CHEAP EATS: Catfish, shrimp among tasty catches at Sharks

By Rosemary Boggs

Photo by Rick McFarland

Sharks

ADVERSTISMENT

LITTLE ROCK — Fans of fish and chicken (but not shark) are sure to find something pleasing at Sharks Fish & Chicken, a relatively new central Arkansas restaurant with three locations.

Most of the offerings on Sharks' menu are fried, but nothing we tried came out of the kitchen overly greasy or soggy.

The kitchens at the North Little Rock and Jacksonville locations we visited are open to public viewing, so you can watch your food being prepared. We ended up having to take home about half of our meals on both visits because we just couldn't eat everything.

Sharks' clean interior has a pleasant yellow-and-turquoise color scheme. An anchor-and shark motif appears on menus and signs.

Diners place their order at the front counter, then pick a seat to wait. Be prepared to be a bit overwhelmed by the selections on the menu board behind the counter. The menu's very large, but there's something there for just about everyone's taste.

Our first visit was to the Jacksonville location on a Saturday afternoon, and there were only two other people in the restaurant besides the man and woman behind the front counter. We awkwardly stood and perused the menu for several minutes until we decided to split a large order of fried mushrooms ($3.99), a large catfish filet dinner ($8.39) and a large fried oyster meal ($7.99).

The mushrooms came out of the kitchen with our meal, although I would have preferred to have them as an appetizer. But since there was only one cook, I figured he was doing the best he could.

On the plus side, the mushrooms were crisp and brown on the outside, and soft and delicious on the inside, without that squirt of burning-hot liquid you sometimes get biting into a fried mushroom. The order came ina little paper carton sitting on a bed of fries, which, we found out later, is how they serve several appetizer selections.

The catfish and oyster meals came with fries, slaw, hushpuppies and bread. The fries were very good, with a coating that gave them an extra-crispy oomph. The slaw was standard, as were the hushpuppies, which weren't quite done.

The catfish meal had four large filets with a mild, well seasoned coating and a clean pond-raised flavor. I wasn't quite prepared for the oysters, which were huge, floppy and a bit undercooked for my taste. We did eat them, but since the batter didn't cover all areas of the mollusks, they were a bit off-putting to look at.

We both decided to try the fresh lemonade since it was "Happy Hour" and they were only $1.99 (normally $2.39). The drinks were refreshing and delicious, but my son and I both seemed to suck most of the liquid out quickly, leaving flavorless ice crystals in the cup about halfway through our meal. The woman behind the counter let us put some fountain Sprite in our cups to freshen the drink.

Our second visit was to the North Little Rock location, which is a bit smaller and more crowded than Jacksonville. As it was dinner time, more employees were cranking out food.

Sharks has daily specials. On this Wednesday, the special was a fried chicken-liver dinner ($5.49) that consisted of about10 crisp and well-seasoned livers.

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My son ordered the "9 /2" buffalo wing dinner ($6.49). You can choose honey BBQ or Buffalo flavors, and they come with fries, slaw and bread. A bite of one wing revealed them to be hot for my taste, but he enjoyed them, judging from the sweat on his nose and the smudges of orange buffalo sauce around his mouth.

We also got an order of six cheese sticks ($3.29), served on a bed of fries. The hot, substantial-size sticks were very crisp on the outside, and the cheese inside was melted and creamy.

To sample the shrimp, we ordered 10 medium ($3.99), also perched on fries. The delicious curled-up shrimp were about the size of half-dollars.

Other dinners ($6.39-$8.39) include ocean perch, catfish steaks, nuggets and tails, tilapia, frog legs, Buffalo fish ribs, chicken tenders and fried gizzards. Sides ($2.49-$5.99) include fried okra, jalapeno poppers, pizza puffs and onion rings.

There's also a small selection of salads, and three dessert options - Strawberry or Plain Cheesecake ($2.65), Banana Pudding ($2.25) and Old-Fashioned Butter Cookies ($1.49).

The employees were helpful and friendly, even going as far as to check with us in the dining room to see how our meal was going.

Sharks Fish & Chicken Address: 500 W. Hickory St., off of Main Street in Jacksonville, and locations at 4528 Camp Robinson Road in North Little Rock, and 8824 Geyer Springs Road in Little Rock.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.

to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Sundays Cuisine: Chicken, fish and wings Credit cards: AE, D, V, MC Alcoholic beverages: No Wheelchair accessible: Yes Carryout: Yes (501) 982-8050

Weekend, Pages 40 on 10/01/2009