Almost all crab, its richness was offset by crunchy vegetable slaw, creamy herbed rémoulade and slivers of blood orange, which added color, freshness and zip.

Crab cake is sweet and pleasant, with a lively vegetable slaw and red-onion rémoulade.

The crushed pecans that coat the oysters are one reason; the zesty vegetable slaw that buoys them is another.

An appetizer special of 13 cornmeal-coated fried oysters ($7) accompanied by a vegetable slaw and tartar sauce would have made a satisfying main course.

Crunchy corn-fried oysters drizzled with a Dijon-black pepper aioli, surrounding a centerpiece of vegetable slaw, also made a good showing.

Its plate-mates of shoestring potatoes and crunchy vegetable slaw added to its appeal.

Shellfish were led by the lobsters, a marvelous pan-roasted crustacean crowning a mound of spaghetti in a saffron sauce, and a steamed or broiled fellow accompanied by a crunchy vegetable slaw.

That vegetable slaw should not be missed: the colorful mini checkerboard was composed of nine meticulously shredded and dressed raw vegetables.

Another treat is the quartet of fried oysters: large, plump beauties rolled in panko crumbs, fried till crisp and served with a remoulade sauce and a vegetable slaw.

Two lobster croquettes ($9), with a caraway-flavored vegetable slaw, were velvety thick inside with crisp, brown, deep-fried coats, but only a faint lobster flavor.