Sometimes I have crazy food cravings.

I’ll be going about my regular day and then suddenly it comes out of nowhere: “I need some pizza!” or “What happened to all the ice cream I ate?” To a point, I feel like a hungry pregnant woman. Only thing is I don’t get a party with gifts for a growing person in my stomach. Regardless, the hungry pregnant-like woman was in full force not too long ago when I was craving lobster. I needed a lobster roll and nothing was getting in my way. But was I going to drive all the way down to Long Beach to my loved Pier 76? No sir, I was not. Thanks to a little Google search my friend and I found lobster rolls close to home. All we had to do was drive to Knuckle and Claw in Silver Lake and my hunger would be quelled.

So that’s what we did.

It only took a simple thirty minute drive from Altadena to the hipster capital of the nation and a lobster roll (or twelve) would soon be in my hands. The Knuckle and Claw location is designed pretty nicely. It’s a relatively small restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating and a garage door style opening. I love those kinds of doors! The color scheme, art, and overall ambiance is that of the sea. Lots of blues, whites, and some grays were painted throughout the eatery. Frames displayed images of seashells and the walls had chalk drawings of waves, pirates, boats, and sea creatures that looked like my baby pictures. Aside from the garage door, my other favorite part of the décor was the lights. No bulbs with ordinary lamp shades here. Instead, the interior is lit up by glass bottles hanging from a twine-like material. It caught my attention and my gaze for a bit. Then I had to look away before it started to burn my corneas.

When my friend and I arrived, there was already a line of about five people. The problem we noticed was it was moving slowly. Unfortunately, there were only four people working that day: one cashier, one person on clean up, and two people making/running the food. I started to wonder if this was how the place always worked. Since the restaurant gets a lot of foot traffic, grab a seat quickly. While my friend stood in line to order, I stole two seats at the counter.

Finally he ordered. The cashier was so sweet and maintained a great attitude in spite of the long line and a crazy hungry lady who looked like she was going to jump the counter for a roll (that was me). When ordering, you can either get your rolls as minis or full. The minis are small, about half the size of a hot dog bun. If you’re trying to get your beach body ready then order those. If you’re going to wear a t-shirt to the beach or pool, go for the full size; it’s the size of a hot dog bun. We got a Lemonade ($4), two full Maine Lobster Rolls ($18 each), and two full Blue Crab Rolls ($11 each). Oh my goodness, this pains me to say, but our meal was $65! I know lobster is expensive so the selling price has to increase accordingly, but dang it was pricey. I gasped when I saw a couple and their four kids. I thought, “Are those kids sharing one roll or are you feeding all of them?” I had to stop for a second and realize the food could taste so good that price would be (somewhat) irrelevant. It would only be a matter of time until I find out.

Actually, it was 20 minutes.

The cashier let us know in advance that the wait would be long and she wasn’t kidding. One of the chefs could see the hunger sadness on my face and explained that half of the staff was out at Coachella. Ok. In that case it made sense. I had to give this team here credit for holding down the boat and feeding everyone with only half the crew on deck. Did you catch those boat puns there? Oh yeah, I made a funny.

So time passes and we get our food! I started with the crab roll because the lobster was the main part of my show. The crab roll wasn’t really my thing. I say that because I think it was because of the type of meat—blue crab. Maybe it’s more of an acquired taste or maybe it’s just not my preference, but the taste wasn’t sort of bland and boring. Either way, the roll would have just been ok regardless of how the chef dressed it up.

Once the crab was gone, I got to the lobster roll and it was beautifully delicious. The roll (just like with the crab) wasn’t overly soaked in butter and the bread was soft. I still think about how soft that roll was! Then there was the lobster. Not some crappy small dices, but thick chunks. They were succulent and juicy. Halfway through, I found such a huge lobster chunk that I looked around and made sure no one saw it. I mean, what if they didn’t notice they gave me such a big piece? No one was going to find out until the evidence was gone. From the bread, the seasoning, and the lobster chunks I was so happy. Until it was gone. That’s when my bottom lip quivered and I whispered, “Feed me more please.”

Thanks to Knucle and Claw, the crazy cravings went away and I became a normal person again. The restaurant has a nice décor, great staff, good food, but is pretty pricey. To fill up on this place, you have to have a well-paying job, know how to allocate your funds, or not worry about spending money on food. Would I deplete my account for this place? No. But would I transfer money from my mom’s account into mine for this place? Most certainly. And I think I’m going to do it on Sunday.

Don’t rat me out.

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