| Address | 2950 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington, VA |
|---|---|
| Phone | (703) 524-4440 |
Oh no! We went to have the Smothered Trout and Chicken & Waffles last night and it was a sub-par experience.
Parts of the dinner were fine, some were good, and some went as far as disgusting.
My boyfriend made ordering the Smothered Trout a requirement after reading several reviews that mentioned it, and I ordered the Chicken & Waffles since they were recently part of an online debate.
Even though a whole dining room was empty, we had to wait. The service was awkward and abrupt, as if reading from a script unwillingly while trying to be forcefully friendly.
Bread was fine, I actually really liked the warm cornbread, but the "butter" was disgusting. It tasted like Crisco out of a jar. When the server cleared the bread basket at the end of the meal, I asked him what "it" was and he said "Butter, but we whip it to make it nice and fluffy." I must have had an incredulous look on my face since he said "What, you didn't like that either?". This butter was white, and was just a chunk in a silver container. It was flavorless and greasy--no, I didn't like it.
The food came incredibly fast, too fast. I've seriously had to wait longer for burgers at McDonalds (which means they already had these plates started before we placed our order). When the plate-messenger put the plates down, I confirmed with him that it was the "Smothered Trout"-- I couldn't even see the fish on the plate. The waiter confirmed that we got our dishes by glancing at the table while walking by, but didn't ask us how everything was until we were finished...
The whole plate was disgusting to look at. The skin of the fish, once found, was soggy and oily. The fish itself was very small for the price--less grits, more fish! The shrimp had no meat in it and it made me sick to my stomach to look at it. The grits didn't taste like any grits I've ever had, and I'm from the South! It tasted more like polenta or mashed potatoes, but they actually tasted alright. The sauce was nice and flavorful, but I didn't understand where it was supposed to go on the plate because there was just too much of it.
Good ol' Chicken and Waffles. I'm glad that syrup won the debate over gravy as the topping. The waffles were okay, but I've made better back when I was a student and used those cafeteria waffle irons. They tasted like they were frozen and then reheated--in fact, I had one bite that was slightly cold. They weren't crunchy at all and soon were quite soggy. The chicken was a huge hunk of meat in comparison to the triangles of waffle beneath it. The chef likes to heavy-hand the parsley as a garnish as can be seen on both plates. When I eat chicken and waffles, I want to be able to slice through both and get a nice perfect bite. But this huge hunk of meat, with the bone still in, prevented me from doing that. The breading was thick, overly seasoned, and too dark. It was similar to the breading found on frozen chicken patties, though when I said this to the waiter, he assured me that they "do their own breading" (not the response I was looking for...). The chicken was so savory and the waffles weren't substantial enough to balance them out, but I forced myself to eat the empty calories so I wouldn't waste food. I honestly didn't want to eat anymore since it wasn't enjoyable, but I had to get my money's worth.
Thankfully, the waiter voiced all of our "meh"s to the manager and he came over and talked to us. He's a really nice guy and his talking to us changed our minds about whether we would return again or not. He told us that he didn't want to charge us for a dinner we didn't enjoy, which was fair. We complemented him on having Allagash and warm bread, and actually paid for the Allagash and tipped on the full amount of our original bill.
P.S. The decor seems very confused to me. Ornate molding on the ceiling, tablecloths, overstuffed booths, but then tons of empty space and tsotchkes on the wall that look like they were picked up from a side-road antique shop in Southern Virginia? It reminded me of McCormick & Shmicks inside, but a little less dark and not green.
The food at Restaurant 3 is consistently great. I've had both seafood and beef and both were cooked to perfection. They have an amazing wine list and a nice selection of beers, too. Great for happy hour or dinner.
The idea of an upscale Southern American restaurant, with vegetarian options!, in convenient and hip Clarendon really lit my fire, but unfortunately the value of the actual experience put the flames out pretty quickly. I can't point to anything bad per se: the service was excellent (though, would have been nice if they asked if we wanted more bread instead of just taking away the empty bread basket), the ambiance - while staid and sterile and catalogue-esque (kind of like a place your grey-haired parents would take you) - was fine, the taste and presentation of the food was OK. But nothing was stellar, especially for the price. Restaurant 3 masters the basics of new restaurant requirements, but doesn't add any original, surprising flair to leave you wanting more, leave you aching to return. Instead, you depart having filled your belly with merely expensive ordinary food, with no intentions to return.
