Saltbox Seafood Joint

**Not unexpected really that Chef Moore won the James Beard Award which is great, because it is more than just about the food sometimes. As stated, I’d be back for the po’ boys, and if I knew he was actually in the kitchen cooking, I’d probably be back for some of the other stuff too**

Even in this podunk of a town a state native can make national renown. Okay, so Durham isn’t so small town anymore, at least not in the way I remember growing up here. Do any kind of internet search on Durham and food and it seems it, along with the rest of the Triangle, is some kind of newish hotbed of food and up and coming hot bed of restaurants and trendy food places. You know, like Charleston or San Francisco or whatever other “hip” city you can think of. The tourism board of the area really seems to earning their salary!

It does help if people like the food some of these chefs who are making names for themselves and the area. One such person is Chef Ricky Moore. To be honest, even when I wasn’t here I was still kind of keeping up with news in the area and randomly reading food blogs that seem to keep tabs on these sorts of things. Kind of the same way that even though I am not in SF anymore, I still do the same for there and a few of the other cities I may have inhabited over the years. (Yes, it is a lot of work being me)

Chef Moore is a NC native from New Bern who has quite the culinary experience you can just check out here. Since I was already following the food before I got here, I’d heard of him and his little (at the time) seafood joint he had opened up in downtown Durham, Saltbox Seafood Joint. The original location was literally like a tiny shack with only a walk-up window and a collection of picnic tables in front to dine out. A challenge I’m sure during winter or rainy season. I had meant to get by this location when I moved to town but, well, COVID and what not and before I could check it out, he decided to close the location. Fortunately, or not, the place had become so popular and nationally well known (hello! James Beard Award nomination best chef in the Southeast) that he had opened up a larger location just on the other side of town.

Funny thing about the new place is it was a originally a seafood joint waaaayyy back when I was growing up here. I remember it because there was a movie theater across the street we went to all the time and the place had an orange and white sign with a boat on it. I feel like I may have eaten there once but being a youngun’ then I wasn’t really in to fish and what not like I am now. Except, of course, unless it was my birthday then I wanted lobster tails because that was some fancy adult eatin’!

Once things here relaxed a bit for going out and restaurants started having regular hours I thought it would be a good time to check out Chef Moore’s Saltbox and see what all the fuss was about since, as I have stated many times before, I do so love me some fried seafood. It also helped that a friend I reconnected with here from long ago past, Mr. S, had texted and listed this as one of the places he wanted to try too. Let’s call it kismet as we made a plan to nosh on some fried stuff.

We picked a good day as 1) they were not their normal crowded, 2) it was nice outside and we could sit at their tables outside, 3) they weren’t crowded, yes this counts twice as I had come by here once before and was told ordering would take over an hour! The space is pretty the same except cleaned and lightened up and made to look seafood beachy restaurant. You know, clapboard, ropes and whatnot.

The menu is simple rolls, plates and sides. All the seafood is North Carolina local, sustainable, seasonal, all the buzzy catchwords of all the trendy spots. We took a minute, or two, to peruse the choices and after some discussion (more than the couple behind probably wanted us to have) settled on a handful of things to give us the breadth of the menu.

Here are some fried clam strips, I start with these because, to be honest, for both of us, these were not very good. The strips were overcooked and leaving the clams chewy. There was also A LOT of breading going on with these. Not to mention the clams were in clumps and not really individually loose. The clumps and the extra breading seem to help them absorb some extra grease in there too. We didn’t come anywhere close to finishing these.

The side dish is supposed to be one of their specialities—crispy seasoned slice potatoes with green peppers and onions. These were a big problem, and not just the ones we got here but all of the ones we got. Think of them as potato chips meet souped up hash browns. I mean, the peppers and onions were a nice different touch, but outside of a couple of the ones top of the pile you see above, the rest were a hodgepodge of differently cooked potatoes and none of them tasty. Most were undercooked and the potatoes had stuck together keeping them soft, mushy oil absorbers much like the the clams. Except when potato pieces are deep fried, if you don’t keep them separated in the basket they get gluey and don’t properly cook all the way through. I’m really not sure what texture these were supposed to be. Crispy? Slightly soft with crisp edges? Soft like hash browns? It seems whoever dumped these in the deep fry basket put too many in and then didn’t shake the basket to help keep them separated to make sure they cooked all the way through and then just dumped the basket out into our take-out containers. Like a ball of greasy, sticky potatoes. Diners do this kind of thing better.

I think we both were a little bummed and surprised these just were not good. Really, more befuddlement considering all the build up and good reviews we had seen about the food here. But, all was not lost, things did get better. Well, not the potatoes and a couple other things but still….

The fried catfish was pretty decent. You can see the batter was a more palatable light dusting with notes of paprika. Some of the smaller pieces were a tad overcooked and extra crispy at the edges but the large pieces were quite nice and flaky without all the extra grease. Though the tartar sauce side was not really the traditional you may be thinking of. Theirs is more herby, reminiscent of ranch with lots of parsley or cilantro or some other green thing. Not bad, just….different.

This is where things hit some high points, the rolls. Buttered(!) and toasted large size hot dog buns stuffed to overflowing with fried seafood and house made slaw. The one above is oyster. Yes, I know, I hate oysters of any kind but Mr. S is a big fan and this roll was chock full of them. I did take a small bite to just to try it and props for being crispy and tasting super fresh. He thought this was spot on and super tasty. Though they don’t come with any sauce which it probably could have used.

I got my own version but with shrimp and much like the oyster, I thought this was da’ bomb! There is a ton of fried shrimp on this. You definitely get your money’s worth here, considering they are $14 a pop. The shrimp works really well with their version of slaw, which is a citrusy bright crispness which pairs well with some sweet plump shrimp. I too thought it could use a tad of some sauce (besides that herby stuff) but a small quibble because this sandwich alone was enough to make me go back again.

I had high hopes when I saw deep fried cauliflower as a side choice and well, that is kind of all it was. Plain cauliflower tossed in a fryer. No batter, more like a light dusting of what seemed like curry seasoning? They were more grease flowers than anything. I’m not sure what the reasoning was for this side.

As for the slaw, I really liked it on the sandwich as a great compliment to the seafood. As a side dish, not sure I was down with the strong citrus and herb combo to just eat it by itself. Sorry, I am a Carolina slaw purist kind of guy. I appreciate others but this one I will stick with as a topping instead of a side.

Hush honeys, one of their signature sides. Hush puppies drizzled with honey. Again, I am gonna go the purist route, I like my hush puppies with butter. These were a little on the overcooked and crumbly side making them dry to bite into. The honey didn’t help, though maybe some butter would? Not sure but neither of us were big fans.

Okay, maybe me and Mr. S were being too picky and this might have been some kind of outlier event. Though the catfish and them sandwiches were quite a treat, the rest, eh, not so much. I am sure I might take some heat for this but it was the experience we had at the time and we did both agree on the outcomes. Considering Chef Moore’s and Saltbox’s accolades others may need to make choices themselves. This place is definitely a “to each his own” kind of spot. You may go and have a different experience and as I said above, I will definitely be back for the sandwich. Even though it is above my $10 threshold I do think they made it worth it with the heaping helping of shrimp. Almost a full Calabash style sandwich. Be sure to note that because I might not say that again! My seafood journey continues.