Mallards At The Wharf

3.5 stars.

Stumbled upon this restaurant on a Friday night after a suggestion to check out the quaint town of Onancock during a drive through the VA Eastern Shore.  Sweet local restaurant by the water and you have the option of sitting at the bar, indoors in the dining room, or outdoors on the patio.  Arrived just after sundown and it was a chillier evening so we opted to sit inside.  Ordered a cup of Eastern Shore crab soup (tomato broth-based) as a starter, the crab cake sammie (nice size with lots of crab meat), and the grouper with vegetable quinoa.  Everything was tasty but not memorable for me; my favorite was the soup (hearty, rich, flavorful).  I expected more seafood options but they only serve their lunch menus all day on Sundays and Mondays so options were more limited.

Service was very friendly and professional.  I can definitely see why this is a popular local spot due to the lively outdoor patio.  Next time I return, I'd like to sit outside to enjoy the views, water, and ambiance.

Go there for the ambiance and the view, not for the food or their beer.
Onancock is one of the hidden beauties of the eastern shore of Virginia, and I was looking forward to visiting there.  Asking the locals, I was told that Mallards was decent, and they are probably correct.  What turned me down that once I was seated (outside) people sat down at the the table upwind from me and proceeded to ask for an ashtray.  I other words my enjoyment of my drinks and food were ruined by second hand smoke.  The beer choice was very limited as was the food choice.  The crab cake was nice, but it was thrown onto a dry role that had absolutely nothing else on it.  Far to often things are OD-ed with dressing, so this is not really horrible but some minor coating of my bread would have been appreciated.  The crab cake had a good amount of crab in it with little filling.  The cole slaw was about a table spoon full and yes it was fairly expensive.  Again great views, but second hand smoke, yuck.

Great Location, beautiful views, and friendly staff. It is a shame that no local beers on tap. But the food was above-average. Crabcake sandwich was very good as well as the Fish taco.