re: Nottoway-Mansion Restaurant

Here are the details from start to finish:

Arrival: The grounds are nice, but no "Latil's Landing." Looked nice.

Appetizers: Tasso-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon ($9) and a blue crabcake ($14). The dates were okay, but placed upon a bland "chopotle" sauce (rating = 5 out of 10). Wife had the crabcake. It was mushy and stringy and even had a slight off-odor and off-taste. Also tasted like the crab had been frozen. We couldn't finish it. The accompanying sauces (smoked paprika aoili and mango chutney) were good (1 out of 10, only for the sauces).

Main course: I had the fish of the day (I think $24) which was cobia. It was a huge plank of slimy, yet rubbery disgustingness atop a bed of bland risotto (I mean, even a little salt would've helped). The plate was garnished with a fennel bulb in its entirety. It was odd. The plate itself looked bland (all white except the green part of the fennel) and tasted even worse (rating = 0). I choked down only one-quarter of the plate which is highly unusual for me, as I usually lick it clean.

Wife had grilled lamb loin with prioscutto-wrapped scallop, a vegetable parfait and some spinach-infused oil ($24). She really liked it. The lamb was seasoned and cooked to perfection and the scallop was seared well, although it was perhaps a tiny bit over-cooked (overall rating of dish: 8 out of 10).

Drinks: the whole drink experience was odd. Upon seating, I ordered a beefeater gin and tonic and the wife had a rum and tonic. The drinks both tasted fine, but the bartender said she was confused as to whether the wife had ordered "Bacardi Light or Bacardi Spiced," when in fact, she had just ordered a "rum and tonic," not even specifying a brand. No big deal. But then, the wife ordered a glass of wine with the entree. She ordered the "Italian red zinfandel" by name. The bartender came out with two glasses of wine, one a white zinfandel and one a red, and said we'd ordered two (?). Odd. We returned the white. Doesn't really matter, but when you're out for a night of fine dining, it's nice when everything runs like a well-oiled machine.

Dessert: Are you kidding? We just wanted to leave by this point and go to Acme Oyster House for a dozen oysters and a drink and then called it a night.

Overall, the experience was a 2 out of 10, and that's being generous. The grilled lamb loin saved it a few points.