Style Weekly dines at The Boathouse at Short Pump Town Center

Reviewer Elliott Shaffner finds the entire menu to be on point.

October 28, 2015; 10:26 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

There’s nothing I love more than a pleasant surprise. And when I stop to eat a meal at an enormous mall, surrounded by other malls and big-box stores, the last thing I expect is a distinctive, singular and downright palatable experience — with remarkably fresh seafood. Enter the Boathouse at Short Pump.

If it’s oysters you want, the Boathouse’s are perfectly shucked with nary a fleck of shell to annoy, ice-cold and mostly local ($2/$3). The fried iteration ($12), served simply, with lemon and a nice tartar sauce, is thoughtfully frizzled, crispy bites with the hot briny pop of a plump Chesapeake oyster tucked away inside. Win-win.

The Short Pump location is The Boathouse’s third; their fourth restaurant is a Mexican concept, Casa Del Barco.