Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 4, 1990 TAG: 9004030267
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Dolores Kostelni
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
At Coach and Four, an oversized and ragged dinner menu opens to an extensive listing of 75 dishes with names so familiar they are like old friends who have withstood today's complicated collisions on the global dinnerplate. Beef kabob flambe ($10.95) is here, and so are imperial crab meat ($10.95) and Delmonico steak ($9.95).
Clear and concise explanations are provided under each dish so there are no mysteries. The Man's Meal - "generous portion of roast prime ribs served with a delicious lobster tail" ($19.95) - comes to the table exactly as described and to the requested degree of doneness.
In my midweek visits to the Coach and Four, I found its quality and portions remarkably consistent. But on a recent Saturday night, when the place was packed, portion size varied. For example, two of my companions ordered the Coach and Four special, "white meat of chicken, shrimp, scallops, marinated and served with lemon and butter over rice pilaf" ($14.95). But their plates arrived with with different quantities of the components.
During the week, a side-dish of corn came with every dinner, even those that included potatoes or rice. On Saturday night, the only vegetable offered was some form of potato, and that was included with every meal, even those with rice.
Lack of attention to details also permeates other areas. At the bar, a Martini made with the harsh-tasting house gin, London Tower, was returned three times with the original request for Beefeaters. A whiskey sour ordered sour and without fruit came - you guessed it.
Starters to entice the palate, yet leave room for an entree, are shrimp scampette ($3.95), a trio of shrimp swimming in butter with a hint of fresh garlic; sauteed mushrooms ($2.95), mounded and uniformly cooked; the jumbo shrimp cocktail ($5.75), usually four, sometimes five, with cocktail sauce; and an assorted cheese plate ($1.95), for those who like to nibble.
Although the Coach and Four salad - a giveaway with every entree - is a pleasant affair that you gussy up yourself from an assortment of garnishes, I prefer their Greek salad ($4.95) in its place. This is a commendable combination of crisp lettuce, cucumber slices, green pepper chunks, a few anchovy strips, transparent rounds of red onion, several briny Kalamata olives, and a satisfying quantity of Feta cheese, all nicely swathed in an herb-infused, slightly vinegary dressing.
Under the array titled "International Dishes," I have enjoyed both the chicken brochette ($11.95) and the Coach and Four special. For the brochette, tender, marinated chunks of chicken breast are skewered with mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers and onions. After a low-key tableside flaming, the ingredients are deftly placed to the side of the rice pilaf. An accompanying chablis sauce is brought in a small vessel to be used as desired.
This is the usual treatment for sauces at Coach and Four, a reflection of the owners' philosophy of keeping everyone happy and coming back.
Another good entree, the perfect combination ($16.95), marries a perfectly broiled to medium doneness filet mignon with either shrimp or scallops.
I had raved to my dining companions about the Coach and Four's homemade baklava (95 cents), which on midweek visits I had found to be loaded with chopped nuts and just enough honey so that it wasn't sticky. But on Saturday night, it arrived tough as a hockey puck.
The brownie surprise ($2.25) is a thin, dark, chewy acre of chocolate temptation topped with a Mt. Everest of vanilla ice cream, its peak drenched in an avalanche of thick, bittersweet hot fudge sauce.
Lunch at Coach and Four can be hefty or light. There are appetizers and soups, sandwiches with a pile of french fries, hamburgers, omelettes, wonderful salads and 15 dinner-sized entrees, the latter priced under $10.
I had been told by friends not to miss the broiled filet of flounder ($6.95), and I didn't. Although the large plate was filled with a great deal of fish that was coated with too much paprika and that had been baked at a high temperature instead of broiled, I did enjoy it. The flavor was pleasant without being the least bit fishy. Side dishes of tossed salad, steamed yellow corn kernels, dark home fries and warm bread completed the meal.
Coach and Four is open for lunch only on Fridays and Sundays, but its loyal patrons fill the place.
Since last year, Coach and Four has been under the new ownership of two couples related by marriage. Wally Niccolls, the member of the group with almost 20 years of restaurant experience, acts as manager. Because the restaurant has been a longstanding favorite in the area, Niccolls said they "didn't want to change what people liked about the place."
Thus, only nightly specials vary. Both the chef - who has been cooking at Coach and Four for 10 years - and the menu are still the same.
Twenty-six wines from California, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy and Virginia present good choices at fair prices. Almanden is the house wine and a reasonable $1.75 a glass.
All in all, dining at Coach and Four is a pleasant treat. Like a clutch hitter, Coach and Four comes through with basically good food and good value.
COACH AND FOUR RESTAURANT 5206 Williamson Road 362-4220 Hours: Lunch - Friday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; dinner - Tuesday through Sunday, 3 p.m.-11 p.m. Prices: Lunch - $3.75-$8.95; dinner - $5.75-$36.95 Credit cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa Beverages: Full-service bar. Non-smoking area? No. Accessible to handicapped? No
by CNB