November 27, 2007

White Card Rocks at Legal

I am fortunate to have someone "on the inside" of Legal Sea Foods, and therefore I am in possession of a coveted and highly secret weapon, a "white card." When friends were in town a couple of weeks ago, we put it to the test. Upon arrival at the Crystal City location, we were told there would be a 30-40 minute wait for our party of 3. I flashed the white card, and everything changed. We were seated immediately.

My friend and I remembered ordering wine flights on a previous visit, but we couldn't find them on the menu. I asked the waitress if they still did them, and she said no. But a couple of minutes later, she came back to the table to inform us that she had spoken to the manager, and he said that even though it was no longer a menu item, we could choose 3 wines (offered by the glass) and they would create a flight for us. We were very excited.

We shared the shrimp cocktail as an appetizer, which as a shrimp lover I could have easily eaten by myself. The cocktail sauce is delicious, just the right amount of horseradish. The shrimp were very good and fresh, but served atop the crushed ice, they were almost too cold to taste. My friend ordered their famous clam chowder, and loved it (as usual).

Since it was like 3 weeks ago, I can't exactly remember what we ordered. For my entree I ordered a special off the menu, which I think was haddock covered with crab, with rice pilaf and snap peas in oyster sauce. My friend ordered the Signature Crabcakes that are served with greens sauteed with fall fruits and nuts. My other friend ordered what I think was the yellowtail flounder stuffed with crabmeat. I actually have pictures so maybe you can discern better than I what it was we ordered. In the picture of my entree, you can see the flight of 3 white wines behind the plate.
Another cool thing about Legal is that they offer a Celiac menu - a menu for people who suffer from Celiac disease, or in plain words, who can't eat gluten.

The bathroom was clean, had nice soap, and an automatic paper towel dispenser (love that). There could be a trash can closer to the door because when I open the door with the paper towel, it's always a toss-up whether I'll make the shot into the wastebasket. No pun intended. Ok maybe a little...

If you have never eaten here, it is worth the trip just for the clam chowder. Be sure to ask for extra oyster crackers, and just dump them in your bowl. Yum!

Also, they have delicious cranberry puree martini - I think it's a seasonal item, so hurry up and try it if you're thinking it sounds good.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the pics! You should post more.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the 3rd entree was the crab-stuffed flounder, and as a side he got the jalapeno cornbread, which apparently was delicious and not too spicy... Gigi