We all know Panama City Beach is the arm pit of the gulf known as the Redneck Riviera... But the pouch is drawn to it once a year during the PCB Thunder Beach biker rally. The options for food on the main cruising strips are pretty much limited to fried and fried. But if you go back to the downtown area of Panama City you can find a couple of winners that is not ultra rednecky or touristy.
The locals swears by this seafood dump... Dumps like these are totally in my wheelhouse. If you don't get here early expect to be waiting for an hour plus to be seated. Once you get inside the menu has all the classic seafood hits... Let's see if these hillbilly local yokels really know what they're talking about.
Crab Claws. I don't know why they need to give you extra clarified butter because these claws are soaking in an addictive garlicky butter bath... And I loved these things. It's like a crab lollipop. Now, I know why they give you extra butter... Because you can't stop dipping the crabmeat in the fatty liquid.
Peel and Eat Shrimp. More goddamn clarified butter... For peel and eat shrimp? The last thing I want is to dip my shrimp in butter... Ok, maybe just once or 6 times. You really can't go wrong with this simple dish.
Oysters. For a dump, they actually have some decent shucking skills... All the oysters were intact and pretty plump. They were pretty fresh and had a nice hint of the sea with the brine which they didn't wash off. Another dozen, pweez... And don't forget the butter.
Clam Strips. When I see fried clam strips I gotta order it. These low rent fried rubber bands always brings me back to when I was a young and lighter pouch... The HoJo's clam strip dinner was one of my favorites and these strips did it the same justice. What? No butter? WTF.
Crab Legs. These legs were pretty meaty and tender. I assume these are one of their best sellers so the quick inventory turnover keeps them coming in with fresh batches. There's that butter again.
Crab Cakes. They were acceptable but definitely not the crab cakes I was expecting. It's funny that they have grill marks on it. Deep fried and then finished on the grill. I don't know what kinda technique this was but they were strangely tasty. Ok, look, more clarified butter.
Fisherman's Platter. A seafood mix of fried oysters, scallops, shrimp, fish, hush pups with some veggies and baby taters. It was an ok sampler but nothing really to revisit again. After a few bites everything started to taste the same.
Sides of Stuff. Some non-fried stuff was a nice change but where's the butter? Can't eat the corn and hush puppies without butter!
Packed and a lengthy wait time at 5:30PM. This little dump is a gold mine, it's supposedly packed like this everyday.
Sometimes, going off the main area will reward you with some good eats and this time we got lucky with this joint.
1150 Beck Ave
Panama City, FL 32401
http://huntsoysterbar.com/
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