Some like it raw: Your 2017 raw bar survival guide
It’s been a hot day on the beach. You’re parched. Sand needs to be removed from places it should never have been in the first place. A cool shower refreshes you, and now you’re hungry. But it’s gotta be something fresh, light and maybe even from the same body of water from which you just escaped. Time to visit your favorite raw bar.
The Cape Region has no shortage of glistening mounds of ice where sea creatures – some of which are still alive – are displayed for your perusal. We at Beach Paper get it! So govern yourself accordingly and don’t forget the Tabasco, horseradish, cocktail sauce and perhaps a well-constructed mignonette.
One of the biggest raw bars here at the beach is at Chesapeake & Maine next door to the new Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats on Rehoboth Avenue. You literally have to walk around it like a buffet. If you can stand the crowd (why not?! You’re tan and gorgeous!), one of the most popular raw bar happy hours is just around the corner at Henlopen City Oyster House on Wilmington Avenue. Y’gotta love those golf-ball size oyster crackers.
Down by the Boardwalk on The Avenue, Blackwall Hitch offers a long list of marine creatures patiently waiting on ice. And if that’s not enough you can always chase it with one of their burgers. On that same Avenue but a couple of blocks west is one of Rehoboth’s longtime havens for bivalve slurping: Fins Fish House. And if you’d rather slurp on Coastal Highway, they also shuck, peel and pick at Fins Ale House. Tucked away on the eastern end of Wilmington Avenue is one of Rehoboth’s best-kept secrets: Zogg’s Raw Bar & Grill. The hardworking Jacona brothers not only serve up a variety of marine creatures, but can pair them with over 100 varieties of rum. What’s not to like?
The newly opened Bluecoast Rehoboth boasts a free-standing raw bar that faces into their army-base of a kitchen. Diehard slurpers can park there and enjoy Chef Doug Ruley’s mignonette. Just slightly south of there is Big Fish Grill where the raw bar is always overflowing with goodies. I love their peel ‘n’ eats. Skip a few miles north to Matt’s Fish Camp Lewes where you can also plop yourself down at the bar for a shuckin’ good time. Step several hundred yards north and you’re at Beaches Seafood Restaurant and Carryout. The raw bar is strictly oysters and clams, but Don & Lori Allen make sure everything is frosty and fresh.
A couple of years ago Dewey Beach finally got its very own dedicated raw bar. Starboard Raw’s regular menu is also quite good after you’ve consumed your fill of still-alive stuff. Of course, families and Dewey buffetgoers alike can enjoy the raw bar experience at the newly remodeled Rusty Rudder.
That should keep you busy at least over the weekend. Whether you’re a slurper, a chewer, or would just as soon order a crab cake, you’re gonna love our fresh seafood here at the beach.