Cuisine Review

For quite a while, the Riverview Plaza Hotel was not somewhere I would, or hardly anyone else would, recommend as a wonderful place to eat. The restaurant was worn, any type of “renovation” was suspect and the food was at best mediocre.

So, RSA comes in, does a fantastic job with the Battle House and at the same time does a stunning renovation of the Riverview Plaza. And they hire some top-notch chefs to exceed expectations.

The Battle House is full of history, rich with warm colors and decorated in a traditional-with-a-twist style (and I do like the lobby carpet). The Riverview is markedly on the other end in atmosphere and style. It is contemporary without being wild. Gauzy golds, sapphire blues and vibrant reds with touches of silvery gray dominate.

The lobby is ethereal with blue art glass curtains in the lobby area with a serene foundation. What they did continue from the Battle House was the tremendous collection of Alabama art. It is more abstract with a mix of folk. I enjoyed just looking around the second floor lobby area and even the bathrooms. In my opinion, this is a terrific collection worthy of any museum.

The second floor restaurant is no different. Rich red curvy booths and white tablecloth covered tables of four have wonderful steel accents on the walls and the washed windows provide a pleasant view of the working waterfront. And if a condo ever does get built across the street, the feeling you get from the window will be more impressive. The staff is quiet in a pleasing way. My friend and I were warmly greeted and shown to a window table. There were about 20 other diners in the restaurant, some business and hotel guests all seemingly enjoying their meals.

At both hotels, I will say the service is not yet up to par with the Renaissance label. Trellis Room of the Battle House is an exception, but the staff in the other places needs some help. Part of this is due to the fact that it is hard to find good wait staff these days, but more intense training needs to be done.

On to the menu, this is again a departure from the Battle House food in style. The restaurant at the Riverview is called the Harbor Room and is more focused at lunch on fancy sandwiches, pasta, BBQ, soups and salads. The price point is slightly below the Trellis Room by an average of $5. There are three soups all in the $8 range. Not many in town serve vichyssoise, a chilled potato leek soups and in this case with the twist of fennel pollen.

There is also the classic French onion soup, labeled as low cholesterol. It is clearly labeled on many choices that they are either low in cholesterol or fat to help out those watching either or both. My friend began with the Nawlins style Seafood Gumbo with poached shrimp. It was viscous, not too spicy but, he said, enough for him. The shrimp had been poached slightly and lumps of crabmeat abounded along with the required vegetables. He was quite impressed.

I began with a salad, the Iceberg Wedge ($8), a fresh, crisp wedge with grape tomatoes, crunchy bits of bacon and Clemson bleu cheese. The dressing was chunky, full of bleu and pungent. All in all it was refreshing. Other salads found are a Caesar, Roasted Beets (with goat cheese, haricot verts and an orange vinaigrette for $8); organic mixed greens, a traditional poaches chicken salad in aioli, celery, onions, peppers, sour cream and tarragon ($12) and poached shrimp salad with same minus the tarragon substituted with dill ($12 as well). A tempting choice would be Allen Benton’s bacon, egg potato salad with clover honey in mustard vinaigrette ($9). My wedge I would not think you could have for an entrée but the heavier ones would do.

Two pastas, a capellini containing shrimp, roasted garlic, tomatoes, basil and Parmesan cheese ($11) and a veal and beef tenderloin Bolognese looked to be heavy enough for dinner but would have me take a nap is served on Pappardelle pasta and shaved asiago ($14). There are 15 sandwiches to select from that range from a tuna melt with Swiss on grilled country bread ($9), a Reuben, burger ($10), creamed whipped peanut butter and jelly with Bonne Mama fruit preserves and caramelized bananas on country white ($12, can you imagine how incredible this would be) to liverwurst ($9).

Some other choices I considered were the fried egg and bologna with basil aioli ($7), a pulled-pork shoulder BBQ ($7.50): blacked Mahi Mahi with Remoulade Sauce ($12); an oyster or shrimp po-boy ($10). My friend chose the Kobe meat loaf with sharp cheddar on Ciabatta with au jus ($12) and I ordered the Veggie sandwich with marinate grilled eggplant, zucchini, fresh mozzarella with Pesto aioli on Ciabatta bread ($9).

One can most definitely split a sandwich – they are tremendous. The meat loaf was tender, juicy and chock full of red and green peppers – quite delicious. My veggie sandwich had tender, tasty eggplant and a large crispy red pepper with a rich garlic combination of the two sauces. I highly recommend. All sandwiches come with hand cut fries and either potato salad or Cole slaw.

Skip the cole slaw or potato if you do not like a ton of mayo and both were kind of bland. Our server was obviously new and hovered a bit too much for our taste, but he was nice and tried hard. We both had too much to eat with eyes that had obviously been larger than our stomachs.

Also on the menu are several entrees that appear to be large as I saw a couple being served to a nearby table. There is a jumbo lump crab cake with cream-less creamed corn, spinach and a sweet wine reduction ($14), mountain trout with Conecuh sausage, fingerling potatoes and seasonal vegetables ($14) or crispy fried chicken with basil mashed potatoes, green beans and tomato-sage fried mushroom gravy ($12). How incredible do these items sound? All come with soup and the house salad. Ribs, pulled beef brisket and pulled pork shoulder are in a special BBQ platter section with an addition of hushpuppies.

Go here for a special or business lunch as our bill was larger than either of us would have spent normally, but we did order a lot of food. You could get out of here for $15 each and be fulfilled.

Take a look; you will be awed by the surroundings, the art, and most importantly, the food.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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