Walt Disney World font.

Please tell me I’m not the only one to see this?

Anyway.

So Boiling House is seafood, as the name would suggest, but also sushi. OK then. I mean we’ve had burgers and sushi, but this is new.

The concept is that of a true seafood boil – so you choose a mix of seafood that’s paired with corn and potatoes, or you can order a la cart for a pound of shrimp, clams, lobster, snow crab, etc.

We started with the calamari, because, well, Shane.

And he really liked it. The breading looked heavy but actually tasted very light. I likened it to eating onion rings that were chewy … and tasted like seafood. So there’s that.

Meanwhile Ted started with the oysters.

He said they were good. He actually admitted that it’s been a while since he’s had good oysters, and that these fit the bill. His comment was that “they were great for northeast Ohio oysters.” And that they were even better than the oysters at the Noisy Oyster in The Valley.

I truly don’t think I’ve ever used the word oyster more in one paragraph … or maybe in any conversation, period.

But all that to say they’re highly recommended.

For dinner, I was the only one to go the seafood route. I got the pound of clams and added on a dinner roll.

When you order any of the seafood, you get to specify your sauce and level of spice. There’s a handy chart to show you what level of heat you’re potentially setting yourself up for – although I have to admit it’s hard to order certain things on that scale. Like I know what medium means for chicken wings, but clams? That’s a toss up.

I ended up opting for with the garlic butter and mild spice. Which worked out well for me. There was a enough of a kick to it still even with the mild level. Or it could’ve just been the copious amounts of garlic in the butter. Hard to say.

Ted tried the sauce and said he was thankful to know if he came back for seafood he could just skip right to the hot sauce.

Shane orders from the sushi side of the me u, with one each of all of the spicy rolls available except shrimp – so tuna, crab and salmon.

He said the sushi was “just alright.” It wasn’t the best he’s ever had, but it was still edible and quite filling. He learned he probably could’ve ordered two rolls instead of the three.

We always seem to learn that lesson the hard way, no?

Ted got the dragon roll and the yellow tail roll. He thought it was very good. Not as good as the oysters, but still very good.

Overall the Boiling House definitely has potential. It’s a cute place set right in downtown Akron (right behind the former Bricco) and it’s one of the few places you can get a true southern seafood boil in this area. I think given the reaction at our table I would recommend going for that reason and less for the sushi – especially given the wealth of other places in the nearby area that serve sushi.

And if you want oysters, apparently this is the place to be. And now I’m done typing that word for the rest of 2023.

Picked by: Ted