Dine under our relaxing oak tree with a wonderful menu selection for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Enjoy comfort food classics, traditional Southern entrees, and items for every taste!
Welcome Mississippi Gulf Coast food connoisseurs and food lovers alike to our review of one of the Coast’s best dining locations! At the Coast Observer, we strive to find find the best of the best to bring to our valued readers, and we personally know how important it is to find a place with tasty food & drink, service, and atmosphere. Well, have we the place for you! I gratefully joined the Coast Observer’s fabulous owner and magnificent human being, Ms. Cheli Strumila, and our wonderful friend, Ms. Johnnie Ann Mintz, to the newly and beautifully renovated Under the Oak Café at the fabulous Scarlet Pear Casino Resort in D’Iberville, Mississippi, completely updated top to bottom and front to back, for a hugely impressive, dining experience. If you are looking for savory, mouth-watering dishes created by professionally trained chefs, with a dedicated history of creating culinary masterpieces, in an elegant and fun atmosphere with excellent service and smiling faces, then I suggest you head to the Scarlet Pearl’s newly remodeled Under the Oak Café! They have something delicious for every palate, and you are certainly going to want to keep this one on the top of your list!
The restaurant updates were right away astonishing, comfortable and commanding. The décor has been updated, with new colors, fabrics, chairs, tables, booths and awnings, all handmade, crafted with care, and masterfully integrated by the Scarlet Pearl’s own Bob Granieri and LuAnn Pappas, who absolutely spared no expense to bring you their amazing vision and give you the most enjoyable dining experience possible. From the now formal entrance upon entering the gaming area, to an all new uni-level dining area, and of course the amazing oak tree in the center of the café that reaches up to the clouds in the ceiling, whose colors and lighting changes in minutes between night and day, you become immersed in the surroundings. The bar was beautifully alight, highlighting the large stock of spirits to enhance your dining experience. We were right away greeted by Mr. Ryan Hayes, Director of Food and Beverage and Mr. Dennis Rearse, along with Ms. Casey, who welcomed us and truly made us feel at home. We soon spoke with gracious head chef, Mr. Tremayne Davis, who is innovative about his craft and has a visible passion and dedication for his culinary works, along with the fun and ingenious infusions of flavors in the dishes he and Director Ryan Hayes have created. And not to be dismissed in the least, Mr. Ryan is also a very impressive and decorated chef of many years, and along with Tremayne, they have helped create a wonderfully diverse menu that makes this place more than just a cafe.
There were so many choices for starters, but first on the list was a great Southern classic we all know and love, delicious Fried Green Tomatoes! Having had these many times and in many other places before, this was a wonderful choice to get a baseline start on what’s new at the Under the Oak Café. Knowing a thing or two about food, I know that if you are not careful, it is easy to mess these up if either the tomatoes are not right, or the coating, oil, or seasoning is not right. And let us not forget the importance of the topping or dipping sauce, which I have seen many iterations of, with sauces made from cream, remoulade, and even tomatoes. However, these thick Fried Green Tomatoes were amazing and among the finest I have had on the MS Gulf Coast. Perfectly fried to a delicious golden crisp and seasoned to perfection, this was a wonderful choice and the perfect starter! And the addition of their creation, the Cajun Cream Cheese Sauce and topped with scallions, had me wanting seconds and thirds. This southern classic appetizer is so well done and an easy choice to share with friends as an appetizer and an instant hit at any table! There’s also fried okra and pickles if you’re in the mood!
