Aqua's Restaurant At Sunset
I love having a summer dinner at Aqua’s at sunset, it’s as magical as an old Cole Porter tune. On a balmy summer’s eve , at a table on the deck, savoring the de-licious food as the glowing sun nears the horizon truly is De-Lovely. Aqua’s, located right on the Chesapeake Bay at the southern tip of the Shore in Cape Charles, is one of a number of waterfront restaurants on the Eastern Shore of Virginia including the very casual Pelican Pub right on the beach near Townsend, Island House in Watchapreague, Stella’s at Willis Wharf, Wright’s near Atlantic and Mallard’s in Onancock , to name a few, but it is my very favorite. And it seems like my food tastes better accompanied by “watching”– watching the sailboats drift by, observing the seabirds, ready for their dinner too, swooping down to catch it, seeing a couple of kayakers leisurely paddle towards the shore and, as the twilight fades, seeing the glow and twinklings in reds and greens of the channel markers out in the Bay , calling boaters home for the night.
The other fun componant of dinner at Aqua’s is that you invariably run into several people you know and it’s fun to catch up on the news with friends we may not have seem in a while. I especially enjoy running into my real estate customers and clients and hearing about how they are enjoying their new lives on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. ( The Shore is a small and friendly area, it’s easy to get to know people. As a realtor, I meet a lot of people and it seems like whenever I’m at the grocery store, etc. I’m always bumping into someone I know, which is quite pleasant.)
It goes without saying that the food is delicious. Although I don’t agree, my husband and youngest son both claim that I am very picky in restaurants. But what they call “picky” I call an expectation of “getting it right” and at Aqua’s they really do get it right almost every time. My husband is very fond of the appetizer they call “crab lollipops” which are served with an excellent chipolte aioli. Because I don’t often prepare fish at home, he usually selects the seared tuna, the blackened mahi-mahi or the mixed seafood grill for his entree. I always peruse the entire menu, consider various selections carefully and then, since I seldom deep fry at home either, usually select the fried jumbo shrimp. They come dressed in a feather light batter, sweet and succulent, accompanied by a delicious coconut jasmine rice. Although we usually don’t order dessert, every once in a while we will indulge in the smooth and creamy chocolate chip cheesecake, a house specialty, which is indeed quite special. Aqua bills itself as “concentrating on fresh regional cuisine” and as a restaurant “you’ll want to come back to over and over again.” We agree completely. For a delicious meal at sunset, no place is more De-lightful, De-licious or De-Lovely than Aqua’s.