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October 21, 2000 SUGAR SHACK
Atmosphere ** Pricing: Dinner for two, not including tax and tip: about $60 Atmosphere If you're moving quickly, you might drive past the Sugar Shack without seeing it. The humble little building near the beach in Ocean Isle is gaily lit, but set back off Rt. 179 with a vacant lot in front. A patio in front of the building holds eight or ten tables for outside dining. The Sugar Shack has one large dining room which seats about five dozen. Prints of island scenes are hung on walls the color of a peach daiquiri; live plants and recessed lighting provide a cheerful, informal atmosphere. Tables are covered with green linen over pastel plaid. Reggae plays at a reasonable volume on the Sugar Shack's stereo; on Saturday nights, an acoustic guitarist delivers tunes by golden oldies like Jimmy Buffet and James Taylor. The cook at Sugar Shack is an expatriate Jamaican named Dave who met his wife Linda, a New York businesswoman, when she was vacationing in the Caribbean. Their story is charmingly told on the back page of the dinner menu. Food The first report of jerk-style cooking comes from the 1698 memoirs of a French priest named Pere Labat, who chronicled his Martinique barbecue picnic in detail. "The belly of the pig must be filled with lime-juice and plenty of salt and crushed pimento," he wrote. "A large calabash or gourd full of gravy and another full of lime-juice, pepper, salt and pimento stands in the center of the table and from these, each guest mixes his gravy according to his taste." The jerk meats we sampled at the Sugar Shack were traditionally seasoned with a melange of cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme, garlic, and a bit of Scotch bonnet pepper. Our meal began with 'jonnybread', a warm, dense bread rich with spice and sweet with molasses. Kim, our server, soon brought a perfectly balanced fresh lime sauce that went well with everything, and some thick jerk sauce for the meats, sweet with molasses and sassy with a touch of pepper. If you want something hot, ask for the red stuff in the little bottle. It's Grace pepper sauce from Kingston, a bit hotter than Tabasco. But if you want something really hot, ask for the green stuff in the little bowl. It's homemade by Dave with fresh Scotch bonnet chiles and just a bit hotter than Hell itself. Whimpering, perspiring, and moaning happily, we stubbornly resisted diving for the glass of water provided by the busboy. Tasty and rich, the Jamaican patty ($3) consisted of finely ground, heavily seasoned beef wrapped in a good pie crust shell. Chicken and vegetable patties are also available. Expecting a bright orange potage, we tried the pumpkin soup ($4.50) and were served a generous portion of rustic stew with potatoes, carrots, chewy beef chunks and homemade dumplings in a savory broth. The unexceptional crab fritters ($8) consisted of six balls of deep-fried deviled crab stuffing, not quite done in the middle, served by themselves, lonely and overpriced. Other appetizers include Caribbean pizza ($7) and stamp & go ($7), cod fritters with a "special Jamaican kick." A sampler of mini patties, jerk chicken and pork, and cod fritters is available for $11. Our entrées arrived with a choice of curried rice or rice and beans, a large sweet potato disk, and a scoop of coleslaw. The slaw was excellent, the potato just fine, but the rice (we tried both kinds) arrived tepid and wasn't well-seasoned or terribly interesting. The curried goat ($15) was finely seasoned and incredibly tender, but somewhat dry - and not served at a good piping hot temperature. We wanted to try the jerk, but couldn't choose between chicken ($12) and pork ($13). "How about a bit of each?" Kim suggested helpfully. The pork was a huge slab, an inch and a half thick, extremely flavorful but again, rather dry. The chicken was melting from the bones and rich with jerk; it, too, was a bit dry. Again, nothing on the plate was piping hot. We discovered later that we were charged an extra $2 for requesting dark meat only. The mango tuna ($16) recommended as a good seafood selection by our server was served hot and appeared to be made to order. However, it was thin and overdone to the point of dryness, completely innocent of any mango flavor or even a noticeable sauce except for a bit of thin, sweet juice. If we eat at the Sugar Shack again, we'll try the baby back ribs ($17), touted on the menu as "The best you've ever eaten". We also looked with curiosity at the sautéed snapper and vegetables ($15) and the brown stew chicken ($12) with fresh peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Burgers and steaks ($5.95-$16) are available for those with no sense of adventure, and there are two children's plates ($3.50) as well. Desserts The Sugar Shack offers a limited dessert menu. On the night of our visit, we were offered a selection of carrot cake, mango cheesecake, and Key lime pie ($4/each). The cheesecake, made elsewhere, was mediocre. But the Key lime pie, made by Linda herself and just this side of frozen, was creamy, tart-sweet and divine. Spirits The upscale beer menu includes Newcastle, Bass, draft Guinness, and stout for $3.25. A small assortment of Island drinks are available for $5.50 each, $3.50 if made without liquor. Just three wines are offered – a Chardonnay, a white Zinfandel, and a Cabernet Sauvignon, all from MG Vallejo ($3.95/glass; $11.95/bottle). Ignore all of that and try some Red Stripe lager from Jamaica ($3.25) – it's marvelous with the spicy food. Service This isn't a formal place in any sense of the word; our excellent server Kim was dressed in polo shirt, shorts and tennis shoes. But she was everything one could hope for in a server: patient, warm, extremely considerate without being ingratiating, with a wonderful sense of humor. Linda, the owner, visited our table several times to inquire after our comfort and pleasure. Even the busboy was there for us, with the bowl of hell-spawned sauce and the tall glass of ice water that followed it. We greatly appreciate this level of care and attention, found so rarely these days. Summary Food at the Sugar Shack is well-spiced and interesting, but the execution needs attention. The quick arrival of our jerk and curried entrées, and their lukewarm temperatures, led us to conclude that they were prepared well in advance and then insufficiently reheated. The jerk meats, and in particular that well-done thick pork chop with its lukewarm interior, were helped but not completely disguised by those excellent sauces. We theorized that the jerk and curried dishes might be better in summertime, because they're most likely served shortly after cooking. We found it difficult to justify the rather high price of each entrée when we considered the inexpensive ingredients - cabbage, carrots, rice, kidney beans, sweet potatoes - used to make each side dish. Perhaps a few additional sides could be served with each meal - traditional bammy bread made with cassava would be fun, or callaloo, taro leaves that taste like collard greens, or even fried plantains, already on the menu for $2.50. The Sugar Shack delivers a fun, island-style dinner, served by a very good staff in a casual atmosphere. This intriguing little place has great potential. |
