Boil Bay Cajun Seafood and Bar — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

The good: Staff was very nice. Restaurant was very clean, especially so because it JUST recently opened up. It's a neat under-the-ocean theme with fish suspended overhead and blue curtained walls. It's like you're in an aquarium. My family was quickly seated and our order was promptly taken. Appetizers (hushpuppies, cheese sticks) arrived quickly and tasted great. Meals arrived quickly. Quality of the seafood and the chicken was good. Portions were good. The battered/fried coating on our food was just the right consistency, not too thick or thin, and cooked properly.

Room for improvement: All of the battered/fried food was bland, VERY bland. We ordered a variety of fried foods including calamari, chicken, shrimp, oysters, and catfish. NONE had even the slightest hint of Cajun/Creole seasoning, nor salt, nor pepper, not anything for that matter. Seemed like they were coated in some flour and egg white mixture and fried. Add some seasonings to whatever you're using for batter, even if it's just salt and pepper. People going to a Cajun/Creole restaurant expect some zesty flavors, or at least my family did.

While the blue curtains provide the aquarium effect, they end just above seating level and block any view of the outside. It also leaves the huge darkly painted interior seem even darker. Even some reflected sunlight on the ceiling would be nice so it might feel less like a poorly lit storage building. We didn't even notice the huge sharks above our table until about half way thru the meal. The outside of the building and entrance are very colorful, but color seems to drop to the wayside once you enter the eating...

I came here with my linesister for lunch around 1:30pm on a Monday. There was no outdoor seating but there was plentiful space in the dining room so we were " socially distanced" from other parties. The host was great and gave us a great recommendation for our boil bag seasoning. He also showed us how to view the menu. Due to COVID the menu is available online via QR code which I loved!

Our server AJ was sweet. He let us know he recently started working at this establishment. Thus there were a couple of questions we had about the menu that he had to get the answers to but he did so pleasantly and was very patient with us. He was very attentive and checked on us frequently. Although we've been to other boil establishments this was our first time at Boil Bay so AJ told us about ladies night, karaoke night, and the live band nights.

Most importantly the food! The main thing that I feel separating Boil Bay from like establishments is the boil bags on happy hour. I got the shrimp head off bag and added sausage and it was a good amount for me because I wanted to try multiple items. I got the Boil Bay Special sauce (recommended by the host) mild and it was a perfect blend of seasonings. I enjoyed the sausage being sliced because I felt it was easier to get bites of everything at once. The portion sizes of everything were great....definitely a great value. The calamari was cooked perfectly and that Po boy whew. The shrimp were large and the roll was roasted perfectly, I honestly had to take 2 bites to start it off.

10/10 recommend and although I no longer reside in the area I'll be sure to stop by again when...

Came here on 1-14, on a Sunday, for dinner. To start the lighting was very dimmed, had to used my cell flashlight to read the menu. They served you on cheap paper baskets, like the ones used at ballparks, and give you plastic utensils. I don’t mind that type of service if I’m going to a mom & pop place for lunch but this was a dinner date with very high menu prices. The service was average, our server was very polite and friendly, initially he forgot to bring the soda to the table, no big deal, but I had ordered a cajun fried rice with my dinner order and when the expo brought our food to the table I pointed out that we were missing the rice, she said ok and never came back. My server came to the table 10 minutes after the food was served to ask if we needed anything and again I pointed that I was missing the fried rice. Anyways the fried rice came to the table after we had finished our meal. Other than the rice, we ordered a basket of fried oysters, and a seafood boil. The fried oysters were all breading and no oysters. The boil was flavorless, we ordered the butter garlic seasoning with it and it was just melted butter. Long story to just say that I won’t be returning and I wouldn’t recommend this place. We just wanted to try this place out and ended up disappointed. If you are in the mood for seafood boil go to the shaking crab in Chesapeake, their food and service are...