there back!!. as most of you know by now, our favorite eatery in marina del rey is back, and better than ever. their menu has been expanded, but the three originals are still there; killer shrimp "original", killer shrimp over rice and killer shrimp over pasta. i know several of you have written that the food is still spot on, but the services is not. to be fair, dear readers, therestaurantis not even one month old, and all restaurants take at lease a month to figure out how to operate, so with a totally open mind i will give my review.
first the food; i and my husband ordered the "original" and it was exactly as i remembered, although i actually think the shrimp are a little larger, but the broth is still as buttery, hot, spicy and as wonderful as i remember. dipping my figures in the sauce, pulling out a big beautiful shrimp, ripping pealing off the shell is all still part of the fun. then taking the wonderful french bread they provide in a big colander, and letting it soak up the broth and then setting it on your tongue and chewing the mouth full of spicy goodness is a pleasure not to be missed. i have always loved the "original" and put up with the mess just to enjoy some of the best shrimp this side of new orleans.
now, normally i could care less about the service, as that should only be a very small part of what one is reviewing at a restaurant. you come to arestaurantfor the food, not for the staff, and yes, if the staff is bad, then mention it, but the food is the big attraction, and killer shrimp is no exception, however, because the majority of the reviews i have read on the various web sites have been very harsh regarding the wait service, i want to pass along this - to be honest we did pick a time that was neither lunch or dinner, as it was a little after 4pm on sunday (9/18/2011) afternoon. the bar was hopping, due to the many tv screens that were showing an nfl game, but the actualrestaurantwas fairly open. we were greeted by a very nice young lady and asked if we wanted to sit outside or inside and did we prefer a table or booth. we stated booth and after a quick look in the dining area, we were taken directly to a booth, right by the window, where we could watch fellow diners on the patio and the boats in the marina. that was two minutes from walking through the front door until we were seated in the booth. a very nice young man came by with drinks for another table and smiled and said he would be right with us, and he was. we placed our order for dinner and drinks within 4 minutes of walking through the front door. (again, to be honest we know exactly what we wanted, having had prior knowledge of what killer shrimp is all about.) we were brought our drinks and within 19 minutes of walking through the door our food was placed before us at the table. our waiter, who by then was getting more busy, as more diners were coming in to eat, continued to check on us, and even noticed that we were almost out of the bread, before all of our bowls were empty, so to my delight he appeared at our table with another colander full of bread, without even being asked to do so.
bottom line - food; as amazing as i remember, and i plan to go through the menu, but it will be very hard to get me to eat anything outer than the "original", wait service; i could not ask for better, our waiter (david i believe it stated on our check) was very helpful and anticipated our needs.
we are making a reservation for friday night, and even though it will be crowed, i don't expect there will be any problems, as there appear to be plenty of wait and bus staff for that very large restaurant. thanks for reading, and happy dining!