Catch the seafood at Beachside Seafood
A picnic at the beach sounds great until you fight with the wind and the sand. A gritty egg salad sandwich doesn't cut it.
However, I've found a picnic spot that is just a few blocks from the ocean, and the sand is no problem at all. Head to the upper deck at the Beachside Seafood Restaurant and Market. The dining area offers open, loft-style dining. You get all the sea breeze and even a glimpse of the Atlantic. OK, on the downside, Third Street can be a bit loud.
As expected, being above a seafood market, the fish is super fresh, but there are some drawbacks that make the sand seem not so bad.
I started with a dozen steamed Cedar Key clams ($7.99). They were sweet with just a hint of sea salt. Sure, a couple were a bit gritty, but that comes with the territory. They were a nice start.
The sun was going down, and it was starting to cool off, so the soups sounded good. The Crabmeat Stew ($5.99) was a cream-based slurry that was slammed with crabmeat. It was almost like eating a bowl of Cheerios. It was lightly seasoned, allowing the seafood to carry the dish. The Lobster Bisque ($5.99) was tomato-based, creamy in texture with a buttery finish. However, there were no lumps of lobster to be found in this puree. Only a few strands were detectable.
Beachside has a wide array of seafood sandwiches as well as fish tacos, seafood quesadillas and even English-style fish and chips. If you want a good sandwich (and I know this sounds strange), order the Cheesesteak ($7.99 for a 12- inch, $5.99 for a 6-inch). It is one of the best in town. It's hot and gooey, and you won't finish the first bite before wanting to take the next.
The Shrimp Po' Boy ($8.99) comes grilled, blackened or fried. The shrimp are plentiful, and the remoulade sauce has a bit of tang and is made in house.
The dinner options left me less than satisfied. I ordered the snapper ($16.99) lightly blackened, and it was overseasoned. The fish, however was as fresh as you'll find. The same was true of the grilled grouper ($16.99). It came as ordered and was one of the best pieces of grilled fish I have had in some time.
The disappointment came with the side dishes. The dinners come with a choice of two, and at these prices, more attention needs to be paid to quality.
The baked potato was not as advertised. The server said they were either steamed or microwaved. Whichever way mine was prepared, it was cold. The corn on the cob was deep-fried. That sounded interesting, but it too was cold and as a dinner side, I only got half an ear. Way too stingy.
The black beans and rice passed the test, however the dinner side portion was again much too small.
The onion strings were lightly battered and fried to a crunchy texture. These were heaped on the plate and only toward the end, when they began to get cold, did they start to taste a bit oily.
Beachside Seafood does the seafood right. The owners need to realize that they are operating both a restaurant and a fish market and running a successful restaurant is no picnic.