Does the term mixed bag sum up my thoughts about this restaurant? It did for me . . . that was, until last weekend.
In the past I’ve thoroughly enjoyed their salads. Beyond enjoyed – it became a salad destination for me. My favorite was mixed greens topped with asparagus, chopped artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, and a vinaigrette dressing so flavorful it begged to be soaked up by the crusty French bread at the table. Then I discovered their goat cheese, mandarin orange, granny smith apple and walnut covered salad with a lemon vinaigrette that didn’t just wake up the taste buds – it got them standing at attention and cheering.
Another of my favorites has been their lobster corn chowder. While shy on the lobster, the sweet corn flavor, chunks of perfectly cooked potato, and thick and rich creamy texture was a guaranteed bowl of deliciousness. We’ve been at the restaurant a half dozen times and always enjoyed their salads and corn chowder and each time experimented with trying a few other dishes.
Some of the other dishes were good, some not so good. The seafood risotto, while a bit dense for my taste, has always tasted fresh and flavorful. Just the right amount of sweet tomato flavor, big chunks of lobster, scallops and shrimp, which are always cooked perfectly, and creamy rice that still has a nice bite to it. I appreciate their gentle hand with the parmesan, which results in a rich and balanced overall flavor. A one time choice of lemon flounder was unpleasant because of the large number of tiny bones in it. The lemon sauce was superb, although I would have appreciated more than one tablespoon of it on my plate. A filet mignon was disappointingly flavorless, and a shrimp and pasta special was so full of garlic chunks it was literally inedible. An appetizer platter with coconut shrimp, a spring roll and mixed cabbage sweet and sour salad was fairly standard – with the exception of the salad, which was perfectly spicy, tart and crunchy.
The prices are rather high, the service tends to be a bit neglectful, and clearly the entrees can be hit or miss. Still . . . the salads and chowder kept us coming back for more. Until last weekend.
Maybe the chef was off that night? Maybe there is a new chef? Maybe the magnetic poles weren’t aligned. I don’t know the reason. But when we ordered two of our favorite salads, we were appalled with what arrived. Instead of the advertised mixed greens, the goat cheese and fruit/walnut salad was sitting on top of a chiffonade of old, wilted spinach. It was not good at all and left a strong oxalic acid residue in the mouth. The lemon vinaigrette was somehow tasteless and vinegary at the same time. The asparagus and artichoke topped salad was slightly different than in the past, but with the addition of mushrooms and cucumbers. The artichokes were quartered rather than chopped. These differences shouldn’t have taken away from the salad, but somehow it negatively changed the character and mouth feel. The main villain in this culi-drama was the dressing. It was absolutely flavorless and tasted like plain oil. In desperation I added more and more salt, but just ended up creating a salty oil flavor.
I shouldn’t even dwell on the bread fiasco, but I will briefly share the horror that was our experience. The Monkey Bar delivers complimentary baskets of French bread toasted with garlic, oil, and various herbs, cheeses, tomatoes and toppings. Although my wife enjoys all of the various breads, I prefer plain bread (remember the soaking in dressing delight?). When ordering, I asked for a basket of plain bread and butter. The salads arrived ten minutes later, but no bread. We waited . . . waited. Finally, about ten minutes later, the server appeared with a basket of bread. She cheerfully exclaimed, “Here’s your plain bread!” She left me happy and relieved that we could finally dig in. Seconds later, I realized that it was not plain bread but grilled garlic bread – heavy on the garlic. Once again we waited forever for the waitress to reappear; so long, in fact, that, my wife actually got up and walked back to the kitchen to ask for plain bread. She came back to our table, pointed to the basked and repeated what she had been told, “That IS plain bread.” Now I may not be a rocket scientist, but I know when bread has been grilled with oil and garlic – toasty brown and aromatic, it doesn’t take a genius. At this point I said, “No, it’s not,” and was told by the man behind the bar (who shouted over to us), “We don’t have plain bread.”
Umm. What do they use to MAKE the garlic bread? But at this point I just wanted it all to go away like a bad dream. I nodded and smiled (it might have looked more like a grimace) and went to work on the salad. Well, you know how that part of the story turned out. A few minutes later, someone appeared with three slices of plain bread and triumphantly put them on our table. I guess I appreciated their searching high and low for plain bread, but the whole experience, topped with vinaigrette that had no business being sopped up by anything, left us both cranky and miserable.
We couldn’t finish the salads. When the chowder came, we sighed with relief – surely this would make up for the salad disappointment and bread fiasco. But things went from bad to worse. Our first clue should have been the odd phosphorescent yellow of the soup. Nevertheless, with the optimism born of a happy corn chowder history, we dove in. How can I explain the flavor? Neither of us could detect any corn or lobster flavor. A small bit of minced red substance in the center of the bowl indicated that some form of lobster may have been sprinkled on top, and we could see the corn kernels, but it was like a holographic projection with no taste to back it up. There were large chunks of potato and the texture was thick and creamy looking, albeit play dough yellow. But the flavor was . . . sour. Not spoiled or curdled, just weirdly sour. A sour broth with big chunks of overcooked potato. After a few spoonfuls, my wife gave up, laid her spoon down and said “I’m done.” I tried to go on . . . but soon thereafter gave up as well. It was so unpleasant. We were hungry, disappointed with the service, truly horrified with the food, and $40 poorer. Be warned.
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