Anyone who has been dining in Hampton Roads for more than a few years has heard of Vintage Kitchen. It has long been a favorite of the foodie elite and is seen by many as one of the premier resturaunts in the region. I think some attention needs to be paid to the details before I’ll be paying it another visit.
This is a hard review to write because I really want to rave about Vintage Kitchen. It’s a very well decorated and furnished establishment that feels both warm and sophisticated. Fresh flowers adorn each table and the architecture is sharp and modern. The pricing blew us away, but in a good way – we never expected such a place to be so affordable.
Everything is great until you get to what should be the primary focus of any resturant – service and food. While the service is excellent in terms of attention paid to the customer, it is very slow. Food comes out at a snails pace, as do drinks and bread. Though this could be attributed to an “off night”, we think you should go to Vintage Kitchen expecting to be there for at least two hours. We were there for over two hours and didn’t even get to dessert. But the real let down was the food. Accross the board things were pretty ho-hum. Surprisingly, one of the best parts of the meal was the bread which consisted of small rolls lightly sprinkled with salt and the glazed carrots that were served with the entree. Nothing served was inedible, but other than the aforementioned highlights the meal garnered a resounding “meh”. I guess I expected more.
Vintage Kitchen was so close to being great. I really want to give them another try in the future. Though I didn’t feel like I was there on a “bad day”, I do feel like they could’ve done better. Even at their best, I don’t think Vintage Kitchen can compete with some of the other more well rounded restaurants in the region.
This is a spot Charlie and I have attempted to dine at several times. Due to their peculiar hours, it’s taken us about 4 tries before we finally dropped in on an evening they were open. Once we set foot inside “Vintage Kitchen”, I immediately fell in love with the design of the place. There are large windows across the back of the restaurant that overlook a beautiful view of the water. With such a beautiful view, the atmosphere was appropriately kept simple, clean, and modern.
We were seated in the front section of the restaurant, which was quiet and not nearly as busy as the back section. Unfortunately, from the start, we could tell they were very much understaffed. The owner waited on us. He may have had more success waiting on the tables in a timely manner if he would have refrained from explaining every single item on the menu in great detail. It was quite annoying. Even when our group was clearly having a conversation, he proceeded to explain in depth the history and technique behind the dish just brought to the table.
Not even the chatterly owner could keep me from enjoying the bread brought before the meal—warm, soft in the center, and slightly salty on top. What an amazing combination! It also went extremely well with my homemade tomato soup, made with yellow tomatoes. After having such an excellent appetizer, I looked forward to the rest of my meal.
I was dissatisfied with my main course for the most part. My fish was dry and there wasn’t enough sauce on the fish. However, the macadamian nuts sprinkled over the fish added a nice touch. The potatoes were well seasoned; the vegetables had flavor and crunch to my liking. I feel that the dish could have been very successful, had it been properly prepared.
We didn’t stay for desert because the service was so incredibly slow. We’ll probably give “Vintage Kitchen” another try once they’ve had time to work out all the quirks.
Contact Information for Vintage Kitchen:
Vintage Kitchen
999 Waterside Dr.
Norfolk, Virginia 23510
757-625-3370
http://www.vintage-kitchen.com
