The Admiral - Boonsboro, Maryland

Tawnya H.

The food was good, the service was good, the atmosphere was nice, it was okay. I've eaten in lots of great restaurants- I feel like I'm giving this review a fair shake. What could have been great food was meh. I might eat here again, and would stick to appetizers, drinks and salads. And dessert!!

Rebecca A.

I'm going a bit against the grain with our review. My husband and I ate here last night, and after some consideration of our review, we likely won't return, but we're glad we tried it out. I heard of the Admiral when someone on a Facebook group recently was requesting nice dinner locations, and someone recommended The Admiral. I added it to my list of restaurants to try because I'm always looking for new restaurants that are nice/fine dining. For starters, the caption "Finer dining" should be noted, because this location is essentially a bar with tablecloths; we noted that most individuals coming in were in casual clothes (some in sweat pants and cargos), which wasn't quite the environment I was hoping for on a fancier date night out.

Our service was good: the hostess was very friendly upon our arrival; our server was pleasant; the bussers were attentive and polite; food came out in a mostly adequate time frame.

My husband had a bar drink, and I ordered a blueberry mocktail. We both enjoyed our drinks, though, I was kind of surprised a mocktail was pretty much the same cost as a cocktail, considering I've gotten mocktails recently other places that weren't $12 - seems a little steep for a soda with syrup and a few fruit garnishes.

The food itself was really not much to write home about. I'm perfectly okay with paying $40 for a fine meal and am originally from central Maryland, so no stranger to quality seafood dishes, but overall, my husband and I were a bit less than satisfied here. My husband started with a French onion soup, which had a great flavor but it was basically a cup of cheese with some broth (it was VERY cheesy). He also had the crab cakes, which he enjoyed and said were mostly crab meat without much filler, so that was good, though they were just slightly smaller than expected. I had the rockfish with crab imperial; unfortunately, the fish I had was ~50% brown with some red, so, while generally brown spots are not inedible, I was not comfortable eating most of my fish; the white flesh tasted fine, but wasn't excellent. The crab imperial was very good tasting, though slightly cold.

To say I was disappointed for a $37 plate is an understatement. We were also surprised that there was no bread served as we first sat down or any other opening dish (which is still pretty common in fine dining and most restaurants). We also probably should have inferred there were no sides accompanied with the entrées when the menu did not list any, but we assumed most places even still have some type of small vegetable side (e.g., 2 asparagus stalks with a tablespoon of whipped potatoes, etc). The sides are 'shareables' only, so it really seems to be a family style seafood restaurant.

The turtle cheesecake, however, was fantastic. It was a great ending to our visit. This is definitely something we can recommend.

Unfortunately, not knowing how to approach the menu a little better (i.e., getting sides to help fill us up), we still went home and had to eat again because entrees alone weren't very filling, yet we still had a >$100 bill.

TLDR: Overall, service was pleasant; food was adequate but not spectacular and did not impress us at the prices of the menu. We can't recommend this restaurant with the current style layout (no starting bread, sides are all sold separately as shared dishes, etc).

Katie S.

Worth every penny and the drive, living in historic Frederick, MD. The crab cakes were the best I've had in many years. All lump meat, no filler. The crab and lobster deviled eggs were delicious. Spritz some lemon on them for an elevated flavor profile. You won't be disappointed.

The meal was paced beautifully. Owner and chef came out to greet us and ensure our meal was top notch. Martinis were made perfectly. I recommend the pomegranate.

Creme brulee was amazing. Save room for dessert.

Five-star experience in the small town of Boonsboro. I've worked for a multiple Michelin star chef and have many years of experience with fine dining, domestically, and abroad. Come with small town expectations, and you should be more than satisfied.

A must try!

James R.

The Admiral has just opened in Boonsboro. It's nice to have another restaurant in town. The food was good, the service was excellent and the atmosphere was pleasant. In my opinion the prices were a bit high for Boonsboro but the experience was good.

William S.

My Wife and I have eaten at Dan's and enjoyed every visit. We did not know about the Admiral until we got there. We decided to try it but as we walked in we should have figured something out as we were the only customers in the dining room. Several people were at the bar. One look at the menu and again we should have politely gotten up and left. They seem to be trying to be something they know very little about (a fine dining establishment). No bread, no sides included with the very unimpressive entrees. I had the duck my wife had the scallops. The duck was barely warm and mostly fat. Everything was very overpriced. We most assuredly will not return to the Admiral. (Neither should you!) If you are just two people you will feel better if you just give a homeless person the $100+ dollars you will resent paying at the Admiral.

Tandi D.

My husband and I went to the Admiral last night and we had the Valentine special. It was a four course meal and food was excellent!! The service was exceptional and everyone was so nice and professional. We started with a drink at the bar and the cocktails were great. We then went to our table for dinner. My husband had the French onion soup and it was delicious and the steak and it was cooked perfectly and so delicious. I started with the Shrimp cocktail which came with 5 very large shrimp and were great! I had the house salad and it was fresh and came out right after our appetizers!! My lobster tail was huge and fabulous !! I could not finish it and my husband was very happy about that lol!! We ended with the turtle cheesecake and it was beyond yummy!! I am so happy to have this excellent restaurant so close to where I live and cannot wait for my next visit!!

Jessica

What a gem!!! We have had three amazing experiences at The Admiral! The food is simply AMAZING!! We've tried the filet (cooked perfectly), ribeye (soooo tender and full of flavor), crab cake (super lump with amazing flavor), cream of crab soup, scallops, lobster mac and cheese (one of my favorite menu items), and more! It was all DELICIOUS! The drinks and service were just as good! This is our new favorite spot!! You can definitely tell the owners pour their all into their restaurant!!

Brian E.

We tried this restaurant for the first time this evening. We shared the delicious crab soup. Our meals were excellent. I had the Rockfish with yummy crab, risotto and asparagus. And, my partner had the filet. Both were presented nicely and cooked to our liking.