Merroir

So let's start with a disclaimer. My cousin works for Rappahannock River Oysters and RRO is the parent company of Merroir. Disclaimer aside: dinner at Merroir was the best I've had in a really long time.

The sun setting on the sailboats

Merroir sits at the edge of Locklies Marina, right on the water, in Topping, Virginia. Topping is a small town on the southern side of the Rappahannock River, getting close to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. And Merroir is starting to put Topping on the map. The next disclaimer: Merroir is not a 'restaurant' per se. They call it a tasting room, which is a more accurate description. It resides in a small white brick building right on the water. Seating is at picnic tables mostly on the grass outside the building with a few spots on the deck. The chef cooks outside under a tent, a few feet from where you're eating. Merroir started out as the best kept secret of friends, family and the locals. People have started telling the secret though... hence the packed house when we got there.

My family has been talking about the not-so-secret of Merroir since it opened. My family consists of the frequently obnoxious people who are super picky about their seafood. Crabs? Only if we pull them out of the water ourselves and boil 'em up right then and there. Shrimp? Was it caught today? Crabcakes? Only if Grandaddy makes them. The family likes Merroir for similar reasons... the food is so fresh and the seafood isn't covered up by lots of breading or drowned in sauces. After all the rave reviews, I've been hoping to make the trip down there from Charlottesville for a long time. Yesterday was finally the day.

There aren't reservations here. Just show up and see who beat you there. If you do have to wait, which certainly is a possibility on a Saturday night, stroll around the marina or walk inside and have a drink. Merroir has a fair amount of beers and wines, mostly from smaller or local places. Have to try the Flying Dog Oyster Stout, called the Pearl Necklace which is made from RRO oysters. 

The menu at Merroir is simple and frequently changes. Highlighted, of course, are the oysters. RRO features three oysters. The Rappahannocks are the sweetest, least briny. They're grown right here in Topping. The "medium" oysters are called Stingrays (my favorite!!) and grow in Mobjack Bay, which is closer to the open water of the Chespeake. And lastly, they offer the Olde Salts, which are the most briny, thanks to their home off Chincoteague Island. The oysters all come on the half-shell; you can get them raw or roasted. Order one-by-one for $1.50 or in groups of a half-dozen or dozen. They also offer shrimp and clams in the same portions.

View's not too shabby

The rest of the food menu consists of artisan plates that change frequently based on what's been caught fresh recently. On our visit, options included: lamb and clam stew, a crabcake, the "Stuffin Muffin," some PEI mussels, a grilled Caesar salad (where apparently even the lettuce is grilled), "Angels on Horseback," and a grouper.

We opted to approach dinner in a tapas fashion. We don't come down here much, so why not try everything right? We got a dozen of the oysters raw, 4 of each kind. They're served with 2 sauces, one a fairly traditional cocktail sauce and the other a more salsa-esque, vinegar-y sauce. Both were great. My favorite of the oysters was the Stingrays, of the medium salinity. Jon liked the two extremes better... the Olde Salts because they were so briny and ocean-y and the Rappahannocks because you really taste the oyster itself. Rightly so, as oysters are the feature here, these were probably the best part of the meal. We also got a half dozen of roasted oysters. These were probably our least favorite part of dinner, not because they weren't good, but just because the raw ones were so much better.

We also tried some steamed clams. The clams were excellent, served in a bowl of broth equally as good. (I seem to remember Jon sopping up every last drop of the broth with a piece of bread.) And from the artisan plates, we tried the crabcake, the stuffin muffin and the lamb/clam stew. Let's start with the crabcake. As I mentioned, Granddaddy is the king of crabcakes. Word on the street is that even Granddaddy loves Merroir's. It was just how a crabcake should be: almost entirely made of actual crab, not bread crumbs or mayo or other fillers. It's topped with a dollop of a remoulade sauce which is also delicious. Now the stuffin muffin was high on my list of favorites of the night. It's basically a healthy pile of Thanksgiving stuffing made with oysters. Yummmm... so moist and flavorful. And talk about comfort food. Lastly, we tried the lamb and clam stew which was amazing. We pulled our clams out of their shells and mixed the stew all together. It's tomato based with beans, chunks of lamb, the clams and some delicious herbs. That bowl was cleaned dry too. And even though we were plenty full, when our waitress offered some dessert, we had to give that a whirl too. Pound cake with mixed berries and homemade whipped cream on top. To die for.

I think they go through a lot of oysters...

In conclusion... everyone should make the trip down to Merroir. It's worth it for so many reasons. The food, of course, being the top reason. The view of the creek while eating is a close second. But remember, take your sweatshirt to fend off the breeze from the water and don't expect a quick in and out restaurant experience. Plan to stay awhile and enjoy. And if you like it, which you should, give their spot at Union Market in DC a try or head to Richmond when they open venture number three in the next few months.