Stars: 4.75 out of 5
Pros: Atmosphere, Service, Food
Cons:
IT'S RESTAURANT WEEK!! IT'S RESTAURANT WEEK!! IGNORE THE FOOD IN YOUR FRIDGE CAUSE IT'S RESTAURANT WEEK!! Sorry, I got a little excited there. It's understandable of course because, as I, ahem, said, it's restaurant week here in Richmond. That means that a bunch of restaurants across the city that I normally couldn't afford are offering a 3 course meal for $25.13 a person. Part of every meal sold of the restaurant week menu goes to support the local food bank, so you can feel good about it too. Now, I can't celebrate this wonderful week alone. So, I recruited my go to eat out partner, MC. She took lots of time to review the available menus and settled on Water Grill (Water Grill). I'm not one to argue with a woman when it comes to food so we made a 7pm reservation and we let our anticipation build.
Water Grill is located on Cary St. at the beginning of Carytown near Penzey Spices. It's a very nice looking building with a big open patio. Sadly, the patio was closed as it was pretty chilly for the end of April. As I walked up to the entrance I noticed the signboard out front was advertising Restaurant Week and it's worthy cause. What it didn't say was make reservations quick or you will miss out. The inside of Water Grill is very very nice. Muted wall colors mix perfectly with water features, nice table settings and perfect lighting to make a warm and welcoming environment. There is a long thin bar behind the hostess station that was full. The hostess was pleasant and sat us right away. We were sat downstairs but I noticed there was also an upstairs that I did not get to investigate.
The menu for restaurant week is much smaller then the regular menu, but it doesn't make choosing a meal any easier. As MC and I looked over the choices I advised her I would like to break on of my sacred dining rules... I wanted to know if she and I could order different items and try each others stuff. Normally I am anti-sharing and it turns out so is she. But, we both were able to establish the rules and regulations of said sharing before the meal was ordered so all was well. MC decided to go with She Crab Soup to start, Pan Seared Crab Cakes for her main course and Vanilla Creme Brulee for her dessert. I went with Lobseter and Shrimp Potstickers to start, the Miso Glazed Salmon for dinner and the Key Lime Pie for dessert. A perfect blend of all the choices. Our very fun and friendly waitress took our order and then brought us a tasty basket of bread and a glass of house white wine (we paid for it) while she put in our order.
Our first course arrived fairly quickly. The waitress cracked some fresh black pepper over the She Crab Soup and then gracefully left the table. The soup was a thick bisque-like soup with lump crab meat. It was very rich and indulgent. Thankfully it was only a cup as a giant bowl would have been too much. My pot-stickers came beautifully fried on a plate with glass noodles, a citrus soy dipping sauce and a drizzle of Siracha. The stickers were plump and crispy. The filling was flavorful, but not over powering. The dipping sauce wasn't bad, but I preferred the Siracha. MC seemed to enjoy the sauce and used it with every bite of her sticker. The glass noodles had a delicate flavor that really balanced out the heavier flavors of the pot-stickers. It was an excellent first course.
Once we had cleaned our plates we were ready for our main course. The people next to us got theirs first and it looked good. The sight of the grilled pork chop resting on the pile of mashed potatoes caused me a brief flush of preemptive buyers remorse. As MC and I longingly looked at all the food, probably making the people uncomfortable, the waitress appeared like a sustenance-bearing savior. She set our plates down with the flourish of a magician. The food looked wonderful and smelled even better. MC's crab cakes were served on a stack of mashed potatoes with grilled asparagus. The potatoes were very dense, but not bad. I'm not a mashed potato man myself so I won't really judge them. The asparagus was perfectly grilled with just the right crunch. The crab cakes themselves were what you hope a crab cake should be. They were moist and crabby without a huge amount of bready filler. In short, delicious. My salmon came with sticky rice and braised bok choy. The rice was garnished with slices of green pepper, carrot and red onion. It had a slight orangy flavor which was a pleasing touch. The bok choy could have drained a moment more, but it had good flavor. I feel like if it had been grilled it would have been perfect. That being said, I still ate it with relish. The salmon was the star of the plate. As MC said, "I hardly order salmon out anymore because it tends to not be fresh with an over-powering salmon/fishy smell. This is far from that. This is good fabulous fish." I couldn't put it any better myself.
Whew... feeling full with one course left. And that is the best of all courses always, dessert. Dessert is usually the one course I never get when I go out as I usually can't afford it. But tonight, it's all included so I was really looking forward to my Key Lime Pie as MC was to her Vanilla Creme Brulee. I will admit, I've never had creme brulee. How I have managed to miss it for 28 years, I'll never know. So, MC gave me the first bite. I broke through the crispy topping of flame melted sugar and got myself a spoonful. It was so very good. The brulee was creamy and popped with vanilla flavor that was finished with the sharp intense flavor of the hard sugar topping. MC said that she truly appreciates any dessert that requires a blowtorch to finish and I now agree with her. MC got the first bite of my pie as it was only fair. It was an excellent pie. The lime flavor was fresh and tart. It was sharp on the tongue in such a good way. The sweetness of the crust was the perfect tamer to the lion of lime and together they put on a show which surely would please everyone. It did of course lead into a heated debate about the best kind of pie, but we won't get into that here (it's pumpkin).
For my first ever Richmond Restaurant Week meal I have to say I was super pleased. It was filling and flavorful. The service made the meal that much more enjoyable and is truly a compliment to Water Grill. If you are searching for someplace delicious and fun to try this week I throw my full recommendation behind Water Grill. You won't be disappointed.
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