Water Street Seafood — Restaurant in Havre de Grace

We went today for the first time. Family business, which is always a plus in my book. Any family business that survived covid and the subsequent economy are a testament to the quality of their wares. People go out less than they did before covid and they've had to become a lot more discerning as far as who they give their hard earned money to, when they do go out. I know we certainly had to. If restaurants weren't good enough, they folded. This proved absolutely correct in this instance. The food was excellent. But more on that, later.

Granted, it's off season, but we had no problem parking. Decor inside is really cool, with different cities in Maryland highlighted on the walls. It's much bigger than it appears from the outside, with 2 different dining rooms. Table and menus were squeaky clean, too, which in all fairness, should be the norm everywhere, but sadly isn't. There is also a really cool outdoor area, which obviously we didn't try, since it's freezing and in January. I hear they do pit hogs in the summer. We'll definitely be back for that!

On to the most important part: the food. We started with a cream of crab. Every restaurant in Maryland has one. I've tried as many as the restaurants I've visited. This is clearly the best one I've had. Bar none. Plenty of crab, creamy but not to the point you lose the crab flavor, just enough old bay to showcase the crab, without becoming overpowering. Very nice portion, too. Plentiful for an appetizer.

We also ordered the fried Rockfish fingers, which are a guilty pleasure of mine. They were excellent. Again, very nice portion for an appetizer, or a light entrée if you add some of their excellent fries or a side salad.

My husband had the Swamp wrap (Shrimp, blackened chicken, Andouille sausage, rice, served on a cheddar wrap) which was excellent. He's not really a wrap guy but it was different enough to intrigue him. He didn't regret it. Very generous portion, and served with fries and a pickle.

I had the fish & chips. Pretty classic, not much to say about it, but it was good, not greasy, good color, served with plenty of fries, cole slaw, and an excellent tartar sauce.

We were there with a friend who ordered the oyster stew. I didn't try it, but it looked really good, plenty of oysters in what looked like a cream base, with aromas of garlic and, if I had to guess based on my nose alone, shallots as well. I will definitely try it when I return. He also had the shrimp & crab linguine, which were tossed with plenty of big lumps of crab, shrimp, and diced tomatoes, in what smelled like a garlic and wine sauce. It wasn't watery either (just because I didn't eat it doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention 😉), which leads me to believe they probably seeded their tomatoes before they diced them. Another indication of a formal higher culinary training - another dish to add to the growing list of the ones I want to try. Our friend, who's a regular, says they also have top shelf oysters. 😋

The price tag wasn't terrible. It's not the cheapest lunch in town, but it IS seafood, we had 2 appetizers and a dessert, the portions were very generous (none of that "Covid portion shrink" crap) and I thought it was very reasonable for what we had, at that quality level. This is definitely high quality fair, top shelf seafood for sure, much higher than you would expect at that price tag.

I've looked at their dinner menu and perused quite a few pictures of their food, online. They obviously have an actual Chef in the kitchen, not just a glorified cook, and it shows. It's also higher quality without being pretentious, which is refreshing. They don't unnecessarily pile on 3 extra ingredients the dish doesn't need just to pretend be fancy and upcharge you 20 pct on the bill, like (too) many restaurants in the area. You know who you are.

We will definitely be back, after 4pm next time, so we can delve into their dinner menu. I have at least 5 dishes I want to try.

My advice if you're in the area? Give them a try. Very nice people, great food, great view of the bay. We had a...

My wife and I heard how good the food and service was from our youngest daughter when she was there previously with her in-laws.

We arrived approximately 10 minutes prior to our 4:45 PM reservation for outside dining. The inside was spotless as was the covered outside dining area with overhead fans and different sized picnic style tables painted in bright colors and labeled with Island names. Ours was Bermuda. Our server, Alan, was very pleasant and showed us to our table, asked if this was our first visit, told us a little about the restaurant prior to taking our drink order and telling us about the day specials. The staff was very friendly and Alan stayed on top of things without being intrusive.

My wife and I started with an order of Crab Hush Puppies which we shared. Some may think of these as crab balls (a little larger than a golf ball) but in my opinion no crab balls ever tasted as good as these. Deep(?) fried to a dark brown (no, not burned, just perfect I think) I told my wife they ought to rename these as “Poor Man’s Crab Cake’ because these slightly sweet delights are every bit as good as well made crab cakes, maybe even better if made to that size.

I also got an order of Cream of Crab soup which I consider a cup in volume. Medium bodied, and creamy this too was delicious. While not ‘lumpy’ as some cream of crab soups every spoonful had crab meat which I could taste. I wouldn’t go so far as call it stringy, but somewhere between.

My wife ordered Shrimp & Crab Linguine (pic 1) that consists of “Shrimp, crab and tomatoes tossed in a herbed garlic white wine sauce.” She loved it and I too stole a taste and found it to be very good.

I however opted for the Salt Life Pasta (pic 2). This consists of “Jumbo Shrimp, lump crab, [and] scallops tossed with your choice of a creamy Old Bay Alfredo or fresh basil tomato sauce.” I chose the Old Bay Alfredo. This was very good! I’m not much on scallops, but the flavor blend and the doneness of the seafood was right on. Kudos to the chef for two fantastic dishes.

Each of these orders included a mild flavor spring mix side salad that included a garnish of tomatoes and cucumber slices. I topped mine with blue cheese dressing while my wife chose the lemon dill. While I like blue cheese dressing and theirs was up to par, I should have chose the lemon dill. As usual I should have gone with my wife’s recommendation.

The main dishes were medium hot meaning comfortable in temperature. No fear of burning your mouth and plenty warm to enjoy the food.

What about desert? They have a good selection and I couldn’t let it pass, although I was too full (not stuffed) to add that to the day’s meal. So, I got a slice of Banana Foster cake to go. I’ll enjoy it for lunch today!

Give them a try, indoors or outdoors either will be nice. Us? Oh, we’ll definitely...

After a day of antiquing my husband and I decided to have a meal out.

Starters....Crab Hush Puppies, OVERCOOKED. They were almost black. A chef shouldn't have put them up to serve and the server should have sent them back, we shouldn't have been served them.

Soups...The Oyster Stew lacked flavor and too much cream was used, light on oysters. The cream of crab was too heavy on the cream, very little crab.

I ordered the fish and chips. The fish was obviously frozen. The coating was too thick, it was over cooked and dry. Not flaky at all. The fries were edible.

My husband ordered the Swamp Wrap. The chicken was over cooked, therefore the only flavor was charburnt chicken.

In reading reviews, I'm sure the owner will reply in umbrage.

Here are our tips, from someone who has been a classically trained chef for over 20 years. Balance! Your food needs to be balanced in flavors. Lighter on the creams, and to cut the fat, sherry works nicely. Serve lemons on your plates. Lemon adds needed brightness to seafood, especially fish. The fries are the wrong fries for fish and chips, fresh cut fries (think Boardwalk Fries) and I shouldn't have had to ask for lemon and malt, it should be standardly served. The wrap needed to be assembled with the ingredients cooked separately, not all cooked in one pot/grill area. There also needed to be some brightness in the wrap, cilantro, lime, maybe some cardamom or even parsley, to bring out the flavors. Also, presentation matters. The food was not presented in an appetizing manner. I understand you are casual dinning, however, being served food in a basket is a turn off unless you are being served via a food truck.

The atmosphere is beachy cafeteria, which is perfect for the area. The prices are on point for the area also. The server was friendly, however, we had to ask for everything. Also, a sign that the server knows the food was not good is when you ask for the check, she sees that you didn't eat your food, and she doesn't ask if there was a problem.

I think this place is still finding their way from sandwiches to seafood. You need to pay more attention and give more thought to the negative reviews, as by heeding the constructive critique, you will grow both personally and...