Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 30, 1995 TAG: 9506300021
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOLORES KOSTELNI SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Service for the most part has been timely, but there have been occasions when the entire meal dragged into slow motion and diminished the dining pleasure.
During lunch, when time constraints are always a factor, I waited 15 minutes for the table to be cleared and then an additional 20 minutes to receive the check. Plenty of service persons moved about the room, many passing by my table empty-handed, meeting my gaze and smiling, but not stopping to pick up the plates or to even ask if I needed something. Two managers at the entrance appeared to be in constant motion, but I question the purposefulness of their activity.
For the quality and quantity, lunches are downright inexpensive. Two people can enjoy a satisfying and beautifully plated feast for around $20. For beginnings, a garden salad ($1.95) of colorful baby lettuces sparkles with freshness. The Tidewater clam chowder ($2.65) features a sprightly vegetable broth thick with sliced celery, onions and sweet, tender clam strips.
My high anticipation for a bowl of peanut soup was dashed ($3.25) by a chef's heavy hand with salt. Despite a perfect consistency and attractive appearance, I could not tolerate more than two spoonfuls of it.
The Regency Room's re-invented tournedos of beef ($7.25) improves on the classic. Two good-sized pieces of filet mignon, cooked exactly to specification, rest on top of a meaty Portobello mushroom cap. A thick, dark hickory-scented demi-sauce graces one side of the dish. A mountain of garlic-scented mashed potatoes completes the dish. This is a meal I will order again.
The salmon and corn cake ($5.35) is a sublime combination. The plump, all-salmon cake, punctuated with fresh dill and onion, has a crisply sauteed exterior. Its partner, a wedge of bright yellow polenta, unexpectedly dotted with black beans, brings high color and a taste triumph to the plate. The sauce, a catsupy-looking thick, herb-seasoned demi-plum tomato coulis, comes on the side.
Except for giant croutons, which defied spearing with a fork and had to be eaten out of hand, the chicken Caesar salad ($5.95) tastes just the way you expect, and maybe better. A huge mound of glistening lettuces covers the delicate dogwood pattern on the hotel's lovely china. Coupled with a pleasantly seasoned, grilled chicken breast, mesquite-roasted red peppers and shavings of transparently thin Romano cheese, this salad alone makes the trip worthwhile.
A multicoursed buffet ($8.95) set up in an adjacent side room, offers something for everyone. Despite the bargain price, I found the buffet food lackluster.
The dinner menu is divided into three sections and thoughtfully pays tribute to the hotel's past and present as well as to its loyal fans. Local favorites are called "Classics"; "Historical" fare refers to preparations of yesteryear, including wild game; and the "New Traditions" reflect offerings of current trends. Spoonbread is listed as an a la carte item that comes with dinner. I enjoyed this so much, it turned out to be the centerpiece of the meal for me.
Dinner dazzles and tempts. For starters, shrimp cocktail ($7.95), one of the menu Classics, arrives sensibly served on a flat dish. Large, tender, perfectly cooked shrimp are easy to eat and excellent. A New Tradition, pepper-cured salmon with a potato pancake ($5.25), pairs the delicate, thinly sliced fish with the earthy, robustly seasoned pancake. This exciting combination of opposites in texture and flavor presents a culinary balance.
Caesar salad ($5.50) achieves stardom with the first forkful. Impeccably fresh chilled lettuce, each piece dressed to the nines and snowy with Parmesan cheese, refreshes the palate and provides great pleasure.
Broiled filet mignon with shrimp ($19.50) combines food with art. Vivid green asparagus spears divide the turf and a cluster of roasted red-skinned potatoes add interest on the side. It looks like an enormous quantity, but is too delectable not to finish. Broiled swordfish ($18.95) exhibits perfection in its unadorned simplicity.
Dessert seemed like excess, but from the looks of the voodoo cake ($4.95), I didn't care. It's a slice of dark fudgy richness topped with a darker chocolate glaze, and I devoured it. Expecting to relive this decadence, I ordered it on my second visit but its crumbly dryness disappointed me. Three-layered red velvet cake with a thick white frosting couldn't have been better.
In both my own experience and the anecdotal reports of friends, service at the Regency Room is a rough edge in need of better organization, and hospitality needs to be redefined. But all in all, the room brings a level of pleasant dining to the area. With its generous portions and sensitively presented, freshly prepared dishes, there is the potential for graciously serving first-rate food.
Its nearness to the Civic Center means there is an outstanding place to dine before a performance. For many of us, the Regency Room could be an evening's main event.
THE REGENCY ROOM
At the Hotel Roanoke
985-5900
Hours: Open 7 days a week.
Breakfast: including buffet: Saturday and Sunday: 7:30 a. m.-10:30; Monday through Friday: 6:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.
Lunch: including buffet: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. seven days a week.
Dinner: Sunday through Thursday: 5 p.m.-10 p.m; Friday and Saturday: 5 p.m.-11 p.m.
Beverages: full range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks
Price Range: Breakfast: $4.95-$8.95;
Buffet: $7.25
Lunch: $4.95-$11.95; Buffet: $8.95
Dinner: $15-$24
Credit Cards Accepted? All major credit cards accepted
Reservations required? Strongly suggested, especially for large groups and on weekends
Nonsmoking section? yes
Handicap accessible? Yes
Dining Out's handicap-accessibility ratings are provided by the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center of Roanoke.
by CNB