Cuisine Review

Despite my pining for the new, trendy and uptown – like most people, nostalgia, tradition and the past beckon from time to time. In every area there are a handful of restaurants that cement a personality, hold onto it and each time you go in everything is the same as before.

Sometimes, stumped as to where I go next, I have to pull out the Yellow Pages and go line by line to determine where to eat. I sat, hungry, with a friend to discern where on earth I had not been that we could spend less than $20 a piece. It was Wednesday night – and a small line in the phone book lead me to Bayley’s on DIP, after the turn to Dauphin Island off of Laurendine Road. Wednesday nights are all you can eat fresh fish (caught that day, oftentimes mullet), tomatoes, onions, cole slaw hushpuppies and cheese grits. All for $11.50 – it is an unbelievable price for enough great fish to choke a horse, if horses ate fish.

My editor friend was excited (she would rather me refer to her as the sexy, glamorous, brilliant friend) for her to have yet another first time experience at a hidden (to some) place. I had not eaten at Bayley’s in at least eight years. We made the short (I think it was maybe 30 minutes from downtown) drive on a beautiful early evening, arriving at 6.

I used to come here often, to drink cheap ice cold draft beer (for $1.50, Coronas are $3) and slowly fill up on a continuous parade of food. It is an old school place – an enormous concrete building with a fairly large dining room. Faded brown paneling, stingrays and other large catches hang on the wall, a few fishing nets. The formica tables and simple unmatched chairs make this an authentic seafood house.

In fact, I was just reading the other day a review of several New York “created” fish houses, with the reviewer waxing on about how authentically recreated they were, down to the waitresses in clam diggers – whatever. Here, the waitresses have worked hard, and their T-shirts from their own drawers, and fitting jeans, make it real.

The crowd, some sad smokers, young yuppie families with new babies and the in-laws in tow, and just plain folks, took up every table – yes, by 6 p.m. We got the last one, in almost the dead center of the room so we could take it all in. The menu is complete with every type of seafood platter and po-boy, and I noticed a burger as well. I do not think I had ever had a look at the menu before. And, on Tuesdays and Thursdays you get all the same as the Wednesday night special, just with shrimp instead of fish. And the shrimp looked good, as a piled-up-high platter of golden brown ones ran past my head, along with a baked potato, still in bright foil.

As I went to the back to the restroom, you have to walk by and get to view through glass the enormous kitchen – bustling with fry cooks constantly pulling fish and hot puppies from the fryer, layers of ruby red tomatoes and stockpots full of bubbling cheese grits. On the way back I eyed an article from some years ago in the Meridian Star. I had forgotten that Bayley’s is credited with inventing West Indies Salad.

According to the reporter, Bill Bayley, a merchant marine, was a ship steward. One night he bought some lobsters while in a West Indies port and boiled them with what he had – oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. There is also another version that says he just always had liked the dressing used on cucumber salad and substituted crabmeat for the cucumber. When he opened the restaurant, he began making this and it made the place famous across the country. The crabmeat soaked up all that dressing, and sold for almost a dime.

So we sat enjoying our beverages, and glamour girl’s eyes popped when the rich bright red tomatoes and fresh sliced onion came to the table along with a bowl of cole slaw. Come here anytime of year and the tomatoes will be excellent – at least that has been my experience. I peeked in the back and they come from Florida. The deep, rich flavor needs just a tiny sprinkling of salt to bring a mouthful of taste. The cole slaw is small grained and a bit soupy – she liked it, but personally I am more of a long grain man.

Our waitress followed up with a pile of crispy fish, so hot steam was pumping into the air above. My fingers burned, but I blew quickly on the fish it was just that tempting. Sandy and brown with a sumptuous cornmeal, you cannot eat fish any better. And mullet to boot – yes mullet.

When fresh out of the water there is nothing better to me, with no fishy after taste. There was a mistake on the hush puppies, for we were initially given three. I hailed our friendly, harried waitress to ask for more. She complied. The small, efficient wait staff is almost race walking out of the kitchen with a constant supply of food. The hush puppies actually have flavor, which is more than I can say for most.

It does get better – with the viscous, creamy cheese grits. Everything was hot, hot, hot. We managed to eat the big bowl and all of first helping – and for me, with not a touch of ketchup. It would have just taken too much away for me. My stomach said stop, but my eyes would not allow it, and we got another serving of everything. This sumptuous meal came with an offer to pack up the leftovers, which we did for glamour girl’s mother to have for dinner.

Get here early or late – either way there might be a wait. But bide your time, drink a cold beer and go back to the golden age of family restaurants.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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