Foodie Traveler: Oceans & Ale, Williamsburg, VA
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Stephan and I recently moved into a new rental house in order to get a little more space, some storage space, and two parking spaces! The house we had been renting had a very short driveway that only one of us could park in, so I usually parked on the street in front of the house. The only problem was that our neighbors across the street frequently chose to park in my spot instead. Grrrrrrrr.
So, the first weekend in March, we moved into our new place, which is awesome! It is also in a neighborhood right across Olde Towne Road from the Premium Outlets. Since we can see Oceans & Ale from our kitchen window, we decided to head over for dinner to celebrate the move and some work accomplishments.
We only had to wait a few minutes for a table since it was a Tuesday night, but you should be prepared for a longer wait on the weekends. We started by looking over their beverage menu, and decided on 8 ounce pours of two of the selections from their Rotating Taps menu–Double Vibes Blackberry Sour for me and Clockwork Stout for Stephan. The Double Vibes was from Crooked Run Brewery in Sterling, VA and was incredible! It is a Berliner Weisse with double blackberry, vanilla, and milk sugar. It was thick and sweet, and I REALLY wish I had gone for the larger size! The Clockwork Imperial Stout was from Commonwealth Brewing in Virginia Beach, and Stephan loved it. I smelled it, but didn’t try it because stouts make me want to shave my tongue (I don’t do coffee).
We then moved on to the task of trying to narrow down what we wanted to eat! We stuck to a seafood theme and ordered Seafood Nachos, Seafood Mac, and Seafood Spring Rolls. Because we were sharing everything, we asked that all of it come out at the same time. We started with the nachos because the other two were insanely hot and we wanted to give them some time to cool down.
The nachos are made up of corn tortilla chips, lump crab, shrimp, lettuce, tomato, green onions, sour cream, hot sauce, and their awesome she-crab soup. We ate Every. Single. Bite. The soup didn’t make the nachos too soft–it added just enough flavor and moisture to each chip. We ordered the full size order, but would probably try the half order next time.
When we could safely try the spring rolls and the seafood mac, we found that they were just as good. The spring rolls were stuffed with shrimp, crab, vegetables, and mozzarella and were lightly fried and served with a tangy sauce. The flavor and texture were perfect–we will definitely get these again.
The mac n cheese was baked and served in a cast iron pan and was made up of macaroni, she-crab soup, lobster, crab, shrimp, scallops, and a three cheese sauce. It was delicious, but a little bit dry. A little more soup or a little more cheese sauce would have fixed it right up, but since we cleaned the pan, it obviously wasn’t too much of a problem!
About halfway through the food, we decided to get another round of drinks. We shared the Victory Brewing Sour Monkey and the Classic Mule. The Sour Monkey was awesome, but my taste buds and my heart had been stolen by the Double Vibes already! The mule was made with Absolut Citron, ginger beer, and lime and was a lovely take on a classic. One or two of those on a hot day, sitting on the patio would be lovely!
For dessert, we split the Creme Brulee Cheesecake. It was light and creamy, with the classic burnt sugar topping that you’d find on Creme Brulee. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful meal, though I was surprised that we had room for it!
Since we live so close, we’ve already made plans to go back–next time we want to split the spring rolls again and get bowls of the she-crab soup. And beer. Definitely beer.
Oceans & Ale is open Sunday through Thursday from 11:30 am to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 11:30 am to 2 am. They’re located in the Premium Outlets at 5601-I Richmond Road, Williamsburg, VA 23188 and you can check out their menus at https://www.oceansandale.com/
Whether you’re a Williamsburg local or a visitor to our fair city, please check them out–they’re worth the trip!