Author Archives: Dining Room Snitch

A New Place To Be in Harrisburg, PA – PM Bistro & Lounge

Sonny, my cousin Rashaad and I popped in to visit the recently opened PM Bistro & Lounge on July 11, 2013 on a whim. By the time we visited, this place had only been in business for maybe 3 weeks and already I believe it’s a hit. If you’re familiar with Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, you’re probably familiar with the location of this lounge that sits right on the edge of the Reservoir Park, formerly operated as the Parkside Cafe. And now we have it, totally (and beautifully) renovated as the PM Bistro & Lounge, owned and operated by two couples of the Harrisburg area.

Off the top, this place touts itself as an upscale lounge, complete with proper dress code and over-35 age limit. Basically, no shenanigans allowed whatsoever, and I totally appreciate that. People in our age group and above have been waiting for a long time for a nice place to go and unwind, away from the younger, less-seasoned crowd. And here it is. Thank goodness.

During the 4th of July week/weekend (while we were on family vacation in SC), I saw lots of posts in my timeline from friends of mine who had visited the Bistro and every comment in regard to the food, the service, the atmosphere, music and overall experience were all complimentary. Sonny and I agreed that we had to try it out as soon as we had the time, once we returned to Harrisburg. So we did… 🙂

“Later for the leftovers, let’s go out! LOL!”: As I stated earlier, this venue is right outside the Reservoir Park, which rings bells in my mind to remind me that parking may be iffy at times. Parking in that area always was tricky from time to time, depending on what was going on. So with that being said, when we arrived, finding a parking spot in the row on the side of the building was a little difficult.

So we parked and entered the building through the tinted-glass revolving door, and nearby on the right was the outdoor seating area with palm trees and outdoor dining tables. It was a nice night for outdoor seating, but Sonny insisted that we eat inside. I was ok with that. Rashaad didn’t care either way. LOL!

When we reached the host station, we were greeted by the host for the evening… I’m not sure if it’s the usual since this was our first visit, but the host station was very dark. There was no light over the host. However, I didn’t look up to see if there had been a light fixture or not. Either way, seeing him was a bit difficult for the time of day, as it was around 8:00 in the evening and the sun was setting.

Our host greeted us and walked us to our seats. On my way to be seated, in my usual fashion, I glanced around the room to take in as much as I could, quickly. By this time so far, I liked what I saw. Patrons seated, having wine and dinner, dressed in either business attire or casual with class. Some were couples, some were friends (or perhaps relatives) getting together. All looked to be the type to fit the venue. The interior of the building has been totally gutted and rebuilt, equipped with beautiful peach and other earth-toned wall colors, flooring, seating, lighting, doors and decor – including live orchids as centerpiece accents on each table. I was enjoying it more by the minute.

Immediately after we were seated, we were greeted by our server, Amy, who was bubbly and friendly, and able to keep up with the sense of humor at our table, which is remarkable. We are people who like to have fun, to say the least. LOL Anyway, she took our drink orders and gave us time to read over the menus. To be a new restaurant, and a bistro at that, I felt like the menu was full of choices. Normally, a bistro’s menu is very limited. This one seems to expand a bit, which is good.

For my drink, I ordered a Bistro Breeze Sangria, in “white”…which was actually peach in color. It arrived in a large (burgundy style) wine glass, and was pretty tasty. At $10 a glass, I had to enjoy it…even enough to order another one. There was only one slight minus here – it didn’t have ice in it. (I like my sangria very cold) I probably should have asked for some ice to put in it myself. But beside that, I loved the flavor. 🙂

For an appetizer, Sonny and I had the Thai Bang Chicken, which were small bites of chicken with a spicy Thai sauce. And for dinner, I ordered the grilled salmon with roasted potatoes and green beans, which were all delicious! The grilled salmon was perfect; very flavorful with a little bit of grilled “crunch” on the outside but nice and tender on the inside. The green beans were not the canned version; these were fresh, French green beans, prepared al dente. And the potatoes were seasoned and roasted nicely. I rarely ever finish my whole plate of food when I dine out, but I ate pretty much all of what I ordered. It was that good.

Rashaad had the chicken & waffles for an appetizer and for dinner, also had the grilled salmon, but paired his with baked macaroni & cheese and asparagus. Sonny had the crab stuffed chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. I tasted everything (small bites, of course 😀 ) and enjoyed it all! LOL!

While we were eating, Amy was attentive enough to keep constant check on us without being overbearing. Which was nice. And what was twice as nice was the fact that the head chef, Frank, came out to meet and greet our table personally. He took extra care to make sure our food presentation was picture-perfect and that we enjoyed our dinner there. I must say, Frank really did out-do himself. Not only did Frank come out to meet us; we were also greeted by two of the establishment owners, Chuck and Quinn.

The PM Bistro is owned and staffed by some really great people. The atmosphere is warm and inviting and the food in my opinion is awesome. I was impressed with pretty much everything and our experience here overall was enjoyable, even with it being so new and still in the process of being tweaked. I highly recommend that you go on and check this place out and see what you think. I bet you’ll enjoy it too. 🙂

– Alonda

20130719-090229.jpg

20130719-090241.jpg

20130719-090254.jpg

20130719-090303.jpg

20130719-090312.jpg

20130719-090326.jpg

20130719-090339.jpg

20130719-090347.jpg

20130719-090355.jpg

Brown Derby II- Orangeburg, SC July 6, 2013

Food so good, it makes u wanna slap your momma!!!
Brown Derby II in my opinion is a must stop if your visiting or passing thru Orangeburg, SC. Located at 1399 Belleville Rd in a small store front building, you can find some of THEE!!! BEST!!! soulfood & barbecue.
On my vacation trip with Alonda and the family down to South Carolina all my girlfriend raved about was visiting the Brown Derby, and how she couldn’t come all this way and not stop and eat at this restaurant and how good it was. Being as this was my first trip to Orangeburg let alone South Carolina, I didn’t know what to expect (Alonda has been here before, being as this is her mother’s home town). I’ve heard her rave about boiled peanuts and oh how good they are, I tried them I didn’t like them at all. So I didn’t know what to expect because she raved about this place too. When we got there its just a store front with some tables and a couple of booths. Nothing fancy at all. You walked up and you ordered your food from the items inside the warmer. All the food looked so good, nothing that I saw gave me that “Eeeee what’s that?” reaction. And there was plenty to choose from. After speaking to the server who was so nice and inquiring about different items available, I picked the beef short ribs, yellow rice, and green beans. And man were they all good, the beef was fork tender and tasted so, so good. The rice was good too, and the string beans were excellent!! After I ate all my food, it was so good I wanted seconds! Who does that? How many times do you go out to a restaurant and eat and before you leave you have to order seconds??!! Lol!! Well I did and so does Alonda. She had ordered the chopped barbecue, mac n cheese and candied yams. And you know I had to taste it all! Lol! And man was that chopped barbecue was good! If you are ever in Orangeburg,SC this is for surely a place you should find. You will be fully satisfied with the many choices available on the menu. Everything I had or tasted in my first visit here was very good. The service was southernly friendly, everything was done with a smile. The ladies working the front counter serving were more than happy to answer any questions about all the dishes. The price is very resonable and you get your money’s worth for sure. This is what I would refer to as a dive, but it’s worth going in head first here with a deep menu and great cooking. I’m sure if your looking for beef, pork, or even barbecue spaghetti with that traditional southern cooking taste, you can find that here. This is truly a must visit and I’m giving them ♡♥♥♥♥ 4 out 5 hearts!
Check out their FB page

https://m.facebook.com/pages/Brown-Derby-II/113937938637137?id=113937938637137&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&_rdr

20130715-232039.jpg

20130715-232050.jpg

20130715-232102.jpg

Seafood Academy – July 4, 2013

My family and I recently took a trip to Orangeburg, South Carolina on a vacation over the Independence Day weekend. In the days leading up to the trip, Jonathan (“Sonny”) and I did a little bit of brainstorming on some places we wanted to visit in the Orangeburg area so that we could enjoy some food, then blog about them. We came up with a few, and Seafood Academy was one of the places that made the cut.

Upon our arrival after the 9-hour drive and eventual check-in and settling at the hotel, Sonny and I, plus our 5 family members all decided to head on over to the Seafood Academy, which happened to be right across the highway from where we were staying. We dropped in at the restaurant at 8:15 p.m. and decided to stay even though they were set to close at 9:00.

I wasn’t quite sure of what to expect when we walked in, with a name like Seafood Academy – academy, as in “school”. The outside looked more like a tavern, but the foyer inside looked like an intimate little restaurant. We were greeted by a friendly hostess and seated immediately, as there were no other patrons there, except for one person seated at the bar. Before I sat, I glanced around the room and found that the dining tables were set properly with white linen tablecloths, folded white linen napkins, water goblets and silverware, with burgundy leather-like menus. The bar area was very dimly lit, and equipped with one small television.

Once we were seated, I was able to take things in a little more closely. I noticed that there was a slight musty, “basement” odor coming from somewhere that I couldn’t pinpoint. Some of my silverware had hard-water spots on them and that out of the three aquariums that sat together along a wall, the one that appeared to have been a salt-water aquarium was full of green murky water that resembled lime jello, and fish that were pale and either slow-moving or sitting stationary as if they were in the beginning stages of death. Eeek.

On to the positives: Our waiter arrived at the table to greet us, introduce himself and take our orders. He also was very pleasant, well-mannered as well as gracious and attentive. We placed our orders, which returned in good time in my opinion. Everything on the menu was reasonably priced, and although there wasn’t a ton of items to choose from, I felt like I was able to make a choice easily and be satisfied.

I ordered a Salmon Caesar Salad; Sonny ordered a salad topped with fried shrimp, and my two daughters (both of whom were not pleased with me forcing them to order from the kids’ menu) ordered fried shrimp and french fries. I’m not quite sure what my mother, brother and sister-in-law ordered. Before our entree’s arrived, we were given two baskets of warm sliced french bread and butter. The bread was SO good. LOL!! It was warmed perfectly – not too toasted or crispy, just warm enough. We ate the bread pretty quickly since it we all enjoyed it so much (and I think because we were all hungry from the trip), so the waiter was more than willing to go and get us another two baskets of bread as fast as we had eaten the first. Everyone except Sonny and I had enough sense to stop eating the bread to save room for the real food. We sent for a third basket. LOL!!

Our food arrived and we all enjoyed what we had. I thought my salad was decent. The salmon was broiled nicely – not too dry, not too soggy. And for my daughters to have ordered from the kids menu, they were pleasantly surprised to have received such nice-sized portions of shrimp. I tasted one of my daughter’s shrimp and it was pretty good. Sonny seemed to enjoy his shrimp salad and the rest of the family didn’t complain at all about what they had.

While we were finishing up and the staff was coming to retrieve our plates and other items and bring the bill, our waiter came back to the table with two carry-out containers full of more bread. 😀 This made Sonny happy. LOL!! In all, I think our dining experience here went pretty well. I found it easy to make the best of my time here, even after having been grossed-out by the dirty aquarium, and getting a slight whiff of a musty basement or old water coming from somewhere, from time to time. The polite staff and pretty decent food made up for the minor misses. I wouldn’t call this restaurant a dive, and its by no means upscale. But it did serve the purpose at the time. Out of 5 stars, I’ll give it a 2.5

– Alonda 🙂

20130712-135914.jpg

20130712-135926.jpg

20130712-135939.jpg

20130712-135951.jpg

20130712-140001.jpg

20130712-140016.jpg

Service Matters – Joes Crab Shack

If there is one thing that will definitely turn me off from returning to a restaurant, it is poor service. Food quality and presentation are very important, don’t get me wrong. But give me good food and bad service, chances are I won’t be back. I think some establishments have forgotten that treating your customers with respect and kindness goes a long way, and in my opinion, has a bigger influence on my choice if I’m going to be a one-time diner or if I’m willing to return again regardless of the quality of food. I’ve dined at many places that may not have had the best food. But the waitresses/waiters treated me like I was a valued customer, and for that alone I’ve returned.

The reason why I wanted to talk about this subject is based on a recent trip Alonda and I took to Cockeysville, MD to enjoy some seafood at Joe’s Crab Shack. All though we started this blog to give our reviews on our dining experiences, we had decided that we would only blog about restaurants that were not franchises, or how would you say “main stream” ie. the Red Lobsters, Applebee’s & of course Joe’s Crab Shacks. Our main focus was to draw attention to the smaller, not as well-known dining places that we love to try as Foodies. But this experience that we had at this particular Joe’s Crab Shack I felt I had to tell everyone about how horrible the service was. Now I’ll give it to Joe’s, I do like their food; I think for a “main stream” restaurant they are pretty good. They’re one of the only places that I actually think you get the same thing as you see in their tv commercials. And to me that’s saying a lot. I know many of us have seen a burger or dish on a tv ad and been like “OMG that looks so good I’ve got to try that place”, only to get there and think “this looks nothing at all like it did on tv”. Makes you feel like you’ve been duped doesn’t it? I know that’s how I feel. But anyway the service that we received while there was probably the worst I’ve ever experienced.

On arrival, we were seated by the host and given our menus and as they always tell you “Your server will be right with you”. Well our server never got that memo. Because we sat there with nothing but our picture menus for 20+ minutes (I use my stop watch on my phone to time how long it takes before the server first comes to our table). And during the time we sat patiently waiting, multiple employees waitresses & waiters walked by our table, but not one stopped where we were seated. And behind us at a empty table, a group of employees were just looking at us as they sat around eating and having a little pow-wow. So now I’m agitated and I have to get up and ask to speak to a manager. That in itself took 10 minutes for the manager to come out and see me.

I let her know what my complaint was as to waiting 20+ minutes with no service and she assured me that she would send a server right away to our table, and went to walk away from me as if that was resolving the issue. I had to let her know that if she wanted us to stay and eat at their restaurant that she would be the one taking care of our table that afternoon and not one of her servers who thought it appropriate to stand around amongst themselves and eat, talk and laugh while there was a busy restaurant happening all around them. The manager agreed and assured me that she would be the one to take care of us.

So I returned to our table to inform Alonda of the conversation I just had with management and that the manager agreed to be our server. Well to make a long story short, our orders were taken when she came to the table we ordered the steamed garlicky mussles as an appetizer and two Arctic Bay steampots, being as though we were sitting long enough to know what we wanted. The appetizer didn’t make it out to the table before the entrees did and the manager had the entrees sent back and she showed up minutes later with our mussles. Which by the way were very good. Then our steam pots came out and they were also very good. As I said before, all the food was good and I have no complaints about that at all.

The manager did make it up to us by deeply discounting our check for the waste of our time and hassle. But although I like going to Joe’s Crab Shack I don’t know if I will be going back to that particular location anytime soon. Because to me, service and respect for my time matters more than what a place is serving on the menu.
If a restaurant wants happy and repeat customers, remember our time is money too and no one wants to drive somewhere to be forgotten or ignored.
Food quality and taste are important but remember above all else and I think most importantly SERVICE MATTERS!!
-Sonny

20130619-204710.jpg

Great atmosphere…big prices…average food

A recent visit at the Tavern on the Hill has given me mixed feelings. Enjoying a date night with my girlfriend we went to visit to Tavern on the hill in Enola, Pennsylvania. Location of the restaurant is fairly easy to get to from Harrisburg took about 11 minutes from home. Approaching the restaurant I was first disappointed because of the lack of view you get of the river. Thought it would be a nice view, not at all how I pictured it, I remember reading advertisement online about the great view of the east shore at Tavern on the Hill. That wasn’t accurate at all.
When entering the restaurant it was very nice, it looked like a nice quailty resturant and had a nice layout it also gave you the feel you were about to experience something classy. In other words it looked pretty expensive walking in and I only hope that the food was worth what I was about to pay. Who doesn’t think that you always want to get your money’s worth right?
After waiting at the hostess station for a minute or so,we sit down and our waitress was Jessica she’s very professional,very knowledgeable,very friendly and very attentive to my girlfriend and I from the time that we sat down. We first ordered an appetizer which was the blackened shrimp and scallops with Ginger Thai Oriental sauce (Which we pick based on our waitress is suggestion). Happy to say that this was very good the scallops were perfectly cook the shrimp with perfectly cooked the sauce was so good you wish you had something to dip in the sauce after you were finished eating the scallops and shrimp. This was definitely something that I would get again and was happy that I went with the waitresses suggestion, it is one of the best appetizers I’ve tasted in a long time.
Well as we finished up our appetizer the waitress brought back a basket of bread for the table which I personally thought they could have kept it in the kitchen. It wasn’t warm they gave you too big rolls and like three slices of some crusty Italian bread that was cold and they give you some olive oil with some seasoning but you can’t really taste the seasoning it could be me or that it was really bad and not very good seasoning. Which I think that is the case here. And I feel if the restaurant gives you bad bread they can also give you bad meals. How hard is it serving good bread?? REALLY?
So Jessica comes and takes our order. My girlfriend orders the Crabcake dinner with a side of some roasted potatoes. I order the Veal Parmesan and baked Manicotti and I add a single crab cake to my order as well,I also got the roasted potatoes(I won’t waste no time on those potatoes they were horrible and really sucked!!). We both got the garden salad also aka the house salad that was being offered with the meal. I got my salad with ranch dressing and my girlfriend got a Greek vinaigrette dressing on hers. The salad was just lettuce and a bit of tomato and the salad dressing. And I do have to say for being very plain the homemade salad dressing made it really good actually. Thats a plus if you can make lettuce taste good with just one tomato and your salad dressing you’re doing something right!
As we were finishing up our salads our entrees came out, very good timing by the waitress and the kitchen staff. While we were eating a salad the waitress was still very attentive of us and checked on us frequently.
My Veal Parmesan was very tasty, not over seasoned but it did need a bit of salt. It was good, a nice blending of seasoning and the Parmesan cheese was well melted all over the breaded veal, there was plenty of cheese IMO and it looked good. But overall the Veal didn’t give me that Oooh whee moment I was hoping for honestly after eating the appetizer I thought the entree would be way better, I was wrong. The Veal was not as tender as I would had hoped it would b it was kinda hard to cut and just tasted OK. I can say that I’ve had better elsewhere. I also knew that it wasn’t that good because I let my girlfriend taste it and she didn’t ask for anymore, usually if she ask for more that means whatever I’ve ordered is pretty good, that didn’t happen here. The baked manicotti was very good the cheese blend with excellent I enjoyed that very much it actually help this veal a lot. Now I still had the crab cake that I added to my entree(for 9.99 it better be good) it was pretty good it wasn’t the best crabcake I ever had, it wasn’t the biggest, it didn’t have a lot of filling with it at all, it just didn’t have that taste you get from a crab cakes like at the Progress Grill or probably any places you can get crabcakes at in Baltimore or anywhere else really, if you just want some crabcakes don’t go to this place. Not saying they’re bad, just saying 9.99 to add to entree don’t give me a average crabcake, and for the prices here nothing you order should be average everything you experience should stand out in some way, by taste or by presentation.
So the only thing that this restaurant has going for it this night was a great waitress that recommended a great appetizer, the baked manicotti and the homemade salad dressing. The bread was not good and they shouldn’t put that mess on anyone’s table. The Veal Parmesan was not bad but for the price it could have been a lot better there was nothing special about it. And this is not the place to go for crab cakes.
For the price that you pay to go Tavern on the Hill can save your money and go to Carrabba’s and have a better meal at less of a hit to your wallet. Although the atmosphere at the restaurant was very classy and very nice, the food in my opinion didn’t live up to the hype. It was although a very good date night with my girlfriend and we had a very nice/fun time, the restaurant was quiet and it had class. And that’s worth something, but when your asking for high-end prices on the menu the customer should believe that they’re going to get what they’re paying for.
My final view on this restaurant is save your money if you want a nice dining experience and less money out pocket go to Carrabba’s better food, same atmosphere, and most importantly cheaper. But if you really want have that classy elegant experience Tavern on the Hill isn’t a bad choice, just know you may not feel that way once you leave. But you don’t have to take my word for it.
“Sonny” ♥♥♡ 2.5 out of 5

image

image

20130619-205910.jpg

20130619-205943.jpg

20130619-210006.jpg

Blue Moon Diner – Baltimore, MD June 9, 2013

After another strong recommendation from my cousin, Jonathan and I, along with my cousin and his girlfriend, dropped in at the Blue Moon Diner in the super-cool Fells Point area of Baltimore for breakfast. This diner has been featured on The Food Channel’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” because their Cap’n Crunch French Toast is such a unique dish and its a hit. My cousin lives in the Baltimore area so he’s quite familiar with plenty good restaurants and their feature dishes. He wanted us to try this diner and taste the french toast, so we did.

I’m told that usually, the wait to get in this diner is very long. But on this particular morning, it wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been. The set up is very quaint…very small and modest, but with eclectic flair. Its no larger than the first floor living room area of a small row home.

I walked in to put my name on the list to reserve a table for four. I was allowed to write my own name on the list, which was a notebook sitting on a counter, not far from food prep. I was quoted a wait time of 45 minutes. It was a nice day outside so the four of us waited outside on benches on the side of the building, along with a few other folks – most of whom were also first-timers at the establishment and visiting out of curiosity due to its growing popularity after having been featured on the show.

We waited for about 55 minutes before a host/waiter came outside and called my name from the list. We were directed inside and pointed toward a small table with 4 seats. (There are no booths. This establishment is not set up that way.) The waiter was very friendly, down to earth, and cheerful, and was the no-notepad type. I like a waiter who can take an order, conversation-style, not write it down, but still get it right.

Anyway, Jonathan and my cousin’s girlfriend ordered the Cap’n Crunch French Toast with turkey sausage.. I ordered a short stack of pancakes, with sausage and two eggs over medium. My cousin ordered what was called the Garden Style Eggs.

While we waited for our food I watched as others received their dishes. Two things caught my eye. And I LOVE bread, so the two things that caught my eye were the home made biscuits and cinnamon rolls… They almost made me drool… I was this close to ordering a biscuit just so I could have it for later. But I didnt. lol

Also, my cousin’s girlfriend and I both needed to take our turns to wash our hands at the bathroom so we went in together. I found that there is only one bathroom… As in, one closet-sized room with a toilet and sink. A co-ed powder room… I guess sometimes folks have trouble with their aim if you get my drift, so I could smell a slight odor of pee. lol

When our food arrived I took notice that the portions were plentiful and the presentation of the dishes was neat and done with thought. I tasted Jonathan’s Cap’n Crunch French Toast and I must agree that it is absolutely delicious! What a unique combination of french toast, sweet cereal, fresh fruit and cream. 🙂 The whole little ensemble went together so well. Kudos to the Blue Moon Diner for stepping outside the box with this.

Also, my pancakes were huge! LOL! They were good but they were heavy. I ate as much as I could before I was full and needed to walk it off. I couldnt finish my two eggs or my sausage.

Over all, we enjoyed our experience here. Of 5 stars, I’ll give this spot a 4. Only because, parking was iffy, seating inside the building was pretty tight due to how small it is, and the bathroom. I’d like to visit again, though. 🙂

– Alonda.

http://bluemoonbaltimore.com/the-food/

20130613-220254.jpg

20130613-220345.jpg

G&M – Baltimore, MD June 8, 2013

We visited this spot after a strong suggestion and good reviews from a relative of mine..my cousin… We had originally planned to visit Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, on Pier 5 at Inner Harbor but we switched plans at the last minute to go to G&M instead. I’m glad we made the switch, as the food was excellent! Mind you, we were forewarned by my cousin that the portions delivered at this family-owned, seafood-centered restaurant are plentiful. So much that most people rarely finish all of their food in one sitting. I kept that thought in mind. But I also kept in mind that when I go places and order crab cakes (which I’m a HUGE fan of, by the way), I usually receive small portions. So I sort of took this advice in regard to the crab cakes with a grain of salt.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we parked in the rear and were allowed to enter through the rear door, which took us through the bar and around to the front. We were seated right away with no waiting at all. The dining area was clean and well-lit. Not too dim, not too bright. And the tables were set properly. There was a “floating host”, who went around with a pitcher of iced water to fill or refill glasses. He arrived at our table and proceeded to reach for and fill our glasses with water. Personally, I’m big on manners. I would have liked it if the floating host would have given us eye contact and greeted us, rather than just going ahead to fill glasses of water for what may have appeared to him to be invisible people. But hey, that’s just me.

Anyway, when we were seated by the main hostess, our menus were placed at the table along with us. We reviewed the menus and immediately took notice that the menu was packed with choices under every category. My boyfriend is indecisive at times, so it took him a while to figure out what he wanted. But I was set on crab cakes…they’re what I had in mind and that’s the first thing that jumped out at me when I opened the menu. After we had reviewed the menu for a while, our regular waiter showed up and asked what we would like to order. My boyfriend Jonathan noticed this time that our waiter didn’t say “my name is….”. But I did at least hear him greet us. I found his name, “Philip” on his name tag. 🙂 I ordered the two-crab cake platter, a side salad and a baked potato. Jonathan ordered what was called the Chicken Chesapeake (which is two pieces of broiled chicken breast, topped with crab meat and Hollandaise sauce), a side salad and mashed potatoes with gravy.

So our orders were in…during our wait, I noticed several of the wait staff traveling back and forth with huge trays of plates for different tables. I thought to myself, my cousin was right. The portions are huge… We received our appetizer. The crab dip, as recommended by the waiter. It was pretty tasty. Very cheesy, but tasty nonetheless. LOTS of lump crab in it. I couldnt finish my half of it though because I wanted to save room for my entree. 🙂 Then our salads came. Mine came with a Greek dressing. I usually really like Greek dressing, but I felt like this one was a bit on the watery side. Too much red wine vinegar. But I ate it. Jonathan ate and seemed to enjoy his salad. Then comes the entrees. I thought I heard the gates of heaven open when my crab cakes were placed in front of me; they were super-sized! They were the size of grapefruits, cut in half and they were excellent! VERY tasty, no filler. However, as good as my baked potato could have been, it would have been delicious had it cooked a little longer. It wasn’t quite done. Jonathan received an equally large portion of crab meat with his Chicken Chesapeake. However, the Hollandaise sauce tasted like it may have had just a little too much mustard in it. But he enjoyed what he ordered. There was no way either of us were going to be able to finish our meals in one sitting. We indeed had to eat a good 1/3 of it, then pack up the rest for later.

Out of five stars, I’ll give this place a 4.5. I have to dock them for the inpersonable water floater, my so-so salad dressing, slightly under-cooked baked potato, and Jonathan’s too-much-mustard Hollandaise sauce.. In the end though, we will certainly return.

-Alonda

20130613-150919.jpg