Coastal Flats (VA - Fairfax)

I grabbed lunch this afternoon at Coastal Flats (11901 Grand Commons Ave, Fairfax, VA). This massive, several hundred seat, booths only restaurant is very much in the style of Macaroni Grill and the other "big box" dinning halls that punctuate the suburban landscape.

Much to my surprise, the service was attentive and well informed, the menu was creative and the food was very good. I ordered a hickory grilled salmon - rare - which was served over a coarse grain mustard sauce and alongside a bed of light, airy "cauliflower mash." The salmon was exactly as I had ordered it - crispy on the outside and rare (nearly raw) on the inside - and full of hickory smoke flavor. The delicate mustard sauce was a terrific compliment to the salmon - not at all the heavy cream concoctions that many places smother their fish in to mask inferior quality.

At around $15 an entree, I think it is reasonable priced (i.e. not a bargain, but certainly not a splurge either). I also loved the bread. They serve a mix of sour dough, raisin and jalapeno cheese bread alongside some sinful southern "fry bread." Delicious.

Two cautionary notes: 1) it can get very loud in the dining room, so this might not be the ideal place for a quiet business lunch and 2) Coastal flats is very popular, so it may be tough to get a table - the place was packed at 1:00 on the Tuesday after July 4.