Shrimp Cocktail, Forever and Ever
A chef and a food writer dissect the perfect dish (and where to get it) at Lawry’s The Prime Rib
One thing to know about me is I love shrimp cocktail. I love the snap of a perfectly poached, chilled shrimp. I love the tangy, sugary, all-American gloop that is Heinz ketchup, which, when properly combined with horseradish, a dash of Worcestershire, and a few other seasonings, makes for an ideal dip for plump, delicate-tasting prawns. I love how it’s often served fancifully, in a cocktail glass or over a mountain of crushed iced. I love its lightness, and its luxury. These days, especially, with inflation and all, shrimp cocktail is not cheap, nor is it remotely filling. But it is immensely satisfying, especially alongside a martini—at least when it’s done right.
Back in February, I tweeted that when you’re having a bad day, a shrimp cocktail and a dirty martini can make you feel better. To which Ben Leventhal, the founder of Resy (and thus my former boss), Eater, and now Blackbird, correctly replied: “Although when you're having a bad day and you get a meh shrimp cocktail it can be catastrophic.”
It’s a simple dish, shrimp cocktail. But it must be executed meticulously in order to satiate the discerning eater. When the shrimp are not firm enough, flavorless, too tiny, or too monstrous, that’s a bad look. There is also plenty of room for error in cocktail sauce, apparently. Musso & Frank stirs the best martinis in town, hands down. Not to mention the intoxicating atmosphere. Unfortunately, their shrimp cocktail is disastrous, mostly on account of an all too watery cocktail sauce, which lacks grip, thus failing in its duty as a dip.
For The Angel, I linked up with my friend and fellow shrimp cocktail enthusiast Javier Ramos, who is a private chef to the rich and famous, the former chef de cuisine of Sqirl, and the maker of some of the best burgers and doughnuts around (please beg him to pop up somewhere, soon), for an important discussion. We met at Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills last Friday night, home to what Ramos, an L.A. native, believes is the best shrimp cocktail in Los Angeles. (It is very good.) Over said shrimp cocktail, martinis, and obligatory prime rib, we got into what matters when it comes to the iconic appetizer, and where to seek it out.
Emily Wilson: What do you think makes for a really good shrimp cocktail?
Javier Ramos: The shrimp needs to have a snap, like a hot dog casing. I don’t like it when it’s too delicately poached or if it’s overdone and rubbery. It also needs to be super chilled.
The shrimp have to have flavor, too. Sometimes, they’ll have a textural bite, but they won’t taste like anything. That’s how I felt about the shrimp cocktail at Taylor’s Steak House.
I’m always on the fence about poaching shrimp in a flavored broth. If I’m making shrimp cocktail, sometimes I think I just want to use salted water, other times I think about adding celery and bay leaf. But the water shouldn’t need anything, especially if you’re using nice shrimp. The shrimp should taste like shrimp.
Have you had the shrimp cocktail from Costco?
Yes, but which version?
There are more than one?
You can get a big tray in the deli case.
That’s what I’ve had.
*Lawry’s shrimp cocktail arrives*
I usually get that, it’s good. But they also sometimes have the premium trays, with shrimp that are more like these, redder and bigger.
These are a good size. The really big ones, like extra-jumbo shrimp, kind of freak me out.
Yeah, I’ve never been into the tiger shrimp. They’re too buggy for me.
This shrimp cocktail is kind of a perfect one, you’re right. I like this vessel, too.
They do it right.
Apparently the serving of shrimp cocktail in cocktail glasses was a Prohibition era thing. Would you say shrimp cocktail is easy to make at home?
As long as you get them peeled and deveined, yes. If you go to Whole Foods, they usually have peeled and deveined shrimp. I think the hardest part for people is to poach them properly.
I was reading an Infatuation list for where to get shrimp cocktail in L.A., and they included Mexican shrimp cocktail, coctel de camarones, which to me is something entirely different than the American dish.
Yeah, no, that doesn’t count. It’s not the same thing at all. Whenever I’m in the mood for this, this is what I’m in the mood for. And I eat a lot of Mexican shrimp cocktails, too.
Another place that has a good shrimp cocktail is South Beverly Grill. I was at Houston’s the other day in Pasadena, which was great, but I was disappointed that they didn’t have shrimp cocktail on the menu. They should, it feels like a place that would have it, but it’s only on the menu at [sister restaurant] South Beverly Grill.
Alexander’s in Pasadena is an old steakhouse that I’ve been wanting to go to. They definitely have shrimp cocktail.
At L & E Oyster Bar, they marinate their shrimp in oil and herbs. In my opinion, that’s the only room there is for creativity in a shrimp cocktail, as opposed to in the cocktail sauce. I’ve seen chopped up cucumbers in cocktail sauce before, which it makes it so watery.
What do you think of when Old Bay seasoning is added?
I’m fine with it, but I don’t think it needs it.
I think it’s overkill.
Shrimp cocktail doesn’t need to be complicated. The flavor of the dish is so delicate and mild, you really don’t want to fuck with it that much.
This [Lawry’s shrimp cocktail] is the benchmark for me. It’s one of the few things that I don’t want it to be reinvented.
I can’t remember when I became obsessed with shrimp cocktail, but it’s so satisfying to me.
It’s one of my favorite foods. One of my favorite memories is when it my dad’s birthday and we were watching the Dodgers game. I served shrimp cocktail and that was it. That’s all he was eating. And he was so happy. It’s such an approachable thing.
It’s not an indulgence at all, but there’s a luxury element to shrimp cocktail, too. And it’s so classic. It feels very American to me, because you get it at steakhouses and taverns, but apparently it’s big in England, too.
Oh, you know what, it’s such a drive, but we have to go to Redondo Beach to Quality Seafood. Their shrimp cocktail is really good. It’s in such a weird pocket of L.A. They filmed this eerie scene of Dexter at the arcade, Fun Factory, right next door, which I thought captured the emotion of being there really well. [Quality Seafood] has every raw bar item and live crabs. There’s another place, a steakhouse in Whittier called Dal Rae, which has the same aesthetic as Taylor’s in K-Town. It’s one of the oldest steakhouses in L.A. Their shrimp cocktail is solid. I feel like the pockets of L.A. have really good ones. It’s like any food in L.A. in that way.
LOVE a good shrimp cocktail!!