There’s nothing I love more than a pleasant surprise. And when I stop to eat a meal at an enormous mall, surrounded by other malls and big-box stores, the last thing I expect is a distinctive, singular and downright palatable experience — with remarkably fresh seafood. Enter the Boathouse at Short Pump.
If it’s oysters you want, the Boathouse’s are perfectly shucked with nary a fleck of shell to annoy, ice-cold and mostly local ($2/$3). The fried iteration ($12), served simply, with lemon and a nice tartar sauce, is thoughtfully frizzled, crispy bites with the hot briny pop of a plump Chesapeake oyster tucked away inside. Win-win.
The space is warm and comfortable — approachable modern, I want to call it — with earth tones, wood and sleek, black metal, like a futuristic ski lodge. Late afternoon into early evening brings more of a suit-clad postwork group to the bar enjoying happy hour drinks and appetizers. The evening is anyone’s game, from couples enjoying a romantic dinner for two to a family meal out with the in-laws and a tot in the highchair to an enormous party of high school teens all gussied up for homecoming. Service is professional, personal and warm.
But back to the food. Back to the steaming bowl of creamy New England-style clam chowder ($5/$8), salty like the sea and galvanized with chewy, crispy bits of local Surry bacon. The same deeply soulful, smoky bacon can be found ornamenting the baby iceberg wedge salad ($7) alongside crumbles of blue cheese and bright red grape tomatoes. With its mostly tender inner leaves of romaine, rustic croutons, generous shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano and the gently anchovy-flecked dressing with just enough elemental pungency, I’ll gladly hail Caesar ($8).
A beautifully cooked Norwegian salmon ($25) boldly goes where few foods dare to go and cozies up with cheese, a smoked Gouda cream, with sauteed wild mushrooms and leeks with jasmine rice.
Sushi, you say? You have your pick of more than a dozen different rolls ($13-$18). Though all boast a dizzying flurry of components, the heart of each is the fish. In fact, it’s the freshest tuna, yellowtail, eel, shrimp, salmon and lobster I’ve come across in some time.
But at this outpost of the Boathouse, the essential dish is the lobster roll ($29). We are talking about one entire lobster broken down into big chunks of chilled meat tossed with mayonnaise, lemon and tarragon, stuffed into a butter-toasted roll and sprinkled with minced chives. Is the mayonnaise Duke’s? Are they made with top-loading Pepperidge Farm hot dog buns? Get over it. There once was a man from Nantucket — and this roll would make him extraordinarily happy. As if the one entire lobster doesn’t seal the bang-for-your-buck nature of the dish, the mountain of hot, salty and crisp french fries should help. If you’re into that sort of thing.
A favorite dessert of mine with its simultaneous hotness and coldness, custardy-ness and crunchiness, creme brulee, is silky smooth and faintly vanilla sweet. But unfortunately it was served with its brittle top cold, making me presume it was torched at a much earlier time. I got over it.
Whether you need a half dozen Cape Charles Ruby Salts and a glass of Prosecco to assuage that post H&M mayhem malaise, or you need to make the 30-minute drive from home because you can’t stop thinking about what crab-stuffed shrimp ($29) are exactly, I get it. I’ll see you there. I’ll be the one with the lobster roll in my face. S
The Boathouse at Short Pump
11800 W. Broad St.
360-7200
Mondays-Thursdays 11:30am-10 p.m.;
Fridays 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.;
Saturdays 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sundays 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
boathouserva.com
