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If you want to give your houseguests a taste of the Eastern Shore consider The Narrows in Grasonville. This waterfront restaurant is pretty and open with a relaxing vibe. Tables line up on the enclosed porch for a never-ending show outside. The panorama is of marine traffic: sailboats and working boats as they motor through the narrow waterway connecting the Chester River to the north and the Eastern Bay to the south. This is a perfectly delightful setting for meeting up with friends and sharing a repast of small plates and cocktails.
Jerry Dammeyer, general manager of The Narrows since 1983, says the best time to dine at The Narrows is “probably when you’re hungry.” If the weather is nice, you will want to be outside, Dammeyer says. “But when it’s less than super nice out, too hot or too cold, a lot of people come here.”
“As the area has changed,” says Dammeyer, “we’ve had to adapt. We remodeled 1 ½ years ago to reflect a happy hour bar crowd, with more casual dining, an inexpensive happy hour burger, lamb chops and reduced drink prices.”
On a recent mid-week dinner, the meal my dinner guest and I had was made up of some hits and a couple of misses. Crab Pizza came with a light, crispy crust and plenty of cheesy lump crab meat. It was completely satisfying. If only the basic simplicity of the pizza had carried over to the Oysters Rockefeller where the oyster was hidden under its mound of greens, with a smattering of runny hollandaise. Harder still to find was the promised bacon.
This trend of overabundance repeated in the meal. Baked Rockfish was covered with edamame, corn and tomato succotash. Sitting upon several large smashed red potatoes, the local fish was strangely overcooked on the edges and slightly undercooked in the center. The component parts did not seem to complement
one another.
The special Soft Shell Crab was heavily inundated with a heap of tepid frizzled onions. The delicate flavors of this local specialty were lost in a doughy and undercooked batter. This was disappointing to say the least.
The Narrows does, however, have winners on its menu. Flavorful and abundant in crab meat, the Cream of Crab Soup, with a generous pour of sherry, was excellent and something we wanted more of. Also good was the wedge salad, with its light blue cheese dressing. Homemade fresh peach shortcake a la mode ended the meal on an upbeat.
Even with the missteps of a couple of the dishes we tried, The Narrows is a place worth visiting. The dining room is inviting, the staff is friendly and the view is what life in the Delmarva Peninsula is all about.
The Narrows Restaurant
3023 Kent Narrows Way S
Grasonville, MD 21638
410.827.8113
thenarrowsrestaurant.com
Hours of Operation
Lunch: Monday – Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Dinner: Monday – Saturday 4 p.m. to close
Sunday Brunch: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sunday Dinner: 11 a.m. to close
Christine Fillat lives on the Magothy River and is an aficionado of Chesapeake Bay cooking and living.
Annapolis Home Magazine
Vol. 7, No. 5 2016