A taste of the seafood boil at The Boil Bar

Boil Bar has changed up the Markham dining scene after opening in February with their Louisiana-style seafood restaurant. Inspired by the Southern trend, this family-friendly experience allows us to be fully hands-on with our food. Guests can be fully immersed in our meal, surrounded by detailed nautical-themed decor; orange seats, wooden walls, and murals of their seafood all over the restaurant. Each table is also equipped with tissue, paper towels, a bib, gloves, a claw cracker, and a metal pail for the shells.

Crawfish

One of the most iconic features on the menu is their boiled marinated-seafood in a plastic bag. King crab leg and crawfish are a few of the catches you can choose from. Afterwards we pick our sauces like cajun, garlic, house, curry, or lemon pepper. All of the sauces had a generous amount of cooked flavourful garlic which absorbed perfectly into the meat. My favourite is the cajun. On top of that, there are 4 levels of spiciness to choose from. There is really a kick with the spicier ones, so I’m fortunate that they have a bubble tea shop, Presotea, built into their restaurant where milky bubble tea is readily available to balance out the spiciness.

Sizzling plate of chicken served with rice

There are so many options available to order with their seafood. Getting the fries – which I could not stop eating – was the perfect side dish to dip in all the sauces. Other side dishes include spicy ox’s offal, fried octopus balls, and chicken wings to name a few. In addition, we tried one of their sizzling plates with chicken, which had a delicious cheesy taste to it as well. Out of everything that we ate, my top two dishes was the baked lobster and the grilled sweet corn.

Baked Lobster

Overall, the experience was one-of-a-kind. It turns out that their emphasis on freshness is a key part in maintaining the restaurant’s integrity. Their lobster is imported daily from Halifax and their Crawfish is from Los Angeles – never frozen.

The Boil Bar will be expected to open their flagship location in downtown at 664 Yonge Street around May, so get your bibs ready for a messy good time!

Check in on Facebook for a complimentary Presotea drink with your meal
Check in on Yelp for 10% off
Pay cash for 5% off

Photos by James Shay and Nick Lee