Ed's Hometown Seafood & Steaks

Run.  FAST.  We are visiting the Destin area and found the Groupon, and thought we would give it a shot.  I was really looking for a place that had fresh seafood from the local area.  I thought I had found my place.  After speaking to the waitress and telling her that, she said the crab was local and recommended the crab platter (I was leaning towards the Fisherman's platter with the fish of the day, etc..).  I should have stuck with my instincts.  I received my platter about 20 minutes after my kids finished eating.  The snow crab was on top with the dungeonous crab and the stuffed crab and fried soft shelled crab were on the bottom.  I didn't know the soft shelled crab was fried.  It didn't say so in the description.  The butter that I dipped my crab in had the funkiest flavor (in a not so good way).  It was so bad I had to ask one of the ladies what they added to the butter.  She offered to bring more, but by then I was just ready to leave.  She said they added nothing.  It tasted like there was a pan that had something cooked in it, and they melted the butter in that pan.  I am not an expert nor a psychic and cannot say for sure, but it sure did NOT taste like butter.  The snow crab all stuck to the inside of the shell.  The dungeonous was dry.  It was the weirdest thing because it dripped water, but when you went to eat it, it was like eating crackers.  It would have been significantly improved if I could have dipped it in some butter....but I digress.  I don't like fried seafood, so I will abstain from commenting on the fried soft shelled crab.  The stuffed crab was decent.  It isn't something I would drive across town for, but it was far more edible than the rest.  Lastly, there were 2 hush puppies that would have been really awesome if they had actually been cooked all the way through.  I also ordered the key lime pie.  The filling was decent, but the crust has a bit of the funky taste of the butter.  I imagine the butter was used for the crust.  Maybe the butter was in the fridge and absorbed the flavors of other items???  Where is Gordon Ramsey when you need him?    

(Now I am reading the previous review.  Does everyone get bread?  I noticed the guy at the next table over with a mini loaf of bread.  We didn't get any.  Were we missing out???).

Food is great, ambience is old feeling, and clientele a little geriatric for a Saturday night.

After placing our order the waitress wuickly brought out a medium size load of fresh warm bread and butter.  The perfect way to wet your appetite before a big meal.

We ended up ordering a paradise platter appetizer to start - it included fried mushrooms, firecracker shrimp (like bonefish grill bang bang shrimp) and smoked tuna. The appetizer, friendly waitress, and speed of service started out the night on a good note.  My wife is a big fan of mushrooms and these were no exception.  We dipped them in our little side sauce of ranch dressing to make them perfect.

My wife ordered the crabby patty w/sweet potato fries & I got the 20oz. ribeye (at only $20 it seemed a steal) that included a side and dinner salad. My wife and I both enjoyed our food and as usual...... we switched half way.

We had no room for dessert so we will have to try that next time.  We highly recommend this charming local place and plan on coming back.