The Cotton Exchange Tavern

My first impression was very positive. Nine medium-to-large shrimp, properly cooked, and a sherry cream sauce that was absolutely delicious on the first taste. I was genuinely excited as I started eating.

These shrimp had the color, texture, and flavor I’ve come to expect from the local catch, and the waitress confirmed it. They were delicious and generously portioned. Unfortunately, they also had their damn tails on, buried beneath a pool of rich cream sauce. I do not work here.

And that was only the beginning of the inconveniences.

The sauce was initially wonderful, with a pronounced richness and plenty of flavor. But as I continued eating, that same richness became increasingly overwhelming. I’m a sauce fiend (I’ve been known to lick a plate as a kid…or when nobody’s looking), and even I left plenty of it on my plate. There was simply too much of it, and what had been delicious in the first few bites eventually became cloying. It dominated the entire dish rather than complementing its components.

At the center of everything was a lightly fried yellow grit cake. The menu promised stone-ground grits, but the cake itself was odd. It had a crumbly, almost cake-like consistency, as though someone had taken the term grit cake literally and added flour and egg to grits before frying them. I’m not suggesting that’s how it was made, but that’s certainly the impression it gave. It had that vaguely store-bought quality, without the creaminess or pronounced corn flavor that make a good serving of grits so satisfying.

And then there’s the construction. The cake actually retained a tiny bit of crispiness despite being hidden beneath all that sauce, at least at first. But you simply cannot fry something until it’s crispy, douse it in sauce, and expect that crispiness to survive. It’s a fundamental problem with grit cakes that I don’t think enough preparations take into account. Whatever texture the frying accomplished was sacrificed the moment the dish was assembled.

There was one particularly wonderful supporting ingredient: the roasted red pepper strips. They were perfectly prepared, offering just enough sweetness and relief from the heavy cream sauce without competing for attention. They played the perfect minor part, and I liked them so much that I think roasted red peppers belong in all my cream-based shrimp recipes.

Unfortunately, I also pulled a couple of inedible outer onion skins from my mouth. Between those and the shrimp tails I had to excavate from the sauce, I couldn’t tell whether I was spending more time eating dinner or doing prep work in the kitchen.

What disappoints me most is how promising this dish was at the beginning. I loved the first taste of the sauce, was impressed by the number and quality of the shrimp, and genuinely expected a great meal. But the longer I ate, the more problems I uncovered. The sauce became overwhelming, the grit cake offered little satisfaction, and the unnecessary inconveniences kept accumulating.

I initially considered a B-minus, bordering on a C. But thinking about it afterward, I realized I wouldn’t order this dish again. I’d choose something else. They have a good menu here. On the shrimp and grits, I have more complaints than compliments, and that’s difficult to reconcile with a dish that made such a good first impression.

Final grade: C. Excellent local shrimp, wonderful roasted peppers, and a promising sauce undermined by poor balance, disappointing grits, and careless execution.