I frequent the market at Symons valley and after visiting the roadhouse for a few drinks on Halloween we decided to give it a try for dinner.
Upon arrival the hostess seemed a little confused as to the seating chart and took us to a booth then re-routed us to a tall table. Not a big deal must be new staff in training as I saw her asking a fellow colleague about the seating chart later.
We didn't have to wait long and our drink order was taken.
Love the atmosphere in this place, nice and casual and rustic, prices are too high for the portion sizes and type of establishment though. A $14 salad should be arriving in a large bowl not a small side plate.
When time to order I did ask our server what he recommended and he said the crispy chicken, which I ordered and my husband ordered the steelhead trout.
So here is my reason for only two stars...
When we got our food I was very happy with my chicken, looked great, good portion size and very nice flavor. However my husbands trout was on the verge of too raw in the middle and swimming in liquid. When we questioned our waiter on why there was so much liquid in his bowl he said it was meant to be that way, it was a vinaigrette. My husband told him that it did not taste like a vinaigrette, that is was flavorless, almost like it was diluted with the water from cooking the spinach. The waiters reply was that is how it's supposed to be and that fish are meant to swim, also that he's not a professional chef so what does he know. We told him we didn't want a free meal or anything we just wanted to know why there was so much liquid and that it didn't seem proper. He just stood there awkwardly staring at us...really made us uncomfortable.
I didn't want to make a big deal about it but I didn't agree with his answer so when we paid our bill we again discussed the liquid in the trout dish and he again just stood there and told us that everyone has different tastes.
We just paid and left....I wanted to end the uncomfortable feeling.
I'm disappointed as I felt that he should have handled our concern better and he didn't. No apology no offer for another plate with less liquid...as a paying customer I don't care if that's "how it's supposed to look" maybe that 's so but it should not taste like flavorless spinach water. For a place to be charging what they do for appetizers and mains if a customer is not happy more should be done to ensure you leave customers happy when they walk out the door.
I honestly don't see myself going back for dinner or recommending the Roadhouse to my friends...not for the price and lack of customer service.