Someone Called for Doc Magrogan?

Doc Magrogan's Oyster House
3432 Sansom St
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Neighborhood: University City

Somewhat surreptitiously built up overnight on Penn's campus, Doc Magrogan offers an excellent array of seafood choices.  The upfront section of the restaurant is the bar, with the back section more quiet and more suitable for a sit down.  So, something for everyone.  Since we were at an oyster house, we had to give the Doc's oysters a try.  I don't remember exactly what we had, but the two types we had were very mild in flavor (a plus, because I'm not a fan of the opposite).  I should make note that my buddy is not a fan of slippery / slimy food sliding down his throat, and I did not hear a complaint from him!

Next up, we shared the Lobster Bisque - the perfect remedy to warm up the body on a cold night.  No need to say more, try it.  After that, we split one of the entree salads - Grilled Seafood Cobb (a mixture of shrimp, scallops, crab, salmon, blue cheese, chopped egg, diced tomato, avocado, and the house's herb dressing).  Unlike my companion, I'm not a big fan of blue cheese, so the waiter was kind enough to split the salad in the kitchen - one with blue cheese, another without.  The salmon, and particularly the scallops, were the highlights of this dish.  The scallops were cooked perfectly, with just enough char from the grill to satisfy my craving.

For our entrees, we both chose from the Surf & Turf section.  I had the Crab Cake & Chicken Oscar (wood-grilled chicken paired with lump crab meat & hollandaise, Doc's signature crab cake, and grilled asparagus).  The chicken was well cooked, and overall, was okay.  But, when it was eaten together with the crab cake, my taste buds sang.  My comrade-in-arms had the Korean BBQ Skirt Steak & Shrimp ("Korean" BBQ marinated skirt steak, orange-sesame shrimp, sweet potato hay, Asian slaw).  I put "Korean" in quotes because we both thought it tasted exactly like ordinary BBQ sauce.  Our question was "Where's the Korean in this dish?"  Regardless of where the Korean was hiding, the dish had good flavors.  For me, I thought the tempura shrimp was the star.

To wrap it up, we shared the tiramisu and strawberry shortcake desserts.  The tiramisu was good, but nothing extraordinary. There was something in the strawberry shortcake that made our tongues tingle, so that was a pleasant (?) surprise.  Overall, both desserts passed the test, but were a tad bit too sweet for us to finish either of them completely.

If you find yourself with a sudden craving for seafood, head over to Doc Magrogan.  The atmosphere was inviting, the food was good, and the company was great.