THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702210043
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Restaurant Review
SOURCE: BY M. F. ONDERDONK, RESTAURANT CRITIC
LENGTH: 104 lines
GHENT IS LIKE the Nile. The restaurant scene there has overflowed the neighborhood's banks and fertilized surrounding territory.
Along the northern, rather industrial, boundary to Norfolk's Upper West Side, 21st Street now spills over with places to watch and be watched, from Crackers to Cafe Rosso. And the street beyond has also been initiated into the restaurant zone, most lately with the opening of Amory's 22nd Street Seafood.
The restaurant is found, not without difficulty, off the main parking lot of the Ghent Market Shoppes at 22nd and Colonial (also location for Bamboo Hut, another in this bumper crop of eateries). Amid newly sandblasted brick buildings, this is a comfy but challenging locale - it cannot be seen from Colonial, or even from the shopping center itself. Such is the newest outpost for a
Portsmouth restaurant dynasty.
Following the lead of her father, George, (Amory's, the Oysterette) and brother David (Amory's Wharf), Michelle Amory has gone into business serving seafood. With its barred windows and winter-empty courtyard, the entrance is faintly forbidding.
Once inside, however, one finds an utterly delightful dining room furnished with antique tables and chairs. Votive candles in sherbet-colored holders wink in the evening darkness. Upon the brick walls, vivid expressionist paintings shift the viewer's perspective even before that first glass of wine. At the bar, tucked in a quiet corner, regulars drink and chat, while a teddy bear snuggles upon a ``Friends''-style sofa.
Alas, the menu lags behind by an era or two. Here are all those old-timey seafood platters one remembers from Sunday out-to-eats with the family, complete with golf ball-sized hush puppies (brought to the table right away, fresh and hot) and too many choices of vegetables. Much praise may still be heaped on the overload theory of dining. But today's creative cuisine scene - and Ghent is at the heart of it - insists that there is life beyond broiling, frying and combo permutations.
The kitchen turns out a terrific Chesapeake Bay-style ``chowder'' - actually a salty, mild broth, smoky with bacon and chock-a-block with clams, potatoes, celery and etceteras. This comes solo, or on the restaurant's soup sampler, alongside velvety she-crab soup, spiked with red and black pepper. (A third soup, chicken vegetable, was unavailable the evening we visited.)
An entree of assorted fried seafood yielded assorted results. The scallops were sweet, the oysters savory. But the fillet of flounder was bland, the butterflied shrimp ordinary, and the crabcake was indifferent.
Crab Tangier was a promising combo of crabmeat sauteed with country ham, plus an option on oysters, but it tasted less than fresh on the evening we sampled it. The owner came to the table to give assurances that the crabmeat had been picked the day before. But the dish was removed from the table - and the bill - without further protest.
Entrees may falter. Simpler starters may shine. On a lunch visit, steamed mussels were abundant, tender and flavorful. Clams, also steamed and lightly garlic-scented, were bit tough and didn't come with broth. Both were served with cups of melted butter for dipping, little forks for scooping and lemon for drizzling. We also split a lobster roll, which turned up as a halved lobster tail on a bun, no sauce. ``Lobster burger'' was the impromptu remark that best suited this chewy, expensive and not especially appetizing invention.
The wine list is short, and ranges from impressive (a $45 Jordan cabernet sauvignon) to affordable (Georges Duboeuf viognier for $16). Wines by the glass include a seafood-friendly Wildhurst sauvignon blanc. The goodly sampling of microbrews runs coast to coast, from Pete's Wicked honey wheat to Sierra Nevada pale ale.
Sides run to fries (good), potatoes wedged and drenched in butter (bland), and a refreshing dish of vinegary cucumbers and onions. For a dollar extra, one may enjoy house salad, a fresh but standard-issue composition of leaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes and other trimmings.
Wait staffers are outfitted hippie-style, in overalls and jeans. Their service is not only friendly and quick, but well informed.
For dessert, we got the toffee bar, served hot, with a melt of vanilla ice cream, like a brown-sugar cobbler with chocolate chips in place of fruit. Yum! MEMO: Reviews are based on two unannounced visits by a party of two or
three, unless otherwise noted. The Virginian-Pilot pays for the
reviewer's meals and those of the guests. Previous restaurant reviews
are available on the Fun page of Pilot Online at
http://www.pilotonline.com/ ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
ROY A BAHLS
Amory's 22nd Street Seafood
2200 Colonial Ave. No. 13, Norfolk, 622-0133
Food: 2 stars (out of five)
Service: 2 stars
Ambience: 3 stars
Overall: 2 stars
AMORY'S 22ND STREET SEAFOOD
Address: 2200 Colonial Ave. No. 13 (off 22nd Street between Colonial
and Debree), Norfolk, 622-0133
Prices: $3-$8 for salads, appetizers and sandwiches; $12-$25 for
entrees.
Hours: Open for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. to midnight Tuesdays
through Sundays.
Drinks: Full bar, wine list including several by the glass,
selection of beers and microbrews.
Payment: MasterCard, VISA, American Express, Discover; no personal
checks.
Reservations: Accepted only for parties of six or more.
Smoking: At bar only.
Handicap accessible: Yes.