Gulf Coast dining

[kayb]

I went back to 2007 and didn't find an appropriate topic for this, so if there is one, please move it there! (And btw....is there a simple way that I'm just ignoring to search topic titles? I've never been able to figure out how to do so.)

 

Just got back from a week in Destin. Though I've vacationed many times on the Redneck Riviera, and been through Destin a few times, this was my first time to actually stay there. We enjoyed some excellent food.

 

Started the trip off with dinner in Biloxi, Miss., at Mary Mahoney's Old French House. Located in what used to be a beachfront residence, ca. 1740, that now has a casino interposed betwixt it and the water, it's been preparing purely marvelous Creole cuisine since the 1960s. We had fried softshell crabs for an appetizer, followed by shrimp and crab au gratin -- lots of shrimp, lots of lump crabmeat, in a rich cheese sauce and baked en casserole. A bit heavy on the celery flavor for me, but excellent. Service was, as always, impeccable. I have never had a meal there that was short of "Oh, wow!"

 

Next night, in Destin, we picked up crab cakes from a local deli, Sarah K's Gourmet; a dozen small cakes, maybe 3 ounces each, for $30. Bore them back to the condo with instructions to heat at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, which, indeed, turned them out perfectly. They were great with a remoulade sauce and a cucumber-wasabi sauce. I put together a salad of tomato, avocado and corn kernels, and managed a dressing with some mayo, some lemon juice, some Cajun seasoning and a little mixed herb seasoning I'd tossed in my supplies box.

 

We skipped dinner the next night after a long day on the beach; just snacks and beer.

 

The next night, we ventured down to the Destin Harbor area, and tried Brotula's, one of a dozen or more seafood houses lining the harbor. I had Royal Red shrimp, one of my favorites; they're a deepwater shrimp, almost impossible to get anywhere other than on the gulf, and they taste more like lobster than shrimp; in fact, they're served steamed, with drawn butter. Simple, marvelous. I cleaned my plate.

 

The following night I reverted to an old standby at Dewey's Destin Seafood, two doors down from Brotula's: Steamed shrimp with corn on the cob and potatoes. Just really, really hard to beat, long as you've got good cocktail sauce (theirs was; lots of horseradish, and enough Tabasco!).  Couldn't get through my pound of shrimp, but they were good for lunch the next day.

 

And then the next night, I shifted gears and went for oysters. Apalachicola Bay oysters, at Boschamps' Oyster House. I contemplated char-grilled, contemplated Rockefeller, settled on Oysters Boschamps, which brought the little morsels on the half shell, where they'd been broiled briefly with feta cheese, caramelized onion, and bacon marmelade.

 

 

Have mercy! These little sweethearts were absolutely outstanding. Plump and juicy and tangy to complement the flavor bursts of the onion and bacon marmelade, with the brine tasting just marvelous with the saltiness of the feta. Purely brilliant. Wish I'd had room for another half-dozen, but I'd had a bowl of crab and corn chowder beforehand; on a return trip, I'd forego the chowder and concentrate on the oysters.

 

Good food. It's hard to have bad food when you're surrounded with fresh seafood any way you look (but I'm sure people manage). 

 

Anyone else got favorite Gulf Coast restaurants to talk about?

 

[cyalexa]

We vacationed in Panama City Beach last spring. Our only really good meal (disclaimer - husband is not a food person) was to-go steamed red shrimp from a seafood market eaten in our hotel room. 

[joiei]

PCB is not known for being a food destination like South Walton County and Destin are.  

[cyalexa]

PCB is not known for being a food destination like South Walton County and Destin are.

When I travel by myself it is always about the food. Not so much when I am with my husband.