first time, but not the last.. my dining partner and i were intrigued by the mention of paella on the website for this restaurant. we looked at the rest of the menu. and decided we had to try boondocks.
the premises are unassuming and pleasant in a sit-down-have-a-drink-and-an-order-of-oysters kinda way; the perfect place for our first dinner in daytona beach. the warm welcome and amazing service by our server, as well as the relaxed atmosphere quickly made us realize what a gem boondocks is. and seriously, ask for an iced tea and you get the pitcher? i liked this place immediately.
theoysterson the half shell were incredible, according to my dining partner, who grew up onoystersright out of the atlantic (his stepfather still farms them so he gets freshly shuckedoysterson every visit home). he said that they were possibly some of the best, certainly the largest, he's eaten in a long time. my spicy peel-n-eat steamed shrimp were good, but not very spicy.
after conferring conspiratorially with our server (who turned out to be the daughter of the original owners and is now the owner herself), running through the options on the menu, we settled on the paella and the grouper reuben (for which i uploaded a photo). the paella comes with clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, and a smattering of slightly-spicy and pleasantly smokey chorizo, in a pleasing tomato-based sauce served over saffron-yellow rice. it was not very spicy, but had pleasing spice to it, and the smokiness of the chorizo enhanced the flavor of the shrimp and scallops.
the reuben, like other reubens i have had, is messy and ooey-gooey. and it's delicious. a piping hot couple of filets, flash cooked and topped with thousand island, coleslaw, melted provolone, and nestled between slices of grilled rye. the fish was so hot i could barely take a bite, but it was worth the scorched tongue...
the "creamsicle cake" (orange cake with vanilla cream cheese frosting) was moist and the portion was huge. my partner's key lime pie was trance-inducing, he said (he's the key lime connoisseur, not i).
boondock's looks like what it is: a restaurant on a dock. from the open-air sides, covered with heavy plastic when it rains, to the picnic tables and the disposable serviceware, it makes no pretensions about what you're going to get. occasionally, someone in the dining area will light a cigarette, and if you're downwind (read: sitting dock-side) you'll get smoke wafting over your meal. that's the only downside to boondocks, and it's one i'm more than willing to work around for the large portions, the excellent service, and the ridiculously reasonable prices (a dozen hugeoysterson the half-shell for $10?!).
we're only in town for four days, and we're already planning our next meal at boondocks.