We allocated a day to explore Sacramento Old Town –  good call, seeing that there are plenty of things to see and do here. Apart from museums and buildings with interesting architecture and history, there are also loads of shops selling everything from traditional Native American crafts aand costumes to souvenirs and even joke items.

Sacramento Bridge.

It was a hot, sunny afternoon and it was high time for lunch, so we popped into Joe’s Crab Shack for some food. It’s a popular seafood chain with a waterfront concept and they have branches all over the States.

Cosy and colourful, with wooden decor made to resemble a fishing shack and fish floating from the ceiling. Neon signs adorn the walls, like the type you usually find at beach bars. The place was quite empty because it was a weekday.

You know how you tend to order way too much food when you’re starving? In Chinese, we have a proverb for that : “Big eyes, small stomach” – meaning that when you’re hungry, your brain tends to tell you that the food isn’t enough when you can only fit so much into your stomach. 😀

For starters, we had a Classic Sampler: nachos, creamy crab dip, hush puppies and fried calamari.

You know, I’ve been in the States for a couple of weeks and I still can’t get over how big the meal portions are. This was massive and would have been enough for two as a main meal.

The food was tasty enough. The crab dip was creamy and a tad too salty, but the nachos evened it out. The calamari was well flavoured, fresh and springy. It was my first time seeing a ‘hush puppy’. The ones here are made from seafood, stuffed with jalapenos and cream cheese before they were coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried. Sounds like an artery clogging nightmare, but it was goodddd.

Garlicky Mussels – served in garlic butter sauce and a side of garlic bread. This was a hit and miss – too salty and too oily, even though the mussels were sizable.

Fish and chips. I prefer ranch > mayo, so fattening. The fish was okay, soft and juicy on the inside, crunchy on the outside.

Extremely stuffed and with a lot left over, we got a doggie bag to go for dinner.

JOE’S CRAB SHACK