[Southsider2k12]

http://www.post-trib.com/lifestyles/food/1...,taylor.article

Matey's like a Buffet song that's come to life

July 25, 2008
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By MARK TAYLOR Post-Tribune correspondent

Michigan City seafood restaurant got its start as bar, bait shop 15 years ago.

It's a blazing hot summer afternoon with steam rising off the eastbound Borman like a desert mirage. We're passing through Michigan City on a combination beach and blueberry-picking adventure with grandchildren when the urge for seafood snatches us like alien abductors just as we near Matey's Restaurant off of U.S. 12. Naturally, we surrender.

Matey's is, as the name implies, a nautical-themed seafood joint. Bill and Carole Bailey founded it as an eight-seat bar with an attached convenience store, bait shop and limited food menu 15 years ago. Customers asked them to convert the convenience store into a dining area and over the years it's expanded to seat more than 200 on three different levels of bars and restaurants, manager Tate Schaffer said.

Matey's is like a Jimmy Buffet song come to life, with buoys and fishing nets strung throughout the bar, captain's chairs at the tables, tropical music on the sound system and a laid-back beach attitude. Great Lakes maps decorate the walls and crowds of boaters make the place an interesting summer haunt.

The Crow's Nest on the third floor offers one of Michigan City's best sunset and Lake Michigan views.

If you're older than 21, you can climb up the stairs and eat under the stars or sunshine on the Deck or Crow's Nest. There's an outdoor patio out front and front dining room, along with a bar and a main dining room.

We enter the cool, dark warren during that lull between the brisk pace of lunch and the pandemonium of Friday night dinner, which features an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet that includes prime rib.

The chef is setting up the trays of oysters on half shell on ice, aromatic Cajun seafood chowder and potatoes au gratin. The fat, pink shrimp smile alluringly.

But that $23.99 seafood buffet open from 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays won't be available for another 90 minutes and we don't have time, so we order from the lunch menu, which features some tantalizing seafood, vegetable and poultry appetizers.

We choose the Tangy Wham Bam Shrimp -- shrimp in a light batter topped with a spicy, tomato-based pepper sauce, and the Key West Egg Rolls, which, despite their name, include no seafood.

But they're stuffed with corn, black beans and chicken and do the trick of sating us until our fish entrees arrive.

My wife ordered the Jerk Salmon, which came with the baked potato she requested, a cup of Cajun seafood that I ended up trading for my house salad, and a mélange of sautéed vegetables.

The chowder was a treat: crab, shrimp, grouper and clams in a spicy Cajun inspired soup. On careful inspection there was little mango in the mango salsa topping the salmon. But the Jamaican-style jerk seasonings brought some pleasant heat to the fish, which needed a little pizzazz.

I ordered the Grilled Barrimundi, a giant Australian sea perch also known as a silver jack. Barrimundi, an Aboriginal name, is a white-fleshed ocean fish with a pleasant, moist texture and delicious when grilled after a light brush with olive oil and butter. It came with a tasty corn relish topping.

Matey's dessert options were limited, but hit the spot. We ordered the Fried Cheesecake, which didn't taste fried at all and was really a sweet surprise. The chocolate souffle is a misnomer: not a true egg soufflé, but a double chocolate mousse fudge ice cream that slaked our thirst for chocolate.

Matey's prices seem about what you'd expect or even a little cheaper than other local seafood eateries.

Appetizers range from $6.95 for the inexplicably named Key West Rolls to $9.95 Tangy Wham Bam Shrimp, with chicken wings, chicken and shrimp quesadillas and several oyster dishes priced in between.

There's an array of sandwiches, including the popular Matey Burger and Blackened Grouper from $6.50 to $8.95, entrees like Jerk Salmon at $13.95 up to steak and crab cakes at $18.95.

This is a fun place serving good food in a relaxed atmosphere.

If you go

What: Matey's

Rating: 3 stars

Where: 110 Franklin St., Michigan City

Phone: 872-9471

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Price range: $-$$

Worth noting: Seafood buffet offered from 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays for $23.99.

Let Mark Taylor know what you think and name your choices for restaurants to be reviewed. E-mail him at markic46321@yahoo.com.

[Michelle]

Jimmy Buffett. I'm being nitpicky, but criminy, are there no copy editors at the Post-Tribune?

[CaddyRich]

Jimmy Buffett. I'm being nitpicky, but criminy, are there no copy editors at the Post-Tribune?

Ya'know...I'm surprised that no one has picked up on the idea of a seafood place where you serve yourself by the name of Jimmy Buffet ......

[Michelle]

Yeah, I wondered if it was an intentional pun, but if it was, it's lame. But not if you open that restaurant. Then it's fabulous, of course.

[Ang]

The drink special could be margaritas!

[JHeath]

The time would always be 5 o'clock...right?

This post has been edited by JHeath: Jul 29 2008, 03:53 PM

[Roger Kaputnik]

JHeath, I like the fundraising thing. I should have one for help paying my bills! At any rate, pretty cool!

[JHeath]

JHeath, I like the fundraising thing. I should have one for help paying my bills! At any rate, pretty cool!

If it was for my bills, my goal would be a little higher.
Feel free to check out the site, and donate.

[Roger Kaputnik]

[Ang]

Only half the pic is there? What's that all about Roger?