Red & Gold Boil

Never got to go there because they closed up in October 2015. What I don’t understand is how the previous poster (Hannah C) was able to post about this place yesterday– 3 months after they closed shop? Was this a real review or a fake one? It’s evident that she couldn’t have eaten there yesterday, the day she posted.

One of the better boils in town! Comparable to some of the cali boils

I had an amazing time at The Boil and Joe’s Crab Shack so I figure I should give this place a try. I am a huge fan of crabs, especially when it is served in this style with the bag and cajun style.
Overall, the food was great. Everything was fresh. The sauce was good, but not overwhelming, which I appreciated. I didn’t feel gross and nauseous afterwards like the way I feel after eating at The Boil. I usually keep tasting and smelling like the sauce they use at The Boil.
The service is pretty good. I think this place would do well if it was in another area. I’ve seen establishments on this block come and go through the years. I think this side of St Marks is just bad luck. Restaurants never seem to do well on this side of the street for some odd reason. I don’t know why? I think we need a big name to come in and then maybe the luck on that side of the street will change.
I probably won’t be back, but I think this place is just as good as The Boil. The prices are comparable and you don’t need to wait in line for an hour. It’s just that this place is in a neighborhood where people aren’t willing to pay the prices this place charges.

What I like about this particular place is the Crystal Crab aka gold crab because not many seafood Restaurants served crystal crabs, such as the Boil or Claw’s Daddy. The fried calamari is tasteless, and the chicken wings are super dry and abhorrent. I do enjoy the crab cocktail, but it’s not like I can’t get it anywhere else. I mean overall I would give their food rating three stars. The services here are atrocious. One of the waiters not only forgets to put in my order but fail to notify me after. Then he had another waitress take care of us for the rest of the evening until we left, a very unprofessional way of handling this situation. Honestly, I wouldn’t be as upset if he would just tell me he forgot to put in my order, rather than to avoid serving us. The seasoning it’s alright to me, nothing special and it is watery compared to a thicker seasoning like at the Boil or Claw’s Daddy and even Boat House in Brooklyn.
— Like some of the food (crystal crab, garlic butter clams & shrimps, lobster Bisque)
— Dislike most the services

I am extremely particular about my crabs and have sampled the best crabs New York has to offer… but the crabs served at Red & Gold Boil are truly amazing!
The moment I bit into the de-​shelled stone claw crab offered up as a house appetizer, I knew we were in for a treat. They were simply sublime in their crab bite succulence.
Our taste buds warmed up with starters of fresh oysters, crunchy perfectly seasoned soft shell crabs & honey delicious siracha chicken wings. Then the feast began… with clams and succulent shrimp with their heads on bursting with garlic butter tastiness.
Then came Maryland Blue Claw Crabs which were served up two ways each cooked in their own brine bag with Old Bay Seasoning and with Garlic butter. The crabs were perfectly cooked to perfection; firm sweet & juicy. Each seafood satchel was filled with sweet shrimp, corn & potatoes bursting with flavor. With just enough spice to make your palette want more.
Lucky us, Owner Tom Yu was on hand to greet us and proudly answer all our crab questions while the waitresses hustled & bustled eager to please hungry patrons.
Red and Gold has a winning formula with their fresh off the boat quality and mouth watering recipes.
Highly recommend from one crabby to another.

Can’t remember the last time I’ve been led THIS astray by Unilocal.
$ 20 a person for a «seafood feast» might sounds like a deal, but at what cost!!!
The lobster didn’t taste fresh, very funky. I had one bite and couldn’t touch it. There were TWO shrimp in our bag, THREE sausage slices and a potato or two? The only thing they were generous with was the noodles — which I’m not exactly sure belong with a boil in the first place. Somehow even the fries were gross. How do you mess up fries?!
To summarize: I learned my lesson and will not try to get seafood at a bargain again.

I am a HUGE fan of seafood boils. You can say Im pretty much obsessed with fresh seafood drenched in sauce and spices. I come from from the West Coast so I’m familiar with Boiling Crab, Firehouse, Hot & Juicy, etc. The main thing that gets me hooked is the fresh seafood and the sauce.
Red & Gold Boil is not one of your typical seafood boil spots. The sauce is NOT super thick, bold, or buttery. The sauce is pretty light compared to, I would say, The Boil, in Chinatown. Red & Gold is good because they offer deals (most of the time) & their sauce is not too robust. I actually do prefer that extra extra extra spicy, thick, buttery sauce, like The Boil. Then again it all depends on what mood I am in. A downer for me is their spicy level is NOT as spicy as it claims (THUMBS DOWN). Fresh seafood, decent sauce, but spicy sauce not a hitter!
Would I return? Yes!

So delicious. Got the lobster boil and was able to share it with 3 friends. Recommend getting all of the above seasoning for the boils; reminds me of crawfish boil. Also put the noodles in rather than separate.
Calamari was good, not great, but the proportion was larger than other places for the price
I would come back for the same thing and try something new. I highly recommend this place.

Kinda sad I walked by this place tens of times without stopping by. As for appetizers… the fried catfish was insanely delicious, I could’ve had five more servings of it! In terms of the boil, I had the Florida crab boil which took a lot of effort (but you don’t go to a boil and not expect to grind). The boils come with assorted seafood like calamari rings, shrimp, mussel, squid, etc… and also other staples like corn, potatoes, and sausage. So for $ 35, its definitely a steal compared to The Boil in the LES. Speaking of comparison to The Boil, this place does their sauce a lot better. It’s not OVER sauced where it becomes a tad too salty and overbearing. Rather it’s more of a pool of wondrous flavors at the bottom of the bag where you can dunk your seafood treasures into. I recommend getting the «all of the above» flavor. 5 stars.

There’s something particular about eating an entire crab outside, to the amusement (and perhaps revulsion) of people passing by. Clad in my office mandated biz-​casual attire, wearing a bib and gloves, I’m performing for them. But just as much, they’re performing for me.
Anyways, I got the florida golden crab and that sucker was big. I probably could have went with the smaller option. The medium spicy option is just hot enough to keep you honest. The flavor was solid.

I am giving these guys 4 stars for the quality of the crab. The Florida Golden Crab was really fresh. I think for the most part seafood here is fresher than The Boil’s.
The crab came with clams, potatoes, pasta, shrimp, squid and corn. All the extras were good except for the shrimp which didn’t taste as fresh — but still decent. The only place where Red & Gold Boil fell short (especially when compared to The Boil) is the sauce. We had the spicy sauce and it was way too watery to have much flavor. All they need to do is make that sauce thicker and I think will be a 5 star place for me.
My wife and I had a groupon which itself was discounted so we ended up paying peanuts for the food. We sat pretty close to the door which was somewhat helpful because there was a fair amount of smoke coming out of the kitchen. Enough to bother both our eyes. The service was excellent throughout. Our waitress was very polite and took care of us the entire time.
I think it would a fun place to go to with a big groups as well, which they are able to accomodate.

I LOVE Red & Gold Boil!
I went during their winter special: 50% off boils, and $ 12 for a whole lobster. I’m seriously addicted to seafood, so this was a blessing from some higher power. My boyfriend, friend and I shared two boils: the Dungeness crab boil and the shrimp boil. My memory is a little hazy because I was overwhelmed by the amazing flavors, but we may have ended up ordering another Dungeness crab boil. Why not? #treatyoself.
Okay you might laugh at me, but the best part of it all was the PASTA. Who knew? It soaked up all the delicious juices and sauces and seasonings. I am not ashamed of the fact that we all tore into the food like savages and devoured it instantly.
The shrimp and crab seemed endless — they were really generous with the boils. The sides (corn, sausage, potatoes, pasta) were also on point. With the special, it ended up being less than $ 30 for each of us. We were one of the only tables in there too, so the servers were very attentive and accommodating. I’m super frugal with my spending so I’m not sure if I’ll go when they aren’t having a special, but I’ll definitely be back in winter.

Confession: I did not get paid to come here, and I had a delicious seafood meal at Red & Gold Boil. They currently have a 25% off boils offer, which brings down the $ 35-​$ 45 boils to to $ 26-​$ 34. You can choose from two varieties of crabs, lobster, and shrimp — I went with the crab. Each boil will serve two people comfortably, so be sure to bring a friend when you come.
We ordered an appetizer of soft shell crabs, which were fresh and fried skillfully. That got us suitably hungry for the crab boil, which came unceremoniously in a clear plastic bag in a metal bucket. The server untied the knotted plastic bag, rolled down the edges of the bag, and invited us to tuck in. After securing the flimsy plastic bibs around our necks, we proceeded to eat our way through the food. The Old Bay seasoning that’s a little spicy was quite perfect. I think the owners have since taken into account complaints on Unilocal that the broth was bland to heart — the broth was savory and flavorful, if not a tad bit too salty, but penetrated the crab and vegetables very well.
I liked the corn, potatoes, shrimp, and mussels that came as part of the boil too. It provided a breather when I was sick of prying crabmeat out of unyielding shells and was a great medium to transport the flavor to my mouth.
Despite the cheesy exterior of this restaurant (cartoon crab?!), I think it is poised to succeed if it continues with delicious, quality food.

To start you should order appetizers as the boil takes almost an hour to arrive but when it does!!! We ordered the golden crab boil with extra shrimp with old bay and a little spicy.
The little spicy was all we could take and we drank lots of water for a little spicy. The boil was delicious we had 2 huge claws and 3 clusters of crab 4 shrimp 3 mussels and 4 pieces of squid along with some potatoes and pasta and 4 small ears of corn. All in all it was a great deal because we used an Amazon local coupon!!! I would highly recommend this place for a date nite or any outing with friends. Nice environment for family and kids!

I will bet good money that the majority if not all the 5 star reviews are from friends of the owners who probably ate here for free. No one with taste buds would give this place 5 stars. Not based on the food I was served last night.
We had original dinner plans on Second Ave but the street was closed due to the explosion. Since we were on St Marks we were lured by their Winter Special 50% off boils. That should’ve been our first hint. 50% off sounds like a great deal so no way can it be worth it. We ordered 3 boils — little spicy shrimp with lemon butter, spicy shrimp with all the sauces and a spicy lobster with all the sauces. It was close to 30 minutes before we received our food. The «sauce» is appalling. What they serve is not «sauce», it is water with some hot sauce and lots of salt. Also seafood is not fresh, I can tell the quality by how the shrimp shells peel. If they come off easily, that’s fresh shrimp. The shrimp they served is probably cheap old frozen shrimp. I don’t think you could pay me to eat here again.
PLEASE save your money and calories and eat anywhere else — go to the Boil on Chrystie Street, go to 2 brothers pizza next door, go to Marks for sliders. DON’T EAT HERE! 1 star for the servers, at least they were friendly.

Right now there is a winter promotion going on. 50% off their entrée.
There was no wait for a table but service was slow. We had to ask for menus and wave down the server.
We started with an order of Honey Siracha wings. It was nice and crispy, also tasted good but the smell threw me off. It has a pungent smell, like a weird honey/​garlic/​vinegar? not sure how to describe it.
For our entrée, we ordered the Crab boil and the Lobster boil. the boils are served in a plastic bag, which you use to take your leftovers home.
Portions are huge and so was the crab. The shellfish was cooked perfectly, not over cooked at all. The potatoes could have been softer.
1 boil could probably feed 2 people.
I wouldn’t mind coming back here since there is a promotion but i’m not a huge fan.
The menu is also quite small, i wish there were more stuff on the menu. On the menu, there are appetizers and 3 types of boil.

Excellent service, waiter was very attentive and knew all about the different types of crabs and was able to provide great suggestions. The food however was ok, not terrible but I’ve had better.
For the appetizers we got the fried calamari and garlic butter clams and shrimp. The calamari was good, the sauce was a little too tangy for my taste. The clams and shrimp was good, if you love the garlic taste cause it was loaded with garlic. For the main we got the shrimp and the golden crab. The sauce was a little watery so it didn’t seem like the sauce was soaked up by the seafood. The shrimps and crab were very sizable and they were having a 50% off the mains so it was a very good deal! The spicy wasn’t very spicy at all so be sure to go for the extra spicy if you really want that kick. Although you do get the corn potatoes mussel shrimp some squid and even pasta in your bag it’s still a little pricey and there is another eat-​seafood-​out-​of-​a-​bag place that I would prefer that is half the price and much more tasty! But this was still a fun experience and excellent atmosphere!

50% off on all boils special! We’ll try it.
We ordered the shrimp boil and the lobster boil both spicy with the works. It comes with spaghetti noodles, corn, potatoes and mussels. The flavor was decent it wasn’t as great as the other boil spots we’ve been to such as The Boil and Boiling Crab.
Beer was good they had ommegang witte. Service was a bit slow for a non-​busy Saturday night. Maybe a sign?

PROS:
— 50% OFF all boils throughout Winter! Great Deal!
— FLORIDA GOLDEN CRAB Boil — delicious and fresh! It comes with potatoes, corn, pasta, shrimp, and mussel.
— One Boil is enough for 3 girls. According to one reviewer, one boil is enough to share with 2 people so we thought we needed to order another one just in case there wasn’t enough. Turns out 2 was too much. So 1 boil can definitely feed 3 people and you can get an appetizer on the side if you like.
— OLD BAY SAUCE LIGHT SPICY was delicious but my lips started getting tingly after a couple of bites. We got one boil with regular old bay sauce and it just wasn’t as good as the light spicy one.
— got buckets to get rid of all the waste.
— provides you with aprons
CONS:
— None really but:
— It can get a little messy eating the crab especially the crab legs.
— You smell like whatever you just ate and you definitely want to throw a piece of gum in your mouth before you walk out of this place.
Note: They ACCEPT CREDIT CARD.
Will come back soon to try their other stuff.

The Boil is where it’s still at. Whenever you have something really good and another place opens up shop, you compare. The comparison is not even close. The seafood is fresh but there was no seasoning aka flavor, the sauce was über bland, maybe ordering the sauce spicy would have helped. The portions are very generous, a bag is a good size for two people. The ventilation system could use some work since I left really really stinky and I also noticed this weird eye tickling sensation, my eyes started to water before the food ever came out.
The food:
Florida Golden Crab– with all the sauces and original spice level. The crab had nice texture but not much taste. The shrimp had no taste nor texture, the calamari had no taste nor texture. The calamari and mussels were such an after thought. The pasta didn’t absorb into the sauce and the potato was just OK.

It’s nice to know that if I’m craving crab I can stop here. They’ve got a small but appropriately focused menu, considering the theme here.
Had the calamari and some crabs. Clarified butter can come flavored and is delish.
I can easily see this place being a hit in the Winter. Recommended to my colleague and will give a second try for an update.
Service is attentive, prompt and efficient.
Bathrooms are clean and well decorated. Tried to take a pic but Unilocalapp was malfunctioning.

If you want fresh, delicious seafood, look no further! I was so excited to see this spot open up on St Mark’s street. I love the outdoor seating and the décor, but most of all the food!
Just like many of the reviewers, I’ve tried Joe’s Crab Shack, Boiling Crab in California and also of course The Boil. The Boil was my favorite of all, until I tried this spot. While The Boil and this place have a similar concept, there are some differences. If you are a crab lover, this is your place. If you like crayfish and shrimp, the boil is your spot. If you like very flavorful sauces, the boil would be better; however, this is a lighter sauce that doesn’t overpower the fresh seafood, which is what I can appreciate. (Nothing is worse than having fresh seafood covered up by overpowering sauce). I also think the service is slightly better here and I believe they also take credit cards.
I had the calamari which was a generous portion and not overly breaded over a bed of fries. I would recommend them double frying the fries to raise the bar a little. The calamari was decent served with a thousand island/​tarter sauce. I also had the red crab in a lemon pepper sauce and the gold crab with the old bay seasoning. I highly recommend the gold crab, although the red Atlantic crab was tasty too. The gold crab from the Florida coast definitely had a subtle sweeter taste. I loved the old bay seasoning although next time I would like to try the everything sauce! The crabs were on point!!!
All in all, I find this place to really know a lot about fresh seafood and can sense their passion for crab catching. I highly recommend you trying this spot! Definitely try the golden crab with old bay seasoning!