State, The (Columbia, SC)
February 20, 2004
AVAST, YE SEAFOOD LOVERS
HERE'S A HEARTY MEAL
Author: EATON WRIGHT, Food Critic
Edition: FINAL
Section: WEEKEND
Page: E15
Index Terms:
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Estimated printed pages: 3
Article Text:
The hostess towers above you and demands - OK, she asks, in her perkiest voice -"How many for dinner?"
You're at Harbor Inn on Two Notch Road in Columbia, and the hostess' perch in a kind of crow's nest station is all part of the seafood restaurant's ship-and-captain theme.
Harbor Inn Seafood Restaurant, one of a half-dozen or so in the Carolinas and Georgia, opened on Two Notch in 2003, taking over the space Ryan's steakhouse had occupied. The 11,000-square-foot restaurant seats nearly 400.
If you're expecting piles of freshly fried, succulent seafood, you're in the right place. If you're searching for linen tablecloths and a cocktail with your shrimp and scallops, keep looking. This is casual family dining all the way.
The Harbor Inn menu proudly proclaims: "We take pride in serving you the highest quality of delicious seafood." And the restaurant delivers. The menu is expansive, but fairly simple upon close examination! (A side note: The restaurant is called Harbor Inn Seafood, so stick with the seafood. The steaks we sampled were serviceable but not nearly as spectacular as the fish.)
Hungry? Take advantage of the specialty of the house, the fried-seafood platter ($10.45). You get more than I could eat in one sitting: flounder, deviled crab, baby shrimp, oysters, clams and scallops. The flounder, oysters and scallops shone; the shrimp, crab and clams rounded out the plate. Choose the baked potato, which you can dress to your liking, since the sour cream and butter come in little packs already at the table. (You could choose French fries, but I think there is such thing as too much fried.) The hush puppies have that nice, nutty corn flavor, and the cole slaw gives you a sweet little break from the entree.
We also tried a broiled platter of flounder and scallops ($9.75) on a we-can't-do-fried night, and it was equally delicious. With the broiled entrees, you get a salad in! stead of slaw; you also can choose French bread instead of hush puppie s, but don't do it. The hush puppies are too tasty.
There's an array of choices for smaller fried and broiled combos for the lighter appetite, ranging from $4.75 to $10.
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