Food of the Outer Banks

This post is somewhat overdue, but I'm on vacation, so time is of little concern. Anyway, here is a quick review of the food that Briana and I ate on our Outer Banks pre-wedding expedition. Disclaimer: All photos were taken with the crappy cameras on our iPhones.

Friday Dinner:
Blue Moon Beach Grill
Matt ate the Mahi Mahi BLT and Briana ate the Voodoo Pasta.
If you are coming to the OBX, then you MUST come to this restaurant. It was fairly small inside, but the food was fantastic. The Voodoo Pasta was made up of grilled pork, veggies, and a slightly spicy marinara; it was very tasty. The Mahi Mahi BLT--see picture--had a big slab of Mahi Mahi, ample bacon, and an herb mayo. I had to smash it down in order to take a bite out of it. I will be eating another one of these when we head back to the beach in August because it was, in the words of Will Ferrell, scrumtrulescent.

In addition to great food, Blue Moon also had Fat Tire beer on tap. This was a wonderful surprise because before March of 2009, Fat Tire wasn't available anywhere on the East Coast. Even now, it's only in North Carolina. If you have never tasted Fat Tire before, then let me inform you that it is freakin' delicious. I'm certain that angels' sweat is included at some point during the brewing process.



Saturday Lunch:
Pigman's Bar-B-Que
No stay in the OBX is complete without a visit to Pigman's. We had the traditional lunch of Pork BBQ Combo Boats (pulled pork sandwich, fries, cole slaw, and hush puppies). Their BBQ is the North Carolina vinegar-style, so don't expect any sissy tomato-based sauce.
It's like a present waiting under a Christmas Tree.



I managed to pause long enough to snap a picture of the actual sandwich.



Saturday Dinner:
Kelly's Restaurant and Tavern
Since Kelly's will be the caterer at the wedding, we figured we would check them out. Briana ate the Fettuccine Alfredo with crabmeat and Matt ate the Tuna something-or-other (it was the day's special). The fettuccine was creamy, not too oily, and had some pretty sizable chunks of crabmeat. Since Fettuccine Alfredo is just macaroni and cheese for adults (according to Mitch Hedberg, anyway), it usually falls into one of two categories: awful and good. This was good.

The tuna was tasted fine, but it wasn't anything special and was a bit undercooked. I still liked it, but I've had better. Tom, the innkeeper at First Colony, says Kelly's catering is better than the food at the restaurant. We'll see if he's correct very soon... [Editor's Note: We forgot to take a picture until Matt had already eaten his tuna.]


Sunday Lunch:
New York Pizza Pub
Despite all those vacations to the Outer Banks, I couldn't remember eating at this place, so Briana and I checked it out. They had, of course, lots of pizza options, some pastas, and a bunch of sandwiches. We opted for the paninis; the Classic Italiano for Briana and the Pollo Mediterranean for Matt. Both paninis were excellent and the fries were good, too. I'd like to try their pizza on the next visit. Oh, and they had Fat Tire. It was bottled, which wasn't as good as on tap, but still like liquid sunshine.

Mmm... Fat Tire.


Sunday Dinner: La Fogata
We needed a cheap dinner on Sunday, so we hit up La Fogata, the local Mexican restaurant. It was what we expected: good Mexican food at a decent price. If you want Mexican while you're at the OBX, then this is the place. I honestly can't remember what we ordered and the picture is of little help. Not that it really matters because Mexican food is all the same: tortilla, cheese, meat, and vegetables. [Editor's Note: That's a Jim Gaffigan joke.]

Tortilla, cheese, meat, and vegetables. Yup.


Matt's final thoughts:

1. Eat at the Blue Moon Beach Grill
2. Fat Tire beer = incredible.
3. Patronize the local food establishments! If you eat at Outback or Applebee's while at the OBX, then you're a moron.