Sharom's Fishery Station

There are several places in town where we would consider ourselves regulars. Sharom's is one of these. That should give you a clue since we don't go back if the food isn't good. Sharom's is located in the south end of town at 5637 Outer Loop. This is not a formal dress up establishment, you order at a counter and take a number and your food is brought out to you. Don't let the casual nature of place deceive you this is a great place to go for a tasty meal without spending a fortune.

We discovered the place about 3 years ago when a friend from Baltimore was in town for a visit. We were delighted to find a local eatery in the south end so close to the Retreat Center. It's nice to not have to cross town all the time to escape the chain gang of restaurants there the usual fare on the outlying regions of the city. A good way to describe the food is Mediterranean/Seafood/Southern cuisine. The menu selection is broad with plenty of moderately priced items. There is everything from mako shark, alligator tail, frog legs, and the more local fried green tomatoes.

Although they are an appetizer Leslie likes to order the fried green tomatoes with another appetizer for her dinner. She often has to force herself to wait two minutes to let them cool a bit or risk a very tasty burn in the mouth. They are made piping hot fresh from local tomatoes. Leslie is a good judge of the tomatoes since this is one of her traditional dishes she cooks at home, but she confesses to not preparing them as much since tasting the ones at Sharom's. Along with the fried green tomatoes Leslie ordered the mini crab cakes. Made from real crab, the crunch bite sized morsels are tasty and tender on the inside. Sharom's offers a variety of dipping sauces, but Leslie prefers her crab cakes naked. However I have tried their sauces and they are excellent.

Both Jenny and I ordered the beef gyros. The meat is tender perfectly seasoned, the pita bread fresh and warm, the lettuce, onion and tomato are fresh and crisp, and the cucumber sauce is freshly made and perfectly compliments the gyro. If you are going to order a gyro come hungry, and if you order sides with it you very be very hungry. I don't always order a side as the beef gyro is very filling. However on this particular visit both Jenny and I were famished. We both made the gyro a dinner for an additional $2.60 and got two sides with it. I went for the basmati dill rice and seasoned potato wedges; Jenny ordered the onion rings and hush puppies. I love the simplicity of the rice and the slight tang of dill and my digestive tract and rice seem to have long term romance going on. The seasoned potato wedges wonderfully crisp and have slight heat to the spice, just enough to tickle your taste buds. The onion rings were real fresh rings of onion deliciously crisp without a hint of greasiness or sogginess. As Jenny says, "There's an art to a good onion ring. They are hard to get them right." Sharom's gets them right. The hushpuppies were likewise just as wonderful perfect crispiness on the outside, and on the inside hot tender cornbready goodness.

All told the meal for the three of us with drinks (no just tea and an orange crush we don't do alcohol remember) cost us about $31.31 Slightly over $10 a person, but we got a lot of food for that price and Leslie even got a lunch from her leftovers so technically four meals from our order. We left as always fully satiated. We love Sharom's and love how close it is to us when we get together. If you are out in the south end you have to try them. They also have two other restaurants in the Highlands, Blue Lagoon and Zaytun Mediterranean Grill. We will review those in the upcoming months.

Peace and Blessings,

Thomas Mooneagle

5637 Outer Loop

(502)968-8368

www.sharoms.com