The Dirty Duck Alehouse

Good food has to be shared – and The Dirty Duck Alehouse is definitely one of those.
We dropped by the Dirty Duck the other day after a trip to the transport side of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. The alehouse is a large but busy place; it was nearing 3pm but it was still full of customers.

We were seated upstairs by the window. E settled for standard pub fare – the Dirty Duck Angus burger (£9.25), which was a large, juicy burger with generous toppings.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t but order seafood given our view overlooking the sea. As I’d been completely off seafood (apart from fish) for more than a month, I jumped at the chance to have Crab Claws (£10.50). The crab claws are actually on the starter menu, but I love that restaurants here tend to offer some, if not all of their starters in main-sized portions.



The crab claws were absolutely divine – no points for guessing that the reason why there isn’t a picture of the Angus burger is because I was too absorbed in and excited about my meal! There were so many crab claws that I actually got a bit tired eating them at one stage, and – to my own disbelief - gave at least 4 of them to E. I estimate that at least 12 crabs gave their lives for my wonderful meal.

The ciabatta was a brillant touch. It soaked up the flavours of the garlic butter-infused broth, and complemented the textures of the tomato and leek perfectly. The portion of bread was just right too – I dipped it in the broth, scooped up leek and tomatoes with my fork and placed it atop the bread, and dunked bite-sized bits of it into the broth at the end to absorb all the garlicky seafood goodness. E teasingly offered to get me a spoon – but who needs spoons when you have ciabatta!  ♥♥

Be prepared to get your hands dirty when you have this dish – as there’s no way to eat crab claws without using your fingers – but the warmth in your tummy and your garlic seafood insides (yes, I do love the combination) will make it more than worthwhile.

The Dirty Duck Alehouse
2-4 Kinnegar Road
Holywood
Co.Down
BT18 9JN
Tel: 028 9059 6666