The Landing: 2018 Virginia Beach Restaurant Week
It’s my favorite time of year again—Virginia Beach Restaurant Week. After participating in my first-ever restaurant week last year, I was counting down the days until February 19. I anxiously clicked through all of the prix-fix menus, picking and choosing which ones I would dine on. So many restaurants, so little time.
The Landing
On Tuesday, February 20, I met Gals That Brunch for my first dinner of Virginia Beach’s 2018 Restaurant Week. We had a table reserved at The Landing, located near the Virginia Beach Courthouse. The Landing is all about fresh, local ingredients, good service and delicious, visually pleasing meals. For restaurant week, The Landing offered a $35 three-course dinner.
Course one was a selection of starters including, a warm spinach salad, fried shrimp or the lobster bisque. Even though it was an unseasonably warm evening, I decided to go with the lobster bisque.
The smooth, creamy soup had a good amount of lobster pieces in it, as well as crispy leeks for an added texture. I was pleasantly surprised to see how large the bowl of soup was, especially for a restaurant week starter. I could’ve easily licked my bowl clean, but I kept some decorum and just spooned out every last drop.
Course two had a whopping six options. I had a hard time choosing between the Chicken Florentine, Mediterranean Shrimp Pasta, Crispy Pork Belly, Sweet Potato Crusted Salmon, Lamb Ragu and Pan Seared Jumbo Scallops.
While I’m never one to turn down pork belly, I knew I had to finesse this menu to get the most for my money. On The Landing’s regular menu, the Jumbo Sea Scallops are $28. It had been months since I’d last had scallops so I decided to treat myself since I was getting a great deal on my entire meal.
The moment my food was placed in front of me, I saw the perfect sear on the scallops. My mouth watered as I ran my fork through the first one. The scallops were perfectly seasoned, with a nice saltiness coming from the sear, and sweet to taste. The scallops were served in an orange ponzu sauce with tempura baby bok choy and wasabi pea whipped potatoes. I was apprehensive about the potatoes, but one bite proved me wrong. The wasabi flavor wasn’t overwhelming at all, while the whipped potatoes were light and airy. By the end of my meal, I was gathering up the crunchy bits from the tempura baby bok choy and the rest of my potatoes to run through the remainder of my ponzu sauce. The whole dish was a symphony of flavors.
No matter how full I get, during restaurant week, there’s always room for dessert. The options were a Triple Chocolate Brownie Sundae, White Chocolate Cranberry Bread Pudding and a Lemon Berry Mascarpone Cake. This was the easiest decision of the night. I knew I wanted that brownie sundae.
While I’m not usually big on chocolate, I couldn’t pass this dessert up. A chocolate brownie is topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and whipped cream. I was bummed that the brownie didn’t come warm. There’s something special about the combination of a warm brownie and ice cream. That didn’t stop me from enjoying my chocolate-drizzled dessert. The brownie was still soft and had little bits of melted chocolate in it. *Honorable mention goes to the bread pudding that smelled AMAZING.
As I finished off my dessert, I placed my hands on my food baby and sat back pleased with my meal.
The Landing has a casual, dock-side vibe with a high-end menu. The restaurant is at the end of a long building with a wrap around porch. If our party wasn’t so large, I would’ve loved to eat outside, facing the quiet street. The interior is comfortable with low lighting, accented by Christmas lights on the beams. The Landing has a passion for not just the food they serve, but also the local farmers and fishermen whom they buy from. If you miss the chance to visit The Landing during restaurant week, stop by any other evening after 4 p.m. for dinner and experience their full menu.