Ritz Seafood – Voorhees, NJ 7-24-2010

So, my girlfriend has been bringing up this place whenever I ask her, “Where do you want to eat?” The name definitely needs some work. Ritz Seafood? They took the name of the strip mall? Well, I was in an adventurous mode to try something different.

As soon as we (my girlfriend and I) walked in it was very cramped with a small bench to wait. No host was at the door and we waited a few minutes before one of the waiters spotted us. There were two sides of the restaurant. One side was the table dining and the other was high stool bar like tables. The waiter was very friendly and seated us promptly after seeing us at the door. I noticed that the restaurant was packed. I always like seeing that on a Saturday night, so things were looking up.

I noticed right away that this was an Asian influenced restaurant. The walls were riddled with tons of Asian cultural objects. A tree on the bar side! Christmas light in the front near the door.  Just very weird objects throughout the entire restaurant. Apparently they never heard the expression “less is more.”

I wanted to get the Ahi Tuna with Two Caviars and Rishel (girlfriend) wanted the BBQ Jumbo Shrimp. The Tuna was labeled as a signature item and featured on Food Network’s “Best of” for $12. The Tuna was served on the bottom of a martini glass. I thought that was a little unnecessary as well, but I guess they wanted to match the decor. The Tuna tasted good. It was fresh and the two caviars went well with the tuna. However, my martini Ahi Tuna was gone in seconds. Portion size was too small and the price was too big.  The BBQ Shrimp were wrapped in bacon and stuffed with wasabi. The shrimp were over cooked and chewy. The sauce was tasty though and helped me forget how overcooked the shrimp were. Yet again, portion size was too small. The app came with 3 shrimp for $9. Maybe I would consider that a value if they weren’t over cooked?

For entrees, I decided to go with the Pan Roasted Sea Scallops with Wild Mushroom Risotto & White Truffle Essence. Sounds good right!? Another let down. Everything was over cooked again. Scallops, Risotto,and it wasn’t even seasoned. It was a very bland dish. The mushrooms were nonexistent. Maybe it’s my fault for ordering Risotto at an Asian seafood restaurant that was in disguise as a regular seafood restaurant?

Rishel went with one of the salad specials that the waiter suggested. I didn’t really know what she ordered because I usually don’t pay attention to salad specials when they offer them. As soon as the dish came out I saw that it was very sloppy. I have never seen a salad prepared in this way before. It was a full Romain lettus bunch that was thrown on the grill for a few ticks. Covered in scallops, shrimp, crabmeat, and a Caesar like dressing. Like my dish, the scallops , shrimp and crabmeat were all over cooked. Rishel didn’t know how to eat it. I basically had to cut the bunch up for her to eat. The dish was just complete laziness on the chefs part.

The highlight of the meal was desert. The Coconut Cream Pie was featured as another Food Networks “The Best Thing I Ever Ate".” We decided to go with that. It was a very good pie and the portion was more than Rishel and I could finish.

I don’t think I would ever go back. All of the food was over cooked and overpriced with no flavor at all. The decor reminded me of a chain restaurant with a bunch of weird crap on the wall. The food was very sloppy and presentation was over done. With all the awards they splashed on their front windows and website, I expected more. I ended up with a surprise of Asian influenced food when I walked in and overcooked bland dishes as I ate. Tip, change the name!

There were some good things about this place. The tea selection was enormous. The desert was excellent. The staff was very pleasant.