The full guide
Read straight through, or use the seafood notes above to keep buying, cooking and serving simple.
Enjoy Eating Shellfish
A guide on how to tackle a seafood platter including how to eat a crab claw, how to eat lobster in its shell, how to peel a prawn and how to eat a mussel.
We have met many people who have said how they would love to order shellfish in a restaurant but are reluctant to because they are not sure how to eat it. This is especially true for seafood platters where you have a variety of different shellfish to eat.
On this page we will demonstrate how to eat lobster, crab, mussels and prawns so that these wonderful foods can be enjoyed by everybody.
All the tools and utensils required to eat shellfish are available in our cook shop. This includes all items being used in the videos below.
Lobster
- The meat in a lobster's tail is easy to pull out and eat. There is also some delicious meat in each of the legs, which is best sucked out.
Crab
- If you have crab on a shellfish platter then it will normally be the claws and occasionally the legs too. The meat from the body of the crab is normally removed for you before serving a crab.
How to eat Lobster
How to eat a Crab Claw
How to peel or shell Prawns
Whole prawns became very popular a few years ago with the introduction of dishes in pubs and restaurants such as 'a pint of prawns' or 'a bucket of prawns'. The larger king prawns or tiger prawns are easier to peel. However, even small prawns are pretty easy to eat as demonstrated in this video.
How to eat Mussels
Eating mussels is very much hands on! With a bowl of mussels cooked in a delicious sauce such as white wine and garlic, it is a good idea to serve some nice crusty bread.
Our mussel pots are an all in one solution. You can cook and serve them in the pot and then the lid becomes the container for the empty shells. They look good too!
Common questions
- How do you eat lobster from the shell?
- The tail meat pulls out easily in one piece; crack the claws with a cracker and draw the meat out with a pick, and do not forget to suck the sweet meat from the legs.
- How do you eat a crab claw?
- Crack the claw with a cracker or the back of a heavy knife, then pull or pick the meat out with a seafood fork. Claws are good fun and full of sweet white meat.
- How do you eat mussels properly?
- Eat the first mussel with a fork, then use its empty hinged shell as pincers to pluck out the rest — the traditional French way — and mop up the sauce with crusty bread.
- How do you peel a prawn?
- Twist off the head, peel the shell away from the legs, then pinch and pull the tail. Larger king or tiger prawns are easiest, but even small ones come away cleanly.
- What tools do you need for a seafood platter?
- Crab and lobster crackers, seafood picks or forks, finger bowls with lemon, and a bowl for the empty shells. Everything you need is in our cook shop.
