Gilligan's Restaurant, Lewes, DE

Gilligan’s Restaurant is located in Lewes, DE in the historic district on the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal. The restaurant faces the water and the boats moving past provide an interesting distraction from the fine food and presentation. It is not hard to notice that the deck, for alfresco dining, was spotless, as was the inside of the restaurant and bar; the bathrooms were equally clean and sparkling. We have found a coincidence between exceptionally clean and well maintained restaurants and the quality of the food served. Here, again the coincidence became a relationship. As we had our dog (the server brought fido a water bowl chilled with ice, just right for a warm summer day) with us we sat out on the deck overlooking the boat traffic on the Canal. The menu is limited attesting to their focus on quality rather than diversity. Although the usual fare of burgers, etc was on the menu we choose, since we are on the Eastern Shore Cape Region, seafood items. Here is a synopsis of our lunch: called ‘seafood stew’ by our server, and not on the menu, it was more like a chowder, creamy and full of dolphin and salmon, the cream sauce was barely spiced allowing the full flavor of the dolphin and salmon to delight the palate; my wife ordered the crab cake without the bun substituting a light garden salad accompanied by thick fried potato chips. A surprise when served as to the large size of the crab cake which was in the form of a ball that had been flash fried, the crab cake was all lump crab with some shredded crab used to hold it all together as there was no filler nor binder evident. The flash frying added a thin crisp tasty outer layer (they must be using high quality oil) that was neither greasy nor oily and therefore not detracting from the flavor of the crab itself. The different take on their tartar sauce was a limited amount of relish thus pairing well as a primarily mayonnaise sauce to the solid lump crab cake. Deciding on the scallops was a likely choice and I was not disappointed. The scallop presentation was a cream sauce lemon infused base covered with rice pilaf, topped with asparagus and blackened scallops. Again, the combination of the lemon infused cream sauce which awakened the tongue helped add flavor to a neutral rice pilaf and allow the scallops to exert their own flavor. Service was provided by the prep school/college crowd earning money before returning to academia in the fall and well trained to be attentive but unobtrusive.
After lunch take a stroll along the boardwalk by the marina to the Park (Lewes Maritime History Trail) to the Lightship Overfalls and US Life Saving Station museum along the Canal side of the historic district.

The Takeaway: a great lunch location in Lewes Historic District on the Canal that serves consistently good food (dislike using the word ‘exceptional’; either the food is good or it is not) properly presented. Exceptionally clean and dog friendly. Attentive but not overbearing service enhanced our luncheon experience. After lunch take a short stroll and explore the waterfront Park, the Lifesaving Station and the Lightship. Enjoyed lunch August 2019. See www.rickpicks.com for other reviews, critiques and essays.