Syd's FishPig Cafe — Restaurant in Norfolk

0 Stars.

My date and I are always looking for new and exciting places to enjoy great food, drink, and atmosphere. We stopped by The Stove at around closing time one evening and spoke to two employees while they were conversing on the sidewalk out front. When asked, the help was kind enough to convey the hours of operation and then suggested we "stop in any time, no reservation necessary"...

A few nights ago while out on the town, my girlfriend and I decided to stop in for dinner. The façade looks very quaint from the curb and having to hunt for parking down the dark and narrow street gives a sort of exclusive, adventure-some feeling upon arrival. Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed after exiting my vehicle was a severely overgrown bush next to the sidewalk out front that nearly poked me in my eye. We decided to go ahead and venture in, after all, we are still in Portsmouth ("Port Norfolk").

Upon entry, we were immediately greeted by the Bartender with some notable hostility. He asked, rather condescendingly, "do you have a reservation?". When we responded with a "no sir", he came from around the bar and started walking us towards the door as if to shoo us out! He then insisted they had a full evening of reservations and would not be able to fit us in.

Taking a quick look around @ ~6:30 pm on a Friday night, I noticed only one couple occupying one table in an otherwise empty house!

Though we were appropriately dressed for a casual night of activities, being a spur of the moment decision to dine out, I believe we were shunned for showing up without wearing our "Sunday's best".

What is hospitality without the hospitality? I can honestly say that we will not return... even if everything were free.

...really a shame, I thought we had found a nice, local place to enjoy on...

I don’t normally write reviews, but my boyfriend and I came out tonight to treat ourselves, and quite frankly for the price - we were underwhelmed. Walking through our meal - the cheese plate was ok, the tomato compote and pickled veggies were essentially the same and over priced for what you get on the cheese plate. The bread basket was actually good, and gave me hope for the meal - not the case I got the fish-o-rama per the waiter’s request, and I thought I had gotten COVID - there was no flavor. Technically speaking, the texture of the fish was great. But there was no flavor. Not even cucumber to be honest. Very under-seasoned. I kept eating it only because I kept hoping I just missed the flavorful part. The grits were cooked well but again, no seasoning. My boyfriend got the pork-o-rama and he thought the dish relied heavily on the sauce on the side and the meat was otherwise bland. The pork pie crust also had a gritty texture to it. I hoped dessert would be the saving grace, I was wrong. I got the cobbler. It was advertised to have a caramel drizzle - there was none. I think it would have helped the salted top of the cobbler and the overworked pie crust - very tough and flavorless. The filling was good though, the only thing saving the dessert. The coconut tart my boyfriend had he did enjoy, as it was not too sweet. Additionally my boyfriend’s whiskey cocktail was ok. Overall it was an “ok” meal for my boyfriend, and a grossly underwhelming one for me. It is definitely NOT worth the price. As someone who grew up in South Carolina, Syd has missed the mark on the southern cooking he was trying to achieve....

I had high hopes for this restaurant but in the end decided it just wasn’t for me. From the funky decor to the unsalted food. The biscuits were nice and fluffy but desperately needed salt. I loved that the bread was made in house. I ordered the Apple, butternut squash bisque. It was definitely butternut squash but I didn’t taste any other flavors. No, notes of apple or any other spices. It was very bland.

The salad was very delicious and the dressing was perfectly tangy. I ordered the rockfish for my main course and it was delicious! My only complaint is that for $25 it wasn’t very sturdy, it needed more substance. More vegetables would have helped other than the itty bit that came with the dish. I was very disappointed that they didn’t have any to go containers for my soup.(I was taking home to dr. It up) so they put it in a cardboard box and wrapped that in seran wrap to make sure it...