The Red Maple Inn
Newport News,VA
Rating 4+ stars
A very nice local restaurant with all of the things we look for to celebrate for a romantic dinner. Very nice atmosphere, a quiet dinner room, ambiance, and of course, very good food at a resonable price. We celebrated a late Valentine's dinner there,
My wife and I both had a bowl of the crab bisque and split a spinach salad. The bisque was one of the best we have had. And that is quite a feat. We consider ourselves conisoirs of crab bisque and she-crab soup and have enjoyed many fine samples from some of the finest restaurants. This was served good and hot, creamy, slightly peppery to taste and full of quality crab meat with very few shells. It came with a hot sweet potatoe muffin that had my wife Terri looking for more.
I had the signature Imperial Tenderloin, with garlic mashed potatoes and beautifully seasoned vegatables. The bursted grape tomatoes and carrots were wonderfull! The filet was juicy and very flavorfull even though cooked ever so slightly more than requested, I had debated on how to request its preparation and it seemed the chef had it well in hand. The portions were huge. As much as I enjoyed the vegatables, I had to forgo finishing them in order to finish my filet and potatoes.
Terri had the Red Maple Crab cakes in a remoulade sauce, also with the garlic mashed potatoes and seasoned vegatables. Her plate was equally as full as mine and with her lesser appetite, she had leftovers. Lucky her. She enjoyed her meal almost as much as I, but found her crab cakes also slightly over cooked. Not so much as to disturb a very good dinner.
We had been blessed with a table next to the fireplace and the colors and decor of the dining room scored high points with Terri. The building is a restored Victorian era home next to the railroad, like so many along the C&O route. The waiter was great- attentive without being too bothersome. We look forward to returning during spring to enjoy the lovely gardens and porch.
The entrees are priced from about $16 to $26, ranging from seafood dishes to steaks.