Hail, hail and long reign M.R. DUCKS! This week marks their 30th Anniversary of providing great entertainment and delicious food at their outdoor Bar & Grille located bayfront at the foot of Talbot Street. Yes, I guess it was close to 30 years ago that my friend, Mary Rose Whelley, visited me and said, “There’s a new place called M.R. DUCKS. They have a cool poem on their T-shirts and I want to get one.” Mary Rose’s nickname is M R so I could see why we had to scout out this new place with the clever poem. The poem goes:
M. R. DUCKS
M. R. NOT
OSAR, CM WANGS
LIB
M. R. DUCKS
Have you figured out the lingo yet? In case you need help: THEM ARE DUCKS – THEM ARE NOT – OH YES THEY ARE – SEE THEM WINGS – WELL, I’LL BE – THEM ARE DUCKS.
Well, my friends, I’ve been a big fan of DUCKS ever since the first visit so long ago and always count the reopening each spring of M.R. DUCKS among my “favorite things” about this fair city during the season. The place has such a fabulous atmosphere! It’s so fun to catch a great meal with friends at a table on the dock or while sitting at the huge bar in the pagoda built at the end of the dock and enjoy an OC sunset while listening to some of the best music in town. And this season I was delighted to find DUCKS kicked it up yet another notch with adding more tables, wonderfully comfortable new yellow and green mesh chairs and an expanded menu that now includes daily dinner features.
Brenda Golden was my dinner guest this past Sunday at M.R. DUCKS. We chose Sunday because Tranzfusion was providing the entertainment and they are my favorite classic rock band. Tranzfusion has been together for over a quarter of a century and has a set list exceeding 200 classics including more than 20 Rolling Stones tunes. Whether they are playing Aerosmith, Cream, Doors, Beatles, Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, Police, Tom Petty, Santana, Zeppelin or ZZ Top - they sound just like the original recordings. Tranzfusion hails from our own Eastern Shore and received Coconut Times’ 2009 Entertainers of the Year award. Visit www.tranzfusionband.com for more band info.
Shawn Wood is the General Manager of M.R. DUCKS and David Casteel is heads up the kitchen staff. The two of them planned a delightful meal for Brenda and I beginning with Calamari and Crab Balls. The Coastal Calamari was golden fried served with a delicious spicy mayo sauce that included Siracha, a Chinese hot sauce. Hank (Tranzfusion’s guitarist) and Julie Koenig shared the Calamari with us and all agreed it was scrumptious! The Crab Balls are made from jumbo lump crab and have been a long-time favorite of mine. Chuck Beach is the prep chef who arrives early each morning to season those crab cakes to perfection. Five star Yum! Our server, Nicole, next brought out fish tacos. This is a new item on the menu and I tried them for the first time earlier this month. Wow - are these fish tacos melt in your mouth delicious! You get two tacos filled with fresh fish (usually grilled Mahi-Mahi), cabbage, Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses and diced tomatoes. The tacos are topped with cilantro sauce and served with delectable mango salsa on the side.
I usually try to avoid fried food (except crab balls on occasion) and white bread and rolls. In the past, I usually order one of M.R. DUCKS’ garden salads with either lump crabmeat or fresh grilled tuna. Dew, my gentleman friend, often orders the jumbo lump crab along with steamed clams. Brenda favors the delicious family secret recipe shrimp salad. It’s great to have the fish taco to add to the list of healthy choices.
Nicole next brought out our dinners. Oh – how wonderful to have full dinner options added to the menu! Brenda had the Chesapeake Chicken which was grilled chicken topped with jumbo lump crab and Chesapeake sauce (imperial crab sauce). I had the Yellow Fin Tuna which was grilled and excellently seasoned and topped with a delicious dill and caper sauce. Chef David Casteel says all the sauces are prepared in house and our dinners were simply wonderful. Both dinners came with organic wild rice which had small cubes of carrot for added color. The vegetable of the day was asparagus. It was the thinnest asparagus I’d ever eaten; tender and grilled to perfection. Start to finish, our meals were absolutely wonderful! The other dinner choices that night were Crab Cakes with the same sides and Admirals Dinner which consisted of shrimp, crab cake and fresh fish filet with French fries and coleslaw.
There’s so much more on this wonderful menu including big juicy burgers; and let’s not forget the wide array of cool frozen libations and their signature Chug-A-Duck delivered by the best bartenders in town.
Whether you arrive by boat (docking available) or car (valet parking), you’ll love the beautiful sunsets and dancing the night away to the best in live music Friday, Saturday and Sunday, starting at 4pm. Every Wednesday it’s a deck party with legendary DJ Batman at this legendary outdoor bayside bar. We all know and love M.R. DUCKS for its great food and family friendly atmosphere as well as a wonderful venue to hear live music! Congrats on 30 great years! Hope to see you there! For more info, visit
www.mrducksbar.com or call 410-289-9125.