Castaways — Restaurant in Georgia

I went to this place with a friend to get lunch. We both ordered "She-Crab Soup," which the menu claimed had lump crab folded in to cream with stewed vegetables. The soup that arrived did not meet that description. It was not a cream-based soup at all. Instead, it was roux thickened, which was apparent when I bit in to a lump of raw flour leftover from a badly made roux instead, not something I've experienced from home cooks, let alone a professional kitchen. There was, according to the waitress, no sherry in the soup either. It was also brownish yellow in color. There were no stewed vegetables to be seen, and little in the way of crab meat. The "she-crab soup" was not she-crab soup.

When it came to the entrees, the fish and chips had good flavor, but the batter was saturated with grease. The crab cake ordered had little in the way of crab, and was mostly filler instead. They were nothing worth returning for.

The service was also particularly poor. We arrived for a later lunch with few people in the restaurant. Our drinks were rarely refilled, and we noticed the waitress packed up and left mid-meal. One of the other servers did manage to come fill our drinks once. At the point we were ready to pay and leave, despite at that point being the only party in the restaurant, we had to go in and ask for our check.

As to improving, I encourage anyone thinking about going to this place to read the owner's response to any negative review (and good to see he's at least consistent there - childish response preserved below). Do yourself a favor and skip this place.

"As you may know there are many recipes that could be used to make a soup, and we have been using our same recipe for 25 years of making Crab Stew every day of those decades. "

You aren't selling it as "crab stew," you're selling it as She Crab Soup, and it isn't She Crab Soup. It's telling that you don't bother to so much as call it that in your own response. Your menu is another story. As for it being "perfect" some collected additional mentions of your crab stew from others:

"First visit. Tried the She Crab soup (not particularly good)"

"She Crab soup is thick, it's not supposed to look and taste like paste."

"Looking for good She Crab soup and some recommendations here, went to Castaways. Bad decision. It could have come from a can."

"The She Crab soup was just okay."

"The she crab soup, which my grandson normally loves, was very dreary looking and very gelatinous. He stopped after the first spoon and I tried and found it equally distasteful."

Some ringing endorsements of your "perfect" soup.

Owner's response preserved below:

"Hi Matt, thank you for patronizing Castaways, and yes our reviews do go directly to me as the Chef and owner. It sounds like you're a crab soup connoisseur. As you may know there are many recipes that could be used to make a soup, and we have been using our same recipe for 25 years of making Crab Stew every day of those decades. Since you went into so many details it's easy to know that step 1 is stewing the vegetables and blending them til smooth, make a roux with the veggies and add crab stock. Once the roux has come to a full boil and thickened, add heavy cream and crab meat, then season to taste. After your complaint I immediately tried the Crab Stew and found absolutely no issues and found it to be yet again another perfect batch; perhaps it did not meet your expectations. I'm do apologize for our server growing tired of your complaints, and after many years in this business understand that some people just like to complain about...

BEARD HAIR ON MY FOOD, A FLY DROPPED DEAD IN FRONT OF ME Response to Castaways Owner INCLUDED":

A friend and I went here because we've heard nothing but good things, however this was one of the worst resturaunt experiences I've ever had. Upon arrival, there were many flies inside the indoor seating area that were coming from outside. When our waitress came up to ask for our order, a fly fell onto my menu and dropped dead. I have never in my life seen a fly do that and that should have been out cue to leave. Our waitress scooped up the fly with the menu and proceeded to day "we're going to pretend that didnt happen". I originally ordered the steak oscar. It wasnt as good as i was expecting it to be considering all the rave reviews i heard about this place and to top it off, as i began eating my dish i found 2 facial hairs underneath my potatoes on my plate! I was so shocked and disgusted with what i found. I was angry that this could have happened and wonder what the kitchen and cleanliness areas are like. All the time, especially during times like these cleanliness and hygiene should be the utmost important!! I told my waitress and she apologized. I asked if the cooks in the back wear anything over their beards and she said yes however the plate proved otherwise. She gave me the option to chose another meal which i did reluctantly and offered me a complimentary dessert. Neither of them were impressive. The whole experience was a big disappointment and i will likely never go back nor advise my family or friends to.

Response to owner: An Honest review is anything but patronizing however, it seems that you would rather get personal than handle the lack of service and issues within your establishment. You stated that we have mutual friends however I am not aware and I'm not sure how this resolves any issues or my concerns. I am not sure who is sending this response to me or why you indicate that there is familiarization between us. I am unaware of who owns this establishment. Maybe you would like to identify yourself since you are clearly in your feelings and should care to clarify this subject instead. The fact you do not show interest in actually addressing issues with your paying customers, how you respond to individuals who choose to eat at this establishment that is “risking financial stability”, and the seeming prejudice judgments made, undoubtedly shows where people should not be taking their money, friends, or family. Have a good day, good luck in business, and...

The hostess wasn't outside to welcome incoming guests. Understandable, as it was extremely cold outside. Walked in and stood at the end of the bar and was not acknowledged. A server coming in and out of the kitchen finally greeted me and I asked if I should just be seated at any table. He said sure and went to go get another server. She was extremely nice, welcoming, hands on. I ordered the "curried" salmon. There wasn't nearly enough curry for the the dish to be named that. The coconut cream, I assume that was, was overly powering and ruined what could have been a great dish. You guys may want to scale back on the ratio of that to the food on the plate. Rice was extremely overcooked. Otherwise, the salmon, shrimp and broccoli was good but I had wipe the cream off and slide the food through the slither of curry around the plate. The lobster crab dip was phenomenal!!

To the owner who replied, you guys should learn how to take constructive criticism. I see where you've replied to other less than great reviews pretty much attacking ppl. If you put that type of energy into cooking then may come out the kitchen with a better product. For one, I excused the hostess not being outside. For two, it actually was not raining at the time when I came to the restaurant. That does not excuse the fact that a patron came into your establishment and was not at greeted and had to initiate in order to get service. It was not busy in there so there really isn't any explanation that you can muster. Train your staff better. Good for you that you've been cooking rice for 7years. Some cooks have good days and they have bad days. Just watch an episode of Top Chef. Some ppl like overcooked rice and some ppl even like undercooked rice. I, for one, do not like either. Also, I'm going to give you a tip in professionalism, next time, keep it at, "Thanks for the feedback", even if you don't mean it. Leave your feelings in your car when you...