Low country boil needs to get better

You may have seen the “Free Beer” signs around your neighborhood with some smaller writing about how you can get that with a low country boil. Zeafood Time is what those signs are referring to.

First, the good. The former location of Pier 96 is spotless and even cozy. There’s a beach mural by a local artist on the walls and the tables are covered with brown paper for each seating. The staff is very kind and attentive and will help you make your selections. Our fried selections were good, with a crunchier-but-good breading on the shrimp and a dessert-like sweetness to the fried corn. The servings seemed the right amount for the price.

Here’s what could be improved. Lots of popular places serve you a low country boil in a bucket, with bibs and tools and a place to throw the shells. Zeafood does it a little differently: it all comes in the bucket — bibs, gloves, and all — and then the plastic bag of seafood is extracted and plopped on your table, still in the bag. Your bucket is then lined with another plastic bag, like a trash can.

All of this had a negative effect on our appetites. The boiled seafood itself was OK, as were the sausage and corn on the coblets, but it was all drenched in a paste made of (maybe) butter and garlic seasoning. For $25, we donned our plastic gloves and began digging the pieces out of the plastic bag.

Because the shrimp and crab did not have much of the garlic flavor, I’m thinking that the seafood is boiled in a pot without seasoning and then is placed in the bag with the garlicky paste. Because the seasoning never actually goes through the seafood, only the sausage, corn, and potatoes get any flavor added.

Until they make the low country boil experience more appetizing, I recommend the fried lunch at either $7.95 or $8.95 for your choice of shrimp, talapia, flounder, catfish, oysters, or scallops with coleslaw, hush puppies and either French fries, onion rings, or sweet potato fries. With just a few tweaks, Zeafood would be worth that free beer.