Fun Playing With Food at Harbor Docks, Destin FL

Though occasionally inconsistent, Harbor Docks remains our "go to" Destin restaurant for fish. Ok, the breakfast wasn't stellar, but I feel obligated to tell the truth about it - then recommend you go to Harbor Docks for lunch and dinner (especially lunch, which offers a nice value and some delightful Southeast Asian flavors). Yes, tourists go there, but it remains at its heart a locals place, located in the same space on the harbor for the last 40 years.

We dined at the Harbor Docks bar our first night in Destin. There was a boat fest on the harbor and the restaurant was jammed, but I was not going to be denied a plate of Harbor Docks after 7 years absent from Destin! Just one bite into that exquisitely fresh and well prepared fish, the tears welled up. Tears of joy.

First, though, the ubiquitous Harbor Docks salad. The only time I'll actually eat canned mandarin oranges. And like them!

BLACKENED CATCH OF THE DAY (grouper), corn chow chow, smoked gouda stone-ground grits, vegetable of the day (green beans)

Bob's Sesame Crusted Snapper was equally delicious, but too blurry to post.

As I wrote seven years ago in this post, "Our “go to” breakfast for ten years [was] the Silver Sands Breakfast at Harbor Docks." The Silver Sands’s proprietor, Mr. Ferrell Shipp, passed away in July 2011 and the Silver Sands Breakfast ended three months later. Harbor Docks initiated their own breakfast shortly after, but no one could make biscuits like Mr. Shipp and the one breakfast we sampled in 2012 was still in the development stage. Harbor Docks currently offers breakfast Friday-Sunday. I wanted so much to love it, but my advice is to enjoy lunch and dinner at Harbor Docks, but leave breakfast to the pros.

Bob's: French Toast with Conecuh Sausage

Bob's' French Toast was good but nothing to write home about. In it's defense, though, this plate was our first introduction to Conecuh Sausage. This family business began in 1947 in Evergreen, Alabama, and produces very tasty hickory smoked sausages with simple ingredient lists and interesting seasonings. We found them in local grocery stores also, but wouldn't have known to look for them but for this breakfast plate.

Mine:  Half Order of Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

Mine: Cheese Grits

The biscuits are no longer made in house, and this one wasn't very good. The gravy was ok, but no longer available without the sausage. The true sin against breakfast, however, was in the grits. Bullion cubes, to be precise. The addition of bullion cubes did not add flavor in a good way; instead it created an overly salty, artificial-flavor, funhouse-mirror effect on the palate. So, while we enjoyed several other meals at Harbor Docks, we did not return for breakfast.

Lunch was a completely different, delicious, savory story.

Bob's: Fried Grouper Fingers, Cheese Grits, Coleslaw, Hushpuppies

Fish Curry (I think it was snapper), Rice

Spring Rolls, Dipping Sauce

Bob's plate hit all the expected tasty notes, and the grits were obviously made by someone not on the breakfast crew, who knows how to make them. But mine hit the motherload - a skillful, just-spicy enough Thai style curry caressing perfectly sauteed local Snapper, plated with Jasmine Rice and accompanied by two crispy right-out-of-the-fryer, made in house, spring rolls with dipping sauce.

There would be two additional dinners at Harbor Docks. Neither hit the heights of the first dinner or lunch, but they were mostly solid, and delivered with Harbor Docks's excellent service and hospitality (hello to Ms. Sunshine, who is still serving there even after these many years!).

Bob's: Fried Grouper fingers, Fries

Mine: Grilled Tuna, Rice, Veg, Buerre Blanc.

Though Bob's fried plate was excellent, my tuna was just a little older than it wanted to be, and it couldn't compare to the exquisite tuna I cooked from Blalock's. There was something funky about the Buerre Blanc also. These things happen, the plate was enjoyable, just not stellar.

Bob's: Fried Triggerfish

Mine: Blackened Snapper, Grits, Chow Chow, Green Beans

Again, Bob's fried plate hit the spot, but mine, which was the same order from our first dinner in December, somehow lacked profundity. It may have mattered that there was a big beer tasting dinner going on in the next dining room. In any event, we love playing with food at Harbor Docks, and we will be back there upon our return to Destin!

Harbor Docks
538 Harbor Blvd.
Destin, FL 32541
(850) 837-2506
info@harbordocks.com

HOURS
Monday - Wednesday 11am - 10pm

Thursday 11am - 11pm

Friday - Saturday 7am - 11pm

Sunday 7am - 10pm

Fun Playing With Bonbons

Good gravy - has it really been seven months since I've posted? Well I had some great gravy today, so I needed to drop everything to show it to you. 

We'd brunched at Ohio City's Bonbon Cafe once before, in August 2012. We enjoyed that meal, but found the service so . . . strange . . . that we just couldn't get excited about rushing back. Today, after an early visit to the West Side Market (a necessity if you want to find a parking spot on a Saturday these days), we hit up Bonbon for a late breakfast. 

Corned Beef Hash
brussels sprouts, peppers, onions, mushrooms, fried egg, baguette

When Chef-Owner Courtney Bonning says "fried egg" - she isn't kidding. Bob's specimen had somehow been breaded like a piece of to-be-fried chicken (probably poached first, but still a cool feat), then deep fried. Despite the high heat treament, the yolk still had some runniness, and the coating offered just the right amount of spice kick and crunchy texture to compliment the tender corned beef and caramelized veggies.

Biscuits & Gravy
two biscuits with chorizo gravy, sunny side egg, scallions, seasonal fruit

For me, the hardest part was choosing between the fried chicken and avocado with a house made English Muffin ("Chicken or the Egg"), and this dish. I chose wisely. The cheesy, porky gravy rated a "plate licking good" all by itself.

The menu description of "seasonal fruit" didn't really apply to the pineapple and grapes, but instead of just being a pretty garnish, these beautifully sweet bites set off and cleaned the palate nicely from the spicy chorizo, which our server advised is made in house by savory head chef Ryan Crow. He formerly worked at Lolita and knows his way around pork!

Ah, there's that biscuit! Flaky layers of savory goodness worth returning for; now I really want to try the house-made English Muffin! These biscuits made the perfect vessel to sop up every bit of that luscious gravy, and the bits of scallion on top offered both a textural contrast and a flavor that enhanced all of the savory elements on the plate. The egg was perfectly fried - the edges crunched while the yolk ran.

I'm still not quite sure why it took so long for us to return to Bonbon. Service was much improved over our last visit; you can see the photos from that tasty lunch here. Parking can be a challenge, but we lucked into a spot right across the street. 

If you are looking for a warm place to sit down and enjoy a meal after visiting the West Side Market in winter, when the outdoor benches just don't cut it and the balcony is located above so many steps - Bonbon offers unique and carefully crafted breakfast and lunch fare that will warm you inside and out with made-from-scratch goodness at reasonable prices.