Inlet View Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Shallotte

As usual if you have read any of my other not so great reviews you know I dislike writing these but it is what it is. I want all restaurants to do well. It is a very tough business so please remember that when reading my not so good reviews or when you have a bad experience.

I went here because a few years back I saw it on a NC tv show called Flavor NC and because they are listed as a restaurant on the Brunswick Catch website. Brunswick Catch is an organization comprised of local commercial fisherman, seafood dealers and restaurants. They work together to try to save the local fisheries and to provide local fresh seafood. Google Brunswick Catch and try to support them if you can.

I was in the area today and they were open so we gave them a try. The restaurant is pretty secluded from any other businesses. At one point I wondered if google was taking me to the right place. Lol. The restaurant is a rather large building and the view is very beautiful. I assume they are really busy in the summer time. They can accommodate a lot of people with a building and property that size. Anyhow on to the food and experience.

When we walked in on the ground level floor which is basically outside we were not sure if we were suppose to go up stairs or what. A lady behind a counter called us over and took my name/phone number. She asked if we wanted to sit inside or out. I said we would be willing to sit at either just what ever is first available. She then told me they were not sitting anyone outside. It was a bit bizarre. Literally a few seconds after she entered my name and number in her computer I immediately (like in a couple seconds) got a text telling me my table was ready and she told us to go to another hostess up stairs. If they were really busy in the summer I would understand some of that but that was just bizarre to me. When we got to the hostess upstairs the lady asked me if outside on the deck was okay. Lol. To be fair there was plastic covering the openings to the outdoors but we sat on the deck.

When our waitress came to our table she was very pleasant and took our drink order. She brought us hush puppies and butter. The hush puppies were small and I am not sure if they were cooked too long, the oil was not hot enough or too hot but they were very greasy and had a darker color. The butter was very good. We asked our waitress for suggestions and she said the claim strips, crab dip or bacon wrapped scallops. We both ordered the 3 item combo so we could try several options. One of the combos had fried white shrimp, deviled crab and fried flounder and the other had fried white shrimp, fried oysters and deviled crab. Both came with fries and Cole slaw. The Cole slaw came out in a plastic container similar but larger than what the cocktail / tarter sauce was in. The Cole slaw tasted very sweet and to me not fresh. The fried combos had a lot of food on the plate but stacked in a way that some items were covered which affected the shrimp for sure. The fries had a good flavor but again the fry was off. The shrimp had tails on and tasted very fresh but the batter was kinda soggy I think because some of them were covered under fries and the flounder. The flounder was awful. It tasted burnt and dry. It did not have much batter on it and it was cooked too long or in oil too hot. See my pic and you will see the part of flounder you can see in the pile of fried food it almost looks grayish and dark at the end. The deviled crab was very good. The oysters were just like the shrimp in that they tasted fresh but the fry was off or maybe they were covered to long by other food. No clue. Either way not crispy at all. Other than the slaw I think the food product is very good but the execution was poor. We did not complain. Our waitress only came back once and we were both tired from traveling and had more to go. I would maybe give this restaurant another try if I am in the area. Nobody is perfect all the time and they do have a lot of great reviews so...

Rating scale 1-10 (10 being the best)

Inlet Bar & Grill Address: 1800 Village Point Rd SW, Shallotte, NC 28470

Tina ordered seared sea scallops: Rated an 8 - Reason: I liked the flavor; the texture was great. The scallops were well-prepared. The only downfall was that a couple of them were gritty.

Two sides with meal Cole Slaw: Tina Rates a 10 - Reason: Light and tasty. Perfect in my opinion.

Myself I Rate the cole slaw a 9 - Reason: Slaw had a nice creamy light dressing, the cabbage was fresh with nice crispy snap to the bite. In my opinion the slaw could use a hint more tart/zest flavoring.

House salad with blue cheese dressing: Tina Rates a 10 - Reason: Complimented with blue cheese dressing which was really chunky and creamy. Salad was fresh and delicious.

I myself ordered the Mahi - Mahi dinner/blackened: Rate a 10 - Reason: Very flavorful, cooked to perfection, nice and moist with great texture. The blackened Cajun seasoning was delightful to the palate. It wasn't salty like some blackened dishes I had in the past from other restaurants. Seasoned nicely and well balanced, complimenting the Mahi - Mahi exquisitely.

My 2 sides: House salad with house ranch dressing: Rated a 10 - Reason: Salad was fresh and delicious. House ranch dressing was light and creamy and not to sweet.

Steamed Green Beans: Rate a 9 - Reason: Cooked well, fresh green beans for sure. Could have used a little more seasoning or add onions for myself. All that said, they were fantastic.

Meal also came with a complementary portion of hush puppies: Tina rates a 5 - Reason: To sweet for my liking.

Myself I Rate a 8 - They were a little sweet, not greasy like some; which is a plus. They were flavorfully sweet and spicy. I say keep serving your Mom's old recipe! The house made honey butter was great but for me the hush puppies were already sweet enough. I dipped my hush puppies in regular melted butter. Yummy!

We will visit this restaurant again in the near future for sure. Please let us know your thoughts and which dish on the menu should we try next? God bless and happy eating!

Shout out to waitress Sarah, she was great! Very kind person with knowledge of the menu....

I thought maybe I was at the wrong restaurant so I double checked the reviews and they were great however there were a few bad ones recently so maybe they’ve had a change in the kitchen?

I’m not cheap the meal was $96 we ordered the biggest seafood platter they have and added flounder which made it $28 a plate would have gotten the crab legs and the lobster but they didn’t have it if it was gonna be like what we had I’m glad they didn’t.

The flounder was OK but it was one piece of flounder that I could hold in my hand and it wouldn’t cover my entire hand.

The shrimp was rubbery and undercooked and soft the oysters were worse they were under cooked and tasted earthy. There were some little strips or something they were so small I don’t know what they were. The devil crab was undercooked as well.

We usually let our kids that are 2 and 4 share a chicken tender plate and sure our platter with them because typically when you order the biggest or the deluxe you take food home because you usually can’t eat it all and it gets thrown away. Not this time their plate was two tenders and a piece of burnt flour.

Two things or three things we really liked was how they signed you up for a text so you can enjoy the view while you are waiting for a table to get ready also the staff was nice and friendly our server was awesome and we tipped her accordingly we didn’t blame her for the bland under cooked food.

With all the good reviews we saw I am a multi business owner that has just located to the area and any business that wants to grow must receive Constructive criticism and grow from it. Don’t know what happened or maybe it was just a bad day who knows when you spend $100 or close to it you won’t to enjoy your food maybe I’m just too American paid $30 for a plate I at least want to be full? I very rarely leave oysters on a plate I...