Dockside. Harahan: 1820 Dickory Ave. 504-736-9666.

Written by Tom Fitzmorris August 25, 2011 16:27 in

3 Fleur
Average check per person $15-$25
 BreakfastNo Breakfast SundayNo Breakfast MondayNo Breakfast TuesdayNo Breakfast WednesdayNo Breakfast ThursdayNo Breakfast FridayNo Breakfast Saturday
LunchLunch SundayLunch MondayLunch TuesdayLunch WednesdayLunch ThursdayLunch FridayLunch Saturday
DinnerDinner SundayDinner MondayDinner TuesdayDinner WednesdayDinner ThursdayDinner FridayDinner Saturday

Dockside

Harahan: 1820 Dickory Ave. 504-736-9666. Map.
Casual.
AE DC DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
The Dockside is in the center of the Hickory-Dickory-Citrus business nexus, which in recent years has developed an interesting collection of restaurants--none of them national chains. It fills up with lunch-hour eaters by day, then draws from the Harahan-River Ridge residential areas in the evening.

WHAT'S GOOD
The full complement of roll-up-your-sleeves seafood is here. A full raw oyster bar and a grill for making oyster juices sizzle with herbs, garlic, and butter are front and center. They also undertake the bother of obtaining and boiling crabs, shrimp, and (in season) crawfish. The restaurant is big enough that the diners' slow process of picking crabs can plod along. They buy excellent fresh fish for the grill, season it up excitingly and applying appropriate crustiness to big fillets. Also here is the standard list of poor boy sandwiches, seafood platters, and a few pasta dishes, in descending order of interest.

BACKSTORY
The restaurant opened in 2001, and went through a couple of ownership changes. In 2009, Chef Mark Martinez and Michael Laxton came out of positions with the Brennan family's restaurants to re-envision Dockside. It has become a much better restaurant since they moved in.

DINING ROOM
The dining room is a wide triangle, with an interior decor familiar to anyone who's ever set foot in a New Orleans-style neighborhood seafood joint. The sound of the oyster shucker's banging away at the stubborn shells mixes with a jazzy music mix, while young waitresses give friendly service. The rolls of paper towels on the tables and the utensils in glassine bags seem low-rent to me, but I'm happy to accept it in exchange for the goodness of the seafood.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Starters
»Grilled oysters on the half-shell
»Raw oysters on the half shell
Popcorn shrimp
Fried crawfish tails
»Fried crab claws
Fried crab cakes with seafood cream sauce
»Barbecue shrimp
Seafood stuffed mushrooms
Onion rings
Fried eggplant medallions
Mozzarella sticks
Fried green tomatoes
Fried pickles
Dockside sampler (stuffed mushrooms, onion rings, crab claw, popcorn shrimp)
Shrimp, catfish, or crab cake salad
Crawfish salad
»Flash fried oyster salad
Gulf fish salad
»Grilled chicken salad
Oriental chicken salad
»Blackened chicken salad
»Seafood and andouille gumbo
Soup of the day
Entrees
»Boiled seafood in season
»Fried seafood platter
»Fried or blackened Gulf fish of the day
»Black and gold plate (blackened drum and fried shrimp)
»Stuffed redfish platter
Stuffed shrimp platter
Stuffed crab platter
»Soft shell crab platter
Chicken fillet
Ribeye steak
Surf and turf (ribeye and shrimp)
Seafood pasta with seafood cream sauce or garlic butter; choice of shrimp, catfish, or crab cake
Gulf shrimp scampi
Eggplant Dickory
Shrimp Creole
Sandwiches
Shrimp
Catfish
Crawfish
»Oyster
Chicken breast
Roast beef
Ham
Turkey
Ham and turkey combo
Hot sausage
Pork chop
Club sandwich
Chicken club sandwich
Hamburgers
Desserts
Bread pudding

FOR BEST RESULTS
The oyster bar, boiling pot and the grill are the kitchen's best tools. A meal made exclusively from those departments will be way above average.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
Strangely, the frying here is the least interesting kitchen work. I'd say the oil isn't hot enough to give a good crust to the catfish in particular.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

  • Dining Environment
  • Consistency +1
  • Service+1
  • Value +1
  • Attitude +2
  • Wine & Bar
  • Hipness
  • Local Color +1

 

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
  • Good for business meetings
  • Open Sunday lunch and dinner
  • Open Monday lunch and dinner
  • Open all afternoon
  • Oyster bar
  • Unusually large servings
  • Quick, good meal
  • Good for children
  • Easy, nearby parking
  • No reservations

ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS
In a casual seafood restaurant, oysters separate the men from the boys. Any restaurant that goes to the trouble of maintaining an oyster bar is more likely to have first-class seafood across the board than one that doesn't. This is a side benefit of the wild popularity of grilled oysters in the Drago's style. That dish is so appealing that most new seafood restaurants (and some older ones) install it on the menu, despite the difficulty of shucking oysters in house. Unlike the oyster classics of the past, a restaurant must shuck its own bivalves to serve grilled oysters with any credibility.

The Dockside is a great example of how the desire to grill oysters enhances everything else a restaurant does. In just a couple of years, it has become one of the better places to eat seafood in East Jefferson Parish.