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Triple Craft (Formerly Indigo Landing), Daingerfield Island in Alexandria


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I know this place is still new, however the wife and I decided to give a shot this past Friday night. I have mixed feelings about this place, and it may have something to do with me being from the Low country of South Carolina. I really wished there was a place like the Hominy Grill here in DC, where you could get real Low Country Cooking. Indigo Landing, I think is taking a more upscale approach to Low Country cooking, which is fine but not what I am looking for in this type of cooking.

We started off with the She Crab soup which was really lacking in crab flavor or crab, however it was served with a crab spring roll that was loaded fresh tasting crab meat, it was not even close to matching the original dish. My main entree was the grilled black grouper with Vidalia onion rings, green rice, and a mussel barbecue sauce. I thought this was a good creative dish, that recreated some old Charleston stables like red rice, and mustard based barbecue sauce. My wife had the crisped sea bass, that was served with a very good succotash with crab and bacon, I like her dish better than my own because of the bacon. We also tried the fois gras hush puppies, these were excellent very light with bits of fois gras throughout. For the dessert we tried the very boring standard chocolate cake, that was served with a very good peach ice cream.

Indigo Landing is still getting up in running, so I don't want to judge too soon. I doubt we will be going back for a second try. I thought some of the food was good and will hopefully get better as the chef adjust to cooking this type of food. For me less is more when to comes to Low Country Cooking.

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I went the Friday before last. I went there expecting to be disappointed, since they hired a chef from Denver to cook low country cuisine, my poor experiences with the previous occupant of this space and the general inverse correlation between a the quality of a restaurant's view to the quality of its food. I started with the chicken liver appetizer and my wife had a salad (I don't remember which because it was a salad). I really enjoyed the chicken livers, but wish they were a little crisper as they were billed. My wife enjoyed her salad. For entree's I had the shrimp and grits, that were executed well. Neither the shrimp, nor the grits were not overcooked, and the entire dish was quite flavorful. My wife had the hanger steak. I thought that the sauce was a bit too sweet, and the potatoes were very flavorful, but not quite cooked enough.

For desert we had a forgettable buttermilk pie. As for the hush puppies, I have to disagree with you. Yes they were light and they were studded with nice little hunks of foie gras, but they were so dry that they sucked every bit of moisture out of my mouth.

Contrary to my expectations my over-all impression of the restaurant was positive. The service was good, the wine list much better than the former occupant (with a decent selection of half bottles) and we will gladly give it another try.

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I went the Friday before last. I went there expecting to be disappointed, since they hired a chef from Denver to cook low country cuisine, my poor experiences with the previous occupant of this space and the general inverse correlation between a the quality of a restaurant's view to the quality of its food. I started with the chicken liver appetizer and my wife had a salad (I don't remember which because it was a salad). I really enjoyed the chicken livers, but wish they were a little crisper as they were billed. My wife enjoyed her salad. For entree's I had the shrimp and grits, that were executed well. Neither the shrimp, nor the grits were not overcooked, and the entire dish was quite flavorful. My wife had the hanger steak. I thought that the sauce was a bit too sweet, and the potatoes were very flavorful, but not quite cooked enough.

For desert we had a forgettable buttermilk pie. As for the hush puppies, I have to disagree with you. Yes they were light and they were studded with nice little hunks of foie gras, but they were so dry that they sucked every bit of moisture out of my mouth.

Contrary to my expectations my over-all impression of the restaurant was positive. The service was good, the wine list much better than the former occupant (with a decent selection of half bottles) and we will gladly give it another try.

Did you try the hush puppies with the sauce it came with? I think it was peach sauce...very good. Our service started off good, then our waiter got a big table and forgot about us. We had several people come by to ask how we were doing, and although we were clearly done no one would remove our plates. This was most likely a training issue, so we were forgiving.

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Oh good, I am glad there is a thread on Indigo Landing. I have been wondering about this place and am thinking of trying it in a couple of weeks.

Can you talk a bit more about the decor/vibe of the restaurant? Is it more casual or upscale?

Is there any sort of Southern-themed bread basket (i.e. biscuits or cornbread)?

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This months Washingtonian had a really long article on the birthing of this restaurant. As Washingtonian articles go, it was quite interesting. The amount of research (and eating) that went into designing the dishes Chef Moscatello is serving is amazing. Now to find out if the food matches the article.

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Can you talk a bit more about the decor/vibe of the restaurant? Is it more casual or upscale?

I stopped by on Wednesday for an early dinner, and it was packed: a 90-minute wait for the deck, tables were booked, and the bar area was full and terribly understaffed. I ended up leaving without so much as getting a drink order taken - if it's 70-degrees and sunny at dinnertime, make sure you call ahead before just showing up.

Cheers,

Rocks.

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Oh good, I am glad there is a thread on Indigo Landing. I have been wondering about this place and am thinking of trying it in a couple of weeks.

Can you talk a bit more about the decor/vibe of the restaurant? Is it more casual or upscale?

Is there any sort of Southern-themed bread basket (i.e. biscuits or cornbread)?

would say the restaurant is more on the casual side. The bread basket was a highlight it included; biscuits, corn muffins, and ham crackers...all good. They served the bread with a round disc of butter with honey in the center.

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I have reservations for Friday night. The restaurant's web site does not yet have a menu posted. Anyone take a shot of it with their camera phone, or know where it's posted online?
I found a menu here: www.heatherfreeman.com
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Thank you! Looks like I'll have to order carefully because so many of the dishes incorporate pork, but a couple of things look appealing.
You might want to read the Washingtonian article before you go if you have a problem with pork. It's a predominant theme in Southern and especially in Low Country cooking. It's a flavor agent for about 90% of Low Country food.
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You might want to read the Washingtonian article before you go if you have a problem with pork. It's a predominant theme in Southern and especially in Low Country cooking. It's a flavor agent for about 90% of Low Country food.
Thanks, Escoffier. As you recommended, I read the article in Washingtonian, and while it mentioned that the chef went out of his way to have one dish on the menu that did not use pork at all, I don't want to be so limited in my options. Further, everything else, including the biscuits, salad dressings, etc., would be suspect, and I don't feel like navigating the menu like it's a minefield. So I'll avoid the potential problems by trying another restaurant. Thanks again.
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If Memorial Day lunch is any indication, it’s possible to have a very good meal at Indigo Landing. Your odds of doing so, however, improve dramatically if you carry it there yourself. The restaurant’s deck overlooks a small, grassy hill with an old shade tree; drop $10 at your local grocer’s and grab a blanket. You’ll get the river and the D.C. skyline view, but you’ll come out far ahead on food.

Indigo Landing is just south of D.C., but it could be in any town along the southern shore. The decor is Florida Keys meets yacht club, underscored, at least at lunch, by a loud, Jimmy Buffet-style soundtrack. “I could fetch the hats from the car,” mused the woman before us at the hostess stand. A comforting Virginia twang rolled out of her tightly stitched face: We didn’t have to see the hats to know that they were large and floppy, practical, and probably pink. She wanted to eat on the deck, where umbrellas have been ordered but not yet arrived; her companion talked her into the air-conditioned dining room instead.

We had no hats. The music was dreadfully loud. We took the full sun.

Outside, a family sat in the shade of an enormous, gnarled tree, their picnic spread upon the blankets. Further down, a man silently cast his fishing line into the softly lapping Potomac; his wife, clad in a white shirt and white visor, sat beside him on a fold-up chair. We ordered one entree, shrimp and grits, as basic as low-country gets, and sides of fried green tomatoes, oyster pie, and foie hush puppies.

Biscuits arrived first, served in cutsy colanders and accompanied by a plate of butter with a thick dab of honey in the middle. We grabbed a biscuit each and were delighted to find they were flaky, soft, warm, and very, very good. “This place has potential,” I sighed, staring out at the water, the Washington Monument towering in the distance. Iced-tea hit the table, painfully sweet in Hillvalley’s glass; painfully bitter in my unsweetened one. “Is this sugared?” I asked, my face crinkling. Hillvalley tasted. “Nope. This is sugared,” handing hers over. Different, but equally wretched. We added the lemons and drank, pouting slightly with each sip. How do you screw up iced-tea? Hillvalley ordered a second glass before finishing the first, hoping something went wrong in the first pitcher.

It wasn’t the pitcher.

The appetizers were delivered, fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade and an oyster pie. We dug into the tomatoes while waiting for a second spoon on the pie. The neat stack of three hits all the taste buds at once: sweet and bitter, crunchy and soft, and I was dreaming of future holidays on the river. Then the spoon arrived and we tried the pie. The oysters were fat and sweet, but unless you nabbed one, you were eating warm milk with sauteed mushrooms dumped in. We abandoned it and waited for the next course.

Hushpuppies followed, fat and round. Before Indigo Landing, I’d never met a hushpuppie I didn’t like: Here, they’re dry, painfully so, no sweetness to be found, and while they’re studded with foie, something went wrong along the way and the foie tastes like overcooked chicken liver. The slight sweetness that should be in the cornmeal got pumped into the peach dipping sauce, which tasted strongly like sweet peach yogurt.

Hillvalley took a soft forkful of the shrimp and grits and made a face. “Can you write this up?” she asked. “I don’t know if I have words.” I tried them. I’m a Yankee. Oatmeal, not grits, runs in my genetic code. I’ve lived with enough Southerners to turn out something passable, not great, but here, I take a retrospective pride in my ersatz skills: Even I’ve never turned out grits so bad they taste like vinegar. I stabbed one of the shrimp: Acrid smoke clung to the fat rubbery meat. We left them uneaten, together with the rest of the meal.

Across the deck, talking turned to laughter as a family of ducks--a drake, a hen, three babies--marched proudly onto the lawn below. The picnicking kids abandoned their blankets to fall in line behind the ducklings, one human papa trailing after lest his youngest follow the parade into the water. Just beyond, the fisherman's wife broke into applause as he lifted an enormous catfish, its whiskers still wriggling, into the air. “It’s a beautiful spot for fishing,” Hillvalley said, “but I don’t know if I’d eat the catch.”

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If Memorial Day lunch is any indication, it’s possible to have a very good meal at Indigo Landing, but your odds of doing so improve dramatically if you take it there yourself....

This right here is a beautiful piece of writing. You go girl. Superbly narrated.

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I do think you all are being too hard on the place. I ate there on Memorial Day evening, when the kitchen by all accounts should have been at its worst. We had a perfectly fine meal. I opted for the frogmore stew, which has a nice smokey, gumboey tang. Then I went with the "duck bog," which turned out to be a nicely crisped breast of duck on some al dente red rice with bits of bacon fat. Very homey and tasty.

Service was laughably amateurish, even if they tried hard (I think they had a few of the owners' kids chipping in). Knives and forks were taken and never replaced. Fodo took forever to come. And the air conditioning was on "freezer locker". Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves and loved the view.

The wine list was nothing special. A fairly pedestrian selection with a few interesting bottles sprinkled in, although reasonably priced.

You could do a lot worse in D.C. (or Alexandria). Give the place a chance. I think it means well.

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Whenever his birthday rolls around, my partner always puts atmosphere ahead of food reputation in his choice of restaurant to be treated to for his birthday meal. That doesn't mean we haven't had some lovely meals on that day, but it does mean that we sometimes don't go to the newest and best. This year, Indigo Landing was his choice for his celebration, and the view was easily the best part of the experience.

That is not to say the food was bad. They started us out with an amuse of cucumber and red onion with what seemed to be a chili oil. The tastes were fresh, but it was a rather uninteresting starter, not the sort of thing that really shows off a kitchen's talents or creativity. I had the Indigo cocktail, which was light and refreshing though not very flavorful (a good squeeze of the lime helped that) and sort of a toilet water blue. Partner had the Charleston bog, Maker's Mark with lime and crushed raspberries. He liked it but I thought it was a little strange. The appetizers were much better. My partner had the oyster Cobb salad, three plump fried oysters on a good-sized chopped salad made extra flavorful by smoked ham. I had the fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade--three perfectly breaded and fried slices in a pool of just spicy enough remoulade and three or four small to medium shrimp. Very tasty. We also liked the bread basket.

The entrees were less satisfying, competently done but not outstanding. Partner had the pecan-crusted pork loin with roasted okra and spoon bread. He like it though I thought the pork was slightly dry. The okra was a big hit with both of us, as was the spoon bread. I had the pan-fried hake with a succotash. The hake was a thick cut, though otherwise smallish, and a not particularly distinguished fish, very plain in its cooking method, and maybe on just a few seconds long. The succotash had lots of fresh veggies but the flavor was odd--too salty on one hand, but I think the Virginia ham in it also made it weirdly sweet. I didn't dislike it but the flavors didn't quite add up for me. I think Moscatello is a talented chef, but I won't be surprised if he winds up at another restaurant better suited to his abilities. Maybe he's the guy to refresh Red Sage, which is also a part of this restaurant group?

The biggest problem was the service, which started off competently enough, but became less impressive as the evening wore on. Our server seemed fresh off the catering circuit, efficient and smiling but not particularly personable--more just a dish jockey. He offered little or no help through the menu or wine list, and no water was offered. Clearly, this was a guy who was going to make you work for what you wanted. Drinks and appetizers were brought out promptly, entrees a bit less so. Our wine bucket was mostly water, little ice, and after the entrees were delivered, he never again appeared to keep our glasses filled. In fact, after the entrees were delivered (by another server) we never saw him again until the very end. Our empty plates sat in front of us for nearly a half-hour with no one picking them up. By that point we decided to skip dessert, since the service had fallen off so badly (even though the restaurant had emptied quite a bit), and we wanted to enjoy a stroll on the parkway on such a nice evening. Also, we were told that a table on the deck would be a 45-minute wait, though it was clear that the deck had many empty tables throughout the evening. Maybe they were short-staffed for deck service, but on such a great night, this was a disappointment.

Indigo strikes me as a place where I might bring out-of-town guests who want a restaurant with a view, or where I might stop in for a late afternoon drink and appetizer. I might even return for brunch. The charms of the view and the modest delights on the menu don't make it a top-tier choice, however. And the amateur nature of the service--really, catering service is the best description--is a major disappointment in a restaurant with these prices and that aspires to more than its predecessor.

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I went to Indigo Landing last Sunday before a flight out of town. I had never been there, and since it was close to the airport, decided to give it a try. Everyone raves about the view, and it is nice, but is in no way worth the price of admission to this sub standard eatery. This place reminds me of my summer camp mess hall with the interior and furnishings. At $30.00 per person for the Brunch, I have no qualms about paying for decent food, but McDonalds produces a more satisfying experience for an egg McMuffin, hash browns and drink for a few bucks. After an initial game of musical chairs to be seated, we were greeted 10 minutes later by a pleasent enough server who seemed quite flustered. After our drink order and entree order, my date and I went to the buffet area to get started. The spread consisted of bagels,spreads, soup, various salads, cheese cubes, and cubed meats, pastries,crackers and spreads. She opted for the bagel and some spreads on the crackers. I tried the shimp salad- bland with oranges and mayo, the Lobster Bisque-picture pink salt water with cream, a few pieces of smpked salmon,a few spreads on crakers that I cant remember which is just as well, and the macaroni and cheese which was just totally tasteless. After about 25 minutes our mains arrive. Hers-an omelet requested without the ham-arrives piping hot with ham. Me-the eggs Cheseapeke -A heavily breaded/fried crabcake over poached eggs. I was good for about 3 bites of this crap and called it quits. I do have to say that the maple sausage links that I ordered were some of the best I have had-hot and quite flavorful. I was really having second thoughts about the salmon and crab that I had just ingested and had visions of distress on my flight that thankfully proved unfounded. My dates omelet was actually okay with the exception of the ham that she did'nt ask for, and having to fend off the busperson who kept trying to take her fruit plate every 5 minutes. As I was more interested in spending time with my new girl I wrote it off as a place that will never see me for Brunch again. As for trying it for dinner with its other options, I might be game one day, but really see no need to return to this place. There have been very few places that I've been to where the food is truly bland, boring and tastless. Indigo Landing is at the top of this list.

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Indigo strikes me as a place where I might bring out-of-town guests who want a restaurant with a view, or where I might stop in for a late afternoon drink and appetizer. I might even return for brunch. The charms of the view and the modest delights on the menu don't make it a top-tier choice, however. And the amateur nature of the service--really, catering service is the best description--is a major disappointment in a restaurant with these prices and that aspires to more than its predecessor.

Can't remember what it used to be called last year but the same was true then. But the view is very nice, and my mother, who is in her 70's and never a chowhound, loved it for that reason.

Haven't been back yet since it changed -- is the brunch still full of families taking their moms out, dressed to the nines (for moms)?

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In hindsight, I really wish I would have taken one of the suggestions given to me here on DR. I posted for places to consider for Easter brunch, but alas, I opted to get a reservation at Indigo Landing so my mom could enjoy the view (why is it that a good view generally means not so good food?).

The brunch buffet reads a whole lot better on the menu/website than it delivers in person. The offerings are by and large pedestrian; punctuated by a decent soup here, and nice breads there. Otherwise, 3-4 duplicated stations offered crackers and cheeses, grilled vegetables, two soups , "grilled mussels" cold?, fruit and breads. The breads as I said were tasty, in particular the date bread. The corn soup was passable, but needed to be richer to attain real chowder status. The cheeses were suffering from being exposed too long and were in bad need of refreshing.

Speaking of cheeses, the pimento cheese appeared on the cheese table, and again in the macaroni salad. Not good.

The tables were in need of attention, and should have been serviced for content and appearance. They were just plain sloppy, and that right there is not appetizing.

So, I got back to my table and proceed to nibble on my small plate and eat my soup when shortly thereafter our mains appear. I had a sneaky feeling we should have waited to tell our waiter our main order until we had our buffet plates. Seeing that I clearly was eating my buffet course, my main was placed in front of me as I hurried to push aside my plate and soup bowl. Additionally, the complimentary mimosa/champagne took 10 minutes to make it to our table via the waiter, in contrast to a support staff/runner bringing water immediately upon request.

I ordered the Low Country Eggs Benedict which as noted 2 posts above, is served over a fried green tomato and I believe Virginia ham. The hollandaise sauce claims to include crab but in reality perhaps a crab was waived over top prior to serving. The seemingly not made from scratch sauce was completely devoid of crab. Worse yet, both of my eggs were well done to hard cooked. I told my husband and mom to go ahead and eat, but I wanted to return my dish as hard cooked eggs Benedict is not satisfactory. If only I could find our waiter. After several minutes of neck craning and without anyone's attention I flagged down a lovely runner who went to find my waiter. After telling me he was MIA, I asked if she would return my dish to be re-done. She did gladly and within 5 minutes my dish came to the table. Our server appeared and apologized. The good news is one egg was perfectly done. The bad news; the other was hard cooked. Unbelievable. At that point I didn't give a shit and had one egg Benedict and another tomato.

Everyone commented on the sausage however. It was juicy with wonderful spices of clove? and sage. For dessert, I enjoyed the buttermilk pie. Very different from anything I'd had before.

Alas, the sun was out and the view was good. We left knowing we will never go for brunch again, but may try drinks and appetizers. With that view, I just cant quit Indigo Landing.

Overall, I think that the theme was inattention to detail. Letting a buffet get sloppy is as bad as letting overcooked eggs go out to the customer who just complained that her eggs were overcooked.

Next time, I'll listen to you DR!!

btw.....we tipped 15% or so because that runner was so nice and helpful, to everyone in that room. I wouldn't want her slighted in tipping out. Otherwise it would have been less, and we are solid 20%'ers.

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Yesterday was such a gorgeous day, so when my husband suggested lunch at a place w/ outside seating, it seemed like the perfect time to try Indigo Landing. We're both from the south (further south than VA, that is)-I grew up in NC & he went to school at the Citadel in Charleston (we were married at the chapel there), & we both love southern food. I knew from reading both the article in the Post earlier & comments here that opinions were divided about the cooking, but, hey, I just wanted to sit outside & watch the sailboats & planes...

We arrived at noon, w/ our 2 kids, ages 8 & 11, no reservation, asked for an outside table. The first gentleman told me it would be about a 45 min. wait, my son looked at me in dismay, 'Mom, I'm starving', the hostess who added our name to the list said it would be 30-45 min., that we were welcome to wait inside, outside at the bar or on the lawn, & that they would find us when they had a table. I think we waited only 15-20 min. before we got a table right on the side of the deck. I think the service was good, we were brought water right away, our waiter, Josh, was efficient & unobtrusive. The food was ok, but not nearly as great as the setting-I think they're purposely trying to make it 'average', so they can turn over those tables faster. The children both ordered from the kids menu, pasta in tomato sauce & chicken nuggets. My son also got a side of the 'smoky' collards, which were properly served w/ a shaker of hot pepper vinegar, but when I tried a couple of bites, they were oddly sweet, tasted like there was molasses in them. Both of the childrens' plates were served w/ a huge pile of 'mixed vegetables'-giant stalks of broccoli, cauliflower, & a couple of halved grape tomatoes-they didn't touch them (my fault, too, I didn't make them eat their vegetables :blink: )

I had the fried flatfish sandwich, w/ shrimp remoulade & mixed greens. It was ok, but had almost no taste-I tried adding lemon, then hot pepper vinegar, but it was still ultra bland. I scooped the shrimp off the top of the sandwich & ate them separately-beside from the fact that the sauce was pink, there was no hint it was a remoulade. My husband got the shecrab soup & gave me a bite of the breadstick that came w/ it, I guess that was the crab springroll? It was the best taste of the meal. He enjoyed his shrimp & grits, I thought the iced tea was quite good & promptly refilled numerous times (that's one of my criteria for good service). So, my verdict is mixed as well-acceptable, totally forgettable food with a fantastic setting & good service...(oh, almost forgot the biscuits that came out early-they were great!)

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I was there this weekend and was also told that there was a 45 minute wait. I couldn't believe it because there were at least four empty tables outside. The hostess acted like she didn't want people to eat there and she was annoyed that we were there. I explained that there were several tables open to which she replied that she was seating people in those right now. Fair enough, so my girlfriend and I decided to sit at the bar. We had a great time at the bar, the bar staff was very friendly and prompt with their service. The annoying part of the meal was that for the entire time we sat at the bar overlooking the water we were looking at a table that remained unoccupied during our entire meal!

In my opinion you should fire a hostess who makes guests feel unwanted and then hurts the rest of the restaurant staff by not seating people in open tables.

Positives:

The location is awesome. The flatfish sandwich was good. My gf had the mac and cheese and that was also nice. The rest of the staff was wonderful.

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I was there this weekend and was also told that there was a 45 minute wait. I couldn't believe it because there were at least four empty tables outside. The hostess acted like she didn't want people to eat there and she was annoyed that we were there. I explained that there were several tables open to which she replied that she was seating people in those right now. Fair enough, so my girlfriend and I decided to sit at the bar. We had a great time at the bar, the bar staff was very friendly and prompt with their service. The annoying part of the meal was that for the entire time we sat at the bar overlooking the water we were looking at a table that remained unoccupied during our entire meal!

In my opinion you should fire a hostess who makes guests feel unwanted and then hurts the rest of the restaurant staff by not seating people in open tables.

Positives:

The location is awesome. The flatfish sandwich was good. My gf had the mac and cheese and that was also nice. The rest of the staff was wonderful.

I would have to agree with you that a host/hostess shouldnt have an attitude, but there are a few things to consider in your scenario. First, there were probably reservations for those tables coming in and knowing that two people cant eat in 5, 10, 15 or even 45 mins she declined to seat you at an "open" table. Second, the table may have remained empty even after you left because of jerks that no-show, and theres nothing she can do about it. Given that you already made yourself comfortable at the bar, she wasnt really under any obligation to seat you, especially if you made it clear that you were eating/drinking at the bar.

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I went there last night with my family. We have been a lot of places, but I wanted to go somewhere that we haven't been and that we could sit outside, so this was the place chosen. I have seen some mixed reviews on this place, both here and elsewhere, but I wanted to try it out anyway. Why? I have no idea, but that is what we did.

Anyway, it was the PERFECT night to sit outside. We were lucky that the night turned out like that, but everyone gets lucky once in a while, right? As for the atmosphere, it is great if you sit outside, almost worth it for that alone. I love good food and I can be very critical, just look at some of my past posts, but there is something to be said for a nice and peaceful environment in a city where there are not too many of them.

So, enough about how nice it is to sit outside at Indigo Landing, let's get onto the drink and food...

The drinks were blah. I almost never get suckered into cool cocktail lists, unless it is a place like PX, but my mom and sister like them, so we ordered a few to begin. I don't remember the names, but they all fell right into one of my major pet peeves...NO ALCOHOL! Is it really that hard to make a $8 to $10 drink and put alcohol in it!? All I tasted was sugar and it sucked. One drink was a raspberry manhattan mojito mix, one was a lemonade and one was a electric blue drink with cava in it. Like I said, I don't remember the names, but I would stay away from them. On the other hand, I thought that the wine list was reasonable, maybe not spectacular, but reasonable with a good number of good choices. We had three bottles of Hill of Content (Grenache/Shiraz). It was good, not too pricey at $32, and along the lines of wine that I can get my family to drink.

As for the food, everything looked good on the menu, so we decided to just order it up!

Things we liked included...

Fried Green Tomatoes

Pimento Cheese Sliders (our favorite thing all night)

Fried Oysters

Macaroni and Cheese

Grits (I don't know one damn thing about grits, so I am naive on this one)

Banana Pudding

Buttermilk Pie

Doughnuts (if these were a bit hotter, they would have been perfect!)

Things we didn't really love included...

Fried Chicken Livers (definitely not crispy enough)

Monte Cristo (the tangerine sauce was too sweet)

Hush Puppies (undercooked and when we asked for another batch, they were undercooked too)

Devil's Food Cake (no chocolate taste)

So, we liked more things than we disliked, but does that make a great restaurant? Obviously not. However, if it is a nice day and you want to have some drinks outside, just not their specialty drinks, and nibble on some things, I think that Indigo Landing is a very solid place to go. Fine dining? No way, but is it so bad to simply be good these days!?

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I love to sit outside on the deck at Indigo and have had mixed reviews (60/40 on the positive side) of the food, but the reason I don't go back is the awful service. The bartenders are simply lazy and uncaring and most of the servers my wife and I have encountered seem clueless, nervous and lost.

Any problems with your service or is it finally getting better? I truly hope it's getting better because I want to like this place.

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The service was fine, nothing good or bad to say about it, which I guess isn't a very good thing. If I had a lot of questions, I think that he would have struggled, definitely a language barrier there. I didn't come into contact with any bartenders, so I have no idea if they are good or not, I do know, however, that they don't put any freakin liquor in the drinks!

Anyway, like everything else at this restaurant, my guess is that you get some good and some bad service, it depends on the server, how busy they are, etc.

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Anyway, like everything else at this restaurant, my guess is that you get some good and some bad service, it depends on the server, how busy they are, etc.

After last night's RW experience, I have to say Indigo Landing is smack in the middle, and has potential to do some really interesting things. First, had a 9:30 res, which may have skewed some of this (which is not to say that I condone being sloppy on the late shift - if that kitchen's open, you need to produce quality).

First, I want to contrast this with the heinous dinner at Charlie Palmer that I had before. CP is supposed to be high-end, service, super high quality. You can read reverbbrad's notes on it, but the low down is that 1) little to choose from, 2) portions were poorly cooked and skimpy, 3) the things they skimped on were carrots and grilled polenta, which just made them seem super cheap. Given the choice between showing a plate that looks hefty and not, this is not the time to put a wee teaspon of CARROTS and one teensy lone round of polenta.

CP broke the contract that restaurants have with their patrons. A long time ago, I got into a cab, and had a 15 minute lecture from the cab drive about the contract that the rider makes with the driver. I think it's the same with restaurants.

The restaurant ought to:

1) Be welcoming. Greet you pleasantly at the host stand, give polite service, and not make stinky faces when ask for something special or don't order cocktails.

2) Produce what it says it will produce. So, at Annie's Pancake diner in the teensy shack by the side of the road, I expect reasonable pancakes served hot and promptly. At Bistro Bis, I expect expert service, high quality ingredients cooked with skill and attention, and a decent level of hospitality. If you're open til 10, you should be able to serve me at 9:30. At Colorado Kitchen, I'll eat it that way and like it, or don't go.

3) If it's not right, offer to fix it. Salad hot? Bring a new one. 30 minute wait for reservations? Escort the customer to the bar, and make sure they're comfortable.

4) Behave professionally & be knowledgeable about what's being sold. No throwing food, no being a jackass, and be able to explain what bronzino is when asked.

5) If the diner asks for someone unreasonable, politely, give them a polite no back (I call and ask nicely to see if someone might have canceled their Friday reservations at the hot new place, the answer is 'I'm sorry, we're committed. You're welcome to come and try to get a seat at the bar, which looks fairly open right now.' not 'There are no seats.' then hanging up.)

The diner must:

1) Respect the restaurant: no flaking on reservations, dress appropriately, be polite to the staff. Tip - don't be cheap.

2) Be nice to the waitstaff. If you need something, ask politely for it.

3) Tell the manager. If it's out of the control of the waiter, get the manager. Don't yell at the waiter for something he can't do anything about.

4) Roll with the punches a little bit. A restaurant is a place that produces unpredictable things, and stuff happens. If there's an extra 10 minute wait, and you've been warned, calm down and go with it. Ask the waiter to fix what you find unacceptable; tell the manager if the waiter can't help.

So, what does this have to do with Indigo Landing? I felt like they were trying to hold up their end of the bargain, but need a boost to be really good. They have a lovely room with a fabulous view, even at night.

Their waiters are mostly struggling with english, but they are still service oriented. When I dropped my purse and spilled everything, my husband started to get it, but a waiter came running up, insisted that he sit down, and got down on his hands and knees, put everything back, and handed it to me, asking if everything was there. My waiter was very enthusiastic, ending every interaction with a 'yes ma'am' (I think I caught a heel click). In short, they're nice, and they're trying.

The food had the same attitude. It wanted to be good, and there lots of things to like, that are different from other food you can get around town. I had a ham and crab monte cristo, topped with a citrus and argula salad dressed with a tangerine sauce. The sandwiches were seasoned with celery seed, which is unusual. I respect that it's something different! However, it was a little greasy, so some of the flavor was lost in the frying.

My husband had shrimp and grips, which suffered from a little too much butter, and a little too much heat lamp. The shrimp were huge and quite nice, there was a lovely little garnish of cherry tomatoes, and overall it was pretty good. But it could have been so much better if it hadn't been dried out. I have fried chicken, a portion as big as my head, with a super crunchy crust. Sadly, it had been fried in tired oil and tasted of fish. It was served with some mashed potatoes and truffle gravy that didn't punch you in the eye with the truffle; again, they were a little doughy.

Dessert was quite interesting - I had a lovely sweet potato pie in a little buttery tart crust. There was a side of cold sweet potato with some knid of sour dressing that didn't grab me, but I could see that it was meant to counteract the sweet pie. It was an interesting approach, that just needs a little tweak to be splendid.

So, I think I'll be back, if only for a drink and snacks. There's so much potential, a clear generous spirit of hospitality, and a different point of view in cooking, that I hope that the missteps I encountered were 9:30 on a restaurant week-itis.

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A nice touch with Indigo Landing is that you always get an amuse-gueule, this time around a dab of shrimp remoulade on a little melba cracker. It's a twenty-cent gesture that makes an impact on the diner, even more so than the good, housemade bread basket, this time around not up to previous standards, but still one of the better versions in town.

Listed under "Buckets for the Table" is an order of deep-fried Hush Puppies ($7) which comes with peach buttermilk dip, but actually works better with a little of the honeyed-butter that comes with the bread basket. There's no foie gras in these anymore, but they were still good, gutsy hush puppies - even better is the Cornmeal Crusted Okra ($8), served with sweet-pepper jelly. Few foods leave me with a more disgusting visual or tactile impression than boiled okra, which looks more like mucous than that splotch I saw on the bike trail last week, but I miss my $1.99 deep-fried okra at the Seneca, SC, Po Folks, and this is just so much better than that ever was, about fifty bite-sized pieces coated in a crispy batter with scents not unlike KFC on the best of days, or for that matter the panko-based batter encrusting Citronelle Lounge's fried chicken.

Sweet Corn Flan ($15), crowning a plate full of lima beans, a little arugula, and bathing in a tomato jus, was a well-conceived take on succotash, and would have been a great dish had the flan not arrived cold in the center - it was happily re-fired, with a brand new cylinder of flan placed on the plate. It would be nice to have this made to order, but alas, that's just not realistic on a rainy Monday evening in September on Daingerfield Island. Other minor glitches were a 2005 Drouhin Pouilly-Fuisse that arrived as a 2006, and a (perfectly friendly) server who had no idea who the Chef de Cuisine was (does anyone know who's running the kitchen at Indigo Landing these days?) Nevertheless, it was a pretty good showing for Indigo Landing, the execution of the cooking perhaps lagging behind the ambitious recipes, but the deck as lovely as ever, and the service friendly and well-meaning.

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Just about a year ago my boyfriend and I received a $150 gift certificate to Indigo Landing. The card expires this week and since they are finally open after closing for the winter, we decided to try it again. We brought another couple along for the ride to see what they had done to the place over the winter hiatus.

Since reopening they have an entirely new concept- unfortunately, it was all so incohesive that I couldn’t really tell you what it was (I could only tell you that it wasn’t the low-country cuisine that I expected). I guess I could liken it to an over-priced mid-ranged corporate restaurant that uses the deep-fryer and Sisco as a crutch.

The place looks pretty much the same except it has a more casual feel due to brighter lighting (too bright for a dining room at dinner IMHO). The dining room was fairly empty all night- only 7 tables were sat for the entirety of our meal (granted it was Sunday evening). The servers def. had a more relaxed approach but they all seemed friendly and fairly attentive.

We got a bunch of food as we wanted to give it a fair try and we had some money to burn… We started with the “fondita potato chips”, beer batter grouper fingers, fried lump crab meat (I don’t really know what we were thinking), crab sliders, and rock lobster bisque. Four of the five dishes sported the same inexplicable garnish of a fried plaintain. The fried group fingers were fine- just heavily breaded fish-sticks; the fried crab meat tasted just as weird as it sounded and was wayyy too tough; the fondita chips were plain old potato chips served with a ridiculously large bowl of what I think was tostitos jarred cheese dip (it actually coagulated after 10 minutes on the table); 2 people in my party liked the sliders but I found them to be wayyy too fishy; the bisque, although watery, had great flavor and was the table favorite.

For our mains two of us got king crab legs and two got the prime rib. The prime rib was cooked well and fairly priced but was served with a strange “aoli”, which I am pretty sure was bottled ranch dressing. The crab claws were properly cooked for the most part but served with a too-salty rice pilaf.

There was no dessert menu- our server just read us the list. This was fine except she did not mention that the bread pudding we got contained pineapple and coconut- something my boyfriend doesn’t eat and was unpleasantly surprised to find in his first bite. We also got a brownie sundae (it wasn’t the freshest brownie but it was fine) and the strawberry shortcake, which was served with a very fake strawberry sauce in an impossibly narrow wine glass, which made sharing it between 4 people quite difficult.

Overall, we all left very full yet underwhelmed. The space is obviously georgeous and I was so hoping that they would finally get it right after closing to regroup. I guess I will just accept this place for what it is- a great place to sit outside and enjoy a burger on a beautiful warm day.

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Mr. Beezy and I headed over for early drinks and snacks during Friday's lovely weather.

I will return - for drinks and the view only. The bartender has a heavy hand, and a selection of medium-good liquor, accompanied by the absolutely worst food EVER EVER EVER.

We had:

- clams and fennel - this turned out to be decent, although the clams were like eating sandpaper

- grilled naan and hummus - nann! ha! more like a boboli flatbread unevenly run over the broiler and some hummus that i'm pretty sure came from Giant. The bread was lukewarm in spots to cold, did not taste of garlic at all, and was leaden. Hummus - a little gritty, a little pasty, no tahini. Came with some decent olive oil and a grilled tomato

- crab sliders - I was uncertain if I was eating crab or cat food. Or perhaps some gefilte fish that was pretending to be crab. It was terribly fishy and old. Clearly, they hoped it would be disguised by the pickle and corn relish, but it really didn't help. Plus, the bun was stale.

- shrimp po'boy - Mr. Beezy reports that this was edible. However, it was served with three shrimp skewered on sugar cane, stuck outside the bun (without more shrimp inside).

Drink up, don't chow down.

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It is interesting that this restaurant went from being based around Southern Cuisine to a jumbled mess of a catch-all menu. Hummus, pilaf, Po Boys w/ sugar cane, fondita, aioli, could summer rolls, and curry be far behind? This is begging to make one pang for Potomak Landing to return, at least it was bad just bad continental cooking and not a confusing mash-up of every cuisine that comes to the mind of the menu writers.

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As imperfect as the "old" Indigo Landing was as nouveau Low Country, the early reports sound horrible of the "new"....a return to the bad old days of Potomack Landing...we had some decent meals at the old Indigo landing, nothing spectaular, but coupled with the view, a nice overall experience. My bigggest complaint was the price/quality ratio..often decent entrees were in the high $20 range....the new place just sounds dreadful

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