Stingray
Over the past decade, a sleepy Delmarva restaurant scene devoted to coastal dining classics has become, in some ways, a resort-style melting pot of various cuisines, anchored largely, but not entirely, in Rehoboth Beach, where you can find high-end, white tablecloth cooking nestled next to a pizza and hot dog joint around the corner from a gastro pub. Enter Stingray, which for years, has delivered Pan-Asian food in a dimly lit, cavernous venue that presents a maze of tables that are sometimes difficult to navigate through the various dimly-lit dining alcoves. Anyone who’s visited a hyper-trendy restaurant, which Stingray purports to be, knows the seating path can go two ways; not being instafamous or presentable enough, you could be led to a forgotten corner with a disinterested server, or, if you pass the initial eye test, you could be nestled in the middle of the action, surrounded by an active kitchen and even more active sushi bar. Sometimes, Stingray doesn’t seem like it’s in the hospitality business; Stingray instead feels like its in the attitude business.
Stingray’s owner, Big Fish Restaurant Group, aims to greet everyone equally, if not slowly during the sometimes-painful wait, and most are treated by knowledgeable and effervescent servers. The menu is vast, with so many fun-sounding dishes that newbies often turn to their server for a recommendation. Sharing plates of sushi rolls, dim sum, ramen, fried rice, and tempura dishes is the usual path; indeed, ordering is perhaps the most stressful part of the evening because the choices are vast – which country should you sample: Japan, Thailand, Mongolia, China . . . you get the picture, and the sometimes-bland taste. Sushi is usually fresh and a standout, and so is the dim sum. You could make a meal only from the small plates, and many do, even while eying so many noodle dishes. Stingray is not a sushi, noodle, dim sum, Korean BBQ, or ramen restaurant, it is all of them in one place, on one menu, and most of it pleasing, if not largely pedestrian. With a menu this vast, nothing is spectacular, but everything satisfies, and so does the fun, because like many of its big-city brethren, Stingray aims to be a trendy, social climbing place attracting what passes for the young and adventurous in Delmarva, and while the kitchen is sometimes uneven, it is worth your visit, even if there is no massive Buddha greeting you upon arrival.
