Matt’s Fish Camp

There is a reason the three main DE beach towns offering high-end dining (Bethany Beach; Rehoboth/Lewes; Fenwick Island) each host a Matt’s Fish Camp: the model offers family-friendly comfort coastal food which is easy to prepare, and appeals to families who need a local place where kids and in-laws are equally welcome.  And each Matt’s offers parking, sometimes a rarity in Delmarva dining.  Matt’s business recipe is simple: prepare seasonal classic coastal dishes; offer various food and drink specials which follow the same approach; and deliver friendly, attentive service that makes you feel at home.  Matt’s blends coastal favorites with standard land options, but over the years, the food quality has more than suffered from a corporate approach to dining, the portions have been reduced, and Matt’s has leaned towards food assembly line feel and taste without the cooking details this SoDel Concepts mainstay used be known for and, in some circles, revered.  Its seemingly corporate kitchen delivers food that has migrated from dependable to meh.  Matt’s crab cakes are not as famous (or as good) as SoDel Concepts boasts, and upon our last visit, were barely passable, even if they contained actual Maryland blue crab rather than imported frozen crab meat from far-away places.  Food generally appears quickly at Matt’s, a mixed blessing because the formerly excellent DE Fish Chowder has been replaced by something not recognizable, which, no matter, doubles as a salt quarry.  It seems like Matt’s corporate accountants have prevailed over its quality control specialists because Matt’s was formerly a culinary mainstay but has in the past years, migrated to a tourist-targeted dine-and-depart joint.  

There used to be one redeeming virtue on the menu, sides, which are not ignored at Matt’s, and there are plenty, but the semi-famous made-from-scratch onion rings used to be crispy, but are now sloppy piles of fall-off-the-fried-onion grease.  Other appetizers like crab dips and chowders are sometimes refreshingly good, and Matt’s practically invented the shaved brussels sprouts side dish (a must-have at all SoDel restaurants), which compliments fresh fish (never over-sauced) and other seafood staples.  For years, Matt’s, while not inexpensive, was a coastal seafood bargain given the food quality, but has trended in cost above restaurant GDP standards over the past five years, especially when you start ordering its smart and creative cocktails and crushes.  The only thing that Matt’s has recently reduced are the portions, especially with take-out orders, a large part of Matt’s business that needs more attention because most of Matt’s dishes do not travel well.  Years ago, Matt’s may have warranted more attention because it was a coastal seafood regional staple, but now, the appeal of serving mass audiences from three locations may satisfy comfort food-seeking tourists, but locals know that Matt’s is a former (hard) shell of itself, and has fallen precipitously from a culinary SoDel Concepts star to a corporate SoDel Concepts earner, reducing this critic’s star award, the type of mini-chain that may keep the accountants happy, but only at the expense of their palate and culinary curiosity.       

 

28635 Coastal Highway

Bethany Beach, DE 19930

302-539-2267

 

700 Coastal Highway

Fenwick Island, DE 19944

302-375-2267

 

34401 Tenley Court

Lewes, DE 19958

302-644-2267