Martelle’s Feed House Restaurant, Englehard, North Carolina

After lunches at New Contentnea Creek and the Skylight Inn, the Porkapalypse moved east to the charming historic Washington, usually known as Little Washington or The Original Washington. You’ll remember my meal there at the Mulberry House, a lovely high end restaurant with the rooftop bar that I chose it to take a break from pork. I ended up getting Italian sausage and broccolini over pasta. They say you make a plan and God laughs. When I make a plan He rolls His eyes.

We stopped to walk around the town and waterfront on a beautiful sunny day. Remarkably enough, we didn’t eat anything, although John mentioned ice cream seven or eight times. Instead, we continued east to Bath, the first capital of North Carolina and one of the homes of Blackbeard. We strolled about and looked at historic structures, including the Palmer-Marsh House. Nice little fireplace.

Then on eastward to Englehard. I wrote last year about how much I liked Martelles’ Feed House. It’s a large restaurant, larger than all but a few real barbecue places in North Carolina. We arrived early, maybe 5:00, as I recall, and it was already busy. We sat down, looked at the menu, and we all ordered barbecue plates. I would have ordered seafood but this was a barbecue trip. I neglected to take photographs, which is a shame. They looked just like other barbecue plates except that the fried okra had not been cut up. The okra pods were fried whole. You probably can imagine what they looked and tasted like. Just look at those clean plates and the faces wreathed with smiles.

We all agreed that the barbecue was very good, and also that the remarkable thing about Martelle’s is how busy it is, even though it’s so isolated. Englehard has 150 residents, and they all must eat there twice a day and bring a friend from out of town to keep it so full. The effect was heartwarming. Martelle’s was full of families, old folks and young, black and white. The staff is busy and friendly, and the place is clean and unstylish, very homey.

Like Whispering Pines, it’s a Third Place, only on a much larger scale, one for the entire area. It’s a place other than home or work where almost literally everyone meets and greets and eats very well. The prices are easy on the wallet, so just about everyone can stop by now and then.

You owe it to yourself to go to Martelle’s. It’s a long drive, but it’s a beautiful, evocative drive, and once you arrive you’ll enjoy a delicious meal in a very special place. Get some barbecue and some of the seafood. It’s all good.

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