Pelican Club Review

Atmosphere: A
Food: A
Service: B

Husband and I had reservations for 5:30 p.m. on a Sunday. We were the first guests (they open at 5:30), and actually the only guests (except a few that were at the bar) for at least 30 minutes. What a shame, as from 5:30-6:00 nightly, Pelican Club has an early dinner menu, three courses for $28. You can choose between gumbo, hearts of romaine salad, or shrimp remoulade; a chicken entrée, a fish entrée, or a 6 oz filet; and, dessert, your choices were white chocolate bread pudding, berry sorbet with fruit, or crème brulee. They also offer a four course prix fixe with more choices for around $46-$52.

Service: Service gets a B. Our server was pleasant enough, and I wasn’t expecting choreographed simultaneous presentation of dishes a la Commander’s. But she didn’t even ask if we wanted a cocktail or wine, just whether we wanted ice water or bottled water. We ordered our drinks at the same time as dinner. We were not offered coffee with our dessert, either. Maybe she had a beverage issue, or maybe she thought we were tight asses because we were there for the early dinner, but regardless, we should have been asked for our drink order. On a positive note, the pacing of the meal was excellent: not rushed at all and not too slow, either.

Food: We started off with the Pelican Club Baked Oyster appetizer (not a part of the three course early dinner special, but I just had to try it). Delicious! My husband said he wished it came with six oysters instead of four, however, he changed his mind about that by the end of dinner. The oysters, served on the half shell with applewood smoked bacon, roasted red peppers, parmesan and garlic herb butter, also came with some sauce on the side that appeared mayo-based (which means I won’t touch it). Husband thought the sauce actually took away from the dish. Sans that sauce, this was an excellent appetizer.

We both ordered the gumbo. The Pelican Club serves a chunky gumbo full of veggies, shrimp, andouille, and chicken. The roux was a slight bit lighter than what I like, and I’m not used to my gumbo being so “chunky,” but I did enjoy it. Just the right amount of spice, and full of meat. Very filling.

For our entrée, we had paneed gulf fish pecan. The plating wasn’t awe-inspiring, but the taste sure made up for it. The portion size was very large, a surprise considering what we were paying. For some reason, I expected some finely chopped pecans to cover the fish, but instead, there were pecan halves dotting the top. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the menuiere sauce added just the right amount of tartness to the dish. The side veggies were good, with the corn being extra yummy.

Finally, dessert: white chocolate bread pudding. Pelican Club has by far the best white chocolate bread pudding that I have ever had. Not the least bit dry, not too soggy, and garnished with a dollop of cream and fresh fruit. I’ve never been blown away by white chocolate bread pudding, but Pelican Club changed that.

All in all, a very solid restaurant, and one I plan to return to in the future.