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OBX Eats: The Black Pelican

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OBX Eats: Black Pelican

OBX Eats: Black Pelican

Welcome to the first installment of our new blog series, OBX Eats!

In addition to loving the role that I play at Seaside Vacations, I am closet foodie. OK, maybe not in the closet, since everyone knows how much I enjoy a yummy meal. You know how they say that you can’t trust a skinny chef? Yeah, well…

This weekend my husband and I joined a  few friends at The Black Pelican in Kitty Hawk, so I thought I’d share our experience. If you haven’t been there, you need to go. Really. You could go now if you wanted. Heck, I may be back there right now!

The Black Pelican is one of the more popular restaurants on Outer Banks. It’s one of the few places that allow you to enjoy panoramic ocean views from the upstairs dining room and outside deck.

Here are some fun Black Pelican facts:

  • The building was constructed in 1874 and used as a United States Lifesaving Station #6.
  • Back in the day, the building also served as an active weather bureau!
  • The Wright Brothers used this information to plan their experimental flights.
  • In 1903, after their successful First Flight, the Wright Brothers sent the telegraph announcement from Station # 6.

Awesome, right?!  

Ah-hem, the FOOD?!

The Black Pelican has ample parking and lots of space inside. If you get there at the right time, they can accommodate larger parties. They serve lunch & dinner, and they cater. The menu is large and diverse. Choices include fresh seafood, salads, steaks, vegetarian choices, options for kids, and they have a wood oven for delicious pizza. They have a great raw bar, too!

I know, you’re thinking, “Yeah, yeah. Get to It, girlie. What about the FOOD?!

For appetizers, we enjoyed 2 orders of Drunken Crab, the Spicy Cajun Fish Bites (tuna), and Tuna Tatake’.

For normal people, that would have been enough for dinner. Thankfully, we aren’t normal.

The Drunken Crab is unreal. If you like crab, get it and thank me later. It comes in a huge martini glass, rimmed with Old Bay seasoning. It is ALL lump crab, none of that stringy stuff, and it’s tossed in a softly spiced Bloody Mary mix. Yum-o!

The tuna bites were cooked to perfection and were served with the house-made Ranch dressing. If you put good Ranch on a flip flop, I’d probably eat it, but I digress.

The tuna tar-tar was ICE cold, the wasabi was sinus busting, and the seaweed salad was to die for.  It’s a huge portion – enough to share if you aren’t selfish. Which I am. So I ate it all when everyone was busy chatting.

Dinner was just as delish. We all had the seafood special: Artichoke and Parmasan Encrusted Tilefish with Spinach, Wild Rice, and crisps of fried sweet potato strings.

Tilefish, if you’ve never had it, is a white, tender, flaky fish, much like Rockfish/Striped Bass, but I think it’s a little sweeter. It was cooked perfectly and just flaked up. I should not, in any stretch of the imagination, have eaten the whole thing. I did, though. Scraped the remaining sauce with my toasted pita wedge, and everything. It was a spectacle, I admit. Try it for yourself and see if YOU can hold back!

If you’ll be in town the week of March 17-20, 2012, The Black Pelican is participating the OBX Restaurant Association’s Taste of the Beach. Maybe you’ll see me there!

Eat Local. Always.

Colleen - Director of Owner & Guest Services

Have you been to the Black Pelican? Do you have a place that’d you’d like me to review? Post a comment and let me know! 

Outer Banks Recycling Facts

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The Outer Banks Voice recently ran a story written by Willo Kelly, a representative of BlueGreen Outer Banks, that points out some great facts about recycling on the Outer Banks.  Did you know you can get free crushed glass to use in landscaping?…freelicious!  The list of facts is below, and at the end of the list is a link to a survey about recycling on the OBX…the survey takes less than five minutes.

Outer Banks recycling facts:

  1. It is illegal to put aluminum cans, plastic water bottles/other plastic containers and oyster shells in North Carolina landfills.
  2. Establishments that sell alcoholic beverages are mandated by state law to recycle all of their glass.
  3. Dare County is the only North Carolina county that has its own glass crusher. The crushed glass can be picked up free and used for landscaping, driveway surfaces, etc. Look at the sparkling entrance to Jockey’s Ridge.
  4. Out of 100 North Carolina counties, Dare County ranked No. 1 last year for per-capita recycling. This ranking is somewhat skewed because it is based on the weight of recyclables per year-round resident and does not count seasonal population numbers.
  5. Recycling is the easiest way to reduce waste in our landfills. Considering the environment of the Outer Banks, you might wonder why recycling is not mandatory.  The Towns of Duck and Southern Shores provide curbside recycling service. Other Dare County towns have recycling “centers” and have contracted with a vendor to provide curbside service to those who voluntarily pay for it.

There is still so much more we can do to increase and improve recycling on the Outer Banks and your help is needed.  BlueGreen Outer Banks – Tomorrow Matters Inc. has worked with East Carolina University’s Center for Sustainable Tourism to develop a survey to find out what Outer Banks residents and visitors think about recycling.

The BlueGreen Recycling Survey – click here.