East River Fish That Won't Kill You

Deciding where to eat along River Street in Savannah shouldn't be as difficult as it is. Save one random Greek restaurant, the fare here is simple: seafood, seafood and more seafood.

After a long day of walking around in 92 degree heat, we settled on The Shrimp Factory on East River St. Across the water from the Westin and convention center, The Shrimp Factory could use a makeover. Walls that seem to have been mortared in far apart stages and a muskiness that takes away from what should be the smell of fresh seafood frame the slightly pricey restaurant's atmosphere.

The food, however, was mostly on the mark. All entrees are served with warm and crispy sourdough bread and the place's spin on Caesar salad. I can't say for certain if The Shrimp Factory is jumping on the flavored butter bandwagon or if it's been a staple there long before the trend, but their cheese-infused butter option served with the sourdough is tasty yet a bit unrefined. Like a lighter, more whipped version of the random cheese spreads a far removed family member might include in a Christmas food arrangement, the butter was pleasant but could have benefited from something bold like chives or been improved by a cheese more nuanced than cheddar.

The Caesar was high-calorie salad perfection. Like any good Southern restaurant, The Shrimp Box refuses to lighten up its dressing, instead opting to sprinkle actual bits of bacon (not that imitation stuff) throughout the salad. Tossed tableside by our server, the greens were well balanced between romaine lettuce, bacon, radish and carrot shreds, and the amount of dressing was precisely enough.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

We decided on the oddly named seafood strudel for an appetizer. Far more like spanikopita than anything you'd find in a bakery, the dish's phyllo was oily for my taste, and the lone shrimp (and we're talking shrimpy shrimp) in each triangle was a little bit like a joke. Yummy regardless, the spinach was bright and the sauce lemony without overpowering the meal.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

Not interested in doing anything too low country two nights in a row, I opted for a dish with crab. If only based on what I've seen in the gift shops here, it seems these people take their crabs as seriously as the Marylanders closer to my home. The baked stuffed flounder comes with two flounder filets enveloping a tasty and distinctly Savannah-style crab meat, denser than what you'll find around the Chesapeake and with a spicy (dare I say more interesting or actually better?) touch. I'll leave that war for the purists to fight, but my vote is for Savannah.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

The fish half of the dish was fresh and delicious, but I think the full conception of the plate is a little unfinished. Served atop a bed of angel hair pasta and topped with randomly placed scallop cream (think bay-flavored New England chowder), the dish as a whole is boringly monochrome, and it's a little hard to figure out what to do with the cream. Far chunkier than an alfredo-style sauce, the dish requires a descent amount of mixing for the pasta to taste like anything. While the meal as a whole seemed a little disjointed, if I had to pick half of a dish to shine while the other half floundered (awful pun, I know), I'd prefer the lacking half to be just a bunch of dollar pasta. On the river, the fish is what matters, and that made the meal worth it.