The Hard Shell — Restaurant in Richmond

I had such high hopes visiting this restaurant and what better time to do so than during restaurant week? Dining for a cause and being the foodie that I am, I was expecting perfection or close to it as this restaurant has been a buzz on my radar since moving from MD to Richmond, VA. Sadly, I was let down very badly. Upon entering the restaurant, the wait staff at the front desk greeted us warmly and then offered us the table at the very front of the restaurant (2 top) near the door. Unfortunately, for a enjoyable dining experience, we decided that that location with all the traffic coming in and out was not suitable but there were no other available open tables so we ended up sitting at the bar to eat dinner. The ordering process was straight forward since we were ordering from the "Restaurant Week Menu" and the food came out in a decent amount of time. When we received the food the presentation was ok but when I started to eat the food this is where the problems came in. Let's be clear, I am a seafood person at heart this is what we do in MD so I am not a novice when it come to different classes of dining. For my appetizer, I had the She Crab soup. The soup was too thin and not creamy at all. The garnish of the soup was a sprinkle of backfin crabmeat and the flavor was just ok. However, note to the kitchen, thicken up the consistency and add LUMP crab at least as a garnish considering there was little to no crab meat in the soup. My entree was the Lobster Pasta wild mushrooms, cracked pepper, truffle creme, cappellini. As I cut into the half of the split lobster tail, I immediately noticed my lobster tail was undercooked. The lobster meat was a translucent raw texture instead of a snow white color and solid texture of a well prepared lobster tail. I informed the bartender and she was apologetic and advised she would have them "fix it". She then took the tail on a separate plate leaving me with just the pasta. As she handed my food off, I heard her tell the cooks in the open window kitchen to "bring up the temperature of the lobster tail" that I had. When she became available again, I caught her attention and asked if they were going to give me a new tail or re-cook the new one and she said,"they were going to re-cook the one I already had 🤨. I rarely send food back due to being leary of the attitude of the cooking staff. However, in this case it was a health hazard and eating raw food could have caused me severe illness so I had no choice. None the less, my boyfriend continued to eat his food as I waited about 15 mins to have my food reheated! By that time my pasta and sauce was ice cold. I tried to still eat the food hoping the lobster would warm the sauce up but it didn't and I risked getting my food nuked and ruining the texture of the noodles and sauce therefore I tried to make the best of it but by this time I was just ready to go. It became so loud and boisterous like a bar not a contemporary dining experience. I finally requested my bill and took my desserts to go. I ordered the Key Lime Pie and Chocolate Pecan Bread Pudding coffee kahula crème sauce but when we got our to go bag it was 2 Key Lime Pie slices. 🤦‍♀️ We informed the bartender and she went to get the bread pudding which I noticed lacked the sauce on the bread pudding or on the side. Not one time did anyone ask how our food was during the time we ate (customer service was definitely lacking). In conclusion, this dining experience was truly a waste of $75.00 (2 meals). I would expect much more from a restaurant of this caliber because I truly believe the kitchen may have some real culinary talent in there, I just wasn't fortunate enough to catch them on...

With all the fanfare Rappahannock's gets for seafood and oysters I found this place to be almost on par with the fabled more popular counterpart.

First of all Sunday's Crab special is 2 pounds steamed snow crab legs for $20. You cannot beat that most anywhere. Dozen and half dozen of Bluepoints, wellpoints, chesapeake's and little necks they have live Maine lobster and fresh seafood flown in 6 days a week from all over the country. The price point is very reasonable offering build your own surf and turfs, a good wine selection and a full bar. Most places let alone seafood specialty places carry fresh littlenecks.

I found the staff to be extremely helpful and courteous especially not realizing how early they close, but not being under any pressure to scoot along. Friendly to say the least and with outdoor seating which is great for the summertime, but not so great when Cha Cha's is going off next door.

Crab legs felt like well over 2 pounds, well steamed with clarified butter (the only way to eat steamed seafood). Lemon wedge and a bowl for your shells. I rarely use the shell cracker as I'm pretty practiced without it, no hammers here. It took a while to muscle through as usually I'm a speed demon, but knowing my friends were slow I took my time.

Bluepoints were excellent, large, meaty freshly shucked and presented well on their ice tray, I could have used 1 more lemon wedge and perhaps some hot sauce other than Tobacco. The littlenecks were good, but not worth the price, if they offer a larger clam like a cherry or something go with that. Wellpoints were deep and carried a good amount of brine.

Waters were filled at all times and if it weren't for our alcoholic vacation our bill would have been inexpensive, sadly I drinks cost more than the food and we ate like kings. Eat till your sleepy, sleep till...

Shrimp Cocktail: I personally felt nothing to write home about. I was a bit confused by the cocktail sauce - it felt more tang than horseradish. I totally get it’s a very straightforward appetizer, however honestly more so surprised that it just didn’t match up to everything else.

Seared Scallops: A must order! I expected to love bacon and scallops, I did not expect to love bacon and scallops and dates. Savory, balanced in richness, and the scallops were perfectly cooked.

6 oz Filet, with a single Crab Cake: Of course, The Hard Shell knows what it is doing with a crab cake. It was bright - even beyond the fresh lemon squeeze. I appreciated that there weren’t “fillers”. I do wish the bottom wasn’t borderline burnt, but delicious none the less. Whipped potatoes were wonderfully seasoned - for me, a bit too dense. Rosemary demi-glace was delightful, I could have had more if I’m being greedy. And I have to clap it out for the show 👏 stopping 👏 filet 👏 It was unnecessary! Hands down the best restaurant-cooked (medium rare) steak I’ve had; the texture was a pillow, it tasted like it had been marinating for days, and I didn’t want for salt, sauce - nothing! Wildly impressed and set an incredible standard.

When you feel inclined, and if you’re able, tip...