What can I say? I was so looking forward to eating here and it was my birthday. We were lucky and got a table on the deck and it was a beautiful summer evening. The service is excellent! Richwood Grill proclaims local ingredients as well as global offerings.
I chose for my appetizer Blue Point Oysters with Pico de Gallo because I had just had them at the beach and they had been extraordinary. My date chose (three of six) Artisan Cheese Sampler with bread and I think it also came with some crackers. I'll start with the cheeses. They were all very nice, we chose the smoked cheddar, the blue cheese, and if I could find the menu online, I would tell you the third one. The smoked cheddar had a nice smokey flavor, not overpowering and the blue cheese was creamy and tangy. The bread is homemade in Preston Co and it was homey and satisfying. The "Blue Point Oysters" were a disappointment. They could easily have been oysters out of a plastic container from Kroger and I think they were. They were perched on some pretty sanitary oyster shells that are probably washed and re-used. The Pico de Gallo really had no flavor either.
My date ordered a steak (farm raised in Preston Co). I ordered Caribbean (Jerk?) Prawns. I don't know if they did not bring a steak knife, but the knife we had would hardly cut the steak and my friend was going to take his own knife out of his pocket to cut the steak. I didn't try the steak, but he seemed happy with what he could hack off of it. I believe it was a rib-eye which should be pretty tender. The Caribbean jerk sauce for my prawns was a cinnamon and sugar concoction, better suited as part of an apple pie filling. It was just strange, did not complement the prawns and the prawns had not been cooked in it or seemingly been anywhere near it until they met up on my plate. The prawns were tough and bland.
They didn't have the dessert I ordered, but they were offering a dessert sushi, which I ordered. My date ordered the trio of South American chocolates. He had recently been entertaining some Peruvians and was in a South American mood. I wish I could remember what the red item in the middle of the sushi was, but it resembled a gummy bear. Actually, the dessert sushi filling was excellent. It was sweet sticky rice, the gummy bear, and a mint leaf, wrapped in rice paper. The rice paper was inedible. I thought I was going to cut my mouth on it, but the filling was so delicious I finally opted to eat the filling and leave the rice paper on the plate.
We had a very good time, especially laughing about our exploits with the food, and it was my birthday gift, so I didn't complain.
This chef's "culinary point of view"? Arrogance. I got the feeling he thinks he can serve us hillbillies anything, tell us it is something else, and we won't know the difference. I'm not the most food savvy person out there, but I was slightly insulted.
