Our Deck Down Under

Our Deck Down Under is a fairly typical, on-the-intracoastal, fun and atmoshpere-centric food joint. The magic is in the atmosphere, not necessarily the food. Our Deck Down Under is in Port Orange, just south of Daytona Beach, right on the Intracoastal Waterway (Halifax River). Is is under the Dunlawton Avenue high-rise bridge--hence the name, I'd guess.

I went to Our Deck Down Under with a Daytona friend on a rainy Friday night recently, during the "off season"--i.e., not the tourist season. He warned me that during the high season (and, I assume, on a much more pleasant evening) the place is jam-packed with cars and people everywhere. That may be true of the high season, but was certainly not the case the night we visited. However, it was a chilly and rainy night, very gloomy out. I imagine most tourists were still at home in the northern climate and most locals out doing their holiday shopping. The place was not very busy. However, it really does lend itself to outdoor dining--it opens up to the outside and appears to have quite a bit of outdoor and deck seating, right on the Intracoastal waterway--how cool is that? I can believe that it's a fun and very popular place on a summer evening.

You order at the counter and they bring your food out to you. I have to say, the service was very attentive, possibly due to the few people there. Still, we never wanted for a beverage or any other request, all were filled promptly, and we were asked a few times how it all was or if we needed anything--much appreciated!

We both ordered a good old standard for such a place, the fried fish and shrimp dinner. I had mine with onion rings, my friend had his with fries. The food was acceptable and what I'd call typical for such a place. Not gourmet cuisine, just good food. Six battered and deep-fried fish and three battered, deep-fried thin fish filets were served, along with the deep-fried onion rings/fries. A small dish of coleslaw was more of a garnish--only a few bites there. The fries were my least favorite part of teh meal, they were nothing at all special. The onion rings were a much better choice and they were pretty darned good. The fish and shrimp were as expected--hot and good (and of course, deep-fried!).

How was it? Well, it was all I expected. It was a good fried-seafood dinner. There was nothing outstanding or exceptional about the food, it was run-of-the-mill fried food. But it was good. Napkins, shrimp sauce, and tartar sauce were all handy, right at the table. The beer was cold, the food was hot, the service was prompt, what more can you ask for when you're eating right on the water? Would I go back again? With friends or a group or out-of-town visitors after a day at the beach? Definitely, I'd put it on my list of places to take people. Was it a value? Well, at $13.49 it's a bit pricey, but you pay for the atmosphere, so yes, it was a value. It would be a great place to ignore the day's sunburn, throw down a few beers, eat some fried food (OK, they have grilled available, too, but what's the point at such a place?), and relax along the water enjoying the night's cooling breeze. Give it a try, but on a nice summer evening to get the full experience, I'm sure!