The Granary, that iconic flagship at Georgetown Yacht Basin, reopened a few weeks ago, following a hiatus of at least a season or two. Being one of my favorite restaurants from both my youth and my present day life, I was quite sad when they closed with an undetermined future a while back. The writing seemed to be on the wall our last few visits; as a matter of fact, Kevin swore them off even before they actually made the decision to shut down. When we heard the restaurant gossip that they were reopening under the management of Iron Hill Brewery alumni, we were very encouraged.
Seeing as this is where our staff is going for our annual BTEO (Brooks Tavern Eats Out) event, Kevin and I figured we should do a preview meal to make sure it was going to be a go later this summer, and I am very happy to report that the Granary is indeed back.
We went around 7PM on Sunday night, just as some weather seemed to be coming up the river, causing a bit of a commotion in the bar area when we arrived. (Nothing ever did come to warrant the air of anxiety that met us, except for a most spectacular sunset a little while later.) There were only two seats taken at the bar, but the room itself was just about filled. The bartender, named Bud, was friendly, greeted us with a handshake, and got us our beer and wine. We ordered some of their fried calamari, which is always a good test of a professional Eastern Shore kitchen. It is served with fried banana peppers and a sriracha aioli. They were very good although quite salty. We complimented Bud, and he told us they got the squid in fresh and cut them themselves. Nice. Kevin is wondering where they are getting fresh calamari. But what ever, they were well done, the peppers were a tasty addition and we would order them again. So now we are ready to go to the dining room. Especially when Bud starts singing along with the pop-rock tunes that are the background music.
The main dining room didn't look too different from the recent past, although I didn't really gaze around so much. It seemed brighter, maybe lighter paint on the walls? We were seated at a two-top by the front, with several other patrons at tables scattered throughout the room. We have a great view of the osprey nest that is atop a dead tree which had been attached to a piling overlooking the slips, creating a nesting site that might be the envy of all the other ospreys in the area.
Service was fine - prompt and efficient, and friendly without being chummy. We ordered some crab bisque to share, a double crab cake platter and a lobster roll.
The soup was very good, although barely warm. We discussed sending it back to the kitchen for more heat, but decided it was warm enough to be edible. It came with a mound of claw meat as garnish, with a few more crab lumps in the bowl, and was not too salty nor was it over-sherried. It was good. I'd order it again.
Bread was on the way, but before it arrived we got our entrees, a little on the speedy side. My crabcakes were on a plate with a bed of succotash and a mess of skinny fries. They have what they call "Sassafras Mud" as their go-to seafood sauce, and since it is made with mayonnaise, mustard and Worcestershire sauce, it is indeed a muddy brown color. Not the most appealing color for a sauce...
I know it's a bit risky for a Brooks Tavern person to order crabcakes, and when I first took a look at them, I was a little worried. They looked completely different from each other - one was a nice golden mound and the other was a blackened flattened disk. I gave that one to Kevin. Happily, they were good tasting, with a minimal amount of filler. The "mud" was not my favorite accompaniment, with the Worcestershire being the over whelming accent, but I am a tartar sauce girl anyway. The succotash, made with baby limas, was delicious; the fries would have been better if they had been hot. As a matter of fact, nothing on the plate was hot.
Kevin's lobster roll - at $17 - was a reasonable portion of lobster salad on a toasted roll with a light mayonnaise dressing. This platter came with the same fries, not hot enough. But the sandwich was good, big chunks of sweet lobster in every bite.
No bread ever appeared.
We were perfectly happy with our evening. The only real downside was the temperature of the food, and the extreme saltiness of the calamari. Otherwise, it was probably the best meal we've had at the Granary in quite some time. We will be looking forward to our BTEO later this month at the "new" Granary.
The main dining room didn't look too different from the recent past, although I didn't really gaze around so much. It seemed brighter, maybe lighter paint on the walls? We were seated at a two-top by the front, with several other patrons at tables scattered throughout the room. We have a great view of the osprey nest that is atop a dead tree which had been attached to a piling overlooking the slips, creating a nesting site that might be the envy of all the other ospreys in the area.
Service was fine - prompt and efficient, and friendly without being chummy. We ordered some crab bisque to share, a double crab cake platter and a lobster roll.
The soup was very good, although barely warm. We discussed sending it back to the kitchen for more heat, but decided it was warm enough to be edible. It came with a mound of claw meat as garnish, with a few more crab lumps in the bowl, and was not too salty nor was it over-sherried. It was good. I'd order it again.
Bread was on the way, but before it arrived we got our entrees, a little on the speedy side. My crabcakes were on a plate with a bed of succotash and a mess of skinny fries. They have what they call "Sassafras Mud" as their go-to seafood sauce, and since it is made with mayonnaise, mustard and Worcestershire sauce, it is indeed a muddy brown color. Not the most appealing color for a sauce...
I know it's a bit risky for a Brooks Tavern person to order crabcakes, and when I first took a look at them, I was a little worried. They looked completely different from each other - one was a nice golden mound and the other was a blackened flattened disk. I gave that one to Kevin. Happily, they were good tasting, with a minimal amount of filler. The "mud" was not my favorite accompaniment, with the Worcestershire being the over whelming accent, but I am a tartar sauce girl anyway. The succotash, made with baby limas, was delicious; the fries would have been better if they had been hot. As a matter of fact, nothing on the plate was hot.
Kevin's lobster roll - at $17 - was a reasonable portion of lobster salad on a toasted roll with a light mayonnaise dressing. This platter came with the same fries, not hot enough. But the sandwich was good, big chunks of sweet lobster in every bite.
No bread ever appeared.
We were perfectly happy with our evening. The only real downside was the temperature of the food, and the extreme saltiness of the calamari. Otherwise, it was probably the best meal we've had at the Granary in quite some time. We will be looking forward to our BTEO later this month at the "new" Granary.
Some of my favorite BT Blog posts are when you review a restaurant....local and other. The local ones, however, speak volumes because you are always honest and fair....most of the time giving great credit to your competition...and encouraging others to try. Shari
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