UPPER PROVIDENCE - When a restaurant specializes in shrimp salad and
hot sandwiches on a steak roll, you expect a low-key setting and perhaps
even a sign stating a "sleeves required" dress code.
Campbell's Boat House has that and more. Specifically, it has a no-frills
menu that runs the gamut from open-faced turkey sandwiches and tuna
salad platters to a $7.50 shrimp cocktail and an $18.99 prime rib
that includes two sides and choice of soup or salad.
Campbell's also has the kind of genuine environment that practically
shouts, in a friendly way, family-run landmark. It not only has been
run by the Campbell family for 32 years - and continually updated
and maintained by the third generation - but it also features a quirky
setting that seems to be rapidly vanishing from the local restaurant
scene.
From the moment you enter and notice the restaurant's centerpiece
- a 58-foot fishing boat that doubles as a bar - you can't help but
feel you have entered vacation land. Put another way, Campbell's has
the welcome air of a waterfront dive without the seediness and stale
beer. It's well-maintained and spotless, and its decor, complete with
prized fish and nautical memorabilia, was obviously accumulated and
not the result of corporate ingenuity.
The restaurant dates to 1967, when it was known as The Boat House.
In 1972, the owner sold it to the Campbell family, whose three sons,
Bob, Jack and Jimmy, were working next door, pumping gas at an Arco
gas station. Jan Campbell Dreger, whose father, Bob Campbell, is one
of the original owners, said that certain geographic comparisons are
not uncommon. "People are always saying that it reminds them
of being at the Shore," Dreger said. The boat is complete with
a wide-screen TV tucked into the former windows of the pilothouse
and a fish tank that plays a role in the restaurant's family-friendly
atmosphere. (It's part of the |
|
restaurant's
table games, including a handout called "Take The Boat House
Quiz!" that asks children to identify some of the fish). At one
point, the kitchen was in the pilothouse, where food was limited to
chili and hot sandwiches served on paper plates, Dreger said.
Campbell's has dropped the paper and plastic. But this is still the
place where informality intersects with; pardon the pun, a tight-ship
mentality.
My visit was on an early Thursday evening before the dinner hour was
in full swing. But that seemed to make little difference in the service
or in the quality of the food. In other words, the kitchen was fully
awake, turning out platters of fried shrimp and crabcakes with full-house
speed. It reminded me of the efficient but friendly service designed
to get you in and quickly outdoors, where you can enjoy the weather.
Just like eateries at the Shore, the menu features the usual surf-and-turf
and pasta seafood dishes. The portions are large, and simple dishes
are best, such as the shrimp salad and "Jeannie's" spicy
chili, created by longtime cook Jean Belgrave.
Dreger credits Belgrave for the restaurant's success, partly because
of her homemade desserts and her 25 soup recipes, which include deliciously
spicy lobster bisque that is not too heavy on the sherry. For dessert,
I found the rice pudding to be a delicate mixture of rice and cinnamon.
The plain cheesecake was another good candidate for a just-right ending
to a homey meal that included the requisite baked potato with a pat
of butter.
The regulars know to ask for the chocolate-covered pretzels, made
by a local bakery, Dreger said. Those who don't know the place have
one question: Is that a real boat? Answer: It's a replica of a now-rare
Chesapeake Bay "Buy" Boat, known as the "tractor-trailer"
of the Bay because of its ability to bypass other freighters.
|
|