Lunch At Blue Moon In Nags Head.

Mr. Hawthorne and I had a nice meal a few weeks ago at the Blue Moon Beach Grill in Nags Head.

Here's what I wrote about our meal back in February. We had an enjoyable, pleasant meal then, so last Wednesday, we decided to give it another go with Youngest Hawthorne.

We ordered the nacho platter as an appetizer. The three of us couldn't finish this. I'm pretty sure these were homemade chips. They were quite good. Black beans. Tomatoes. Lettuce. I'm blogging about this tonight, the 23rd. And we ate there on the 16th, so bear with me. Mr. Hawthorne's appraisal of this appetizer: "This is not a South West/Mexican style I'm accustomed to. It was an unwelcomed surprise to me. I don't like pulled pork with my nachos." Mr. Hawthorne likes to pick up a chip and get everything on it. He doesn't like for his nachos to have dripping pork pulling on something else before he gets it in his mouth. He wants chopped meat on his nachos. Texture is everything. When he ate these nachos with the pulled pork, the pork pulled up all the other stuff on the plate. I would have preferred ground beef with cumin. But that's just us. Just our tastes.

Here's my plate with a tasty little nacho and the accoutrements, and a lovely cream sauce of cilantro and lime, I think. I could have used some more of that sauce. On to the Oysters Rockefellers.

I ordered the Oysters Rockefeller. ACK! Did not like. I know my oysters and these were not my oysters. Last time I ate at Blue Moon, I ordered the mahi. It came with a big slab of applewood bacon on top. These oysters came with a big slab of applewood bacon on top. I think Blue Moon Grill has a tendancy to overuse the applewood bacon. It's too heavy for seafood. The applewood totally overpowered the oysters, which was probably a good thing, since the oysters were NOT good. Hey. I've had not good oysters everywhere. It happens.

When I make Oysters Rockerfeller, I sprinkle bacon bits over top. This oyster has a whole honking slice of bacon on top. Unnecessary. And taste yer ersters before you send 'em out.

Next, I had the clam chowder. It was OK. But not memorable. I've made much better, but the crackers were good.

Mr. Hawthorne had the non-traditional Caesar Salad with fried oysters. Blue Moon Beach Grill has kick-ass fried oysters.

By non-traditional Caesar Salad, I mean a Caesar Salad with anything more than romaine lettuce, croutons, and Caesar dressing. Theirs has tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled lemons, and NO CROUTONS (BOO!), Youngest Hawthorne had the Caesar Salad with grilled chicken on top. He wasn't crazy about his. OK. He didn't like it at all. He described his salad as "effortless." Heh. BTW (By The Way, Mama and Sister Hawthornes), after complaining about the limp french fries last time I was there, Xmaskatie and Glowria went and reported back to me that their french fries were crispy and exceptionally delicious. My experience this time: Wasn't a great meal. Wasn't all bad. I tell it like it is. I'll go back. YMMV. (Your mileage may vary, Mama and Sister Hawthornes.) And it always does. Different strokes for different folks.