Fine dining, beautiful view at Surf Club Ocean Grille

By Jerry Cronin, Restaurant critic

THE SURF CLUB Ocean Grille, inside the Wyndham Virginia Beach hotel, provides fine dining with an expansive view of the beach, the Atlantic ocean and ships coming in and out of the Chesapeake Bay.

The space is nicely designed and includes an entry that is tiled and rippled in undulating sea colors establishing an aquatic mood. This provides a grand entrance to a large open dining room with a water view. Dark woods provide a muted ambiance that moves your attention to the outside during the light times of day, and give an elegant feeling at night. The main dining room has demilune booths on a lower level and a large seating area on a higher second level. We took advantage of the outside seating and the cool salt-scented breeze coming in off of the beach.

We started off with an assortment of salad and appetizers.

The golden heirloom tomato gazpacho ($5) was a beautiful cold summer soup. It consisted of curried shrimp, capers, yellow and red pepper and chopped tomatoes served in a bowl with a small chilled carafe of the curried tomato gazpacho on the side. I enjoyed pouring the soup over the ingredients and the cool refreshing taste.

Since the evening had a slight chill, we were also enticed into trying a hot soup. The roasted lobster and crab chowder ($6) was rich, creamy and filled with lobster sweetness. While the menu description called for white truffle sea foam, I could not detect the taste of truffle. Even with this omission, the soup was still tasty and enjoyed by all at the table.

We finished off the appetizer course with wild coastal shrimp and calamari ($8). I liked the perfectly fried combination. It was served with a Thai-inspired, slightly sweet and hot dipping sauce with a dash of fish sauce. This dish was quite nice, and I noted a "wow" in my notes.

Selecting entrees, we went with a seafood theme.

One of our favorites was the bacon-wrapped grouper ($26). It was described as wrapped with cherry wood bacon, and finished with citrus buerre blanc and fresh spinach. This was an excellent dish, and the fish was cooked to absolute perfection. The thick piece of grouper was moist and flaky throughout. Kudos to the kitchen on this one.

We also enjoyed the bronzed diver scallops ($25). The menu described the scallops as served over fresh lemon basil linguini with truffle and lobster port nage. It was rich and good, and the scallops were sweet and tasty. The pasta was done al dente and provided nice accompanying flavor for the silver dollar-sized shellfish. As with the chowder, I did not pick up the presence of truffles.

We also tried the lump crab cake sandwich ($12). This tasty dish lived up to its name. It was a large cake made with ample lump crab. I particularly liked that the cake was topped with fried green tomato. It was a great taste and provided an interesting tart and slightly sweet nuance. Finishing off the sandwich was horseradish tartar sauce.

For dessert we tried the creme brulee du jour ($6) at the suggestion of our server. It was served with wild berries and whipped cream and was plated on a long dish with raspberry and strawberry squiggles. It was tasty, with a crisp, caramelized crust.

We also enjoyed the chocolate truffle torte ($7). It was accented with a raspberry coulis and plated with a drizzle of chocolate sauce. It was very chocolaty, with a firm texture and semi-sweet chunks throughout. This was also a table favorite.

Also interesting and on the list for next time is the watermelon and champagne chilled soup ($6) served with lime sorbet and chilled grapefruit.

Those desiring a continental end to the meal can go with a selection of artisan cheeses ($9) served with appropriate accoutrements.

As to be expected in a restaurant with a 250-bottle wine selection, wine pairings were suggested with many of the dishes. It was also nice to find recommendations for appropriate beers. As anyone who has ever been to a Chesapeake Bay oyster roast or crab picking knows, a good cool beer goes over quite well with seafood.

Service on the evening of our visit was attentive. The only glitch was a fairly long interval between the appetizers and the main course. I did note that we were not served bread, which was served inside. This may have been an oversight - or a potential seagull issue.

The Surf Club provides an elegant setting on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and backs up the view with a menu that is well conceived and nicely executed. The combination works to good effect, and I look forward to future visits.

Jerry Cronin, flavor@pilotonline.com