Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Shuck Shack

I've been eating at Shuck Shack, on occasion, since it opened, and I'm really surprised I haven't gotten around to writing about it yet, so here goes.

The Shuck Shack isn't really a restaurant, it's a plot of land over in East Austin. On it is an adorable old-style southern building, an outside patio surrounded by dense foliage and large yard filled with typical southern lawn games.



Generally all they serve is seafood. And not just southern deep fried seafood as the name would imply. There are typical seafood selections from all coasts. East coast crab cakes and calamari live hand and hand next to ceviche and mahi with a soy glaze.

When I went a few weeks ago, I was in the mood for one thing, deep fried seafood. My friend Connie and I had both had bad days at work and wanted to indulge ourselves in some deep fried goodness. But being foodies, we didn't want to stoop so low as to eat at Red Lobster or Long John Silver's (and don't get me wrong, there's a time and a place for both of those, but it's generally when you're on the road). So we decided to head to Shuck Shack.

We started out with a plate of calamari with lemon. The calamari where tender (for calamari) and perfectly deep fried. I think we ate the whole basket.



And being a good southern girl, I had to get hush puppies. Hush puppies are how I judge a good southern restaurant. If they take the time to make good hush puppies, then the rest of their food will probably be decent. Shuck Shack's hush puppies, while not the best I've ever had, made a strong showing.



Probably the best savory dish we had all night were the Shrimp Diablo. Now, how can anything associated with bacon, shrimp, and jalapeno be bad? It really can't, but Shuck Shack's Shrimp Diablo were a tasty treat.



My absolute favorite thing I tried at Shuck Shack that evening was the Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. It was delicious! It's worth going to shuck shack for the pie alone! In fact, when I was done with one slice, I ALMOST ordered a second. It took a monumental act of willpower to keep myself from getting another.



While we ate, we had a nice show watching the other restaurant patrons play lawn games. They have large, well groomed playing fields set up for horseshoes, washers and bocce ball. When the weather gets a little cooler, I fully intend on going back for a game of bocce and another Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie.

~Mariah: 9

Note: The Shuck Shack is now closed. Too bad, it was a really decent place to eat. One more casualty of the Great Recession.