Have you ever tried seafood boiled in a plastic cooking bag? If not, you're in for a treat! After discovering this concept during a recent vacation, we were excited to find The Captain's Boil on Robson Street in downtown Vancouver, offering the same fun dining experience. This restaurant serves steamed seafood in plastic bags with various spices and broths, creating a unique and flavorful meal. We visited during their AYCE promotion -- shrimp, mussels, and fries for $46.99 per adult. Here's how it works: Choose Your Flavour: Cajun, garlic, lemon pepper, or their signature Captain's Boil (a combo of all flavours). Choose Your Heat Level: From non-spicy to FIRE . Each bag contains about 1 lb of seafood. We tried different flavours and spice levels, and while all were delicious, our favourites were the Captain's Boil and the Garlic flavour. As spice lovers, we found the medium heat just right, but next time, we're ready to take on the FIRE level! The seafood was fresh, expertly cooked, and bursting with flavour. This spot is perfect for groups, especially during their promotion -- big savings and lots of fun. They have multiple locations across Metro Vancouver, so check them out! Whether it's a family gathering or a fun outing with friends, The Captain's Boil is a must-try for seafood lovers. We'll definitely be back! Food: 4/5 Should Try! Service: 4/5 Kids: 3/5 A-Ok for kids, but it can be very messy! Price: $30-$50 per person. (AYCE promotion) Presentation: 1/5 Parking: Paid street parking Tips: * Can get messy, even with the bibs and gloves provided--embrace it! * Start with 1 lb of each seafood and order more halfway through to keep it hot and fresh. * Experiment with different seasonings and spice levels for variety. * Consider adding discounted side dishes. Would I Return: Yes ‍ read more

See all

We were excited for seafood in Vancouver, but tired from travelling and didn't want fancy. There are SO many good looking restaurants on Robson Street, but my mom isn't the most adventurous. We both found something we liked at The Captain's Boil. She got the 3 mini lobster rolls, and I got the clams baked in a bag with a massive plate of seafood fried rice. We both had the Cajun fries, which definitely have some kick. I also enjoyed the video of the two guys trying everything on the menu that played on a loop, and was mouthwatering. The staff was very nice, and made sure to mention that the seafood is all market price. The comfortable atmosphere, especially my bib, were just what we were looking for that night. read more

See all

Everything was boiled way beyond any semblance of basic knowledge of cooking seafood, or anything for that matter,crab,shrimp,crayfish. .all cooked to a mushy paste, the corn had the texture of pablum, the rice tasted like it was 4 days old. Not sure what the rave is about ... save your money, you'd be better off microwaving Captian Highlander Fish sticks... read more

Super fun experience with chill service and very fair priced seafood! Crawfish were a bit on the small size when I visited, but the flavours were great and things weren't fishy at all! read more

The Captain's Boil - Crawfish pound - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Food is perfect and atmosphere is very great Staff is really friendly Highly recommended this location read more

Went and had the King Crab boil . I added potato , corn , sausage. This was hands down one of the best things I've EVER tasted ! Literally everything was delicious. read more

The Captain's Boil - Captains Bowl - King crab , mussels , crawfish , corn , sausage , potatoes. - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

The food was really good. Very quiet staff so not much of a customer service experience. I had the shrimp basket with fries and would definitely order again! Looking forward to tasting the boil next time. read more

we were very excited to try this place and it smelled so good when we walked in. we were shocked to find everything dropped on our table in individual plastic bags, with plastic gloves to eat with. talk about not being environmentally friendly. everything was insanely garlicky to the point of not tasting good and I typically enjoy garlic. the only thing not overly garlicky were the completely bland noodles. our corn was soggy and tasted rotten. the only item that was tasty was the sweet potato fries, but after spending over $200 for 3 people to eat terrible food, that was small consolation. I can't understand how the place was packed, but I will say the staff were lovely. read more

See all

My first visit was great, the crab, mussels, clams, shrimp basket were all delicious. The second visit though, I felt everything was too salty. I ordered the same cajun spice so I'm not sure why the difference between the 2 visits. All the seafood we've tasted is fresh. The mussels are huge and juicy so I think that may be the best deal. The crab was good, but it was way too much work for my unskilled hands haha. The seafood fried rice was good but not amazing. It's basically a whole lot of rice with the cajun sauce with a few shrimps. The fries both times were crispy and flavourful. The gloves are kind of thin so we both needed an extra pair half way through our meal. The gloves are also one-size-fits-all so they were huge on our small girly hands. The restaurant has a very casual vibe, and the service was fine, you just have to wave your hand to get the waitress' attention sometimes. I will be back for sure. read more

See all

FINALLY! Crab legs in YVR! I used to love going to the Keg restaurant for crab legs, then they stopped selling them and I was determined to have crab legs and this spot was PERFECT! Add the chicken fried rice with some spice and we had the perfect meal! The boils we're something else, a whole first time experience. Will definitely come back and tell everyone! Plus the staff put up with our loud group. Thank you! read more

The Captain's Boil - The aftermath of our supper out for 7. It was so freakin' good! - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

FOOD POISONING!!! Dined here last night and what a horrible experience. Im not sure if the waitress has a disable-ability of being emotionless / stoneface or if she just doesn't give a ****? We felt sick all night, at 3am we both vomiting and being very sick. The food sucked, the presentation of the food was horrible, the lobster had huge crack/holes in the claw not sure if the chef was fighting with it. The calamari didn't even taste like calamari it was more like fish. Oh and they didn't even give use Utensils, napkins and then I had to ask for a cocktail fork to remove the small meat since the shell cracker wasn't breaking the shell since it was over sized. I've also never been to a finger food joint were there isn't any wet wipes. We used our glass of water to wash our hands I paid $120.95 for this meal and I wish I would of just donated it to the homeless then spend it here. We will be calling health inspector cause this is just ridiculous. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONT EAT HERE YOU WILL GET SICK! read more

The Captain's Boil - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

The place is not bad. It is located in a pretty good location (on Robson street). My friend had a 50% off coupon on everything ordered. This was a pretty good deal. So we ordered -2lb of shrimps (one with Captain's Boil flavor and the other with Garlic flavor) -1lb of mussels (New Zealand mussels ) -1lb of clams -2 orders of corn -1 order of okra -4 cans of pop For two people to share. This was too much food. I have to say the food was not bad. They used or Louisiana style cooking (as advertised). Would be better if they didn't serve it in a bag but out of a bag. I think that would be better in terms of presentations (But understand the authentic Louisiana style is served that way. Also would be better if they did a toss in some spices and herbs as well. The food was pretty good. I liked the clams more than the mussels. I am guessing the clams were raw and cooked in sauce together to have that rich flavor. Mussels are huge but I didn't find it that flavorful. One explanation was that the mussels were fully cooked before it was boiled in the sauce. The shrimps were smaller in size but I didn't find that they were that flavorful. But they were good. The corn was delicious because they boiled in butter. Overall, it was delicious but not wow. If I compare this place with Holy Crab, Captain Boil is more honest in terms of seafood weight. When you order 1lb of seafood, they would give you more than 1lb (my friend got lucky once and got 1.5lb and charged only 1lb) and charge you just 1lb. Also their mussels are guaranteed meat inside. Their competitor Holy Crab serves BC mussels SHELLS, meaning no meat on both side of the shell. I find that their competitor Holy Crabs are dishonest in seafood weight and if you order mussels you only get shells (example find 10 mussels and only 3 mussels had meat). Holy Crabs clams that most BC mussels not guarantee meat inside but guarantee shells. Captain Boils uses not live seafood but they are charging for the authentic Louisiana/ Cajun style cooking which is boil seafood in bag with sauce. Food is a bit messy to eat here. Décor is not bad. Good atmosphere if you want to have a good conversation. Its not noisy here. read more

See all

No complaints about their recipes!! But I probably won't come back to the Robson location for the following reasons 1 food was almost near to room temperature when served I mean maybe it's just me but I prefer my food hot 2 they started cleaning shortly after 8pm ( and this location actually open till 11pm) wiping the floor in area no body's sitting, flipping the tables right next to us (see pictures) half of the dinner all I can smell was Lysol Lol 3 thankfully they are so many other good restaurants on Robson :) I've been to the Richmond location a few yrs back it was busy but was really good atmosphere read more

The Captain's Boil - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Oh my oh my! The Captains Boil is one of my all time favourites. My husband and I love seafood and this is one of our go to places. We've tried quite a bit of stuff already - lobster, shrimp, mussels, clam, chicken, fried rice, and a few vegetables. The quantity is very reasonable for the quality and price of food. Their flavours are so original and delicious - our favourite sauces include the Captains Boil sauce and garlic/lemon. Their fried rice is out of this world - I could eat it everyday. If I were to provide some constructive feedback, I would like to see prices for items that do not have them listed - for e.g. lobster. We ordered one lobster and paid $50 for it; that was really steep and unexpected. In fairness, I should've asked for the cost before I ordered it. Their chicken tenders are juicy and succulent- although I go here for seafood, a friend recommend chicken so I tried it; no regrets. I love their shrimps. One thing to know is that they are not deveined so if you feel gross, don't order this. I don't mind it. You'll have to peel the shrimps so if you're impatient, this is perhaps not the dish for you. If I were to give some constructive feedback, I would like to see less oil used. I know oil is flavour and it is delicious but I think there is too much of it. I am also concerned for any BPA (bisphenol) that may be released by using plastic to serve hot food? I wonder if those plastic bags are BPA free - I would imagine so but I really don't know. All in all, great service, friendly staff, delicious food and affordable prices. read more

See all

Captain Boil is a big franchise seafood restaurant. It has more than 30 restaurants across Canada in different cities. There are five locations in the Great Vancouver area. I have been to the two locations before: one is on Robson St. Downtown and another one is on Kingsway Vancouver. Both of the locations served quite delicious seafood. Very enjoy eating at Captain Boil. Captain Boil Robson St. Location is at 1487 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6G 1C1. The location is on the one of busiest st downtown Vancouver. There are many restaurants on this street, attract so many customers. I had lunch with my friend at this location. we had a great experience there. We arrived at the restaurant around 12 pm when it just opened. So, the restaurant was not busy. Since it's on the weekend, it didn't serve the lunch combo. We decided to order seafood separately. We ordered Shrimps, Mussels, and Snow Crab legs 1lb each with Cajun, Captain's Boil and Garlic sauces. All the seafood we ordered comes in the arrival of the mains, not on plates, but straight out of the boiling pot with flavors added, delivered to the table still steaming hot in big (biodegradable) clear-plastic bags! Mussels are my most favorite dish in this place. They are big and very great quality. read more

See all

My girlfriend and I always come here when we just want calm atmosphere and to indulge in seafood goodness. The seafood fried rice is absolutely amazing. The base is Captain's Boil flavour and it's filled with shrimps and scallop. And if that amount of carbs doesn't fill you yet, make sure to order their Cajun Fries to share with your friends. Also, did you know you can order a side of extra sauce of your favourite flavour? :) Staff and service are great too - they follow the social distancing precautions. read more

The Captain's Boil - Captain's Seafood Fried Rice - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

See all

Visiting Vancouver from out of town and found this place. Food was good, fresh and reasonably priced. The staff was also kind and attentive. read more

The Captain's Boil - Sailors platter - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Tried out their $12 sizzling platter which is a good assortment of everything for 1 person to try - it's a hot cast iron plate with rice, deep fried teriyaki fish, 2 Crawfish 2 Mussels 2 Shrimps 2 Clams. What I liked: The rice gets crispy on the bottom Medium hot is actually quite spicy Can choose sauce on shellfish (I went with Captains boil, which was pretty good) Decent size serving - shellfish are moderately large. What I didn't like: The "teriyaki" sauce on the side is straight up soy sauce One of the crawfish I got was not fresh and tasted really off. I didn't get sick which I was thankful for. Fish is mostly batter. Entire dish quite greasy, lots of butter in the sauce The service was stilted & I can tell they are still working things out regarding how to take orders. But I would come back to give their seafood by the pound and other dishes a try. read more

The Captain's Boil - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Came here because we saw the recent reviews for this place being good. We went in at about 12pm we were the first ones there, we were a group of 8 people. The customer service was terrible the two ladies couldn't explain the menu and weren't answering our questions very short handed. When the food came out our server dropped my mother drink all over my moms phone and didn't even care. But at least she drought my mom a new drink. The food was alright but nothing wowing. At the end all of our bills were all messed up and we had to go back and forth. Like my whole group said the food was alright but we will definitely not going back. Ps. My sister has been throwing up since we went eating there. read more

First time trying captain's boil and it was better than what I expected. The menu has a step by step ordering process (seafood, sauce, spice level). You're provided with a bib, glove and a bowl to keep your hands and everything else clean. Each order comes with your choice of sides. I got corn 'cause I love corn. The sauce coated the food well and was delicious. Downside, you won't know what you're paying till you step in. The seafood is at market price. We got the shrimp and clams and both were $17.99/lb. If you really like the sauce, I'd suggest to get some rice and mix it. Yum!!! read more

Terrible experience at this location. Restaurant was half full. Took 35 min to receive part of our order. We first received a lb of captains boil mussels, fire spice level. No heat or spice, very disappointing when you order a level called Fire and it's not spicy at all. Very buttery and a bit salty. 10 min later our lb of cajun shrimp, medium heat arrived. Again, no spice or heat. Flavor was really lacking. Tons of oil in bag. We ordered this with sausages and potatoes. They placed whole sausages in the bag. The other location on kingsway slices them up nicely which I prefer. We also ordered a lb of wings which didn't arrive. We flagged down our server (who I must say had not once checked on us since taking our order) and asked where our wings were since they were ordered well over 50min ago. She said they forgot and would bring us our order asap. Well 30 min later we were done eating and just as we flagged our server for the bill our wings arrived! We said we no longer wanted these as they took ages and our meal was done. The server then had the nerve to say ok you pay and I pack for you to go. WORST SERVICE EVER! We obviously refused to take the wings or pay for them and the server kind of had a staring competition to see if I'd cave and say yea I'll pay and take them. I have been to the captains boil on Kingsway numerous times and will continue going to that location only. Great service there. Servers actually check on you after you order. Food arrives in a decent amount of time, sauces taste better and they actually serve spicy food when requested. Do not waste your time at this location. read more

Craved seafood during a business trip, found this place and super satisfied! Will recommend to other colleagues for sure! Environment: clean and welcoming, even though I was there by myself, I was given a four seat large table, very comfortable. Service: surprisingly great service. Bother the waitresses and the owner were patient, answered my questions multiple times when I tried to decide what to order, told me whether may be too much food for myself, and checked back with me several times during the meal. They smiled often and chat with their customers, very relaxing dining environment and experience. Food: I had one lb mixers and one lb snow crab legs. I grew up near ocean so I am very sensitive with the fresh level of seafood. Their food did not let me down. The clams were very delicious and fresh. Love their special sauce! Overall a very pleasant experience! read more

Like playing homeless and eating out of garbage bags. The teriyaki chicken lacked taste, rice with shrimp not shrimping, spicy shrimp in a plastic bag with plastic gloves for eating? This was my experience at Captain's Boil including some issues in the kitchen causing a lengthy delay. I don't know whose bright idea this concept is, but it's not amusing considering the cost and dining expectation of us humans. read more

See all

It's a pretty cool restaurant. Choose seafood, they boil it and you eat. I like the Cajun fried rice. My dad loved the crabs they served, cooked to perfection, as well as the lobster. Their servers are good too, they tried their best to explain everything, which we appreciate. We will re read more

The Captain's Boil - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

See all

I come to eat here with friends twice a month (got the VIP card haha). For those who don't understand Louisiana style, your food comes in plastic bags (degradable variety so not as bad for the environment). This is how they do it in similar restaurants in the States. Waiters will ask if you want all your food together in a bag, or separate. Personally I like to keep my food together because their sauces (and I recommend the Captain's Boil sauce) goes fantastic with everything. Dip your fries, seafood, corn, potato, and rice in their sauce - you won't regret it! Don't order the garlic sauce as it is pretty bare. Friends and I always order the shrimp and the mussel - you get the most meat for your buck. My only complaint is that the air flow in the restaurant could be better. I'm not sure if it's due to faulty AC (twice there was good airflow, once there wasn't and the entire place was too hot). Update: I think their AC is fixed now! read more

When we ordered some take out on Mother's Day this year the manager Alfred was so kind to recommend and explain about their foods and seasoning. Food volume was good, too. It was one of the best restaurant service I had. Thank you so much! Way to go! read more

Great food and fresh seafood and amazing sauce Staff do friendly I highly recommend here read more

All you can eat Shrimp & fries was somewhat alright, but the customer service could be a little better. We waited awhile to have our order taken and a long wait for our 2nd order. Don't think I'll be coming back here. read more

Very bad experience. Service: first time ordering from this location since it opened and they forgot to add lotus root to my order even though they charged me for it. When I called back and tell the waitress that one of my side is missing she just simply asks me to come back and get it. No apology or anything. I didn't want to come back since I dont want my food waiting at home getting cold. Then she asks if I dont come there how can she give me a refund. Basically there 's nothing they can do to resolve the situation. I had to ask if she can write down my name and give me the discount next time I come back. During our whole conversation the waitress never apologized to me. Staff are clearly not trained well to provide resolution to customers. I have always ordered from their Cambie location and they never forgot my order. Food: I agree with another review on here that they didn't put enough sauce on the seafood. But because I ordered takeout, I couldn't ask for extra sauce. Also, their sauce is way too watery comparing to the thicker consistency sauce they have at the Cambie location, maybe that 's why the sauce doesn't stick to the seafood and make everything bland overall. Our mussels were overcooked and it was rubbery and very tough to chew. The addon sausage was also dried and hard. I am usually quite easy with food but this I 'll pass. I have ordered from the Cambie location more than 10 times before and their food quality were always consistently good. I understand that this location is just opened and still have a lot to improve but with this quality, next time I 'll drive extra 10 minutes to the Cambie location to get better food quality and service. read more

Since I have been to the Coquitlam location a handful of times, my husband and I thought we'd try this new location. It wasn't busy when we went for dinner (June 6/18), so there were plenty of servers waiting around. To be honest they looked bored standing there, in front of the counter, just watching.... and waiting...and watching... and waiting. We always order our seafood with the Captain's Boil, mild. This time, the bags of seafood were lacking sauce! There wasn't enough sauce to swish around the bag to coat the seafood! We pointed this out to the waitress and she went to the back, whipped it together and was back at our table with more sauce in no time! I'll be back again. read more

I took my daughter here for her birthday. They served 2 people at the table raw chicken fingers! If that wasn't bad enough, the service was terrible and the crab had a funny taste to it. Tasted old. Would not recommend, and will not be returning read more

I got the captions boil dish. I wanted seafood and so I thought I'd be getting variety. What I recieved was a bunch of decently seasoned rice with little to no seafood. I counted 7 small rubbery shrimps. 2 scallops. Also the corn was overcooked without butter, lemon, or pepper. Redeeming factors? The chicken wings and tarter sauce were surprisingly good. I paid $40. read more

Seafood is not so fresh as they advertised. I choose the most spicy level, it is still not that tasteful. You def should improve.

This restaurant is the worst I ever had. The crabs are dead for real. We had diarrhea after eating their crabs. The meat became paste inside, witch means the crabs are dead for a long time, and the oyster is the smallest I ever had. What a horrible restaurant, don't you know the crabs can be poisonous when it's dead? I will never go back to this restaurant!!!!! read more

Came here because we love the food here. The server totally ignored us without informing us that there's no table available. Even when she come to the person in front of us to give her her take out the server didn't say anything to us or tell us to wait. She was treating us as if we are invisible. When we finally ask her, she says there's no enough table. Also the restaurant should have at least two or more servers. Only one server in a busy restaurant isn't ideal. read more

Tried the whole Dungeness crab and seafood hot plate grill. The crab was in captains boil sauce and tasted almost like curry. The hot plate wasn't sizzling hot so there was no use of a hot plate. Seafood was in Cajun sauce and it was tasty too. Service was superbly commendable and water was constantly filled without any call. read more

Some of waitress does not have good attitude. They behave unfriendly and you have to call them several times for ordering a cup of water. Food tastes good though, and seafood is fresh there. read more

The crab was too small to have meat on the legs ,the portions are very small. It's overpriced for the quality and the quantity of seafood. Everyone in my family agreed that we will stick to the Holy Crab when we will have Dungeness crab again. For only $5 price difference, the quality is way superior. read more

Came here with my mom and her friends because I love the place when they had a lonsdale location. The staff here are MISERABLE and it shows. We got seated in a dark corner of the restaurant and were NEVER checked on. Took 45 min of us sitting there to even place our order, another 35 to get the food and every single one of us had something wrong. My mussels were in their spiciest sauce when I asked for their mildest. DIDNT get a new plate for another 25 min and by then everyone was mostly done their food. Had to flag people down every time because no one even glanced in our direction. Eventually someone walking around with water looked at me and I was able to get some water refilled after an hour of sitting there. Whole place reeked of Lysol and it wasn't pleasant to eat in. We told the waitress who was extremely fast getting our bill considering how long it took for everything else. We told her we were unimpressed with the service and she did NOT care just took our cash and left ! Love the food hate the place. Get new staff. read more

Small menu but awesome food!! Prepare to get messy! Reasonable price and service was great! Would go back again!