Cantwell's Tavern

Went on a recent Tue night, which is oyster night, had the raw oysters ($1 each on Tue!!) which were very good, and an order of Pepperjack Bites, good, but paltry portion, 5 marshmallow sized pieces for $8! My wife had the Veggie Tapas ($17) which she rated very good, son had Ahi Tuna Salad ($14), also very good and it was a BIG salad. Mom had the Pan Roasted Chicken ($19) which was excellent, and I had the Oyster Po' Boy ($11, biggest bargain of the night!)  which was also very good, with 6 nice plump oysters and the reddest, ripest tomato I've ever eaten, as well as wonderful homemade spicy pickles, which I believe they make into a condiment for the raw oysters as well.......yummy! Even the cocktail sauce served with the raw oysters tasted freshly made and had a wonderful zing to it!
I also got a side of potato salad with the po' boy which, honestly, was the best potato salad I've ever eaten (other than my mom's!!), just incredible!
Great beers on tap, and they have nightly specials which make them very reasonable. We had Stone Ruination and Trois Pistoles on tap, amongst others.
Table only got 1 dessert, on the small side but delicious.....again, overpriced at I believe $8.
Tab for 4 was right near $100, 2 apps, 4 drinks, 4 entrees, 1 dessert.....not too bad for something that was a little more "special".
Service from Ian was excellent, not overbearing, sincerely friendly and attentive.
The restaurant is a wonderful, old building, nicely restored but not pristine, which adds to it's charm. Noise level was average, room was mostly full when we left and the din was not too bad.
I had mediocre expectations going here, as the owner's other restaurants leave something to be desired, but my doubts were happily dispelled......obviously they have a great team at Cantwell's and maybe some of what they have accomplished here will be applied to his other establishments!

Luckily, in the small town of Odessa, Delaware, there weren't too many people in this little town tavern, being a Thursday around 3pm.  

The town's original name was Cantwell's Bridge, which lends its name to the tavern we ate at- Cantwell's Tavern. It's almost instantly what I would have thought of in the taverns of Game of Thrones, slender body, no specific outward appearances, and people used to sleep above the tavern. I imagined loads of drunkards hissing at the barwomen, and the owner being a large woman with a sharp tongue who gives no free rides.

And so we went inside. I ordered a Magic Hat #9, remembering something about it from my time in Minnesota. And it didn't let down. It was a good beer. My tendency is to try to order something I can't always get, and growing up in the West, Maryland crab isn't something I'm used to, though it's plentiful here.

Nonetheless, I ordered the soup, which was so much more hearty that I ever expected. And suspected it was homemade, down to the tomatoes being picked from the garden outside. It had a slight spice to it, and delicious. There was very little broth to dip the bread crisps into, but I just piled on the carrots and tomatoes and crab meat on top and used it for a spoon. If this had come in a sourdough bowl, or just a bigger bowl, this would've been my dinner, as it was just.so.good.

That, and my next piece of food was pretty boring.

It was an appetizer, a flat bread, hummus, mozzarella cheese, and sliced cucumbers. Don't order this, or any type of flat bread that has stuff on it. Flat bread is good by itself, and should be kept that way. Do not ask me why I would order this, because I do not know. Perhaps I was happy with my ordering of the Magic Hat #9, the Maryland crab soup... Perhaps I was just happy in general, and therefore...blinded? It wasn't terrible. It wasn't good, either. It was warm hummus under cheese. Eventually, I just pulled the cheese off the bread. And snuck pieces from the man sitting next to me...because he ordered something I was actually jealous of.

Fish and chips! Or fries? Fries with skin! Fish fried in a melt-in-your-mouth batter. I don't normally like cod, but I loved this cod. It was so fresh, the batter was so clean and thin and crisp, the fries deliciously warm and smushy. Yes, smushy. Mr. V ordered an extra side of friedly friedness, so we all got to munch on those. The cod was not overcooked, but still juicy and steaming, this is quite honestly the way fried fish should taste. I wanted to eat his whole plate, as jealous as I was over his lunch choice. And it was so much better with my beer choice, too, than his iced tea.

This place is really the only place in town, aside from knocking on a door and asking for lunch, Game of Thrones style. Cantwell's Tavern has the "old world feel" to it, so it's worth a stop.

We come here Fri nites for happy hour and dinner. The bartenders - Willy, Zack and Mel - are fantastic. We usually get raw oysters - $1 each on Fri - and they have always been fresh and succulent. Highly recommend this place to others. Do wish they would change their menu more often.