Look What The Tide Brought In: Marlin and Rays

Name:  Marlin and Rays

Cuisines: Seafood

Payment: Cash, Visa, MasterCard

Alcohol:  Full Bar

Price: $

Address: 8051 Sudley Rd, Manassas, VA 20109

Hours of Operation:  Mon-Thu, Sun 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-12 a.m. 

Salt Says:

When I walked into the restaurant, I was reminded of a New England coastal restaurant. The atmosphere was clean, bright, and friendly and the staff was happy and cheerful.

I decided to order take out. I settled on the blackened chicken sandwich which was supposed to come with shoe string fries and a house salad. After waiting a short time at the bar for my order, the waitress came out with a huge paper bag, so I thought all was well. I carefully placed the food in the car and took off.  After I had traveled down the road a bit, I looked in the bag and the salad was missing.

After looking at the rest of the food I was disappointed. The food hadn't really moved around a lot since the waitress gave it to me, but yet it looked like it was haphazardly thrown together. The sandwich looked like someone was trying their hand at making a culinary Picasso. That being said, after getting over the shear unappetizing look of the food, it turned out to be OK.

The sandwich consisted of blackened chicken, coleslaw, cubed tomatoes and some type of dressing that tasted a lot like thousand island. The chicken was juicy and perfectly seasoned, but the coleslaw was typical. The dressing on top took away from the sandwich and made it too sweet. The best part of the meal for me was the fries. They were amazing. They were the best I've had in a long time.

I will definitely come back to Marlin and Rays, but next time I'll dine in. Hopefully the in-house presentation is better and they'll remember the salad. 

Pepper Says:

When I first saw Marlin and Rays, I thought, "I definitely need to try that place." From the outside decor, it was easy to tell what type of food was served. On top of that, it looked like a fun place to grab a bite. 

When I walked in, I sort of had to seat myself.  Well, since I didn’t have access to the dining chart, I went ahead and sat myself at the bar. The bartender came over a couple minutes after I arrived and right after she finished making the drink she was preparing.

For the main course, I ordered a pound of crab legs and mashed potatoes. When I took a look at the crab legs, I knew it was much less than a pound, but I didn’t feel like calling them out.  Evidently, there must have been a lot of ice on them when they “weighed” them. Hmph. 

The legs were not as hot as I had expected but were slightly warm, really. The meat was semi flaky and a little salty, but I like salt, so no harm done.  I think if the legs were hot, they would of tasted great.

So here's the deal with the side dish: First, they accidentally gave me macaroni and cheese instead of mashed potatoes. Once I got my potatoes, they were pretty good, but something was definitely missing. I don’t think they used any sort of cream in them.  So while they were well whipped, they were just a little less than great.

The atmosphere was laid back, as were the employees. The walls have sea-themed signs, and there are several TVs in the bar area. The place was also very clean as well it should be, the restaurant is fairly new.

The Sudley Road location is the only one in the entire state. The only other location is in Tennessee.

While I won’t go rushing back any time soon, I may give it another try.