Walking into the newly opened seafood restaurant, Southern Pearl Oyster House feels like stepping into a fine dining eatery in New Orleans. Exposed brick, wrought-iron chandeliers, stained glass windows and a painting of Dr. John and a second line parade on the wall give the large space a classic Big Easy vibe. The smell of fresh oysters drifts through the air, and the buzzing sound of conversation carries throughout the room.
Southern Pearl Oyster House officially opened its doors Wednesday, Sept. 25, with a grand opening. The Perkins Road restaurant is the 12th location for the Mississippi seafood restaurant Half Shell Oyster House.
|
|
|
“It’s fine dining, but without the attitude,” General Manager Stephen Pitcher says.
Instead of using white table cloths like many fine-dining establishments, Southern Pearl keeps it casual by topping its tables with white paper. Above the bar, light fixtures hang from a ceiling display made solely of homey cedar doors. In another seating area, one of the walls is covered in distressed multi-colored window shutters, giving the space a rustic, artsy feel.
The menu is just as Southern as the interior. From fried shrimp po-boys to smoky steak tenderloins, Southern Pearl Oyster house has a little bit of everything. The seafood section features a range of crab, mahi-mahi, salmon, shrimp, redfish and yellowfin tuna.
On the oyster menu, guests can choose from traditional favorites like Oysters Bienville, Oysters Rockefeller, charbroiled and the restaurant’s Oysters Orleans, which are charbroiled then basted in a “New Orleans style smoky Cajun sauce.”
While there’s plenty to choose from, Pitcher says two of its signature dishes are the Big Easy Surf and Turf and the Filet Orleans.
The Big Easy Surf and Turf comes with a 6-ounce filet served over a fried handcrafted crab cake, garnished with balsamic glaze. It’s topped with béarnaise sauce, lump crabmeat and Parmesan cheese. The juicy filet we tried was well-seasoned and had a slight smoky finish. The fried crab cake was a delicious treat, pairing perfectly with each bite of the filet.
The Filet Orleans is equally packed with flavor. It features a 6-ounce redfish fillet topped with Gulf shrimp sauteed in the restaurant’s Cajun-style sauce and Parmesan cheese. The Cajun sauce on the fillet we sampled gave the fish a spicy kick and mixed well with the Gulf shrimp. The marinated redfish was tender and cooked with a light crisp.
|
|
|
The dish comes with two sides: grilled asparagus topped with Gorgonzola butter and sweet potato crème brûlée. The sweet potatoes were just the right amount of buttery and sweet. They were mashed smoothly and topped with brown sugar that made this side dish taste more like a delectable dessert.
Southern Pearl Oyster House is at 9460 Perkins Road. Its hours are Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday’s hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m with Sunday brunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m.