Liz Biro,
Liz. Biro@StarNewsOnline.com
| Wilmington StarNews
Pale, putty green paneling holds little decoration at Oak Island’s Pelican Seafood restaurant. A spotted sea trout swims over one of the windows supplying light. Down low, white paper signs, handwritten in black Magic Marker, request patrons not move the furniture – little walnut-veneer-topped tables by stackable, black, metal banquet chairs, all in neat rows.
Utensils are plastic; dishes, Styrofoam. Beverages come in their bottles and cans.
Food trumps ambiance at this basic eatery. A small kitchen divides the dining room from an adjacent seafood market, where husband-and-wife owners Tony and Jeanne Darc Wehbe go to stock the menu.
Earlier this year, the Wehbes added the restaurant to their three-year-old Pelican Seafood market. Loyalists soon followed, many endorsing grilled lamb chops and other Mediterranean items from the Wehbe’s native Lebanon.
As fall nears and out-of-town crowds dwindle, focus shifts to fried and grilled seafood locals prefer, although Mediterranean dishes are still available (more if diners call a day or two ahead).
Some offerings straddle the cultural divide.
Inch-thick tuna steaks, cut just before hitting the grill, and jumbo oysters set over the fire in their half shells get finished with sharp but savory minced garlic sauce, a combination of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern condiment recipes.
Too hot to touch, too aromatic to keep fingers off best describes tender, peel-and-eat, jumbo N.C. shrimp – heads on – sauteed in an exotic spice mix of coriander, cumin and curry.
Southern-style, lightly breaded seafood from the fryer holds its own.
Butterflied, bone-in black sea bass of late was cooked until just flaky enough that the fish’s savory juices ran clear at each forkful.
Triggerfish received similar treatment before landing on a toasted hoagie with lettuce, tomato and tartar sauce, a lemon wedge on the side.
Back-fin blue crab meat, picked clean of stray shells, is all that packs fat crab cakes rolled in panko before a run in the fryer.
Although not from area waters, a pile of flour-dusted fried smelt are irresistible.
Various cream pies and sometimes homemade baklava are available for dessert, but many diners, hands on their full bellies, find naps to be sweeter endings.
On Twitter.com: @lizbiro
Cuisine: American and Mediterranean seafood
Location: 4332 Long Beach Road, Oak Island (Southport zip code)
Contact: (910) 454-8477 or http://pelicanseafood.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. or until the last customer leaves
Price range: $6 to $15
Payment: Cash, Visa and MasterCard
Sanitation grade: 93.5
Atmosphere: Sparse and basic with polite service, disposable tableware and no smoking.
We say: Expect prime fish and shellfish in an uber-casual setting at Pelican Seafood.
Pelican Seafood
Dining and Cooking