clark's fish camp

satisfying past-disappointed now. my family went to clark's for my husbands birthday dinner. arrived early so it wasn't very crowded. my husband and i have been many times in the past and have enjoyed looking at the different animals. when my son was young, he was in awe at all the exotic animals. at 18, he was less than enthused to see "stuffed" animals staring at us from every direction. he said it made him feel guilty for eating there. i was looking forward to having broiled scallops but was told by the waitress that because i was ordering the scallop "basket", it had to come fried. that was disappointing that the cook wouldn't throw them under the broiler. my efforts to eat healthier went out the window when that big plastic basket offriedfood arrived. my husband ordered the jamaican jerk shrimp skewers. they forgot his fries. he thought being a jerk recipe, it would be a rub perhaps allowed to marinate before grilling, instead it was just a jamaican spice sprinkled on the mere 10 medium sized shrimp. needless to say, he ended up eating some of my son's food as well as mine. my son had breaded chicken planks that were way overcooked. some parts were inedible because he just couldn't chew them, they were so tough. the waitress was nice enough but we waited way too long to receive our check. there was only one table of about 8 people next to us and by the time we left about 5 other tables filled up, mainly couples. not enough reason to keep us waiting for so long. as far out and remote as this place is, i think we'll choose a closer resturant with better quality food. by the way, she told us the "cook" was the one who brought out my husband's fries. he must've been 19 yrs old, if that. guess he had a problem with broiling scallops if you ordered them in a basket instead of a platter. i chose to go with the basket because i knew the platter would be way too much food, so, my bad (and it was). next time if we're going to drive out of our way, we'll head to trent's on the westside.

my old navy buddy really wanted to take us here. the ambiance is quite different, it's like a huge diorama on a bayou, quite eclectic but a really good time. we showed up right as it was opening so the crowd was minimal but within a hour the place was packed, on a tuesday. we shared some crab dip which was top notch and i had their catfish which was excellent, it was not fish fillets but 3 whole bone in fish that was perfectly battered and fried. fish must have been panfriedbecause it was so crispy and not oily at all. the wife had sautéed shrimp that she would not share. crazy place but excellent food, the captain and cokes were very tasty also. we ate on the covered porch over the water and watched baby gators and turtles doing their thing, very cool experience.

bland, flavorless, underseasoned and overpriced. did i mention bland?. this place used to be a lot better, now it's basically just an over-hyped, overpriced tourist attraction.

my latest meal there will most likely be my last. the overly-thick, wallpaper paste-like and bland crab soup appetizer (brought to me without a spoon, which i then had to wait another 10 minutes for) turned out to be an ominous portent of the disappointment to come. my first attempt at an "entree" was the #10 stuffed flounder, with buttered shrimp and scallops. while everything was cooked to the proper texture, at least, it was otherwise almost completely unseasoned and bland aside from the melted butter, which was pretty much the only "flavor profile" that dish had to give. the cream peas were also pasty and overly-thick, but the garlic red-skinned mashed potatoes were actually quite tasty. i kind of wish i had just ordered a big bowl of those and called it a night.

i was so disappointed with the soul-killing blandness of the flounder that i sent it back and ordered the seafood pasta instead. while marginally better, the cream sauce was - again, too thick and the dish was, you guessed it, very bland overall, but by this point, the rest of my party had already finished their meals, so i just went with it, ate about half of it and drowned my disappointment with some captain morgan.

i tasted some of my party's other offerings,friedshrimp and oysters were properly-cooked, but were... yep... bland and woefully under-seasoned. picking up on a theme, here?

this place is set up to turn as many covers as possible in a busy saturday night, and it shows in their lackluster, flavorless and vastly overpriced food. i won't even get into the parking on a prime-time evening other than to say it's an absolute nightmare that you could live with if the food at least lived up to the billing, but becomes just another huge annoyance when the food disappoints this badly.

some of the nastiest food in the first coast.. first let me preface this by saying i love seafood. it is my favorite type of food, hands down. i am also not a spring chicken. not elderly in the least, but i say all this to say that i've had my share of good, bad and mediocre seafood in my lifetime. my husband and i had been looking for a good seafood spot and he has a pal that said clark's fish camp was good. we should have asked about the last time this friend had been there, because come to find out much later, it had been years ago.

my husband orders our food and brings home carry-out. when i tell you i opened the box and wanted to scream, i mean that emphatically. the strong odor of decayed fish hit my nostrils and singed my nose hairs until they burnt to a crisp and fell upon the open container like sprinkled pepper (that was probably an improvement to the meal). the seafood platter looked like something that had been sitting out in the blazing sun for three days and three nights. the soft shell crab was deflated like some dark orange balloon at a party that had been had about a week previous. now how the heck can an animal with a hard shell look soft and deflated? well, clark's fish camp managed to pull it off! now, let' get to the bake potato...

that thing was black as tar, skinny as a cigarette and old as the book of genesis. i could not believe my eyes. it was money down the drain. the shrimp were not de-veined, notta one of them, and they too looked to be part of some seafood contest to see how many times they could be re-deepfriedbefore someone called uncle. that mess went promptly in my trashcan. my trashcan hollered out to me that it didn't deserve that sort of abuse, and would protest. i felt sorry for the receptacle, removed the items and took them out the garage where they would not smell up my house as badly.

all jokes aside (though i'm serious) my husband said the place stunk, was filthy and he is surprised the health department hadn't closed it down. clark's fish camp should be renamed clark's fail den, because this was a big fail, a stinky fail, an over-priced mess fail, an old food served all day every day fail, a listen to these reviews because they are true fail. get it together, clark! band camp is cooler than you! (((cuing trumpet funeral music)))

fun for kids. ok, the service was iffy and we definitely didn't receive the "bottomless basket of hush puppies" the food critic seemed to partake in but the kids loved all the things to look at and we had fun with weird food items. yes it's allfriedand greasy but the shtick is what it is.

don't take your peta friends. walked into the restaurant and i was immediately hit with what smelled like 3 day old a$$. it might be the aligator tank. i don't know. taxidermy everywhere that could use a periodic dusting. have eaten here 3 times. everytime the food is cold by the time it gets to the table. it could be because the justin beeber looking kid that delivered the tray to our table (group of 12-15) brought a tray for another table and it takes awhile to figure out where the food goes. all thefriedfood tastes the same. maybe change the grease. serves pepsi instead of coke. must be run by communists. get coke! i think i would have enjoyed my scallops more if they had been stuffed and mounted as part of the decor.

bad, very bad imho. you know it's bad when ... you have to file a complaint with the florida division of hotels and restaurants. i have been a fan of clark's for many years, but now i feel very different. i made three attempts to resolve the bad experience i had saturday with no results from clark's. i did not feel comfortable causing a scene with business guests (yes i would consider having my meat weighed as proof and then being replaced due to poor quality to be causing a scene, which i refused to do) so i quietly brought the food home in a box and promptly emailed clark's the following day, and i emailed again the day after that. two emails were not returned, and a call to a 'manager' today did nothing to address my concerns over prime rib of beef inedibly tough inside and dried beyond beef jerky on the outside of an end cut. i did not request an end cut, and a medium rare rib roast should not be so tough that a serrated knife won't go through it without brute force. i think a chainsaw would have been more appropriate. worse still, noticing that the beef seemed about the size of some steaks i have cooked, i brought it home and weighed it on my kitchen scale at an estimated 25 ounces, not the 56 ounces (3.5 lbs) declared on the menu. now, i may be off by a few ounces, but 25 ounces is a long way from 56 ounces. according to the menu, "think you are a big eater, try the jack's cut prime rib which weigh's [sic] in at a hefty 3.5 pounds of bone in prime rib of beef. and no, it's not free if you finish it." i paid $29.95 plus tax and tip for what probably was the worst piece of meat i ever have tried (and failed) to eat, and i estimate it to have been around 25 ounces not 56. not good in my opinion. the menu also says, "our appetizers are huge, gargantuan, and filling. some people think they are a meal in themselves." i don't consider the 7 small nuggets offriedalligator we got "gargantuan" or even close to it. the $9.95 price and the statement on the menu just don't match up with 7 small nuggets in my opinion. to make matters worse, instead of adjusting the bill or making any sort of gesture of good will, the manager told me on the phone today that there was nothing he could do. he wasn't even apologetic in my opinion, just sort of arrogant and condescending i think. the problems with the beef rib, the statements on the menu vs. what we actually got, and then speaking to this unhelpful 'manager' mean that i will never, ever go back again. i gave them three opportunities to make some sort of gesture of good will or attempt to make the situation right, and they refused to do anything. hope you don't have the same experience. where's the beef?

not my taste.... i find clark's very tacky...all the dead, stuffed animals just leaves me nauseous! the food is "okay" but i like my seafood (especially shrimp)friedand it all seemed too greasy. the view of the river is beautiful though. i guess if you are seated outside and order your food broiled, it's an okay meal....

clark's fish camp is one of those places that is so overdone and so divey, teeter tottering on the verge of tacky and just plain creepy but somehow - you love it. nestled among a random neighborhood in the swamp grounds of mandarin, clark's a.k.a "the people's place" is a seafood shack on the water serving everything from good ol'friedshrimp to the more outlandish meals like charred ostrich andfriedantelope. to view their crazy menu click here you know you're in for something different when you're greeted with a giant stuffed giraffe (how?) and a fish tank that holds the infamous lilly the alligator. if you can think of an animal to be stuffed, it's probably here. we started off with the broccoli cheddar cheese poppers which where goldenfriedballs of cheesy goodness. they were so bad that they were good. i could tell they probably used velveeta for the filling but it actually tasted pretty good dipped in their ranch dipping sauce. for his birthday my dad alwayyyys wants a stream

$25 for 3 drinks. service was terrible. total tourist trap... ourfrieddinner for two was 80+ dollars, go to long john silvers. bartender steve is the worst. seriously i was embarassed to be rippedoff so bad and treated so poorly and leave without making a scene.

i am local and have grown up eating at clark's! my father used to buy bait there when it was actually a bait shop! i can't tell you how many times our family has dined there over the years! a couple of years ago we went and was wanting a table on the patio and we were told that we couldn't eat outside! never had we been told that! it was a nightmare experience after that. everything was horrible from the extremely rude server, disgusting food that took an eternity to get served and ended with the manager yelling at us in front of the whole restaurant! we swore we would never return! tonight we thought we we would visit our old staple restaurant and hoped there were some changes made. wrong!!!! horrible experience again. we had the same server that we had in that last visit (ergi is his name and i only know that because it was on our bill)

first off the hostess called our name and asked us to follow her; however, there was another large party standing at the hostess stand and we couldn't get around them in time to follow her. she left us in the middle of the restaurant looking around...trying to see where she had gone. finally, we found her and she looked annoyed that we had not kept up. we were seated. ergi got our drink order and came back to get our food order. he should've warned us not to drink our sodas so fast because we would not be offered a refill! our platters came out and it was the weakest platter i have ever seen and the sides forgotten! when ergi finally came back to the table we asked if we could get some cold tartar sauce (sorry, i didn't want the one sitting out in the sun all day that was on our table.) he rolled his eyes at us came back and slammed the bottle on the table. never saw him again to tell him that myfriedoysters were all lumped together in one big ball and the batter was still wet. another server came over to our table to see if we needed to pay and to tell us our server was busy. we decided not to address the situation with the manager afraid that it would just be like the last experience we had where we were told everything that went wrong was our fault. we tried giving it another chance and that will be the last! it is a shame considering we had so many amazing family memories at clark's! i will never be returning!

eclectic and good. i love love love thefriedpickles and the tilapia here it's so good, the decor is a little crazy but there are so many choices you can have ostrich, kangaroo, and even gator.

fried and good!. i like this place! not an everyday kind of joint for me, but when i wantfriedseafood, this is my place. i stopped in at noon today for some lunch and my friend and i had a yummy time. we started withfriedpickles, which were light and salty, but the few on the bottom were greasy. my friend hadfriedclams and i hadfriedjumbo jalapeño shrimp and fries. our coleslaw had no dressing, but was chilled. our dishes were great. our fries hot, my shrimp were jumbo and the hush puppies sweet. i haven't been in a while and i was happy to see how this place is kept up, clean (i can't imagine dusting all those animals) and they are always adding new stuff. a live alligator? this is a fun place to bring kids or out of town guests. their menu is amazing! clark's is a fun kitschy place and i am always going to eat here.

great prime rib. the prime rib cuts are as big as you will get anywhere in town. for startes try thefriedveggie platter!

fun place. greatfriedpickles. great to bring out of town guests to eat along the water and marvel at the taxidermy collection. a local 'spot' of ours.