Dinner at Shipp’s Harbour Grill

Update: 3/2018:

Shipp’s Harbour Grill had a fire in their kitchen in July, 2017, the restaurant has closed and will not be reopening. The good news is that another local restaurant that we like, Fisher’s, has bought the property and will be opening a new restaurant. They plan to offer some of the same menu items from Shipp’s including the Grouper Pontchartrain.

Tuesday night we adopted the McDonald’s “you deserve a break today” philosophy. Trust me that didn’t mean that we had dinner at McD’s – heck no! It meant that we designated it as cook’s night off and went out to enjoy a relaxing dinner! This area is a restaurant mecca with every type of cuisine you could ever possibly want but for us, that night it would be a revisit to one of our favorite haunts.

Last year when we stayed at Heritage RV Resort, Shipp’s Harbour Grill (27844 Canal Street, Orange Beach) was recommended to us by the staff there. During our short stay, we went there several times and it turned out being one of our favorite restaurants in the area. We remembered it from the great location, delicious food, wonderful ambiance and excellent service provided by Hunter, our favorite waiter. We were hoping that it would once again live up to our expectations!

Each night between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. they offer their Twilight Menu with most entrees being in the $9.95 – $12.95 price range. The entrees are the same as what is listed on the regular menu but are a lot cheaper because they usually do not include a salad. On Thursday night, they have a steak special for $16.95 which we remember being excellent so we’ll probably go there again on a Thursday night. Unfortunately we were told that once Spring Break starts (next week), they will not offer the Twilight Menu. Darn! The steak special will remain on the menu however.

Since we had not had anything to eat since breakfast, we decided to go there early arriving shortly after 4:00 p.m. Hardly anyone was there but good thing we arrived early because by 5:30 p.m. the place was mobbed. At the hostess desk, we asked if Hunter still worked there and he did so we were seated at one of his tables by the window. It’s kind of cute that all of the wait staff wear T-Shirts that say “Orange Beach – A Quaint Little Drinking Village with a Fishing Problem“.

Speaking of drinking, while sipping our perfectly chilled martinis and enjoying the view, we contemplated the much expanded Twilight Menu but there were so many things that sounded so good we were having a hard time making a decision. Hunter recommended the Grouper Pontchatrain. Now we don’t know much about grouper – it’s not a fish that we see frequently at home but since we tend to be adventurous (within reason), we decided to give it a try.

According to the menu, the grouper was lightly breaded and sauteed, topped with shrimp, mushrooms, and onions in a lemon butter sauce and served with Gouda mashed potatoes and green beans. Sure sounds good! For $2.00 extra, we opted to include a salad which came with a tomato basil vinaigrette served with fresh rolls and maple butter.

As you can see by the picture, the presentation of their food is awesome, served complete with an edible orchid (I always serve those with whatever I prepare – HA)! Oh, my, it was absolutely delicious (not the orchid but the grouper)!

After we finished, Hunter managed to entice us with dessert (like he really had to twist our arms) so we decided to share the bread pudding with bourbon sauce (there’s that orchid again – they must own an orchid factory). I remember having a New Orleans style bread pudding years ago so I thought this might be similar to that. Probably not Rob’s favorite choice but I have sacrificed by eating thousands of shared chocolate desserts over the years for him so now it was his turn. Good thing we decided to share – the portion was huge but it was oh so good!

It was close to sunset but still relatively warm so after dinner so we took a walk along the docks, looking at several power boats for sale (including one from Warwick, Rob’s home town in RI) and watching the always amusing pelicans. With the sun setting, it was finally time to drive back to Bella Terra.