Scored two really great cookbooks on vacation

[supernova]

in Ocracoke.

Every restaurant on the island is really good, but there are two standouts, The Back Porch Restaurant and Cafe Atlantic. Cafe Atlantic seems to be better known and something of a stop on the East Coast foodie tour.

I had excellent meals at both places. Since I'm trying to eat more fish, I was glad to find they have wonderful fresh seafood recipes (of course! ;-) ) available to take home.

The Back Porch Restaurant served a Thai flavored Blue fish fillet with julienne veggie salad. Awesome fresh Atlantic flavor.

Can I whine a little about restaurant portions? Jeez, I really enjoyed it, but they served me FOUR FILLETS when I would have been content with just the one. :P There's no way one person can eat all that. Well, maybe Stinky can. Plus, I had no where to store it for the next day since I was in a hotel. I felt a Little guilty for the wasted food.

Cafe Atlantic served me the best scallop dish I have ever had, scallops served in a fresh chopped tomato and crisp bacon sauce and topped with a pesto aioli. Decadent and rich. Finished off with a warm peach cobbler served with a side of homemade vanilla ice cream. And that crust was so flaky, it could almost double for phyllo. The service was top notch. I stupidly slapped my chianti all over the table while trying to read, but they were on it in seconds and handed me a new glass of wine in a couple of minutes. I'd make another trip to Ocracoke just to eat there again. *sigh*

[Stinky The Clown]

1. I love bluefish

We ate it a lot when I was a kid. We used to catch it in Long Island Sound. We get it now from the Chesapeake. It isn't quite as good as the stuff from the Sound, mainly because of the water salinity. Was yours ocean or from Pamlico Sound? I'm not even sure there's a taste difference as Pamlico is more connected to the ocean than the middle and upper Chesapeake.

I'll take your leftover fillets! :)