I finally made it to The Camphouse in Diamondhead. Is it as good as everyone says?
Every now and then I like to see what all the fuss is about.
Instead of trying a new restaurant, I occasionally seek out the hideaways that draw big praise from small crowds.
That’s what led to this week’s review. The Camphouse in Diamondhead was recently put across my desk and, I’ll admit, I hadn’t heard of it. I knew there was a building at the end of Yacht Club Drive on the other side of the roundabout, but I had never ventured far enough to see what it was.
I wish I had. According to their website, The Camphouse has been serving up a surf-and-turf menu since 2015. I was graduating high school at that time, so I was a bit too busy to stop by.
But now that I am an educated and semi-productive member of society, I decided to make the trip down I-10 to see what makes the restaurant special.
Right away, the interior was not your typical restaurant-on-the-water vibe. It had a cozy, swamp-house feel to it. There was the tall, wood-beamed ceiling, pizza-buffet-style booths to the side and a raised bar surrounded by walls outfitted into the hull of a boat.
The lights in the room were hung by rope, chain and wire as if pulled directly from an oyster buy-boat. There was also an upside down alligator, which couldn’t have been comfortable for the reptile.
Knick-knacks and paintings covered the walls. It’s not the beach-front, casino-goer-snatching restaurant that you’ll find aplenty around the Coast. But it feels more like an unplanned stop-in for a sailor lured by the double-drive-thru Taco Bell and snared by the charm of The Camphouse, instead.
The restaurant also provides outdoor patio seating, but it’s still February, so the wonders of artificial heating had to suffice for this trip.
The first thing to arrive at our table were the crab cakes. Every great now and then I find something that I can comfortably say is my favorite of that thing. Like the Nectar of the Gods at Bacchus on the Beach or the styrofoam plate of happiness at Bozo’s.
The crab cakes here are my new favorite crab cakes. They’re made with redfish and served on a plate of spinach with dollops of remoulade. My wife — crab cake hater No. 1 — enjoyed them, as well.
Then came the entrees. On one side, a simple plate of royal reds. The shrimp peeled easily and the dish came with a cup of hot butter. On the sides were potatoes, sausage and corn. A traditional meal that was done well.
On the other side, the Cajun delight. A Creole plate of bowtie pasta with shrimp, sausage and crawfish. This was my first crawfish of the new year. I missed it. It’s my favorite sea bug. There’s something about a perfectly peeled tail that floods the soul with warmth.
That makes you feel like the sun will come out tomorrow. Like my bosses are going to surprise me with a big raise or the Cowboys won’t choke in the playoffs again (yeah, right).
I thank The Camphouse for bestowing these vibes upon me. For supplying a quaint atmosphere and genuinely good seafood.
If you, dear reader, are a regular — shame on you for keeping me in the dark. If you are a Camphouse virgin, then it’s time. Make the trip.
