(Nov. 21, 2008) Sixty-five restaurants, innumerable shirt stains, 10 new pounds, one trip to Bo’s Alterations in West Ocean City, countless bottles of red, a case or two of beer and a handful of hangovers later, the culinary trail that began the week of Memorial Day has come to an end.
Urp, pardon me.
This week saw visits to the last three restaurants on my list, which by no means is any indicator of their ranking on my personal roster of places to dine. Things just worked out that way, mostly because of scheduling issues and the occasional desire to drag along someone for whom a big salad by itself is not only sufficient, but cause to rejoice.
When I go out, I want the full deal — something fried, broiled, roasted or smothered in sauce. This also would explain why some in my household remain fit and trim while others of us will be buying their blue jeans in the “comfort fit” section.
Regardless, it’s been entertaining and educational, which is to say that restaurants I wouldn’t have thought twice about earlier do produce some very good food.
Although this will be the last of my non-reviews (see disclaimer below), the final wrap-up in this series will appear next week, when we celebrate the country’s biggest feast of the year. That would be Thanksgiving, of course, when families everywhere trot out side dishes that they would not ordinarily eat on a bet, but consume with gusto because it’s tradition.
When was the last time you went out and ordered turkey, sauerkraut and pineapple casserole? But as has been my mantra throughout this exercise, if you’re going to eat it, eat it all.
n Cottage Café: The first thing I need to say about this Bethany Beach institution is, “Crab Cake Abella, the grand prize winner of the 2002 Old Bay National Seafood Contest.” This, according to the menu, is a large broiled portabella mushroom stuffed with spinach and a jumbo lump crab cake, topped with imperial sauce.
I have one word for this entrée: Yes.
Even if you are one of those curiously healthy people who believes a big salad is actually fun to eat (maybe with melted cheese), you will like this.
But as it was Monday, that meant it was fried oyster night at Cottage Café (it’s on your left off Route 1 as you enter town) and I would have been remiss if I didn’t get some of those as well. A good fried oyster is like a veteran liberal commentator: crusty on the outside but soft on the inside.
Let me also recommend a couple of cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ales with that, but just a couple if you didn’t take a cab. The police along the Bethany-Fenwick-Ocean City stretch do not close shop for the season.
n Quail: I’ve been to this Fenwick Island restaurant in the Sunshine Plaza before, but not recently and certainly not with a woman to whom I am not related.
Just to be clear, I met our business partner, Susan Lyons, publisher of the Coastal Point newspaper, for dinner there Tuesday night because the Quail is our mutual client. We had dinner, a couple of cocktails (see above for admonitions about over-imbibing), talked business and then went out on a shuffle bowl date. Just kidding, really.
The Quail is one of those down-home places, where locals go to get comfort food at a truly reasonable price. Tuesday’s special was meatloaf stuffed with broccoli and cheese, and a big side of mashed potatoes and gravy. It was just like mama used to make, except everyone’s mama back in the day cooked all her vegetables until they were soft enough to push through a screen door without opening it. This broccoli still had its snap.
Oh and we got the crab dip served in a big bread bowl with lots of melted cheese (yes!) involved. Ms. Lyons, meanwhile, got the petite filet, which looked good to me but as my dinner involved considerable gravy, a key element in the food cosmos, I was too busy to steal any of it.
I know people who eat here almost every night of the week because of the good food, low prices and nice people. The rest, as they say, is gravy.
n 32 Palm: Tuesday, lunch and I’m not buying. What else could you ask for in life? Well, how about a nice dining room in the Hilton on 33rd Street, the chef coming out with a little something extra and knowing a number of people on the staff because earlier in the year someone had the good taste to buy you a snifter of 25-year-old MaCallan single malt scotch.
When someone cracks the seal on a bottle that retails for the price of a used car, people tend to take notice. It was s-m-o-o-o-o-t-h.
Even so, I have always liked the Hilton bar, Rumbas Lounge, and I like the food at 32 Palm. And so it was with great delight that I got a great crab cake along with one of the chef’s test appetizers, a Reuben egg roll, which is a crispy wonton wrapper stuffed with all the ingredients normally found in Reuben sandwich.
I don’t know what it is about hotel restaurants but, other than the guests themselves, too many people tend not to think about them when pondering where to eat. This is a major mistake, since there are some good and even great ones that should be on everyone’s list of places to go.
In Hilton’s case, good food is a standard that must be met because of the upscale clientele the hotel attracts. Yet, the prices aren’t high at all, the dining room is topnotch and the service is good. And that’s even if someone doesn’t go crazy and buy you a $90-a-snifter scotch. Although it was memorable.
Previously covered:
707 Bar & Grille: It has that “real feel,” a good grub, good time place. Go Steelers.
Adolfo’s Italian Restaurant: Amen, brothers and sisters to some very good appetizers.
BJ’s on the Water: Exceptional chicken on Thursday and good food all around until 1:30 a.m.
Billy’s Subs: They say their half-subs are eight inches. I say they’re nine-and-a-half. Good too.
Blue Ox: Big, big steak. Eat it all and you’ll feel satisfied for days.
Boardwalk Joe’s: Sausage gravy for breakfast, one of the building blocks of life.
Booty’s House of Crabs: The pirate theme works with kids, while more seafood works with adults.
Carousel: Some incredibly priced specials, especially its late afternoon-early evening
Carrabba’s: Good food, big portions and reasonable prices draw big crowds consistently.
Castaway’s Bar and Grill: Fun inside and out. Good jambalaya so thick you could pave with it.
Catch 54 Fish House: They call it a fish house for a reason, but it also offers steaks and pasta dishes.
Charlie’s Bayside: A Cubano sandwich just as I would make if I were Cuban. Muy bien, amigos.
Coconuts Beach Bar & Grill: It’s outside and gets the job done nicely at a very reasonable price.
Coral Reef Café: I like eating next to swimming pools when the temperature outside is in the 50s … or lower.
Dough Roller Restaurants: A mighty big breakfast that’s available at a Dough Roller near you.
Dunes Manor Victorian Room: Nice room. Try the Snug Harbor with hollandaise. It’s good for you.
Fager’s Island: The rib is prime, great wine list, upscale fine dining.
Fat Daddy’s Sub Shop: Pizza, subs, specialty sandwiches. Good value, too.
Fresco’s: Real deal Italian and American with Italian flavor. Top shelf.
Galaxy 66 Bar & Grill: Great stuff and one of those places with a bar that’s difficult to leave.
Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille: A sports bar and grill with a knack for charity and a good cheese steak.
Harborside Bar & Grill: Orange Crush, of course. Try the spicy steak and scallops.
High Stakes: Cheese steaks are one of the essential elements in a well-balanced diet.
Horizons at the Clarion Fontainebleau: A good dinner menu and a superior place to have lunch.
House of Welsh: A beer-battered flounder large enough to be its own congressional district.
JR’s: This really is the place for ribs. And check out the great sides.
Jammin’ Jon’s Island Barbecue: a self-proclaimed barbecue joint. Only the pig would have regrets.
Jordan’s Rooftop Restaurant and Bar: It’s rock ‘n’ roll hoochy coo. Super view too.
Jules: Wolf down the lamb, soft spot for soft crabs, oysters.
Kebab House: Good kebabs, fried beef liver and rice. Turkish coffee.
La Mexicana: Habla Espanol? Formerly La Poblanita. As Mexican as it gets. Honest-to-goodness pozole.
Layton’s Family Restaurant: Fresh pastries, big breakfasts, very popular.
Ledo’s Pizza: Pizza, of course, but an excellent deal is the good-size calzone at a very low price.
Little Rock Lizzie’s: Cool little place. Bistro-style with its own bakery. Yum, bread pudding.
Macky’s: Great open-air bar, great bartenders, eat on the beach, bring the kids.
OC Frogs: One of the best locations in town. Nice little bar, too.
OC Kabob & Grill: tasty stuff on a skewer at very good prices.
OC Wasabi: Real men eat sushi. It tastes great. And it’s cooked.
Olive Tree: Good place to take the family and feast on all sorts of reasonably priced dishes.
PGN Crabhouse: As we used to say in the ’60s, these crabs are heavy, man.
Phillips Crab House: What else can you say? It’s an Ocean City tradition.
Pizza Hut: It tastes good, fills you up for a decent price and you walk away well fed and happy.
Reflections: Upscale, fine dining. Try the smoked duck breast appetizer.
Ristorante Antipasti: A culinary adventurous establishment and those who know it, love it.
Sakura’s Japanese Steakhouse: Knife-flying fun to watch, tasty and mostly low fat.
Salsarita’s: Quick, convenient and a lot of Mexican-style food at an extremely low price.
Schooner’s at the Princess Royale: Comfortable, well appointed, do lunch with some serious onion rings.
Seacrets: Good, reasonably priced food. Barbecue sandwich good enough to adopt.
Shenanigans: Great Irish pub, big portions and on the Boardwalk.
Smitty McGee’s: Lots of locals, great baby scallops, tons of wings flying out of the kitchen
Solstice in the Atlantic Hotel: Very good food in a fine old building. Berlin can be proud.
Steer Inn Tavern: One of the best deals around, especially when you get the nightly special.
Sterling’s Seafood Grille and Oyster Bar: Oysters and clams alive, alive-O. Grilled fish and shrimp, too.
The Anchor Restaurant: On the Boardwalk with some nap-inducing baked ziti.
The Hobbit: Casual elegance. Upscale-comfortable. This is one nice dining room.
The Shark on the Harbor: A menu that takes on the traditional but gives is a good twist.
Tutti Gusti: Italian bistro, all made on premises, fun at the bar.
Waterman’s Seafood Company: Seafood and lots of it, in a family atmosphere.
Windows on the Bay: Crab imperial that was richer than a Bill Gates casserole.
Yang’s Palace: Chinese and Indian food. Lamb curry. Mmmm.
Yokozuna: like deep fried panko-encrusted oysters, seared salmon with spicy mayo.
Full disclosure: I’m no food critic, because I don’t claim to be. Besides, my friends and customers own these restaurants and the last thing I’m going to do is make them mad. But if it’s good, I’ll tell you.