Yellowfin Pub, Morehead City, North Carolina

We love the Yellowfin Pub. We first went there with my nephew Jimbo and company in the depths of COVID (see here), and were pleased — startled really — to find a place that COVID couldn’t enter. There was an intuitive observation in Morehead (which the rest of the world eventually grasped) of the value of open-air spaces as refuges from the disease. And it’s a fun place, with lots of happy people enjoying themselves, eating delicious food.

Yellowfin is on the bustling Morehead waterfront at 501 Evans Street, next to the Sugarloaf Deli, with which it shares a kitchen. We always go to the pub side because it’s open to the air and overlooks the water.

Inside, it’s open and airy, in summer kept cool by the breeze and by the fans — which weren’t really necessary one this trip thanks to Debby —

and it’s always fun.

Nancy and Liza both ordered the mixed greens salad with blackened salmon.

Nancy started in on the salad and commented, “This is a very good salad!”  It had walnuts, caramelized onion, avocado, and smoked gouda. Usually it comes with a creamy dill dressing, but she opted for a vinaigrette. She also praised the seasoning and cooking of the salmon.

Michael had a fried oyster burrito with a side of slaw.

He was very impressed. You can see — sort of — the ingredients. He commented on the number and quality of the oysters, the flavor, and on the sheer size of the burrito.

I chose the soft-shell crab tacos and a cucumber salad as a side.

The soft shells look as if they’d stayed in the fryer for a few extra seconds, but the flavor was spot on — fresh and graced with that delicious crab sweetness, set off by the spicy crema. Spicy, but not enough to interfere with the delicate crab flavor. These were a hit.

Ella had a grilled cheese sandwich,

and Lily chose an off-menu item — chicken nuggets.

It’s not often you see a kids’ menu without chicken nuggets. Like every family with small children, the Boyds, Michael and Liza have chicken nuggets somewhere in the freezer (as do Nancy and I), and Ranch dressing in the refrigerator. Perhaps Yellowfin is making a bold and civic-minded effort to get kids to try something else. I wish them luck.

Everyone was pleased with the food and the view, and with the lively but never boisterous atmosphere. When you’re at Yellowfin, you’re in a beach vacation frame of mind. Give it a try. It’s one of our favorites.

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