Cheap Eats - Blue Bay seafood restaurant

Surf suburban turf

I grew up on the Florida panhandle, also known as the Redneck Riviera. Coming of age there didn’t give me much in the way of culture, but it did lend me a love for fresh seafood served unencumbered in tacky coastal holes-in-the-wall.

We don’t have a shore anywhere nearby, and the “catch of the day” has a whole new meaning here. But this “panhandler” is on the lowered-expectation tour. I’m content to find a restaurant even partially reminiscent of a down-home dive done well, even if it’s in a shopping strip in Duluth.

Whatever floats your boat: Blue Bay seafood restaurant, a Greek family-owned eatery, opened up in the place of a former generic sports bar early in April. It has done a stellar job trying to be beach-gaudy, with life preservers on the wall along with not-quite-nylon fish nets. It’s almost too well-lit and clean to pull off being purposefully tacky. But at least there isn’t Jimmy Buffet playing in the background.

The important thing is that the seafood is, for the most part, fresh and served in large portions at meager prices. At seating, you’re offered a bowl of cigar-shaped, fresh-fried hush puppies from a somewhat overzealous waitron. Dig in and skip the appetizers – the calamari, while fresh and generous in portion, is a bit tough and served with a mundane marinara. And the lobster bisque, lacking cream or texture, is a disappointment.

The proof is in the entrees: The Ocean’s Combo ($14.95) is a broiled mix of shrimp, scallops, flounder and sides. It is thankfully not overcooked or overseasoned and even the shellfish is fresh, albeit a bit waterlogged. What really shine are the fried combos. It’s great to have the option to mix and match two seafood options for $11.95. A grouper-and-oyster combo was perfectly and lightly fried with a crisp outer coating of perhaps flour and cornmeal. The oysters had just enough curly brine without being scary. For a moment, I was back at the simple shore.

Trivial troubled waters: The generous salad accompanying each entree is crisp but boring with bottled dressings. All other condiments are served in annoying plastic ramekins that don’t mesh with real plates. Also, the vegetables were of the frozen, uniformly cross-cut carrot and cauliflower variety. A simple steamed broccoli or sauteed spinach would make for a much better presentation. Finally, the crab salad does have real lump crab but mixes it with the imitation stuff that menus always fail to mention.

On the upside, for those who want good seafood in their own bungalow, with or without the tacky shore imports, Blue Bay offers extremely reasonable family specials for takeout only. For $21.95 you can take home a combination including flounder, oysters, trout, grouper, scallops and popcorn shrimp as well as sides for four.

Though Blue Bay is still struggling with undercurrents, its tide will likely come in. When it does, there are plenty of life preservers on the wall.