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'It is what it is' at Stinky's Fish Camp
Only thing that smells at this beach eatery is aroma of delicious seafood
Friday, June 22, 2007 SUSAN SWAGLER
[Stinky's Fish Camp, 5994 Highway 30-A, Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.]
With a name like Stinky's' it has to be good," my sister said to me when I told her about this new restaurant in Santa Rosa Beach near Destin.
Yeah, I thought, and there has to be something more to that name.
Turns out we're both right.
The food is better than good - it's fabulous. And the name? Well, our waiter told us it's a term of endearment in busy restaurant kitchens in Louisiana.
Chef-owner Jim Richard hails from Lafayette, so I trust he knows what's what.
We had ridden our bikes past Stinky's Fish Camp several times during a recent beach trip, and we noted that by 6 p.m. each day, the place was packed. People were parking on the side of the road. So, curious, we decided to give it a try.
This was a very delicious idea.
We walked in to see my sister's exact quote on the raw-wood walls - near where a singer would play the blues the following Saturday night. Elsewhere, Louisiana-themed posters and a lovely, large painting of crabs and another of a vegetable market decorate the walls of three dining rooms. The two back rooms offer views of a pretty lake. The front room has the lively bar and live music.
The food here, as you might expect, is all about seafood, but there are some pleasant surprises. There's crawfish in the hushpuppies and papaya in the slaw. Catfish is topped with meuniere sauce, and raw oysters are dressed with salsa. There is an authentically Thai noodle bowl.
The wine menu, thoughtful and expansive, takes up the entire back side of the menu. The prices for bottles are refreshingly reasonable.
On a Tuesday night during a terrific coastal downpour, we ran into Stinky's hungry and a little wet. Our predicted 30- to 45-minute wait turned out to be around 20 minutes. We spent them comfortably on a soft sofa.
We started our meal, two of my kids and I, with a shared plate of Unca Duke's Geaux Jus BBQ Shrimp ($7.95). I had noticed bottles of this Geaux Jus pepper sauce for sale near the Stinky's cozies and T-shirts while we were waiting. This dish made me want to get a bottle to take home. The shrimp were butterflied and tender in a savory and spicy sauce. We ate them and every drop of that sauce with crisp garlic croutons.
My son ordered the kid's fried fish. Dishes for youngsters also include fried shrimp, chicken fingers and buttered noodles with fresh Parmesan. His fish was fresh grouper, and it was light and flaky in a tasty crust.
My daughter had Stinky's "award-winning" gumbo, and I do believe they are racking up the trophies. This was absolutely wonderful. It was a chicken and andouille mixture in a beautiful, rich roux. It was just spicy enough.
I had Stinky's Stew ($21.95), which was quite a treat.
This was a large bowl filled to overflowing with all sorts of seafood. Crab legs reached past open mussels and jumbo shrimp. Oysters and Gulf-fresh fish mixed with sweet, roasted corn in a garlic broth that surely began as a freshly made seafood stock. The soup was rich and briny and even smelled like the clean, salty Gulf we had languished beside earlier in the day. It's the perfect beach dish.
We ended our meal with a shared slice of chocolate peanut butter pie. No Sysco slices here; this was made in-house. A flaky homemade crust held a thick layer of chocolate ganache and fluffy, rich peanut butter topping. Amazing.
We went back on a Saturday with oysters in mind since they come in so many guises here - and from nearby waters.
Baked oysters are available as Bienville; gratin; topped with smoked cheese, bacon and horseradish; boasting spinach and mushrooms; or dressed in a simple garlic butter.
Raw oysters also get special treatment. Although you can get them raw on the half shell, they also come topped with salsa or ceviche or as shooters in shot glasses.
We discovered that the ceviche topping of tuna marinated in lime, lemon and orange juices was delightful with the fresh, briny oysters.
We also tried the fried green tomato and creamy crawfish etouffee appetizer ($8.95). The tomatoes were firm and tangy, the topping made with plenty of cream and full of tender crawfish.
My husband, the Happy Father's Day VIP at our table, got first choice of entrees. His surf and turf dish ($24.95) of short ribs and catfish meuniere was delicious. The smoky, tender ribs and fresh catfish with its lemony sauce came with sides of creamy St. Andre polenta and crisp, thin green beans.
The seafood platter of fried shrimp and fried oysters, grilled wahoo and baked blue crab was also quite good. The breading on the fried items was light and crisp. The baked crab was simply crab and perfect. The grilled fish on this platter was the only problem of the entire night. It was cooked to a hard, dry slab and its buttery topping had congealed.
This dish came with a tangy, vinegar-based slaw with bits of fruity papaya. The hushpuppies had crawfish centers.
The Asian glass noodle and shrimp dish ($17.95) is a deliciously authentic noodle bowl. The soup was bright with chopped peppers and tasted of fresh ginger. The shrimp were beautifully cooked.
We finished our meal with a rich chocolate cheesecake and fresh blackberry pie, and it was hard to pick a favorite.
Our service on both visits was genuinely friendly, but they were particularly nice during our second trip in. The hostess offered us a choice of tables, and our server's timely attention made us feel special.
I noticed a cryptic motto on the menus at Stinky's: "It is what it is, and it ain't what it ain't."
All you really need to know is that Stinky's Fish Camp is great, and it ain't at all stinky.
It's also yet another reason to love - and visit - our beautiful Gulf beaches.
Susan Swagler is a free-lance restaurant reviewer for The Birmingham News.
'It is what it is' at Stinky's Fish Camp
Only thing that smells at this beach eatery is aroma of delicious seafood
Friday, June 22, 2007 SUSAN SWAGLER
[Stinky's Fish Camp, 5994 Highway 30-A, Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.]
With a name like Stinky's' it has to be good," my sister said to me when I told her about this new restaurant in Santa Rosa Beach near Destin.
Yeah, I thought, and there has to be something more to that name.
Turns out we're both right.
The food is better than good - it's fabulous. And the name? Well, our waiter told us it's a term of endearment in busy restaurant kitchens in Louisiana.
Chef-owner Jim Richard hails from Lafayette, so I trust he knows what's what.
We had ridden our bikes past Stinky's Fish Camp several times during a recent beach trip, and we noted that by 6 p.m. each day, the place was packed. People were parking on the side of the road. So, curious, we decided to give it a try.
This was a very delicious idea.
We walked in to see my sister's exact quote on the raw-wood walls - near where a singer would play the blues the following Saturday night. Elsewhere, Louisiana-themed posters and a lovely, large painting of crabs and another of a vegetable market decorate the walls of three dining rooms. The two back rooms offer views of a pretty lake. The front room has the lively bar and live music.
The food here, as you might expect, is all about seafood, but there are some pleasant surprises. There's crawfish in the hushpuppies and papaya in the slaw. Catfish is topped with meuniere sauce, and raw oysters are dressed with salsa. There is an authentically Thai noodle bowl.
The wine menu, thoughtful and expansive, takes up the entire back side of the menu. The prices for bottles are refreshingly reasonable.
On a Tuesday night during a terrific coastal downpour, we ran into Stinky's hungry and a little wet. Our predicted 30- to 45-minute wait turned out to be around 20 minutes. We spent them comfortably on a soft sofa.
We started our meal, two of my kids and I, with a shared plate of Unca Duke's Geaux Jus BBQ Shrimp ($7.95). I had noticed bottles of this Geaux Jus pepper sauce for sale near the Stinky's cozies and T-shirts while we were waiting. This dish made me want to get a bottle to take home. The shrimp were butterflied and tender in a savory and spicy sauce. We ate them and every drop of that sauce with crisp garlic croutons.
My son ordered the kid's fried fish. Dishes for youngsters also include fried shrimp, chicken fingers and buttered noodles with fresh Parmesan. His fish was fresh grouper, and it was light and flaky in a tasty crust.
My daughter had Stinky's "award-winning" gumbo, and I do believe they are racking up the trophies. This was absolutely wonderful. It was a chicken and andouille mixture in a beautiful, rich roux. It was just spicy enough.
I had Stinky's Stew ($21.95), which was quite a treat.
This was a large bowl filled to overflowing with all sorts of seafood. Crab legs reached past open mussels and jumbo shrimp. Oysters and Gulf-fresh fish mixed with sweet, roasted corn in a garlic broth that surely began as a freshly made seafood stock. The soup was rich and briny and even smelled like the clean, salty Gulf we had languished beside earlier in the day. It's the perfect beach dish.
We ended our meal with a shared slice of chocolate peanut butter pie. No Sysco slices here; this was made in-house. A flaky homemade crust held a thick layer of chocolate ganache and fluffy, rich peanut butter topping. Amazing.
We went back on a Saturday with oysters in mind since they come in so many guises here - and from nearby waters.
Baked oysters are available as Bienville; gratin; topped with smoked cheese, bacon and horseradish; boasting spinach and mushrooms; or dressed in a simple garlic butter.
Raw oysters also get special treatment. Although you can get them raw on the half shell, they also come topped with salsa or ceviche or as shooters in shot glasses.
We discovered that the ceviche topping of tuna marinated in lime, lemon and orange juices was delightful with the fresh, briny oysters.
We also tried the fried green tomato and creamy crawfish etouffee appetizer ($8.95). The tomatoes were firm and tangy, the topping made with plenty of cream and full of tender crawfish.
My husband, the Happy Father's Day VIP at our table, got first choice of entrees. His surf and turf dish ($24.95) of short ribs and catfish meuniere was delicious. The smoky, tender ribs and fresh catfish with its lemony sauce came with sides of creamy St. Andre polenta and crisp, thin green beans.
The seafood platter of fried shrimp and fried oysters, grilled wahoo and baked blue crab was also quite good. The breading on the fried items was light and crisp. The baked crab was simply crab and perfect. The grilled fish on this platter was the only problem of the entire night. It was cooked to a hard, dry slab and its buttery topping had congealed.
This dish came with a tangy, vinegar-based slaw with bits of fruity papaya. The hushpuppies had crawfish centers.
The Asian glass noodle and shrimp dish ($17.95) is a deliciously authentic noodle bowl. The soup was bright with chopped peppers and tasted of fresh ginger. The shrimp were beautifully cooked.
We finished our meal with a rich chocolate cheesecake and fresh blackberry pie, and it was hard to pick a favorite.
Our service on both visits was genuinely friendly, but they were particularly nice during our second trip in. The hostess offered us a choice of tables, and our server's timely attention made us feel special.
I noticed a cryptic motto on the menus at Stinky's: "It is what it is, and it ain't what it ain't."
All you really need to know is that Stinky's Fish Camp is great, and it ain't at all stinky.
It's also yet another reason to love - and visit - our beautiful Gulf beaches.
Susan Swagler is a free-lance restaurant reviewer for The Birmingham News.
YUMMY!!!!!!
I'll find out soon....can't wait!
