This is it -- this tiny nondescript exterior right on the beach at Atlantic Beach houses a bar/restaurant in a touristy area. It's rated #1 on Trip Advisor, so we had to try it. In East Carolina, there aren't very many excellent restaurants. Could this be one?We got there at opening time, 5:00PM, and had the place to ourselves. Our menu went like this:
1. Crusty Italian bread served at the table with dipping oil.
Bread was so-so, oil was really good.
2. Salads
Caesar: Guy said it was good
Garden: Large leafy greens, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots
I prefer Mesculin Mix to large leafy greens. Dressing was Balsamic vinaigrette, and it was very good, but then, what's hard about that?
3. Entrees: Guy -- Pork Chops with Coffee Rub, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Sugar Snap Peas
Guy liked the chop and potatoes; it was one large chop, about 1-1/2" thick, pan seared; you could taste the coffee rub and it was nice; chop was tender and juicy partway through, a little dry around the edges; potatoes were good.
Judy -- I got an appetizer as a main dish: pan-seared scallops over creamy grits with a raspberry sauce, bacon bits and scallions. This was to die for -- best scallop dish I've had in years -- I would go back just to get this again. And the appetizer filled me up; it was plenty.
4. Service: Good. (However, I specified to the server that we are small eaters and were thinking of splitting a salad. She insisted the salads were very small and we shouldn't do that. As a result of ordering 2 salads, we each turned back half of our salads. Was she saying to order 2 salads so she could jack up the bill and get a bigger tip? I don't know, but I learned from now on we will order 1 salad. If it isn't enough, we'll order a 2nd one.)
5. Ambience: OK, nothing special. They advertise that they have ocean views. They do, but not that easy to see. Windows are small-ish, room is very tight with extremely small tables, not much elbow room.
6. Prices: High-average. With 2 salads, 1 entree, 1 appetizer and 1 beer, the bill came to $50.
Over-all rating: 4 out of 5 stars (salad and bread brought it down)
