Coastal Flats, Mclean VA: good food, even better service
Saturday, May 9th, 2009
Coastal Flats
1961 Chain Bridge Rd
Mclean VA, 22102
(703) 356-1440
Not one (as you probably already know) to regularly visit chain restaurants, Coastal Flats proved to be a last minute choice while waiting for a movie this past weekend. Before we requested a table, we notified the hostess that we were waiting for the 8pm movie, and inquired if, in her opinion, we would have time to eat (it was 6:30). She said yes, and that the wait would only be five – ten minutes (even though the entire place looked packed). True to her word, we waited al of five minutes before being seated.
We informed our server about our tight deadline, and he responded empathetically. We kept the meal simple; crispy sweet & spicy calamari, mixed field greens salad, and the pecan crusted trout. We requested that everything simply come out when ready, foregoing the standard timed delivery. Our waiter responded magnificently — not only did he respond with speed and efficiency, he also recruited TWO other waiters to constantly monitor our table — both in terms of making sure we had everything we needed, as well as bringing out the dishes as soon as they were ready.
The calamari was great; crispy enough without being rock-hard, with a kick at the end without being over-powering. Portion size was plenty for two adults. Personally, I would have preferred a little less of the sauce; by the end of the dish the sweetness was almost too much. The mixed green salad was standard fare, but the dressing was a little too salty. The trout was cooked perfectly, with just the right amount of the pecan crust. The couscous that accompanied my fish was stone cold, which in combination with an overpoweringly sweet sauce led me to not want to finish. But, the fish was tasty enough without the sauce that I was able to navigate around it and finish it off, though I did leave a healthy portion of couscous behind.
We skipped dessert due to time, but could very well have had some as we were out in just about an hour, leaving us 30 minutes to spare. I was so pleased with our service, I made note of it to the manager who was delighted to hear my praise.
A final note; apparently you can pick up movie tickets there too, for a generous discount of about $4.50 per ticket!






