Review of Sanitary Fish Market & Restaurant, Morehead City

            We went to the Sanitary Fish Market in Morehead City during our week at the beach.  Sanitary is an institution in the area and has been around since the 1940’s.  Of course, that means that we, as well as everyone visiting the area, had to try Sanitary.  I’ll be honest, with the reputation of Sanitary, I came in with very high hopes, and was let down.
             Megan and I both started out with soup.  She had the Corn & Crab Chowder, I had the soup of the day, the Conch Chowder.  The Corn & Crab was very good.  It was a dense chowder that was full of shredded crab and corn.  I would recommend it, except that it was not worth $6.75 for a cup.  I sampled a cup of the Conch Chowder and it was my first time eating conch.  The conch was very chewy, while the soup was very thin.  I tend to believe most chowders are milk based, but this one was more of a tomato/chicken stock than anything else.  I couldn’t finish the soup, I should have stuck with one of their more traditional soups like the She-Crab or Clam Chowder. 

            The hush puppies were slightly different than I expected.  They were exceptionally long, I mean virtually twice the length of one you would get elsewhere.  They were fresh out of the fryer and were great when dipped in butter. 

            Their menu is over-complicated.  They have many combinations, but there are limitations to all of them.  So, when I was looking to try a combination, I learned I can choose from number 7-9, 10A, but not 10, 12, but not 12A, and not 19G.  Please simplify your menu.  Eventually, both Megan and I ordered combinations.  She ordered broiled trout, scallops, and boiled shrimp.  The scallops and shrimp were both fresh and local.  The trout was slightly browned and cooked very well.  The scallops were allegedly broiled, but there was not browning, instead it almost looked like they were stewed or boiled.  The shrimp were boiled, you really can’t mess that up.  She ordered the Stuffed Potato as her side, and honestly, it was very small for the price.

            I ordered a fried platter of shrimp, scallops, and flounder.  The shrimp and scallops were both fried perfectly and tasted exceptionally fresh.  The flounder was fried, but my breading mostly fell off of the flounder with the first bite.  It was good, but it was nothing spectacular.  My French fries were good, but based on their crinkle cut, I doubt they were made on site. 

            Overall, Sanitary was and always will be a tourist trap.  The waitresses have been there possibly since the 1940’s, but ours was annoyed that we did not understand the menu.  Unfortunately, our college degrees did not include a course in seafood ordering.  The food was good, but it was nothing even close to great.  Sanitary’s reputation is the main reason why people keep frequenting this place, not the food.  The view, since Sanitary is on the water, is nice, but the nautical décor is very old and dated.  Considering the astronomical prices for simplistic food, I doubt we will be back.  However, we, like many others did purchase a Sanitary T-shirt.  Hopefully it will remind us not to go back.

Category	Scale 1-5 stars
Food Quality
Food Creativity
Service
Atmosphere
Value for the price