Good old Shuler's has a comfy vibe
If you're a north country native and live anywhere close to Watertown, no doubt you've been to Shuler's Steak & Seafood Restaurant on Mill Street.
Older folks remember it as one of Watertown's finest places to eat: fond memories of dining out with the family after church or on special occasions back in the '60s and '70s; big plate-glass windows allowing a view of the neighborhood from every table and booth; well-prepared food — nothing too fancy or "gourmet"; waitresses who knew the menu and knew how to smile; food prepared to order and delivered to your table quicker than you could say "hula hoop."
Nothing has changed. Families are there. The windows and original booths are there. The food is cooked to order and well prepared, delivered hot to your table by friendly, experienced waitresses.
Shuler's could well be the model Applebee's used to create its neighborhood grill and bar concept, except Applebee's didn't figure it out until the '80s.
There's something for everyone on the menu at Shuler's, which is probably why the restaurant was filled to capacity on a recent weekday. Seafood is their specialty; that makes sense, since owner Herb Gould many years ago ran the popular Land & Sea Restaurant in Black River, the premier seafood restaurant in the area.
There are fried clams, steamed clams, fried shrimp, shrimp cocktail, crab cakes and oysters for starters, and haddock, sea scallops, large gulf shrimp, Alaskan king crab legs and lobster tails in various combinations and preparations.
If seafood's not your fancy, there's chicken, meatloaf, roast beef, veal, prime rib and a half dozen Italian selections.
We began with a couple of seafood appetizers and a couple of deep-fried starters.
A dozen steamed clams ($7.49) were expertly prepared and presented — plump and firm littlenecks, not those apologetic mahogany clams that have gained popularity in recent years. Drawn butter and wedges of lemon completed the plate.
Breaded mushrooms ($4.99) consisted of large, fresh mushrooms quartered, breaded in-house and deep-fried, served with standard cocktail sauce, the ketchup and horseradish combination. Compared to the usual commercial breaded mushrooms, these were a pleasant treat.
Deep-fried cheese curd ($5.99) was also an in-house production. Cheese curd — local, we assume — breaded similarly to the mushrooms was a little on the salty side (which cheese curd sometimes is), but definitely better than frozen mozzarella sticks.
A half-dozen oysters on the half shell ($7.99) completed our starter course. These took longer than the other appetizers because, according to our waitress, they had to be thawed and prepared, which takes about 20 minutes. We never would have known these started as a frozen product. They were fleshy and juicy, perfect with a little dab of cocktail sauce or squeeze of lemon.
If raw oysters aren't your thing, they're available "Rockefeller," topped with a spinach-bread crumb mixture and broiled.
Salads were very good — crisp chopped greens (iceberg, romaine and spring mix) with shredded carrots, celery, fresh green pepper, red onion and halved cherry tomatoes.
Dressings were of the "you name it, we've got it" variety, according to Shelly, our waitress. The house Italian was distinctively homemade. Ranch and peppercorn Parmesan were distinctively predictable.
Broiled walleye ($14.99) was moist and flaky, a nice-sized portion seasoned with what appeared to be an in-house Old Bay-type concoction (celery salt/pepper/ground bay leaves/paprika) perhaps with the addition of dill.
Homemade mashed potatoes were fine, but we could have done without the canned beef gravy.
Deep-fried haddock ($9.99) was OK, a good-sized hand-breaded portion, but some of the fish was difficult to cut with a fork. Perhaps it had spent too much time swimming around in the fryer. The coleslaw that accompanied was heavy on the mayo with a prominent horseradish or Dijon mustard taste to it. Fresh-cut french fries were small and soggy.
Veal Oscar ($16.99) arrived at the table smothered, and I do mean smothered, in a blanket of bright yellow, pasty Béarnaise sauce. Once we picked the crabmeat out of the sauce (hard to tell if it was real or imitation) and scraped the remaining sauce off the meat, the veal actually tasted pretty good. Tender, too. Rather than the traditional asparagus, it was served with oversteamed broccoli.
Next to the walleye, our favorite was seafood scampi ($18.99), a plateful of broiled shrimp, scallops and haddock served over a bed of linguini.
The scallops were excellent, sweet and tender. The haddock was equally good. The shrimp were butterflied and flattened, for some reason. All of the seafood was dusted with the same tasty and colorful seasoning as the walleye, and set over a bed of linguini. A good bit of oil and garlic collected in the bottom of the plate.
A table tent touting homemade desserts tantalized us throughout the meal. They were priced right, in the $3.49 to $3.99 range.
Brownie sundae consisted of a large, moist, homemade brownie topped with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate syrup.
Strawberry shortcake was served with homemade biscuits and finely chopped fresh strawberries.
Banana cream pie was also homemade, with good crust, good filling and fresh bananas.
Apple crisp wasn't really crisp, just topped with a layer of soft rolled oats mixed with brown sugar.
Total with tax, but before tip, came to $118.
Service was quick, friendly and well informed. Our table received constant, but not overbearing, attention despite the dining room being filled to capacity. Shelly and her crew did an excellent job. You could tell it wasn't their first day there.
Shuler's has preserved its décor from years gone by — fairly used but pleasant and homey. It's certainly your neighborhood grill and bar on Mill Street, a few blocks north of Public Square in downtown Watertown.
TIDBITS
Next time you're in Lake Placid looking for a light bite to eat, check out Simply Gourmet on the way into the village from Saranac Lake. It's an upscale deli located in a big remodeled house.
The focus is sandwiches — 46 of them, cleverly named after the 46 Adirondack high peaks. They've got an artisan bakery on the premises, along with fresh meat and seafood, creative salads and specialty foods and gifts.
You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.
Shuler's Steak & Seafood Restaurant
802 Mill St.
Watertown, NY
782-1429
A family-owned neighborhood grill and bar offering an extensive menu that specializes in seafood. Lunch and dinner served any time, day or night.
HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday
11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday
4 to 9 p.m. Saturday
Noon to 8 p.m. Sunday
Give the steamed littlenecks or oysters on the half shell a try.
Broiled walleye was very good; so was the seafood scampi with shrimp, scallops and haddock.
Homemade desserts are reasonably priced.
Service is quick, friendly and well informed.
RATING: 3 FORKS
