PJ’s Seafood On The Beach Destin
After several visits to PJ’s, we’ve discovered a feature entree there that has become one of our absolute favorites - Garlic Crusted Grouper with Lobster - Fresh Gulf Grouper baked with a garlic crust, topped with a half Maine Lobster tail, served with a garlic-basil cream sauce.
Pompano Joe’s extensive multi-page menu has a broad range of seafood options. This is one of their “FROM THE ISLANDS” selections that include:
- GARLIC CRUSTED GROUPER WITH LOBSTER
- GROUPER GUADALUPE
- RED SNAPPER GALANTE
- COCONUT SHRIMP
- MAHI "BAJAN"
Each comes served with hushpuppies and your choice of two of the following: french fries, Caribbean black beans & rice, baked potato, twice baked potato or coleslaw.
I know, garlic seems disruptive or orthogonal to delicate and succulent seafood but their crust and garlic-basil cream sauce are wonderfully delicious. And, their twice baked potato is artfully prepared and equally delicious. And their hush puppies are addictive.
COCONUT SHRIMP - Jumbo Gulf Shrimp, hand breaded in a coconut mix and fried golden brown. Served with our mango-papaya chutney and Caribbean black beans and rice, and the
BEEF & SHRIMP TERIYAKI - Gulf shrimp and beef tip strips with stir-fry vegetables tossed in our housemade teriyaki sauce, served over white rice and topped with green onion
The tragic shortcoming and deviation from our typical features in these pages is that Pompano Joes DOES NOT allow BYOB and has a minimalist winelist, basically Kendal Jackson Chardonnay and a house wine.
This was a surprise and extremely disappointing, as I inquired ahead of time and was a told they would serve our BYOB special wine, only to renege and advise us it was contrary to policy (citing restrictions of their liquor license), despite my protestations and appeals. I noted that if they didn’t allow BYOB, they might say so on their website, and, for lack of such, they should offer a more extensive wine selection. Their GM defended their position noting their diners expect them to maintain certain price points on the beach. I countered, anyone ordering a $50 entree, desires, or deserves reasonable wine pairing options!
I had actually purchased especially for this dinner, an ultra-premium select Chardonnay for the occasion (Sea Smoke SRH Chardonnay 2023). Adding to the annoyance, I had carefully pre-chilled, then packed it in ice and carried it the distance that we walked from our house, and then had to carry it back home! I’ll withhold that and save it for a future feature.
Notably Louisiana Lagniappe also has a minimalist winelist with a couple of requisite and appropriate selections, which I have tolerated given their excellent selection of entrees.
Forgive me as I had not intended this to be such a compendium of Destin waterfront dining, but in light of the lack of BYOB seafood and wine pairing, which is what this blog is all about, this Pompano Joe’s feature called for such expansion
Notably too, just down the street, two of our other favorite dining destinations, offer others of our favorite entree selections, and graciously allow BYOB for diners. Both are regular features in these pages: - Captain Dave’s On The Gulf (https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/search?q=Dave%E2%80%99s):
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