One of the great pleasures involved in any trip to the beach is eating out. On the Outer Banks, most all the seafood is fresh, caught by local fishermen and nothing beats fresh seafood.
Nancy and I have a number of go-to places we eat including Kelly’s, Owen’s, Bass Nights, Darrell’s in Manteo, Fish Head’s, Tale of the Whale and Sugar Creek (formerly RV’s). On our last trip, we discovered another great place to order fresh fish – The Black Pelican.
Recommended by a friend, the Black Pelican is an upscale seafood restaurant. Instead of hush puppies, for example, they serve pita bread and they do lots of steamer dishes. Nancy and I both ordered the seafood combo, fried of course, which included Oysters and Mahi-Mahi. The oysters were the best things we ate all week. They were fresh and delicately fried and I had never ordered fried Mahi before. It was excellent – juicy and delicious, but one of the most interesting dishes I had was the Beer Batter Fried Okra. It was cooked whole and had the look and texture of a tempura dish. It was fantastic. They also serve a renowned Wood-Fired Pizza, but who wants to eat pizza at the beach?
The Black Pelican has a little history behind it. Over a hundred years ago, the Wright Brothers were in the same building when they telegraphed the news that man had first taken flight.
The Black Pelican in located at Milepost 4 in Kitty Hawk, just across the road from the ocean. They have a large seating capacity, so waits are usually short. The restaurant is open every day from 11:30 to 11 PM. Contact them at (252) 261-3171 or info@blackpelican.com.
I give the restaurant 4 stars. We will definitely be back again.
