Food Porn: Cutter’s Crabhouse Reinvented

Whet your appetite with crab – and more crab.

As a Seattle native and an avid food lover (the reason I workout), I am excited to introduce a new Seattleite column that is dedicated to food and all its glory — “Food Porn” will showcase restaurant openings, off the beaten-path eateries and restaurants you need to have on your “list”, as well as an ample supply of food porn photos for you to drool over.

In this edition of Food Porn, Cutter’s Crabhouse introduces a new way to experience crab. Located adjacent to Pike Place Market, this Seattle staple reopened on April 11th after two months of renovation.

Cutter's "Crab on Crab" Crab Cakes . Photo by Jennifer Liu.

Aiming to redefine the crabhouse experience, their new menu features bold flavors and fresh, quality ingredients — this is a seafood lover’s paradise. Maintaining over 25 years of excellent customer service with a beautiful view of Seattle’s Elliot Bay and Olympic Mountains, their new modern interiors make crab eating an even more special experience.

Now to the food —  the sushi, which is surprisingly good — being a sushi lover and having eaten it all over Seattle, their rolls rival Japanese restaurants (shhh!). The Nigiri sushi is fresh and melts in your mouth. The food porn continues with their Fried Beecher’s Cheese Curds with Mick’s Pepper Jelly, which is to-die-for and it’s about as local as it gets —  gathering the ingredients from within a blocks radius. Another must-have is their Smoked Salmon Chowder, it is unique and memorable — the smokiness is present, yet subtle enough to not overwhelm the palette. To top it all off, their “Crab on Crab” Crab Cakes are over the top. Unlike most crab cakes, which usually use small chunks of lump crabmeat, Cutter’s wraps an entire crab leg around the crabmeat base for a hearty, satisfying crab cake. Plus, their corn succotash is a bright, crunchy complement underneath the crab cake — I could have easily eaten a whole bowl of it.

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Photos by Jennifer Liu.

The drinks. Oh, the drinks. Every cocktail was interesting, but the favorite was the Market Collins, which features whatever is fresh in the market. Currently, their Market Collins is a light and tart grapefruit cocktail, which is perfect for a sunny spring afternoon. The Cutter’s mixologist is definitely worth visiting — the drinks are on point.

I love desserts, but as a baking fiend, I am often disappointed when I order them at restaurants.  However, the Apple Cobbler with caramel and cardamon is melt-in-your-mouth good, and the Chocolate Pudding are two items that deserve a repeat tasting. The cobbler was warm and bubbly with a scoop of caramel ice cream on top. The chocolate pudding was creamy and decadent and included vanilla wafers to dip.

Cutter’s is an elevated crab experience that you need to check-out firsthand. Come for socializing and great atmosphere, come for the killer seafood and gourmet dishes, or come for the $5 happy hour plates — just make sure to come soon.

Cutter’s Crabhouse  | 2001 Western Ave., Seattle  |  (206) 448-4884