Second Helpings

When Kemp's Seafood House (115 Page Point Circle, Durham; 957-7155) reopened recently after closing for several weeks for a major overhaul, the reaction to the changes was mixed. Most, though by no means all, of Kemp's many returning regular customers found the food to be as good as ever. Some were glad that lunch service, discontinued last year, had been resumed (Kemp's is now open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.). But the elimination of table service drew strenuous objection from many.

You can count me among their number. I don't mind counter service at lunchtime, or even in the evening if I'm out for a cheap, quick bite to eat. But if a restaurant serves beer and wine, and the average tab is more than $10 a person, I'd rather sit and be waited on. What's more, the cavernous counter service area, smack in the middle of the restaurant, does nothing to enhance the mood. We're talking the size of a small basketball court, folks, complete with noise-echoing hardwood floors.

The menu still offers a broad selection of steamed, broiled and fried seafood, though Kemp's specialty remains its Calabash-style fried seafood platters, served with fries, hushpuppies and slaw. Kemp's signature breading is as consistently light and crisp as ever, though what's inside that breading can vary. Fried orange roughy, offered recently as a special, was sweet and moist. But a combo platter was all over the place. At one end of the spectrum, bay scallop-sized "popcorn" scallops were a far cry from the plump, sweet dry pack scallops Kemp's used to serve. At the other, my only complaint about the fried oysters was that there were only four of them on the platter. In the middle, popcorn shrimp and flounder were about average.

The fried flounder was decidedly better than the broiled flounder I tried, however, which was cooked to a dry, chewy fare-thee-well. If you're looking for a non-fried alternative here, you'd be much better off with the steamed peel 'n' eat shrimp (though it's a puzzle why the addition of Old Bay seasoning to steamed seafood incurs a 50-cent to $1 surcharge).

Owner Kemp Pendergrass explains that most of the changes were made in the interest of keeping prices down. That's a commendable motive, certainly. Still, I'd be willing to pay a little more for those dry pack scallops any day.