MARY FURR -- Dining Out

You can’t be crabby with Kenny when he offers such good food in an

atmosphere that co-owner Ken Pole says is reminiscent of a crab shack on

the way to Key West, Fla.

Pole and Chris Morino opened Crabby Kenny’s last moth on Walnut

Avenue, off Main Street in Huntington Beach. It is a patched-together

cafe of rusted, corrugated steel and distressed wood with a patio of red

umbrella tables in front and an inside bar surrounded by square wooden

tables and mismatched red, green and yellow chairs. It’s staffed by young

servers whose T-shirts read “I eat ‘m raw.”

To begin, we shared the jumbo shrimp cocktail ($7.95), which has six

beautiful, firm, tail-on shrimp laid across a plate beside a curled leaf

filled with cocktail sauce, a dab of horseradish and a lemon quarter --

absolutely the best. It’s one of the 13 varied appetizers that include

oysters on the half shell ($1 each), stone crabs (one pound, $8.50), and

clam chowder (plain $5.50, in a bread bowl $7.50).

Galley specials prepared with the expertise of experience by Chef

Robert Simoni, formerly of the Kachina Grill in Long Beach, include king

crab leg (one pound, $26.95), snow crabs ($14.50) and baby back ribs

($11.95), but we selected grilled swordfish (lunch $10.95, dinner

$18.50).

The swordfish is a great inch-thick slice with firm, almost meat-like

density -- tender and well-seasoned. Grilling helps retain the juices and

adds a good outside crust. The plate includes two small, perfectly boiled

red skin potatoes, slightly sweet slaw and fresh cut-off-the-cob corn

kernels.

A 10-ounce grilled top sirloin (lunch $12.95, dinner $15.95) was

something to behold -- at least 2 inches thick, the size of a child’s

fist, darkly grilled on the outside with an inside that was just done --

still pink but not bloody. The excellence of the preparation would do

honor to any steakhouse. It’s also served with the slaw, corn and boiled

potatoes.

That wonderful flavor from Florida citrus, key lime mousse ($4.95),

the only dessert offered, is light but solid, just the right sharp,

lemony taste to finish a meal.

One problem at Crabby Kenny’s is the unisex restroom. When I was

there, it lacked paper towels, toilet paper and seat covers.

The atmosphere at Crabby Kenny’s is one of energetic enthusiasm --

Morino is a Dwyer Middle School and Huntington Beach High School graduate

who said it’s the people who work at Kenny’s and those who dine there

that make the place. There is a sense of shared enjoyment in a casual

atmosphere that he finds reminiscent of South Florida -- a Key West feel

he has brought to Huntington Beach.

MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments

or suggestions for her, call (562) 493-5062.

FYI

o7 CRABBY KENNY’S

f7 WHERE: 200 Main St., Huntington Beach

PHONE: (714) 454-9456

HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and 11:30 a.m

to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.