By Carter Stokes

After my outing to the soul food restaurant, Croaker’s Spot, I felt nothing but dejection.

On a recent Wednesday night, I decided to revisit a Richmond soul food staple in the Manchester area: Croaker’s Spot. I had eaten there in spring of 2016 with my parents and enjoyed it, as I do when it comes to most fried food. I wanted to revisit the restaurant with the more diverse palette that I have since developed, this time with the company of my grandmother, Susan Grammar, who is the family’s esteemed Southern comfort food cook. Because of my grandmother’s experience in this realm of food, combined with her honesty, I figured she could provide an unvarnished perspective of the restaurant.

The first obstacle I encountered during my visit to Croaker’s Spot was the obvious parking issues that come about during rush hour on the south side. However, I was not fazed and was certain that the quality of food I was about to consume would more than make up for challenges of parking an SUV in rapidly changing Manchester. Once inside, my grandmother, my mother Caroline Stokes, and I were met with excellent service from our kind-hearted waitress and were quickly seated. My grandmother and mother enjoyed the house chardonnay, providing a fine start to the meal.

My grandmother and I both decided on the three-piece Eggleston’s Fish Boat, and my mother ordered the Shrimp Sampler. We received the food in a courteous amount of time from our waitress and proceeded to initiate our feast.

Upon arrival, the meals certainly passed the eye test. The Fish Boat consisted of whole, skin-on catfish filets, with a grand serving of scalloped potatoes and a brick of cornbread. My mother’s Shrimp Sampler was made up of a central trough of shrimp scampi, with fried butterfly shrimp on one flank and Buffalo shrimp on the other, which she enjoyed, even though she claimed it was slightly overcooked. 

I started with the catfish, which flaked apart nicely. However, my first quarrel with the fish was that the skin was more wet than crispy, making it hard to tear apart. Secondly, upon eating the fish, I could hardly pick up on the slightest taste of seasoning, which I must say is the most disappointing aspect of the meal, as soul food is renowned for the depth of flavor within its various seasonings. The fish itself, despite its firm and flaky texture, was oily and tasted oily and unpleasant, but the house-made tartar sauce helped salvage it. I also found the fish boat, which was around 20 dollars, to be expensive for such a simple dish, whether it tastes good or not.

My grandmother concurred with me that the fish was indeed bland, affirming my sense that my palette has matured. However, one positive aspect of the fish was that it contained hardly any pin bones. This is a rarity for whole fish filets.

In spite of the poor fish, the accoutrements I had not yet eaten left me optimistic. However, any last hope was quickly dashed when I began to eat the dry, semi-stale cornbread, often regarded as the staple side of the restaurant. I was beginning to feel even more negative about my meal, but alas, there were still potatoes to be eaten. I loaded my spoon with the buttery and well-seasoned starch, but they were overpowered with a watery, potato flavor that acted as the final crushing blow during my experience at Croaker’s Spot.

I would not recommend Croaker’s Spot to anyone who has grown up with any semblance of Southern homestyle cooking or anyone who considers themselves a fish connoisseur, as they will be sorely disappointed at the expense of their pocketbook.

All photos by Carter Stokes.