Last Updated on Thursday, 07 June 2012 21:40

Restaurants - Seafood Restaurants

Shuck 'n' Jive

Mandeville: 643 Lotus Dr. 985-626-1534. Map.
Casual
AE DC DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
The West End-style seafood restaurant--the kind with boiled seafood, an oyster bar, fried platters, good fish specialties, and family-style prices--is fewer in number than you think. The North Shore has long been particularly impoverished in that category, most of its seafood restaurants having either very limited menus or substandard food. Lately, the Mandeville-Covington corridor has managed to launch a few such places, of which Shuck 'n' Jive is the most impressive.

WHAT'S GOOD
Shuck 'n' Jive's menu is extensive, beginning with a superb oyster bar and a major boiled seafood operation, and running through fried platters and poor boy sandwiches. The owners pledge to serve exclusively local fish. This means you won't find salmon or scallops, but also that you won't be subjected to tilapia or Chinese crawfish. The frying is deft, the boiled seafood comes out hot, and the oysters are big and well-shucked. Good gumbo, what more could you want?

BACKSTORY
Keith and Candice Linville opened Shuck 'n' Jive in 2011, in a somewhat hidden location (you have to look for it to find it) near Beau Chene. The building has held numerous restaurants over decades, beginning with the Forest Steak House. It was most recently the Mexican-Cuban restaurants Andale and Casa Gomez. The Linvilles just added a fresh retail seafood market to the back of the restaurant.

DINING ROOM
Two colorful dining rooms seem almost too spacious, causing some people waiting for tables to wonder why they don't add more. Each room has a bar--one for drinks, the other for oysters. When you can't find the Tabasco or the sweetener, look in the bucket hanging from the underside of the table.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Starters
»»Raw oysters
»Char-grilled oysters
»Oyster specials
Fried pickles
»Shrimp remoulade with fried green tomatoes
»Fried or blackened fish fingers
»Fried or blackened alligator
Fried LA crawfish tails
Fried or blackened calamari
Fried or sauteed crab claws
Buffalo style frog legs
Crab cakes
»Seafood gumbo
»Turtle soup
»Crawfish etouffee
Soup du jour
Tossed green salad
Caesar salad (plain, or with fried, blackened or grilled shrimp, chicken, tuna, or alligator
Spinach salad
Warm spinach salad with fried oysters
Seafood salad
Chef salad
»Potato salad

Boiled seafood
»Shrimp
»Crawfish (seasonal)
»Crabs (seasonal)
Boiled potatoes, corn, sausage, mushrooms, or garlic

Poor boy sandwiches
Shrimp
»Oyster
Catfish
»Soft shell crab
Barbecue shrimp
Alligator
Chicken
»Roast beef
Ham
»Hot sausage
»Chargrilled hamburger

Entrees
Fried, blackened or grilled
»Shrimp
»Oyster
»Catfish
»Soft shell crab
»Seafood platter
Chicken
Fresh Gulf fish of the day

Desserts
»Bread pudding du jour
Key lime pie
Cheesecake du jour
Flourless chocolate cake

FOR BEST RESULTS
Absolutely start with oysters, raw or grilled. The soups are very good, but if you're thinking seafood platter, even one more course may prove too much. The Shuck 'n' Jive potatoes--skillet-roasted jobs with garlic butter--are the side to get.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The crab cake should be called a crab chop (stuffed crab without the shell). It's good, but not crab-dominant. There's room outside for outdoor tables.

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 +1
• Consistency +2
• Service +1
• Value +2
• Attitude +2
• Wine and Bar
• Hipness
• Local Color +1

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

• Open Sunday lunch
• Open all afternoon
• Oyster bar
• Unusually large servings
• Quick, good meal
• Good for children
• Easy, nearby parking
• No reservations

ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS
The Lotus Drive address is confusing, even to web mapmaking sites. If the West Causeway Approach had a south service road, the restaurant would be on it, about two blocks from where the Approach veers off eastbound LA 22. The trees in the narrow strip between the Approach and Lotus don't help. A sign bigger than allowed by Mandeville law would.