Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Stopped in at The Rivershack Tavern

For almost three years, my commute was a simple one. I'd hop on Oak Street (just around the corner) and drive down River Road all the way to Hickory Avenue. It was an easy-breezy, beautiful drive that only took 10-15 minutes, seeing as I was going against traffic both to and from work. Every day on my way home, I would pass the brightly-painted Rivershack Tavern and everyday I thought to myself  "I really need to stop and eat there sometime." Did I? Not till very recently...

What the hell took me so long? Well, I'm not quite sure. I don't really have an excuse other than I just never got around to it. Better late than never?

John and I decided to go on a Thursday night about a month ago and, much to our surprise, The Rivershack just happens to have phenomenal specials on Thursday nights and we gladly took advantage. We sat in the corner, placed our order, and watched all of these families and friends greet and gather together in a place that seemed like their home away from home. 

We started out with a big basket of Fried Pickles, sliced dills that had been dredged in a cornmeal batter and deep fried into crispy, tart discs of heaven. We dipped them freely into ranch dressing, blue cheese and ketchup...mmm. 

Before we could make a big dent in the pickles, our entrees came out. John got the steak special which was a grilled, 8 ounce "Bourbon-Whiskey" steak served with both fries and a side salad, while I got the Seafood Platter. Both dishes were only $10.75 each! Talk about a bargain! Not to mention the quality (and quantity!) of each dish. 

John's steak was juicy and flavorful, though a little over-done. He asked for medium rare and got a bit more than medium. His salad was like a big wedge with fresh, plump tomato and thickly-sliced cucumber. My seafood platter had a huge catfish fillet, lots of shrimp, oysters, a big hunk of andouille sausage and a pile of French fries.    

Everything was quite good and we both had leftovers to take home. Now I need to go back and try Chef Mike Baskind's other specials like Crawfish & Corn Soup or Tuna Steak au Poivre. This time I won't wait so long...
Rivershack Tavern on Urbanspoon

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Superior to Superior: Superior Seafood & Oyster Bar

Other than wickedly potent margaritas, I'm not a huge fan of Superior Grill. The service can be quite sloppy and the so-so cuisine can be phenomenally expensive (ever been during Mardi Gras?). That being said, I do have some great memories of that restaurant, one which particularly stands out because I met one of my best friends there for the first time after she answered my platonic ad on Craigslist.org. An innocent, meet & greet lunch turned into a full day and night of drunken debauchery and it all started with a few pitchers of Superior's notorious margaritas.

Considering my attitude towards the "Grill," it should come as no surprise that I was a bit leery of the fairly new Superior Seafood & Oyster Bar that opened up a couple of years ago. But, much to my pleasant surprise, I discovered that Superior Seafood is ... well ... pretty damn good. Sure, their price to portion size ratio is a little skewed and sometimes it can get so loud in there, it's hard to hear someone talking right next to you, but all in all ... my visits have been quite enjoyable.

For example, a few months back I met my friend Jeanne there for lunch. This wasn't one of my usual feasts, just a casual meal where hanging out was far more important to me than pigging-out ... but I couldn't help but take pictures. Once a foodie...

Jeanne and I started out with a little bit of booze, I had a crisp Mojito and she chose a glass of white wine. We also couldn't resist ordering a dozen raw oysters which turned out to be these huge, plump and briny beauties that I easily could have slurped on for the rest of the day.

For our entrees, Jeanne ordered the Mussels in Meunière which were steamed and served with a cone of crispy French fries, that she couldn't resist dragging through the sauce. They also brought a loaf of warm French bread to the table that was much more effective at sopping up all that rich, buttery goodness.

For many reasons (which I won't go into right now), Superior Seafood reminded me of a California restaurant I used to frequent with my mother where I would always order a Shrimp Louie Salad. So, when I saw their Maison Seafood Salad, I couldn't resist. It turned out to be just what I hoped for with a dollop of boiled shrimp and crab meat mixed with a "Maison" sauce which closely resembled a remoulade. The salad also featured artichoke hearts, fresh avocado, heart of palm and bright tomatoes. I was a bit disappointed because it seemed a bit light on the seafood side, but the salad was crisp and creamy, exactly what I was hoping for.

Although it's rare if I can convince Jeanne to indulge in a dessert, we couldn't resist a simple Crème Brûlée, especially when our server informed us that it would only cost $1! Who can say no to that? Not to mention the fact that it came out perfect, with a crisp, burnt sugar top that my spoon cracked oh-so pleasingly and a light, slightly sweet custard underneath.

To end on a cheesy note, like I always seem to do, Superior is seriously superior to Superior. HA!

Superior Seafood & Oyster Bar on Urbanspoon