Visited in January 2005

We vistied Village Chop house on a Friday night. I was a little worried about heading there to eat at 8:30 with no reservations, but when we got there, it wasn't crowded at all. As a matter of fact, it was very slow. I was very surprised, since the last time I had been to Village Chop House was for their grand opening, and everything on the menu was scrumptous.

We were greeted at the door and promptly seated by a very sweet hostess. We waited at our table for a very long time before a waiter showed up to take our drink order. We had been sitting for so long, we went ahead and ordered our appetizers as well. We started off with a CHOP HOUSE SALAD which consisted of MIXED GREENS, GRUYÈRE, HAM, ONION, OLIVES, CAESAR VINAIGRETTE, WITH HAM AND CHEESE PANINI at $5, TUNA SASHIMI with PONZU DIPPING SAUCE, GINGER AND WASABI at $9, and CRISPY DUCK SPRING ROLLS with SWEET CHILI GARLIC SAUCE at $7. The salad was out of this world. Very crisp fresh greens, and a perfect combonation of everything else. The tuna, while very good and fresh, and high grade, was rather disappointing with a $9 price tag for the amount that was served on the plate. I could have literally put the whole appetizer in my mouth at one time and been able to chew without looking like a chimpmunk. Not good. The duck rolls were good, but the "SWEET" CHILI GARLIC SAUCE had nothing sweet about it whatsoever. I couldn't even put a drop of it on my tongue without needing a fire extinguisher. It was entirely too spicey to be enjoyed (at least by me). I asked the waiter for a different dipping sauce, and he immediately told me there was nothing else he could give us to dip the rolls in. Not the answer I was looking for. I'm sure there was something the chef could've come up with that woudl have suited my pallette. Since the dipping sauce was so spicy, I ran through my cocktail and water very quickly, but our waiter seemed to be nowhere in sight to ever really refill our glasses. I cut him a little slack, because he did seem to be the only person in the place with tables, and it appeared he had about 5.

The next time we flagged down our waiter we ordered our entrees. (and more water). I ordered a house special of the night which consisted of Grouper with a citrus lime beurre blanc sauce, and creamed spinach. We also ordered a 14oz Ribeye at $14 with a side of shrimp, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed spinach, and twice baked potato. I will say this, my grouper was worth the entire trip. It was OUTSTANDING. Firm, yet delicate, perfectly cooked and the citrus lime beurre blanc sauce was to die for. I'm a big sauce person, so if you can get the right sauce on the right meal for me, you've got me hooked. My creamed spinach was also wonderful, and probably some of the best I've ever had. Fantastic combination of creaminess, and vegetable. Great job! The ribeye on the other hand had a very strong "gamey" taste to it. It was grilled perfectly, but the meat itself tasted a bit strong. The shrimp were so strong smelling, that we could smell them before the plates were even put down in front of us, and were also very disapponting, in that they tasted like "metal". The sauteed spinach was very good, and the mushrooms, tasted like....well, mushrooms. They had no flavor to them at all. Just very earthy. We finished off the meal with a Cheesecake with Port Wine Strawberries. It was a great compliment to the end of the meal. The strawberries were delicious, and the cheesecake was divine.

So, for a recap, our waiter seemed to be having an "off" night, but he was very friendly, and kept trying to make up for it. Bonus points for that. Next time I'll try 2 different appetizers and see what happens there. I'm definitely a meat eater, so, I'd be interested in trying the steak again, because it was a beautiful, very generous cut of meat, it just tasted a little on the strong side. The shrimp? I am not sure why some places seem to have, what I have dubbed as "iodine" or metal tasting shrimp. BUY LOCAL FRESH SHRIMP!!! The grouper - well, words can't even describe how truly magnificent that was.

I'm giving Village Chop House 3 stars, and recommending you give this a try when you're around the Shem Creek area. If you're looking for a place with a quiet cozy atmosphere, and fantastic grouper, you've found it.