| Price:$$ |
Decor: Backwater
Seafood place |
| Summary:Fantastic Southern
MD seafood |
 (4 crabs out of 5) |
Karen-Dressed up and decked out, you are
ushered into your place and take a seat, waiting expectantly.
The show begins and you are free to marvel at the insightful content
and the carefully constructed set, costumes, lighting and actors
that make it all happen. You come away not only fulfilled, but
full. Shakespeare once wrote "All the world's a stage and
we are but players," and I'd like to expand that to its obvious
conclusion, that every restaurant's a stage, and we are but the
consumers. The truity of this statement was proved especially
poignantly at Courtney's Restaurant, a quaint local place in Ridge.
Some designer had worked to create a fairly charming if rustic
set, one large room and a small bar area, all swathed in local
flavor, from fish models and cute Halloween decorations to sports
stats and pictures of St. Mary's College. Any set designer will
tell you, however, that good lighting is the lens through which
you see the set, and the harsh white fluorescent top lighting
did nothing to create a calming atmosphere. Armed with menus that
showed signs of much use and contained within your classic American
chicken and seafood, we placed our order with the waitress after
the usual struggle over what you can get with what. deciding to
go for the plunge of the recommended salad bar despite a high
price.
Pasta, Pasta and Bacos seem to be the main staples of this buffet;
if you are into pickled noodles and a big overflowing bowl of
the red pseudo-bacon bits, you will be happy. The traditional
salad elements were there too, including satisfying full-fat Ranch
dressing, but the main hit of this pre-show entertainment was
the two kinds of soup. One of these was the kind of crab soup
that you take a sip, wait, have a conversation, and then suddenly
realize your mouth is in flames like the pits of the inferno.
Thankfully the sodas had come, and in a unique and interesting
twist, came in bottled form rather than in a cup. I like the personal
efficacy of the self-serve refill method, but it did lack the
soda fountain taste one comes to expect. The other kind of soup
was a lusciously viscous clam chowder, whose taste can only be
described as sweet and very, very white.
The time of waiting, as in many moments in theatre, was filled
with muzak that reflected the whole of the experience. Here is
where the pain began, as it was a radio station with talk interjected
into (for the most part) slow and soulful music that might have
been better appreciated as a slow dance rather than a dinner companion.
The music, white lighting and a wooden fish hung on the wall that
stared at me throughout the waiting period made it a little uncomfortable,
such that I was pleased with the diversion of my crab cake sandwich
slid into my place. Of course it's all about the timing, one cannot
have one part of the set up and lit while the rest is still being
worked on, and unfortunately my food and and another plate came
far in advance of the rest of the food. This awkward scene changing
was distracting and discouraging, but when we all finally did
have all the food delivered, it seemed to be well worth the wait.
The crab cake sandwich had its definite high points, the crab
was thick enough and tasty, however the roll was bland and not
much of a cover. One of my companions expressed dismay at this,
and said that when she had come previously for lunch the crab
cakes had been served on croissants, which made a big difference.
A few scattered potato chips and a bit of lettuce accompanied
the sandwich on the plate. Fish is apparently where this restaurant
shines, (I could hardly forget this fact with the wooden fish
on the wall staring at me) as the two who ordered rock fish and
stuffed flounder with cheese sauce had nothing but exclamations
of joy. Truly, there is nothing a good cheese sauce cannot save,
let alone compliment.
Cue the waitress for the check after the meal, and unfortunately
the entrance seemed to be missed several times. Nigh near a half
an hour after finishing the meal the check did appear, and we
concluded the evening about ten dollars less rich than before.
A good, well-written play is always interesting and worth it,
just as the food was worth the trip, but a nice set and technical
aspects can take it from good to exceptional. Qualifying this
remark, I have heard that at lunchtime the place has better food,
better lighting and more of a populated atmosphere, all three
of which could save it. To be fair there were very few waiters
there, and they seemed to be cooking the food as well. There was
also a neat, communal feel to it that can only be expressed in
the large group of men who sat next to us, all laughing and sharing
in fried chicken. My recommendation? Dinner may be a drag, but
go for lunch, with a group, and you will have a great taste of
local flavor.
Paul-OK, what Karen said was published a few years ago in
the school news paper with a negative title....tisk tisk. I still
havent let Karen live this down. Courtney's for those that know
it, is a favorite of St. Mary's College and there was a small
contraversy over the review. Don't tell Karen but I actually felt
a little sorry for all the flack she took. In fairness to her
she went for dinner and this place isnt nearly as good at dinner,
mostly because the prices jump way up. But there is no better
place in the universe to get a MD seafood lunch. They have a soup
and salad buffet reasonably priced. The salad bar is ok but this
should not be the reason why you are going here. Rather go for
the soup. Nice thick tasty clam choweder and the BEST crab soup
in the world. Good amount of sweet crab meat and a generous dose
of the house version of Old Bay. I have also gotten the soft shell
crab sandwich and fired oysters. Once again the best I've had.
The key to both dishes is the batter. It is flakey and flavorful
with a nice crispness to bite. They have it mastered here. Make
sure you get them both in season though. Its worth the wait because
the softshell crabs they get are full of meat. Now keep in mind
that the service is a bit slow, its almost a serve yourself kind
of thing, like when you want to leave, get up and find the waitress
(who is often the chashier and the cook) and pay the bill. And
the decorations are a bit tacky but I love the overall feel of
it. So, if you are ever in Southern MD be sure to find this place.
reviewed January 31, 2000
| $$$$$-over 20 dollars |
| $$$$-15 to 20 dollars |
| $$$-11 to 15 dollars |
| $$-5 to 11 dollars |
| $-Below 5 |