Words by Tamma Hicks, STEAM Magazine

 

For this issue we combined two of my favorite things in our 3rd Coast Foodie: history and, of course, food – seafood to be exact! Why do these two topics go so well with each other? I believe it’s because history makes the location more interesting and the more interesting the place is the better the food! Kody’s Restaurant and Bar in Port Aransas is in the original Kody’s Kabana Motel and Lounge building that sat on the Port Aransas beach in the 60s and 70s. Apparently it was considered too close to the water and moved to its current location where it sat for years; however, local rumor is that the move itself almost landed the building in the water anyway! Fortunately for us Amy and Edwin Myers, with the help of Chef David Hix, came to the rescue and refurbished the building, kept part of the original name, and opened Kody’s Restaurant and Bar… and Mini Golf!

Kody’s is probably one of the worst kept secrets in Port Aransas and I mean that in the best possible way! Ask any local where to eat and they’ll list off a number of places but those lists always start with Kody’s because it’s that good! Not only is Kody’s kid friendly – I mean really they have an 18-hole miniature golf and video games – their kitchen is open until 1AM. Yep an outstanding place to get a late night/early morning dinner on the way home after seeing your favorite local band down the street!

 

Since Chef Hix has been at the Myers side since the start (2009) he has developed a smoothly run kitchen that features some wonderful dishes. Now here’s a secret that you may already know, Kody’s has great fried seafood baskets with super tasty French fries! In fact any time we’re urging for fish and chips like we used to get in the Pacific Northwest, we go to Kody’s for the Seafood Platter with fried fish, shrimp, and oysters!

 

It’s always great to see the owners of a restaurant talking with their patrons and hearing them talk about what dishes they enjoy. Just as our order began rolling out Amy Myers joined us for the fun. For this visit we ordered the Seared Tuna with aioli sauce and the Grilled Shrimp Tacos to start with; in fact we like them so well, we ate them before the camera case was opened! Hix uses a corn-flour tortilla that has the corn taste with flour tortilla smoothness. Fortunately, we were faster with the camera before we downed the Fried Asparagus. The batter was excellent and the Julio sauce provided a nice little zap of spice, but the best part was the snap of the spear when you bite into it. I can’t remember having this before and I think it’ll be the only way I eat asparagus from now on. If that wasn’t enough to get us started I had to have the Crab-Stuffed-Fried-Avocado with Julio sauce drizzled over it. OK, I shared it with everyone else, but it was really hard to do because it was so good!

 

Kody’s also makes great sandwiches and burgers, but you have to try the Garlic Fish! This is Chef Hix’s signature recipe and other restaurants try to copy it, but nothing is as good as the original! The light crispy crust, the flaky fillet, and the special lemon garlic sauce literally melt in your mouth! As I said Kody’s has some wonderful dishes that accompanied by a garden salad, grilled to perfection zucchini (so good that even our picky daughter liked it), and another delicious Hix creation Retro Rice. Now if you haven’t guessed I really love seafood and the Mussels Diablo is excellent! A large bowl of mussels simmered in a flavorful spicy sauce and served with a loaf of crusty bread to soak up the sauce. This is seriously the perfect meal for me and I really should have stopped there, but no… That’s when the Sautéed Scallops arrived at our table. The plate was sat in front of our daughter and, in our amazement while we were sneaking a bite for each of us; she quickly claimed it as her dinner! The succulent flavor and perfectly cooked fresh sea scallops understandably makes this one of the house favorites.

 

At this point we were so full and, like in days gone by, the remedy is was exercise! Unfortunately as we headed outside for a rousing game of miniature golf the clouds lit up and boomed! So we settled on watching the Texas A&M football game!