Usually when choosing to dine at a restaurant, we have a particular dish or range of cooking in mind. While we’re sometimes surprised with a restaurant’s seemingly out of place fare, for the most part, the best choice on the menu is what the restaurant is known for. Such is the case at the Galley Seafood, a Metairie Road seafood shack whose patrons should stick to the mantra of “keep it simple.”
The most popular item at the Galley is the soft-shell crab po-boy, which owes its fame to being a perennial favorite at Jazz Fest. Somehow, the Galley offers this summer specialty year around, but market prices may dictate a high price during the off-season. Regardless, after your first bite of this deep fried, molten crustacean, you may flash on the Neville Brothers in your head.
But during this Lenten season, there is no better way to indulge in sacrifice than a mountain of boiled seafood—the other item that the Galley does best. Monstrous shrimp are served in large boiling pots alongside a cup of the housemade cocktail sauce spiked with a healthy dose of horseradish. Though the crawfish may suffer in size as a result of an unusually cold winter, the flavor of these mudbugs will quickly dismiss whatever disappointment smaller tails may connote. The Galley manages to deliver well-seasoned crawfish without an overwhelming saltiness.
Beyond freshly boiled seafood, the rest of the Galley’s menu falls well short of spectacular. The crawfish hush puppies were amiss, and the accompanying glop of crawfish sauce would be best left behind. The plate specials serve as nothing more than a concession for dining companions who are hesitant to get their hands dirty peeling shells. Prices overall are higher than one might expect, with crawfish a shade under $5 a pound and shrimp near $14 a pound, but considering both the Old Metairie locale and the freshness of the seafood, such prices are forgivable.
2535 Metairie Rd. 832-0955 Tues.-Sat. 11–9
