While looking for an interesting new restaurant to try, my husband and I decided to try River City Diner based on a newspaper article which featured the positive visit by a local food critic. We found parking easy, the location next to the Farmer's Market and Main Street Station were a real plus, and the owner had done a great job renovating the space and decorating in an appropriate theme for the area. We enjoyed seeing familiar signs of old Richmond. We both ordered breakfast. For him, the crabcake and two eggs over light. For me, the 3-egg seafood omelet featuring Chesapeake Bay blue crab. My husband and I eat fresh crabmeat frequently, buying it right off the boat on the Eastern Shore at times. We are both good cooks and love fresh CB blue crab. I was enticed by the sound of the omelet and he the crabcake, but we were both very disappointed. For starters, what was used was not blue crabmeat. We were familiar with what the cook used: canned claw meat from either Taiwan or the Philippines. It is inferior, cheaper, and nearly tasteless. It doesn't even come close to being a substitute for the ""real"" thing that we native Virginians know and love. We ordered meals with crabmeat because we thought we would be getting crabmeat. They can get away with using canned claw meat on anything except the omelet. It is listed on the menu as Chesapeake Bay blue crab, and it definitely was NOT. Shame on you River City. Thirty one dollars is lot to pay for five eggs and a small pile of cheap canned crab claw meat. I will come back and try other dishes to be fair about the rest of the food, but it will not be seafood of any kind. The service was very good until time to settle the check. We had to bring it to a smoke filled bar and wait for the cashier to get off the phone. I wish my first impression had been different. We will try again.
Pros: Much needed restaurant in that part of town
Cons: FRESH crabmeat please
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