We first revealed Hangchun Zheng’s plans to open a seafood-in-a-bag concept on Coventry in Cleveland Heights in late winter, but he’s been hard at work transforming the former Winking Lizard space for close to a year. All that work will begin to pay off this Friday evening, when the doors officially open to the public. And when they do, most visitors will be shocked by the transformation into a kitschy, colorful, casual fish shack.
Like Boiling Seafood on Lee Road and Boiler 65 in Gordon Square, Seafood Shake (1852 Coventry Rd., 216-417-4830) is modeled  after similarly styled shops down south and out west, where seafood (largely shellfish) is boiled in a flavorful broth, tossed in an aggressively seasoned spice mixture, and delivered to the table in clear plastic bags. Diners can pour the contents out onto paper-topped tables or eat straight out of the sack.

Seafood Shake sets itself apart from the crowd thanks to the addition of a three-level fish tank that will be stocked with live lobster, Dungeness crabs and other in-season seafood such as blue crab and crawfish. Lobster, lobster tail, snow crab, King crab, shrimp, crawfish, clams and mussels are ordered by the pound or sold as part of a combination. After choosing the fish, guests pick a seasoning from a list that includes Cajun, Lemon Pepper, Garlic and Ma La Spicy. Next up is the spiciness, which is on a scale from Non-Spicy to Extra Spicy.

Appetizers like raw oysters, fried shrimp and crispy calamari join soups like lobster bisque and New England clam chowder. As is typical of the genre, Cajun entrees like crawfish etouffee join a few non-fish dishes such as chicken wings and fried tenders for the kids.

Seafood Shake opens on Friday July 21 at 5 p.m.


This article appears in Jul 19-25, 2017.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.

3 replies on “First Look: Seafood Shake on Coventry, Opening this Weekend”

  1. Wow, talk about a loser. After the novelty wears off, oh boy. 6 months, tops. And Coventry? Gross

  2. Well, OHIO, it’s still there & getting great reviews! Coventry is an interesting area, not gross at all. I’m trying Seafood Shake very soon, will write a review!

  3. Ugh. What about this restaurant is New Orleans style – because they throw a bunch of seafood in a bag with some Old Bay?? More like rude Asian style if anything – fried oysters taste like they were just scraped off of Lake Eries floor. Told the OWNER we didnt like it all she kept saying well she liked it – like thats the standard?? – and to put more yum yum sauce it . Didnt give us our money back or swap out despite all 3 ppl at the table not liking. Honestly the only thats really good is their corn – when youre a seafood shack and your corn tastes better than your seafood should tell you a lot – and dont expect the customer to matter at all over here – just your money

Comments are closed.