
DATE: Sunday, July 27, 1997                 TAG: 9707290516

SECTION: FLAVOR                  PAGE: F1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Restaurant Review

SOURCE: BY RUTH FANTASIA, FLAVOR EDITOR 

                                            LENGTH:  128 lines

DESPITE REPUTATION, VENERABLE EATERY DISAPPOINTS

TANDOM'S Pine Tree Inn has been a Virginia Beach landmark for 70 years, known for quality dining and banquet service. But if two recent visits are any indication, it no longer lives up to its upstanding reputation.

Causey Davis opened the Inn as an oyster house near the corner of what is now Virginia Beach Boulevard and North Lynnhaven Road. After Davis' death the business was assumed by his sons, William and Clayton, who turned it into a fine dining establishment that was known for meticulous service.

Some of the Beach's more prominent residents came for the prime rib, all-you-can-eat lobster nights, Chateaubriand and baked Alaska.

It was also a great environment for learning about fine dining. As a part-time employee at the Inn for five years in the '70s, I served in most areas of the kitchen and dining room.

In 1979, Tom Gengler bought the Inn, adding ``Tandom's'' before the name. Then last January, Katie Jang Dhari, who owns Katie's Gourmet in Newport News, bought a portion of the restaurant, becoming a partner with Gengler.

At our first dinner the entrees were mostly too dry to be palatable, but the waiter tried valiantly to compensate for the kitchen's shortcomings. The food during our second visit was better, but the service was lax. The only real bright spot in the meals was the appetizer course.

Of the five entrees we sampled at both dinners, only one was appealing enough to finish.

The Chesapeake Filet ($19.95), a beef tenderloin butterflied with crab and lobster on top, arrived medium-rare, as ordered, on one side and well-done on the other. The tenderloin was cut off center when butterflied so that the thinner side cooked much too quickly, making it dry and tough. A crab-and-lobster topping, though it contained little lobster, added some flavor.

An entree of blackened mahi-mahi ($19.95) served with beurre blanc came similarly prepared.

One end of the fish was properly blackened. It flaked appropriately when picked off with a fork.

But the other end, hidden under two large lemon slices, was cut so thin and was so overcooked that it was too dry to finish.

The chicken cordon bleu ($16.95) consisted of a dry chicken breast wrapped around a slice of ham, but the cheese seemed to be missing.

Though stuffed with tasty crab filling, the flounder filet ($20.90) was cooked to the point where the flesh resembled tiny dry threads.

The only entree we finished was the king-cut prime rib au jus ($19.95). Unlike the others, it was evenly cut and hadn't been left under the broiler too long. The beef was tender and juicy, the juice rich and flavorful.

Each entree is served with a salad and a choice of vegetable. The latter consists of your choice of rice pilaf, baked potato, twice-baked potato or the vegetable of the day. At least in theory.

On our first visit, my husband ordered squash, the vegetable of the day. He received overcooked asparagus and a rice pilaf with the waiter's apologies that they had run out of the other. On our second visit, we both ordered the vegetable of the day but received one twice-baked potato - to share, we presume.

For an additional charge you can visit Tandom's ``award-winning 60-item all-you-can-eat salad bar.'' If it came with the meal, the salad bar wouldn't be a bad deal, but for $3.95, I expect more than the usual fixings, some unidentifiable mixed salads, small steamed shrimp and raw oysters.

Dinner also comes with a basket of warm wheat rolls baked on the premises. They were a delight during our first visit, but we didn't receive them on our second, though the tables around us did.

All dining experiences have their bright spots, and at Tandom's it was the appetizers. We sampled the stuffed mushrooms ($5.95), moist and filled with crab filling; the shrimp cocktail ($6.95), five large, succulent shrimp; and the baked goat cheese marinara ($5.95), sort of an upscale mini-lasagna minus the noodles.

This last was a favorite, with chunks of onions and green bell peppers in a tomato sauce baked on top of the cheese. But it would have been even better if the little slices of bread served alongside had not been toasted until they were hard throughout.

As for the desserts, a New York-style cheesecake was quite good, though with a little more graham-cracker crust than we liked. The flan, a custard baked with a caramel topping, was quite flavorful. An indulgent dessert, dubbed a Midsummer Night's Dream ($4.95), consisted of a large brownie topped with ice cream, hot fudge, almonds, pecans, whipped cream and a cherry. The warm, chocolatey brownie married well with the Breyers vanilla.

On the other hand, the cake in the chocolate-almond torte ($3.95) was dry and the buttercream gritty.

All in all, both visits were unsatisfactory.

In addition to the problems with the entrees, we sat through 15- to 20-minute waits between courses and piano music too loud for conversation. Food splattered on the column next to our table didn't improve our appetites.

The waiter, on our first visit, did try to make up for at least one shortcoming. Noticing our child had not eaten her overcooked chicken cordon bleu, he graciously brought her a complementary ice cream sundae, which she ate with gusto. It was a nice gesture, but it failed to compensate for the other problems.

With a typical tab running upward of $35 per person, not including wine or beer, Tandom's is not a good value.

In the interest of fairness, we called owner Tom Gengler for his response on our observations.

He said that on both nights the staff was trying to recover from special events happening during the day. The day of our first visit, Tandom's hosted a meeting of soap star Diedre Hall and her fan club that lasted into dinner hours. The day of our second visit, we noted a wedding reception being held in another room.

However, with two large dining rooms and a smaller meeting room, special events have been booked at Tandom's for years. The restaurant should be prepared to serve its regular customers at these times.

Since we didn't send back any of the food, we can't know how the situation would have been handled. Gengler said the restaurant's policy is to recook the item or take it off the bill.

ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

ROY BAHLS

Graphic

TANDOM'S PINE TREE INN

Address: 2932 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach

Phone: 340-3661

Prices: Starters $2.50 to $6.95; entrees $12.95 to $21.95, $27.95

for 12-ounce lobster tail.

Hours: Lunch, 11:30 to 2:30 Monday through Friday; brunch, 10:30

to 2:30 Sunday; Dinner, 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 5 to 10

p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Drinks: Cocktails, beer, wine.