Pic of the Day
J. D. Shuckers, Seafood and Brain Infections
So okay, the fact that my husband has recently been through a medical odyssey for a very rare brain infection causes me to wonder about the following quote from the menu of this Rehoboth Beach seafood eatery.
"Eating raw seafood may or may not increase your risk of food borne illness"
Intriguingly, it was about mid-September that husband, myself and mother-in-law, visited this restaurant and enjoyed what was, by my estimation, a very good seafood meal. That is with that weird menu warning notwithstanding, of course.
It was about two weeks later that husband came down with a brain infection that has him still, as of this writing in mid-December 2008, hospitalized after a horrific recovery.
But of course I am paranoid as let me say right here and now that Shuckers' food in no way contributed to husband's brain infection. His brain infection started with a bout of pneumonia and unless infected fried shrimp somehow got inhaled into the man's lungs, there can be no connection.
Still, I must wonder why the warning? Does Delaware law require such a thing? Why would a business being smartly run even VOLUNTEER such dire information? If such a warning is required by some sort of law, why? I've eaten in lots of places serving raw oysters and never seen such a warning.
Be that as it may, below the contact information for this restaurant.
11 Peddlers Village
Lewes, DE 19958
Phone: 302-945-8850
Frankly I would give the meal we had at J.D. Shuckers an overall grade of an A-, at worst a B+. I'd deduct more points should I find out that the warning about raw seafood being so prominently posted was a volunteer thing as this speaks of running a business on a level as dumb as General Motors.
Husband had fried shrimp for an entrée. This is one of the few seafood type of foods husband will eat. I've tried making "fried" shrimp at home via some sort of frozen concoction that "fries" in the oven. Husband does not like this type of preparation. He will almost always opt for fried shrimp when we eat out and if done right, husband quite enjoys a platter of crisp, non-greasy, big, fresh shrimp served hot and perfectly fried. Husband declared Shuckers' fried shrimp to be a winner so right there J.D. Shuckers shines like few restaurants have.
Now we must discuss Shuckers' fried oysters. As indicated above, Shuckers does have raw oysters and hey, I eat them from time to time. Husband and mother-in-law are sensible born Midwesterners and I thought the sight of me swallowing raw oysters might insult that same Midwesterner sensibility.
Fried oysters, I thought. Breaded properly and fried perfectly, there is no greater seafood on earth save steamed crabs.
In fact, mother-in-law, a transplanted New Englander, also chose fried oysters so hey, there is hope for the planet.
J.D. Shuckers' fried oysters get an A+ for their perfectly fried oysters and yes, frying oysters correctly is an art form.
Oysters tend to get breading all wet and doughy. Thus they must be breaded and immediately dropped into rolling oil else the result will be a mushy pile of breading with an oyster buried somewhere in the goop.
Shuckers evidently has plenty of practice frying their wonderful oysters as the breading was crisp, fresh and a perfect coating to the plump and juicy oyster nestled within.
The entrees were accompanied with red-skinned potatoes with a slight but obvious garlicky flavor, an absolutely perfect side for Shuckers' seafood.
Now let's talk about that loaded lettuce wedge salad that left me thinking I'd died and went to salad heaven.
They call it a "loaded wedge" at J.D. Shuckers. Which it is, both true as to being loaded and it is, intriguingly, a real wedge of iceberg lettuce.
True to the menu hype, it comes with tomato, cucumbers, and radish matchsticks, all topped with real bacon crumbles and excellent blue cheese dressing.
Iceberg lettuce is a tricky salad ingredient. First it will wilt and brown should it be cut with anything made of metal. Many eateries still use serrated knives to cut iceberg lettuce and in due course the lettuce bin is filled with browning, appetite-killing lettuce. Second, iceberg lettuce has a tendency to be bitter. Finally, iceberg lettuce should be served, you got it, COLD. Hence the name, you think?
J.D. Shuckers had it all right and I will right now declare that this fine salad is the absolute best I've ever had, IN MY LIFE!
Along with those garlicky roasted potatoes, this salad provides perfect accompaniment to those wonderful fried oysters.
The atmosphere at Shuckers is more pub than fine dining. The bill is more along the lines of pub than fine dining as well.
The food, by this ersatz restaurant critic, is fine seafood dining all the way.
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A Medical Odyssey to a Quadruple Heart Bypass
A Brain Infection?
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