Cherry Pocket Seafood Shak

On the cypress-lined shores of Lake Pierce not far from the rolling hills of Dundee, Old Florida meets gourmet chef at the Cherry Pocket Steak & Seafood Shak. Sure, it looks like a biker bar, but the atmosphere is pure fish camp with a few dressy touches hidden inside. Prudhomme-trained Executive Chef Rich Eten dishes out stacks of fish prepared in Creole fashion with lots of starches and sauces – “I won’t let anyone go away hungry,” he said of the monster-sized portions, when I pointed out that my plate of grouper could feed a family of four.

Eten’s dad bought this funky little 1947 fish camp, complete with its cabins and trailers and bathrooms up on the hill, and invited his son to take over the kitchen. It’s a find you’d never expect in this sleepy corner of Polk County, where dinner specials might include Key West grouper, frog’s legs, mahimahi, or steak Oscar. Hang out on the deck and enjoy the band on the weekends, but come early—you’ll wait an hour or two, and reservations aren’t accepted. You’ll find Cherry Pocket (with some difficulty) at 3100 Canal Road, Lake Wales, FL. (863) 439-2031, www.cherrypocket.com

Tags: cajun, dundee, fish camp, lake pierce, lake wales, polk, prudhomme, seafood

This entry was posted on Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 10:33 am and is filed under Genuine Eats, Seafood Shacks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.