I'm kind of disappointed. I'd been hearing how great Rodney's is and a trip there was a nice opportunity to see if it was up to the hype.
It's a beautiful day today, so let's focus on the positive: fantastic oysters. We had an assortment that our server suggested and they were all brilliant. Chiefly among them the Kumamoto oysters were delicious. But then I think that Kumamoto oysters kind of fall into the same category as garlic and ginger: you can really never go wrong with them.
Also in the positive: you can get 1/2 orders of the main dishes which is pretty great. I had a soup and 1/2 an order of the scallops which were (while not great) pretty darn good. Fantastic for those for whom variety is the spice of life.
So why was I disappointed? As others have commented, the service was pretty bad. It took 45 minutes from our reservation time to get seated and our drinks ordered. Another 30 minutes for the main dishes. In fairness, they seemed a little understaffed so I put it on management.
I think it was also a little expensive but whatever.
The wine list was ok. I was a little disappointed that they did not have more wines by the glass. Also only beer and wine which is a little odd for a place that "nice" but licenses will be what they will be.
The soup was tasty but a little thin. It was advertised as shrimp and crab but there were only two shrimp in the soup. Not a deal breaker because of the good broth but kind of disappointing.
The whole crabs and lobsters looked pretty good and maybe if I had tried them, this review would be different.
The obvious comparison is Oyster Boy. I like Oyster Boy a lot and just for service and prices, I think Oyster Boy gets the nod here but Rodney's oysters (and oysters alone) make it kind of close.
As with some other places I've written up, I'm not averse to going back but I have no burning desire to do so. If I got back, I think I'll stick to the oysters and wine and hope to be out in less than two hours.