Captain Anderson’s sits on Panama City’s harbor, providing pleasure cruises, fishing expeditions, and a seafood market to the area. It also offers up one seriously good restaurant.
The look of the place is as nautical as one might expect, with a focus on local maritime history. The lighting is on the dim side, which made navigating the largish dining room rather difficult for someone with my weak vision. Fortunately, I’m not the type to get up and wander away from my table during a meal, so it wasn’t a big deal.
CA’s is a family place, a description that often chills the blood of childless folks like me. Nothing kills a meal quicker than someone who decides to bring a screaming, running brat out for the evening. (Keep them to yourselves until you teach them to behave, people.) So I was pleased to note that there was a smoking section available for non-smokers looking for refuge from the joys of someone else’s parenthood.
We were escorted to our table promptly, even in the face of a Spring Break rush, and found the seats comfortable and the environment pleasant. The acoustics of the place are such that a full house generates a low, persistent rumble of conversation that provides just enough background noise to keep private conversations private without having to constantly lean in or raise your voice.
We had sauteed crab fingers to start, and they turned out to be far more satisfying than the battered and deep-fried version I tried at a different restaurant the night before.
My entree was a charcoal-broiled seafood platter, featuring shrimp, scallops, grouper, and stuffed crab. The first two were prepared perfectly, browned nicely without being even slightly overcooked. The grouper was prepared nicely, too, but I’m just not a big fan of the fish itself; flounder would have been a nice substitute.
The highlight of the meal, though, was the stuffed crab.The stuffing was delicious… flavorful and substantial, but never burying the flavor of the crab itself. Fantastic stuff.
When the check arrived, it left a dent in my credit card, but not out of proportion with the quality of the experience. With tip, dinner for two weighed in around $70, but could have been had for perhaps $20 less if we had avoided alcohol and the appetizer.
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