When you’re a seafood institution like Phillips — especially one in a destination like Atlantic City — you are pretty much in the school of, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
You are not going to get cutting-edge, super-innovative seafood dishes, but you can always go somewhere else for that. Here, you get classic, picture-perfect seafood dishes featuring staples from clam chowder and shrimp cocktails to crab cakes and lobster, all of which fit perfectly with the classic Atlantic City casino and boardwalk experience everybody knows and loves.
Ever since Revel shut its doors, the best view of the ocean and boardwalk from above shifted back to the panoramic view from the dining room at Phillips.
And the food matches the décor and vibe of the space perfectly. The Phillips’ signature salad ($9) is flawless. The crab-stuffed mushrooms ($15) and clams casino ($11) are too well-rehearsed, popular and polished to be anything less than everything you would want and imagine them to be. The ultimate crab cake ($44) is all killer and no filler, just a succulent and massive ball of crabmeat fried just lightly enough to retain the feel that the meat is fresh from the ocean. The crab mac and cheese ($8) strikes the right balance of fluid richness and creaminess.
A lot of restaurants are trying to offer the hippest and most innovative seafood experiences in Atlantic City, and some of them are pretty good at it. But if you want that timeless classic seafood meal that generation after generation has enjoyed in this iconic city, the place to visit was, and still is, Phillips.