Some friends of mine told me that I had to go eat at The Conch House when I was visiting St. Augustine. They said I would not be disappointed.
The restaurant is pretty big. They have tons indoor and outdoor seating. They also have these tiki hut tables that you can sit at for a better view of the water. When I visited it was really cold and windy outside, so I got a table inside.
To start out with I ordered a Bloody Mary. They had a basic one and then some specialty ones that almost put an entire meal on the glass. Since I was going to be ordering food, I did not want to fill up on the cocktail.
I could not come to a place called The Conch House and not order any conch. I settled on an order of the conch fritters. The fritters were amazing. They were full of pieces of conch. The breading had a sweet taste to it. They served a homemade key lime mustard sauce. It had a sweet and tangy flavor. It accented the conch fritter perfectly.
The other starter I got was the Banana Pepper Calamari. They coated the fresh calamari in a flour loaded with Cajun spices. This fried up crispy and had a wonderful spicy flavor. They sprinkled fresh parmesan cheese on top. They served on the side, banana peppers, red peppers, and scallions in a lemon garlic butter sauce.
The waitress recommended that the pepper mixture get poured over the calamari. This adds additional tangy flavor.
The restaurant has a bottle of sauce on their tables called Datil Pepper Sauce. This locally made sauce is very much like a cocktail sauce on steroids. It has the cocktail sauce base with additional seasonings blended in that gave it a sweet taste. It tasted fantastic with the calamari. To me this sauce would be good with anything.
For my main dish I ordered the Jamaican Jerk chicken. This was a bone-in quarter chicken. They baked this chicken and then covered it in a Jamaican jerk sauce. They served it with a pineapple salsa. The chicken was not as spicy as I was expecting, but it did have a hint of spice. The pineapple salsa added a sweetness to the spice. It was the perfect blend of sweet and heat.
The chicken also came with fresh fried plantains and coconut rice. The plantains were perfectly ripe, full of sweet flavor and a nice soft texture. The coconut rice had a wonderful subtle coconut taste. I ended up mixing some of the pineapple salsa into the rice to create a completely tropical dish.
I really enjoyed what I ordered at The Conch House. I also loved that Datil Pepper Sauce so much I bought a bottle for home.
If you are in St. Augustine or just driving through to get to Jacksonville, I recommend you make a stop. Check out their website and menu at www.conch-house.com
Enjoy!
T
