I figure, after the first full work week of 2015, you might
deserve an easier ride this weekend. So take a load off smack dab in the middle
of your comfort zone, and let’s have dinner tonight at Shuler’s Steak and
Seafood.
This stalwart of the North Side of Watertown has a couple
new owners and a refreshed interior to match, plus a cozy, somewhat secluded
bar area complete with a spanking new flat screen TV for your athletic viewing
pleasure. The old school dining room is receiving its makeover gradually but
steadily, with new window treatments and lanterns brightening up the space when
we visited, but fresh tablecloths and water pitchers yet to come.
The liquor license was also in-process then, but it’s since
been acquired, so have no fear. The bar is now functional and that glass of
wine you’ve earned this week is ready for you. Also ready is the bustling
staff, catering to tables of families and older couples on the night we dined
there, though at these prices and with the updated feel, I can see this
becoming an affordable date night spot for young couples as well. You can still
grab dinner here for $10, folks. $10!!
Shuler’s has a reputation as kind of a grandma’s restaurant,
and part of that is well earned. You won’t find any words like fusion, molecular
gastronomy, artisanal or vegan on the menu here. Nay, Shuler’s is where you
come for really great renditions of the kind of food you ate growing up. In
fact, when new owners Jason Tanner and Terry Williams took over, just about the
only thing they didn’t change was their head cook. As a result, diners get
practiced, homemade comfort food with no gimmicks.
You might, say, start your feast with some fried mushrooms
($5.99). Simple bar food, right? Probably a frozen product, straight from the
bag into the fryer? Not at Shuler’s! We received a dinner plate jammed with
big, juicy white mushrooms, quartered, breaded with finely ground breadcrumbs,
and flash fried. The mushrooms were cooked through but not dried out, and there
wasn’t a hint of greasiness to the finished product. Dunked into ranch
dressing, these flooded our mouths with the lightly earthy flavor of mushrooms
and the tang of buttermilk and dill. Not quite so simple after all. I could
have snacked on three platefuls.
The salads were a standard affair, with a couple grape
tomatoes, de rigueur cucumber slices, red onion rings and romaine, but our
upgrade to crumbly gorgonzola cheese on top added sharpness and personality.
The generous basket of dinner rolls and corn muffins was also a throwback, but
what a nice one. How few non-Italian restaurants are supplying a bread basket
these days!
Fried haddock ($11.99) was flaky + succulent, which equals
perfectly cooked in fried fish math. The breading was very light and savory,
with a bit of corn meal in the mix to add to the complexity and make it super
crunchy. The French fries, typically a forgettable side, are in this case hand
cut and double-fried as the kitchen gods intended; lightly seasoned and
expertly fried. Again in this dish, Shuler’s is taking the ordinary and
elevating it ever so slightly to make it really tasty and worth leaving the
house to taste.
Fried clams ($11.99) were a frozen product, so demerits;
however, they also were plump, flavorful and not a bit greasy, so they kind of
won me over – at this price point. While I’m an advocate of all-homemade food,
there are a few cases in which a landlocked restaurant like Shuler’s, in the
interest of keeping prices down, may choose a high quality packaged product
rather than try to find fresh seafood and bread it themselves; this may be an
instance in which this was a wise choice. Honestly, I’ve had hand breaded clams
in New England that were weaker in flavor and texture than this plate, which
was nearly overflowing with seafood.
Desserts ran the gamut from a pretty run-of-the-mill coconut
cream pie that didn’t set my hair on fire, with its boring vanilla pudding and
packaged, sweetened shredded coconut, to a quite yummy lemon lush in which the
tartness of the citrus was tempered with a sweet cream cheese layer on the
bottom. The chocolate pie was a standout, with truly rich, deep, chocolately flavor.
Dinner for three with no adult beverages, but one appetizer
and three desserts, was $69.84, and the portions were pretty huge, you guys. It’s
a new year, so I know everyone’s starting their diets and trying to figure out
how to load up on vegetables and limit their breaded, fried proteins, so you
might think a comfort food review is ill-timed. But I don’t know anyone who
doesn’t like a home style, affordable, filling and comforting meal out now and
again. And we all need cheat days, am I right?
The service here is casual but excellent – your dirty dishes
will be removed lickity split and your water glass will never go empty. There’s
natural light from large windows with which to gaze upon your generous platter
of chicken and biscuits or stuffed shrimp, and for the most part, this classic
eatery is doing it right – homemade and legit.
I award Shuler’s Steak and Seafood with a seven on the Big
Hungry Shelby scale because the whole is equal to more than the sum of its
parts. Family style restaurants providing hearty fare and good value are just
as important to the gastronomic landscape as more refined spots which push
culinary boundaries, and they’re just as good, albeit in a different way. Gravy
has value, is what I’m trying to say, and good gravy is just what the doctor
ordered on more occasions than a gastronome might imagine.
Shuler’s delivers tasty plates of solid food at more than
fair prices to your table in a comfortable, light-filled dining room by a cadre
of smiling servers, and sometimes, that’s just the ticket. On those nights when
what you really want is relaxation and to pig out (I can think of a lot of
nights when that’s just the ticket), Shuler’s is your new destination.
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