Dinner @ Perbacco

Update Review, May 2020

Back in 2012 (!), I visited Perbacco, a well known Italian restaurant in the Financial District.  It was largely not memorable (besides dessert!), which surprised me, given just how many accolades it has received over the years the pasta.  I was interested in trying their casual, next-door establishment, barbacco sometime, and, well, after 8 years, I finally did.  You can start with my original review though for background.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, barbacco and Perbacco joined forces, to offer a combine menu of dishes from both restaurants, using the Perbacco kitchen and area for pickup.  Since I had to order takeout, I did it in advance on Caviar, but I placed my order when I was only 1 block away.  I wanted my items hot and fresh!  Ordering was easy, and when I walked it, they said they had just gotten it, and dropped my item in the fryer.  "3 minutes", I was told (it was closer to 7, but, that is more what I expected).

I was there on a quest for one thing: fried brussels sprouts.  Oddly specific, I know, but a signature dish of theirs, and regularly on the menu.  And yes, I was craving awesome flavorful fried brussels sprouts, since having those from Pizzeria Delfina earlier in the pandemic days.  Sadly, these did not live up.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of pickup and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes ...

• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]

Seating - Obviously Closed.

As expected, the interior was closed for seating, with the booths roped off along one side, plentiful signs about social distancing all around.

No Entry!

The main restaurant was entirely blocked off, the kitchen in swing way at the end.  It smelt *amazing* when I walked in.

Fried Brussels Sprouts. $7.

"Capers - Anchovy - Red Wine Vinaigrette."

Well … they were … not tasty.  I found nothing redeeming, which pains me to write.  I wanted so badly to like *something* about the dish.

This dish came from the Barbacco menu. It was why I visited after all, having read good things about them, although, perhaps, I should have read more, as a recent Yelper concluded "unfortunately that's where the tasty sensations ended. The sprouts were drenched in vinegar. "

Perbacco had a brown butter brussels sprouts on their menu right before the pandemic, and I should have read the reviews of perhaps. It ... did not go over as well as the barbacco ones usually do it seems.

• "Brown butter Brussels sprouts? Mushy and underwhelming." - Yelper
• "This was our veggie dish and side dish which wasn't the best. It was a bit bitter and not as roasted as I thought, it was more soft than crispy." - Another Yelper

Yeah, all these things. Drowned in vinegar, mushy, bitter ... yup, yup, yup. Just totally completely not what I expected nor wanted.

First, well, I expected crispy. I know I got takeout, but I ate immediately (literally, right outside the door), and they were dropped in the frier when I arrived. They did *not* sit any longer than it took me to walk outside. The large sprouts were not crisp (even though you could see a sear on some) and the leaves were absolutely soggy. It was all just a big, soggy, wet mess. I expected the leaves to be crispy (why remove them otherwise?) and the seared edge to have a bit of crispness.

Next, the flavor. Wow. Um. Yeah. So much vinegar. It was overwhelming, and had *no* balance. There was no touch of sweetness, nothing, in fact, it was extremely bitter. Just punch in the face of strong, strong vinegar. Oh, and intense saltiness. Now, I do love salty, and am in the "chef's palette" realm of diners, but this was a bit much. I think it mostly came from capers (although I didn't find any in here, no bits, nothing, no clear caper taste) and anchovy (no real pieces of anchovy unfortunately, but, there was definitely some paste at least in there). I adore anchovy (another reason I wanted this dish!) and had hoped for more anchovy, but I certainly didn't want more salt. Salt and vinegar, which is a great concept (and popular variety of potato chip after all!), but wow, both were just too much.

So there it was. A big box of mushy, wet, brussels sprouts with a flavor I couldn't get paste a single bite of without kinda gagging and downing some water. I just ... don't understand. They were also presumably awful for me, as they were fried and oily, before being soaked in vinaigrette. I don't really understand if something just went wrong, if they just really didn't work having been in a takeout box for a moment, or if I just didn't understand the dish. I couldn't eat them.

The positive thing I can say? The portion was generous, quite reasonable for the $7 price, easily 2x more than Delfina's version, that was $10. That said, I'd rather get less, pay more, and enjoy the dish, clearly.

I didn't throw out the rest, but instead brought them home, to attempt to do ... something later.  I used some that night, tossing them in a saute pan with a bunch of raw veggies (ranging from green beans to kale to cabbage to radish greens and more), and simmering with water to cook the other veggies and coax the oil and vinegar out of the sprouts, to disperse amongst the rest of the items, and perhaps mellow out a bit.  And in this form, I wasn't going for crispy, so the texture was ok.  I added a touch of sweet soy, and chopped nuts, and ... it kinda worked.

Another batch I threw on my indoor grill, which was successful in again coaxing some of the vinegar and oil out, got them more crispy, and I threw them onto a salad.  So, salvaged, sorta, but not in any dramatically good way.  I just couldn't stand throwing out food ...

Original Review, May 2015

Ah, Monday nights.  So many of my favorite places are closed.  The rest are often working without their executive chefs, and without fresh products.  Such a bad night for dining out.  But ... I had a friend  who I hadn't seen in over a year who wanted to have dinner, so I tried to find a suitable place.  Italian seemed like a good pick, particularly somewhere known for pasta, since that doesn't require fresh ingredients nearly as much.

We headed to Perbacco, a mid-range italian place, which I hadn't yet been to, although I've seen the chef at a cooking demo recently, and have read decent things about.

I was surprised by how large the restaurant was, with a bunch of different seating options.  Two stories,  open and airy, with some booths, round tables, and several private rooms.  The crowd was mostly older, nicely dressed.

Service was good.  Water glasses refilled, share plates and utensils replenished between courses, good level of detail provided when we asked about dishes, wine recommendations given and a small taste provided before committing.  The only issue we had was at the end it was a little hard to find someone to ask where our leftovers had gone to.

The menu included many starters, pastas that could be sized as appetizers or entrées, main dishes, and of course, desserts.  I'd read the best things about the pastas and desserts, so we decided to stick with those, particularly as the noteworthy appetizers and mains were seafood based, and ... it was Monday.  I basically wanted to try all of the pastas, so I appreciated the two size options, as it meant we could order just a bunch of the smaller ones, rather than a single entree sized one.

The pastas arrived crazy fast.  They were clearly all made with fresh, handmade pasta, but across the board I felt that they were overcooked.  None could have been described as al dente.  Perhaps that was the intended style?  The sauces also weren't particularly great.  And they arrived rather lukewarm.  They weren't bad exactly, certainly edible, but were disappointing, and I wouldn't order any of them again.  The dessert however was delicious.  Value was good, the serving sizes generous for very moderate prices.

I don't really have any reason to go back, but if someone wanted to go, I wouldn't say no.  I'm a little interested in their casual sister restaurant next door, Barbacco.  (What is with all these italian places having casual sisters next door anyway?)

Breadsticks with salsa verde.

Immediately upon sitting, we were presented with some breadsticks and salsa verde.  Neither the breadsticks nor the sauce looked that great, and I mostly tried them just to be able to make a note of it here.  But ... they were surprisingly tasty!

The breadsticks were super thin, crisp, crunchy, buttery, with a slight saltiness.  I really didn't expect to like these, but I'd happily nibble on them as a snack anytime.  Apparently they were created by accident when the chef was playing with a new pasta machine.  Everyone loved them, and they have been served since 2007.  As of 2011, they were making 2,300 of these bread sticks a day!

The breadsticks however were overshadowed by the salsa verde!  It was fantastic.  Very flavorful, made with parsley, bread crumbs, lemon zest, and olive oil.  The breadsticks weren't the best dipping device for it however, as it was a little hard to scoop up much of it.  The bread that would come later worked better.

I really enjoyed this on several levels: it was nice to be given a munchie before ordering, it was far more unique than standard bread and butter, and it was tasty!

Roll. 

Speaking of standard bread and butter, we did receive that as well, after ordering.

This was a huge let down from the breadsticks.  The roll was served cold.  It had a decent chew, but was very generic.  The butter was creamy and actually really good.  No salt provided.

Pappardelle: wide pasta ribbons / slow cooked short rib ragu / roasted cipolline / grated horseradish.  $13 small/$18 large.    

The pappardelle was a really nice form factor, large pasta ribbons.  Clearly fresh pasta, and cooked fairly well, but a little overdone, as it wasn't al dente and didn't have much chew to it.

The short rib in the ragu was really tender, flavorful, and there was a generous amount.  I'm not usually a huge fan of short rib, and liked this much more than I expected.  The sauce was pretty rich, and had a real "meaty" flavor to it, but I didn't really like it much.  The horseradish didn't come through much in many of the bites I had, but occasionally would come through on the finish, where it was really delicious.  The sauce needed more kick overall.

I have a thing for cipolline onions, particularly roasted ones, and found them very tasty.  There were a few small, whole roasted onions in here.

Topped with shaved parmesan, which went well with the ragu.

I can't help but compare this to the pappardelle I had a Cotogna recently, which was far better executed, the pasta cooked perfectly, and the ragu more enjoyable.  It also reminded me of another dish I had a Cotogna subsequently, with a tomato and horseradish sauce, that again, I enjoyed much more.

This was my and one other diner's second favorite dish of the evening, and the least favorite of the other.  I wouldn't order it again, as I'd rather try something else.  For $13 however, this was a generous serve of fresh pasta.  I'm curious how much larger the bigger size was!

Agnolotti dal plin filled with roasted vitellone and savoy cabbage / sugo d’arrosto.  $13 small/$18 large.

This is probably their most famous dish.  Everyone raves about it.  Been on the menu for ages.  It was just recently on list of top San Francisco eats.

Unfortunately, it arrived barely warm.  I wonder if it would have been better warmer?

The pasta was again nice, clearly fresh, but again, slightly overcooked, not having the chew to it I was looking for.  The filling was a ground veal (and cabbage?) that was fairly flavorful.

Included in the sauce was some cooked cabbage chunks, which looked a lot like the agnolotti themselves, and I didn't originally realize were there.  They added a slight freshness and crunch to the dish.

The sauce was really, really boring.  It didn't taste like anything at all, just a little salty.

Topped with grated parmesan, which didn't really seem to add anything to the dish.

This was my and one other diner's second to last pick of the night, but the favorite of one other.  I would not order again.  I think it was overall better than the version we had at Cotogna, but only slightly, as I didn't like either one.  Another very generous serve for $13!

Raviora: pasta filled with ricotta di pecora and mint / spring pea passato / mint butter.  $12 small/$17 large.

This was the best executed pasta of the night.  Again, clearly fresh and this time, it had a slight chew to it.

However, I really, really did not like the filling.  It had a strange mouthfeel to it, and was kinda bad tasting ricotta.  Generic grocery store ricotta tastes better than this.

The spring peas came in two forms: full snap peas and some shelled peas.  They were really delicious, full of flavor and freshness.  Cooked perfectly, the snap pea was crisp and the shelled peas not mushy at all.

There were also whole mint leaves, which were really refreshing and combined nicely with the peas and grated parmesan cheese on top.

The sauce looked more flavorful than it was, I didn't really think it had much going on.

This was almost a good dish, and I really enjoyed the freshness and flavors of the peas and mint, but the filling was just awful.  Least favorite dish for two of us, although second favorite for another.  I would not order again.  And yet again, this seemed like a really good value for only $12.

Rabatòn: herb and spinach ricotta gnocchi / local green asparagus / ricotta salata.  $12 small/$17 large.

Now this was a fresh, seasonal dish!  Ordered because we knew that local asparagus season is winding down.

The gnocchi were fairly forgettable.  They were fluffy, clearly just boiled and not pan finished (how I prefer my gnocchi).  I didn't really taste any herbs or spinach in them as advertised, although they were green, so it must have been there.

The asparagus came as some cooked chunks of spear and as the sauce.  The cooked chunks were nicely done, still a little crunchy.  The sauce was also quite good.  The consistency was a little too thick, but it was really light tasting, refreshing, and full of delicious asparagus flavor.  You certainly had to like asparagus to like this dish.

Topped with ricotta salata, which added a good saltiness that paired well with the asparagus.

Favorite dish for two of us, but third favorite for the other.  I still wouldn't order it again though.

Sformatino: caramelized milk chocolate mousse  dark chocolate glaze / cocoa-almond streusel / crema inglese.  $9.

This was a decent chocolate mousse dessert.

The base was a thin chocolate cake layer.  Earlier that day I'd had a dessert that was a much thicker moist chocolate cake topped with chocolate mousse, and I felt it was more successful than this one, as this cake layer was too thin to really be noticeable.

The mousse was a good, creamy, chocolate mousse, but not particularly noteworthy.  Again the mousse I'd had earlier in the day had a more intense chocolate flavor that I enjoyed more.

The dark chocolate glaze was a really nice touch.  It was fairly thick, bitter, and added a lot more chocolate intensity to the dish.

The cocoa-almond streusel on top and on the plate wasn't particularly noteworthy, just a basic chocolate crumble.

The crema inglese was sweet and good, but there wasn't nearly enough of it.

Overall, not a bad dessert, but not particularly memorable.  Decent size and quality for $9.  I wouldn't order again.

Douglas fir panna cotta / pine nut crumble / mugolio.  $9.

This dessert didn't sound that great, but I do enjoy a good creamy pudding dessert, like a panna cotta.  I'd also read great reviews of this, but then again, I've kinda learned not to trust the Yelpers.  But most of the other desserts on the menu were all chocolate, and I was trying to limit my caffeine intake, and the other diners weren't interested in the other dessert that sounded good to me (a semifreddo with meringue, my other dessert obsession!).  So, we tried this one.

It was awesome.  The panna cotta had a fantastic wiggle to it!  The consistency was perfect, very creamy.  The flavor was really hard to describe, certainly not what I'd think douglas fir would taste like.  I never once thought I was eating a christmas tree :)  It was more citrusy, but subtle, and fairly sweet.  Really delicious.

The pine nut crumble on top was made up primarily of pine nuts.  It tasted strongly of pine nut.  I don't really like pine nuts, so I didn't like this component at all, but I did understand how the flavor would work well against the other sweet components.

The huckleberry sauce was too much, there were tons of huckleberries, and the flavor of this was intense and easily overwhelmed the dish.  We left some of it behind.  It was good, and paired decently well with the pine nut and the panna cotta, but there was just way too much on the plate.

The other syrup on the plate was made form mugolio, a pine cone syrup.  I didn't really pick up on this much at all.

This was certainly my favorite dessert and the highlight of the meal for me.  I'd order it again, but I'd really like to have it without the pine nut.  Perfect execution on the panna cotta.

Mignardises: hazelnut chocolate, almond honey torrone.

These arrived with the bill, on a plate that was clearly fresh out of the dishwasher.  By which I mean, it was hot.  Which ... caused the chocolates to melt onto it.  When I picked up a chocolate, 30% of it was left behind on the plate, and another 10% of it melted all over my fingers.  Whoops.  This was just a generic creamy hazelnut chocolate.  Not noteworthy.

The almond honey torrone was a piece of sweet nougat with almond slivers.  It would have paired well with tea, but like the chocolate, wasn't really memorable.

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Crab Night @ Camino!

[ Originally posted January 16, 2012.  Moving to blog in anticipation of crab season! ]

Every Monday night in January, Camino in Oakland does a special crab night.  For $34, you get a starter, half a roast crab, sides, and dessert.  $12 more gets you a full crab.   The starter, sides, and desserts change weekly, but the roast crab is always the star.  We went last year, and couldn't wait to return this year.  With so many fantastic restaurants in San Francisco, there are few reasons to cross the bridge into Oakland, but this is one of them!

The restaurant features an open kitchen with a huge fireplace in the center.  Most everything is cooked on the fireplace, and it is really fun to walk back there and watch.  The restaurant is mostly all giant communal tables, but they do put space between people, so it isn't like you are bumping into your neighbors.  The entire space is open and comfortable.  Eating there was a really relaxing experience, almost like being in a friend's home.  Service was sufficient and unobtrusive.  They provide complimentary house filtered sparkling or still water, which is always nice.  The cocktails and champagne my dining companions ordered were all tasty.

Tonight's dinner review is pretty much exactly the same as it was a year ago: appetizers are forgettable, crab and the salad it comes with are amazing, and dessert is bad.  But the crab, oh the crab.  Amazing.

This is probably my favorite of all Monday night specials I've ever had.  It certainly does not fall in the category of places running specials in order to get people in on Monday nights when they are using subpar ingredients or staff.  This is just ... special.  I'd go back again, any night!

Pickled carrots, celery.

Complimentary starter.  Just random pickled stuff.  Fairly uninteresting to me, but I eat pickled stuff pretty much daily, so I think I'm kinda spoiled and it takes a lot for me to find pickled veggies particularly interesting.  They are never/rarely as good as the "famous" ones my great aunt makes!

Epi, slabs of butter.

Complimentary bread, but you have to ask for it.  Served cold (boo) with giant slabs of hard butter (double boo) that was hard to spread on the bread.

That said, I enjoyed dipping it in sauces later on in the meal, so I'm glad we had it.

Wood oven-roasted local oysters with absinthe, breadcrumbs and yacón salad.  $13.

Not part of the Monday night special, we added this on.

The oysters were pretty forgettable.  No interesting flavors at all, lots of breadcrumb.  I'd definitely skip this in the future.

The yacon salad that came with it was delicious!  Crisp and the dressing on it was addictive.  I don't really understand why it was served as an accompaniment to the oysters though.

Spicy crab broth with leeks, parsley root and wild nettles.

First course of the Monday crab special.


I'm not really a soup person, so this wasn't all that interesting to me.  The veggies were cooked well (not too mushy, not too crisp), and it was impressive how much crab flavor they were able to impart into the soup, but I found it a little too salty.

The aforementioned bread dipped in the broth was nice.

Full Dungeness crab grilled in the fireplace with farro, chicory salad and mint.

And finally, what we were there for!  Grilled crab!

The crab itself was seasoned wonderfully and the fireplace gives it an amazing smokey flavor.  So, so flavorful!  There is a hollandaise sauce hiding on the plate as well, that wasn't really needed because the crab had so much flavor on its own (particularly when still warm), but as the crab cooled, having some bites with the hollendaise worked really well too, the flavors from the crab seasoning mixed nicely with it.

Hiding under the crab was a really nice farro, the grains perfectly cooked with a nice crunch to them, and very flavorful and well seasoned.  The chicory salad was a mix of both bitter chicory and other greens.  This combined well with the farro and with the hollendaise.

I managed to make up a few "perfect bites" that included farro, greens, crab meat, and hollandaise   A bite with all of that in it was pretty much amazing and had such great flavors that worked together sensationally!

The leftover bread dipped in the hollendaise was also quite nice (yes, I'm a sauce person ... I love everything with sauces!)

The aftermath!

After all that hard work, here is the leftover carnage.  Not a drop of crab meat remaining, I promise.

Cara cara orange sorbet with pomegranate granita and citrus.

This was the included dessert, not something I'd ever order.  It was incredibly meh to me.

The citrus was fine, but I have better citrus at the farmer's market 3 times a week.  The sorbet was fine, but sorbet is just kinda boring, and I have better sorbet at the farmer's market (Scream) every week.  The pomegrante was a nice tart component.  I guess if you like fruity, light desserts this was good.

Rice pudding with mastika and cardamom.  $9.

Since I wasn't satisfied with the previous dessert, I added on one of my favorites: rice pudding.

It came with some almonds, topped with whipped cream.  It was not particularly flavorful, very goopey, the rice cooked inconsistently, and served cold.  Disappointing.

I can really enjoy rice pudding, but I like it to have some defining characteristic: nice flavors, warm, custardy ... something. This was really just sorta there and not very good at all.  I should have just had another crab for dessert :)

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Pearl's Deluxe Burgers

As I mentioned when reviewing my last burger at Umami Burger, a group of friends and I used to get burgers once a week for "B Night".  We've since stopped this tradition, but still occasionally get inspired to do it again.  A what better inspiration than introducing a bunch of friends to GoPago via free burgers?

We headed to a place that has been on my list of places to check out for ages: Pearl's Deluxe Burgers.
Basically everything on their menu sounds tempting: a plethora of choices for milkshakes, burgers with creative toppings, a slew of patty types to pick from (buffalo, kobe, turkey, chicken, veggie, etc), and then of course the fries, sweet potato fries, and onion rings.  So much deliciousness!  I've wanted to visit them for years now, but somehow they never made it to the top of my list.  Until I saw them on GoPago of course.

They have two locations in San Francisco, with the same menu, both equidistant from our office.  The bigger, newer one is located on Market St, but we went for the original, smaller location on Post St since it seemed to have more positive Yelp reviews.

The restaurant was indeed tiny, with 5 tables for two, and a counter with a few seats.  Luckily, there were not many people dining in when we arrived on Monday evening, so we were able get seats for our group with no problems.  When I visited on the previous Sunday afternoon however, the place was bustling.  They seem to be handing a lot of togo orders.  GoPago seems to be a hit there, as I heard the chimes going off many times during each of my visits.

The restaurant was clean, the staff friendly, everything was efficient.  Fairly standard burger joint decor with slightly sticky ketchup and mustard containers and much needed napkins on the tables.  Additional sauces, plastic silverware, cups of water, and a bucket of pickle spears (bonus points for this!) were available at the counter.

We ordered from a few blocks away using our phones, and everything was ready soon after we arrived, delivered to us at our table.  I appreciated that when they brought out our food, they addressed us by name, rather than number, like the people who had ordered in person.  Far more personal seeming, even though we'd used technology rather than talking to them to place our orders.  Strange how technology can make things more intimate!

The food was all good for the price point and casual style.  It isn't a cuisine I crave regularly anymore, but I'd go back if I wanted a great shake, some delicious fried sides, and a simple burger.  Or some subset of that.  Ok, who am I kidding, I'd still want it all!

Mint Oreo Milkshake.  $4.49.

While I was excited to try the burger and sides, and had plans to go with friends on Monday night, what I was most excited for was the milkshake, as I've been on a milkshake kick lately, and I had a sore throat and wanted something icy and cold.  And it was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon in San Francisco, a rare treat.  So, I decided to go on a "reconnaissance mission" to scout out Pearl's on my own the day before going with the group, to get a shake.

Pearl's offers the largest selection of milk shake flavors that I've come across.  I had an incredibly hard time picking one.  Did I want to go for something slightly refreshing, like coconut, pineapple, or pina colada?  Or try to mimic the greatness of the strawberry shake I'd had from Holy Grill? Or go for the decedent sounding peanut butter, or even better, chocolate peanut butter?  But my throat was sore, and something minty sounding soothing, reminding me of my pretty tasty mint chocolate chip shake from Roxy's Cafe.  I decided on that, but then realized that although they had a slew of flavors, mint chocolate chip was not one of them.  I could do plain mint, but that seemed boring.

I didn't order it in advance with GoPago, because I wanted to see if there were other milkshake flavors available that just weren't listed in the app (like, mint chocolate chip!).  Indeed there were, like a seasonal pumpkin one.  But not my precious mint chocolate chip.  I saw mint Oreo however, and decided that would be a good substitute.

So I ordered via my phone, and eagerly awaited my shake.  Since I didn't use GoPago in the traditional order ahead way, I had to wait a few a minutes.  I could hear the blender whirling away in the background, and it seemed like everyone around me had ordered a shake too.  I was excited!

My shake arrived, a large size.  It had a wide straw.  This was a good sign, as my biggest criticism of the last Oreo shake I had from Bistro Burger was that the standard size straw wasn't sufficient to suck up the Oreo chunks, and it kept getting clogged.

The shake was loaded with Oreo.  I can't even guess how many whole Oreos went into it.  A lot of them.  The chunks were of varied size, some of them quite sizable, but the large straw made this never  a problem.  Normally, I would have loved how much Oreo was in here, but if I'd thought about it more, I would have realized I didn't actually want an Oreo shake.  My throat was sore, and swallowing really hurt.  Chunks of cookie were not actually welcome.  Whoops.

The shake was a fantastic consistency, really nice and thick.  Blended perfectly.

I didn't taste much mint.  If you had told me this was a plain Oreo shake, I would have believed you.  This was disappointing, as I really wanted it for the mintyness.

They do not offer whipped cream.  Minus one point for that, as I do enjoy my whipped cream, but honestly, the shake didn't need it.

Overall, this was a very well executed milkshake, but I didn't love it.  I wanted something with much more mint flavor, and I made this mistake of getting the Oreo.   I can't blame Pearl's for that part though, they did a great job of giving a generous amount of Oreo.

$4.49 is pretty pricy for a milkshake, but it was large, and clearly well made.  I'd certainly consider trying another one, perhaps one of the fruiter flavors.

When I came back the next day, my dining companion got a Oreo malt shake.  I of course demanded politely asked for a taste.  It was again thick, a great consistency, loaded with Oreo.  It definitely made me wish I'd gotten another one!

Bula Burger: 1/2 pound, buffalo, award winning spicy pineapple teriyaki sauce with bacon, mayo and swiss cheese.  $12.99.

First up, the burger.  Pearl's has a variety of burgers with preset toppings available that all sounded pretty amazing, including one with a hotdog on top.  Or you can build your own.  And for the patty, you can pick a "mini" quarter pound beef burger or a half pound beef burger.  Or if you are being healthier, you can get a turkey burger, chicken breast, or veggie burger.  Or you can upgrade for $4 to a kobe burger or buffalo burger.  Soooo many choices!

Had I been alone, I'd have just gone for the mini burger, since a quarter pounder is big enough for me, particularly since I wanted to try the sides too.  But luckily I had a buddy who agreed to split things with me, so we could try even more menu items.  We decided to be slightly more adventurous and went for the buffalo burger.

We also decided to pick the burger that got the most mentions on Yelp, the Bula burger.  It isn't the one either of us would normally pick, but we took the advice of the masses, and thought it was easier than agreeing on a custom built one given our different preferences anyway.

The burger patty was cooked perfectly medium, as we specified.  We both would normally get medium-rare, but we thought that buffalo would do better with a little more cook time.  It seemed like a good choice, as the patty was lean but still very moist, but not too juicy.  One of the least messy burgers I've had in a long time, even though it was coated in sauce.

The sauce was the "award winning" spicy pineapple teriyaki.  It was sweet, flavorful, and pretty tasty, but I didn't love it with the buffalo.  I think it would go much better with a chicken, turkey, or veggie burger.  I didn't think it was spicy at all.

Also on our patty were strips of bacon.  They were not crispy style, which is how I like my bacon.  This is clearly just personal preference though, as my dining companion loved the bacon.  When I told him I only like mine crispy, he laughed and asked how I dealt with the bacon in Sydney.  Easy: I gave up on ordering bacon there after probably 2 tries!

But back to the burger.  It also had a thick slice of swiss cheese on top.  The cheese went well with the teriyaki sauce, but I wish it were either sliced thinner, or melted a little more, as it was fairly solid.  There was also apparently mayo, but I didn't detect it amongst everything else on the burger.

The most surprising thing to me about the burger was the bun.  It was really fluffy, and actually the right size for the patty!  That is, unlike basically every burger I've ever eaten before, I didn't run out of bun.  It wasn't a decadent brioche bun or anything fancy, just loaded up with some sesame seeds, but it really served its purpose well, soaked up the sauce and juices, and again helped make this burger not a mess to eat in any way.  Again, unlike most burgers, I was able to pick it up and set it down several times, without it falling apart, or turning into a disaster.  (Now, beside me, Emil ordered a rare Kobe pesto burger, which was a kinda ridiculous mess.  Between the juices running out of the burger, and the pesto sauce, he was covered in drippings.  There is a reason they have a vat of napkins on the table!  He commented that the burger was cooked very nicely, rare as he requested, and that it had good flavor, although he lamented his choice of pesto, saying it would have gone better with a chicken burger.)

Overall, there was nothing mind blowing about the burger, but it was well done, particularly for the price point and speed of service.  It doesn't really compare to my all time favorite burger from Alexander's, but they are pretty different things, and there is something to be said about being able to get a good, satisfying, quick meal.

The price was good for the size and quality of the burger.  Had I stuck with standard beef, it would have only been $8.99.  I'd certainly get another one if I was in the mood for a casual burger, but I think I'd go for a classic burger, with mushrooms and swiss.  Or maybe cheddar.  Or american.  Ok, somehow, I'm already in the mood for another burger!

Springs: Sweet potato fries and onion rings.  $3.99.

Pearl's has a number of tempting sides.  They also make it easy to be indecisive, offering up combinations of some of the more popular choices.

First, we went for the "springs", a mix of sweet potato fries and onion rings.  When they were brought to our table, the server asked if we wanted ranch or mayo with them for dipping.  I said sure, as you know me, I like to try out all combinations of things.

I couldn't decide which of these I liked more.  Neither were amazing in my first bites, but I quickly got addicted.  My initial disappointment was due to the fact that they weren't hot, even when we first received them.  And after I'd taken a few bites of burger, they were fairly cold.

The sweet potato fries were decently crispy, and had a great sweetness to them, clearly made from sweet potato. They were cut unevenly, which I really liked, because it meant that some were more fluffy, and others more crispy like chips.  I could pick and choose which style I wanted every time.  They were good on their own, but I absolutely loved dipping them in the mayo.  I had a few moments of second thoughts, thinking how crazy it was that I'd just devoured a cheesy, bacon covered burger, and then was diving into onion rings and fries, and still felt the need to amp it all up with mayo, but they really tasted so much better with the mayo, that I couldn't stop.  The ranch wasn't as successful, just generic ranch, and I didn't really find a use for it.

The onion rings had a fantastic salty batter on them.  It didn't seem to stick all that well, as the coating was falling off of a number of them, but the spicing in it was great, and they were nice and crisp as well.

$3.99 was a good price for a serving this size, which we couldn't even come close to finishing.  I'm really glad they let you get a mix like this, because I honestly don't know which I'd pick if I could only pick one.  I think the sweet potato fries were the winner, with the onion rings coming in at a close second.

Frings: Fries and onion rings.  $3.99.

We also had to try the fries, as I'd heard that they were unlike normal fries, and were coated in tempura batter.  They were indeed interesting, the extra coating made them super crunchy.  Good, but again not that warm, and my least favorite of the sides.

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Lobster Bake @ Jardinière

By now, you know how I feel about Mondays.  I only go out to dinner when there is an extra incentive to do so, like special themed prix fixe dinners!

On Mondays, Jardinière does a 3 course prix fixe dinner, normally $49, including wine pairings.  We attended one a few months ago when they held a Swedish dinner, in honor of Emil.  We didn't love it, but it was a French restaurant trying to do Swedish food, so I've kept an eye on the upcoming menus, waiting for another one to spark my interest, to try it out again.

I grew up on the east coast, and had just returned from visiting when I saw that Jardinière was going to host a classic New England Lobster Bake!  The menu sounded awesome, particularly given the amazing lobster I'd had just a few days prior to reading it.  I immediately sent out email to my dining group, and was able to gather a rather sizable group of 8.

Since I've reviewed the restaurant before, I'll skip the general details, and just include a review of the dishes we had tonight, and any additional notes.

Service was good, our main waiter was very friendly and personable, and dealt well with our large group, particularly as the night wore on, and the effects of the alcohol consumed started to show through.  There were a few things that didn't flow all that smoothly, like empty glasses remaining on the table, plates not replaced between courses, that sort of thing, but nothing dramatic.

The food was all fine, although not really that remarkable.  I'm not sure I'll go back for another Monday night dinner, as they just haven't been that great.  Perhaps if another menu really jumps out at me, but I'm starting to think it is better to just go when they are doing what they are known for, classic French cuisine.

This prix fixe was $59 rather than the standard $49, presumably because of the lobster.  Still a good deal given that it included the wines, although we didn't really like any of them.

Amuse Bouche: gougère.

To start off, we were given a gougère.  It was slightly warm.  It had an ok cheese flavor, but really wasn't remarkable.  It did conjure up the memory of the downright phenomenal one we had at Cyrus a few months ago, and made me drool in that one's memory.  I'm not sure any gougère will ever compare.

Warm roll, salted butter.

Same bread service we had last time.  A warm crusty roll, served with butter with sea salt on top.  The roll wasn't amazing, but I appreciated having it later on to soak up assorted sauces on my plate.  As always, I liked the sea salt on the butter.

Remember the Maine: Rye Whiskey, Carpano 'Antica Farmula', Cherry Herring, Absinthe Rinse.  $10.

Featured cocktail of the night.  Very bitter, not really my thing, but Emil, who normally shies away from all cocktails, tolerated this.

Charcuterie: ciccioli, tete de cochon, duck liver mousse, lonza, finnochiona.  $18.

Some of my dining companions decided we needed a few charcuterie platers before diving into our 3 course lobster feast.  I knew the lobster bake was going to be more than enough food, and charcuterie isn't really my thing, so I mostly skipped this.

But, there was a duck liver mousse, and I couldn't resist trying it, hoping to find something that reminded me a little bit of foie in there!  It was very creamy, nicely salted, and ... livery.  Not anything I'd rush back to get, but decent.

I also tried the pickled carrots, because I love pickled things.  These weren't remarkable.

Flatbread and crostini for charcuterie.

I didn't try the flatbread or crostini, but no one seemed to finish them, so I'm guessing they weren't a big hit.

Garden Bean Salad,  Sweet 100 Tomatoes, Wild Arugula and Lobster Aioli.

The first course of the prix fixe.  The quantities of the ingredients in this were not quite what you'd expect from reading the description, but it worked.

The beans made up the majority of the salad, and there were three varieties: romano, gold wax, and hericot vert.  All were very fresh and nicely crisp.  The romanos had the best flavor, but there weren't too many of them, although there were far more than the hericot vert, of which I only got 2 pieces.

The second most plentiful ingredient was the sweet 100 tomatoes.  They were fantastic.  Burting with flavor.  Just tomatoes, but damn, when tomatoes are fresh and ripe, they can be so awesome.  These reminded me of how very different tomatoes are when at their peak, compared to the sad excuses of what a fast food restaurant calls tomatoes in January.  They shouldn't even be called by the same name!

Next we had housemade croutons.  These were super oily and crispy, slightly garlicky, and a little hard to stab with a fork, but quite tasty.

There was also some wild arugula, kinda wilted from the dressing.  Unlike a more traditional salad, the greens did not make up the majority of it.  I wished they weren't there, as they weren't very fresh or crisp tasting, and it was a bit of a strange texture to have the wilty greens in there.

Finally, we get to the lobster components.  There was a lot of the lobster aioli on the plate.  It really made no sense to me with the salad.  It totally masked the amazing flavor of the tomatoes, was too thick and rich to be a dressing and overwhelmed the greens, and just didn't do anything for the beans.  That all said, it was tasty, and I used some of my bread that I had wisely saved to dip in it, and that was really delicious.  Even though there was a ton of it, I wiped the plate clean.  So, the aioli was great, it just didn't work with this dish at all.  I think it could have been really tasty in a lobster roll or something like that though.  There were also a few tiny chunks of lobster in here, I think knuckle.

My second favorite dish of the evening, although my top bite was probably a spoonful of these tomatoes!

It was paired with Ostatu, Rioja Blanca, Rioja Alavesa, Spain 2011.  The original menu had it paired with a Sauvignon Blanc, which I was looking forward too.  I didn't really understand the pairing, the wine didn't seem to do anything for the dish.  It was a little sharp and harsh for my liking, not sweet, and really not remarkable.

Lobster Bake, Brentwood Corn, New Potatoes, Manilla Clams.

Whoops, a blurry photo.

This was the main dish, the one we had come for: the lobster bake.

For lobster, there was half a tail, a claw, and a few small chunks of knuckle.  All were cooked decently, but I didn't find the flavor to really be there.  I guess I'm spoiled from having east coast lobster.  The claw tasted a little fishy and not very fresh, but the tail was fairly sweet.

The corn was a little hard to deal with.  No one really quite knew what to do.  Did we pick it up and eat it like traditional corn on the cob?  That is what I wanted to do, but it was covered in the broth and would make a big mess, and we were in a nice restaurant.  Some at the table tried cutting the corn off the cob, which was also a bit of a mess.  Anyway, it was just ok.  Over-cooked for my liking.  But again, I'm a spoiled corn snob, who grew up with a family that always got corn from the farm around the corner, and considered corn more than a few hours old not worth eating.

The potatoes were just potatoes, but they soaked up the sauce nicely.  There were also a few tiny pieces of soft flavorful onions that went really nicely with the potato, but not as well with the lobster.  I'm not a clam person, so I didn't really like the clams, they were just ... clams to me.  Meh.

The broth was decently flavorful, and I enjoyed using the remainder of my roll to soak it up.

This came paired with Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon, Mâcon-Villages, Burgundy, France 2011.  It was sweeter than the first wine, with a slight bite to it.  I didn't really like it.  The menu originally had listed a chardonnay, which I was more excited for.

Summer Berry Cobbler with Vanilla Creme.

And finally ... dessert!  The original menu had promised a blackberry cobbler with white peaches and creme angliase.  I was definitely looking forward to this one, although, again, my family grew blackberries and ate blackberry desserts all summer long, so I'm guessing I would have been disappointed.

The dessert was very similar to the one we had at the last dinner, in that it was a bit of a deconstruction of a classic dessert.

Instead of blackberries, we had mixed summer berries: blueberries, strawberries, a few blackberries, and I think some plums.  All were sweet, kinda mushy, a little gloopy, not remarkable.  Something was off in the balance of ingredients here.

This wasn't really a true cobbler, but did include little biscuits.  They weren't what you'd expect to be good - they were not moist, they were very thin.  But, they were soft, had a slight tang from some buttermilk, and big sugar cubes on top.  I actually liked them.

The vanilla creme was thick with a good vanilla flavor.

I enjoyed just eating the biscuits and creme, making this my favorite dish of the night, but it really wasn't remarkable.

It came paired with Zeni, Moscato Rosa, Trentino, Italy 2007.  No one at the table liked this, with most people taking a single sip and leaving the rest unfinished.  It wasn't sweet, it wasn't caramelly, it just didn't have anything going on.  Meh.

Instead, we ordered a bottle of port.  Yes, a full bottle.  For 8 people, but not everyone was drinking.  I didn't catch the name of it, but it was far better than any of the drink pairings we had.

[ Not Pictured ]

Cheese Platter

The same someone who ordered the charcuterie platter, and the bottle of port, also ordered a few cheese platters to go along with our dessert.  I was beyond stuffed and didn't try any of the cheeses, nor write down what they were.  But ... others seemed to enjoy them.

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Dinner at Pläj

Pläj is a Scandinavian restaurant that opened recently.  I normally wait a while longer before checking out a new place to give it time to work out kinks, but the reviews I've seen so far have all been very, very positive, from both the critics and the Yelpers.  And my frequent dining companion, Emil, is Swedish, and has been very excited about the menu.  And they have a deal on Scoutmob for $10 off, and you know how I like freebies these days.  And they are open on Mondays, and have a menu that won't suffer from typical Monday lack of fresh stuff issues.

So, last Monday night, I got together a group to check it out.

The menu has several categories: hagen, fjord, beta, and godis.  Everything is described as bigger than small plates but smaller than entrees, designed so that you order a few things.  Every review I read beforehand said to share a bunch of things.  So, we did, basically ordering everything that anyone in the group wanted.  For some of dishes, it was quickly apparent when they arrived on the table that our group of 5 couldn't possibly share them.  Since we said we'd be sharing everything, and the server brought us share plates and put everything in the middle of the table when it arrived and clearly understood our plans, I wish she'd pointed out in advance that some of them wouldn't be sharable with so many people, and advised us to order two of those.

Service in general wasn't great.  My water glass was empty more than it was full.  There was a jug given to us to be able to re-fill our water glasses, but when she found it empty, the server just took it away and never replaced it.  One person did not have a bread plate.  When we ran out of bread, she came to clear the bread plate, and didn't ask if we wanted more (which we did, to soak up sauces!).  There were some very long lags in the service at numerous points, from initial time to order, to time to receive drinks, time to order dessert, etc.  The restaurant wasn't busy, so I'm really not sure why there were so many delays.  It turned into a much longer meal than I expected.

The restaurant is on the smaller side, with six seats at the bar, and 44 seats in the restaurant, made up mostly by a bunch of 2-tops, a few bigger tables, and a large table in the back of the room.

The most interesting moment of the evening for me came when I went to use the bathroom.  I washed my hands, and then looked around to find a paper towel or hand dryer or ... something to dry my hands with.  I didn't see anything.  Hmm, was this the Swedish way?  I continued looking around the lovely bathroom, baffled.  Finally, I went to just attempt to use a tissue, when I realized that there were two Kleenex boxes on the shelf, one larger than the other.  Aha!  One box was Kleenex brand paper towels!  I had no idea that they made these.  The box looks exactly like a Kleenex tissue box.  It is totally crazy.  Anyway, sorry for the digression, this just amazed me.

I don't have photos or formal tasting notes from any of the (many) drinks that the group consumed, but the cocktail list was really interesting.  Drinks included ingredients like dill simple syrup, thyme, and lavender.  I scored Emil's Tulip cocktail (sparkling wine, ligonberry concentrate, angostura bitters, lemon twist, $11) when it was far too sweet for him.  I thought it was refreshing, and the ligonberry flavor paired well with many of our dishes.  Emil and one other member also had to try every offering on the aquavit section of the menu.  They seemed to enjoy them.

The food was all good, although I think mostly just not my style.  Many of the dishes were just not things I'd normally order, and I didn't care for most of them.  That said, the two dishes I was most excited about (a savory and a dessert) were really quite good, and the prices were really reasonable.  The ingredients seemed high quality, the execution was fine, so my dislike really was just personal taste.  The others in my group seemed to really like the restaurant, and are already talking about going back.  And Emil gave it his seal of approval in authenticity, although, obviously upscale and modernized.  I'd go back, but I'm not in a rush to do so, and next time, I'd probably stick to just ordering what I wanted.

Potato dumpling kumla, onion ragout, lingonberry, brown butter, lardon. $12.

I'd read a lot of positive reviews of this dish, so we ordered two of them, which was a good decision, as each dish contained two dumplings and two onions, which would have been very hard to split 5 ways!

The dumplings were really interesting.  I was expecting something more like a gnocchi, whereas these were more like potato cakes.  They were crispy on the outside and very creamy and like mashed potato on the inside.  Really fun textures.

The pieces of onion were highly caramelized and delicious.  I'm a sucker for caramelized onions, and potato and onions go together oh so well.

The ligonberry sauce added both sweetness and tartness, and reminded me somewhat of spreading cranberry sauce on mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving (everyone does this, right?)

The little pieces of lardon were smokey, and added a good salt component.

The only part of this dish that didn't come together for me was the brown butter sauce.  It just seemed oily and flavorless.

I didn't love this dish, but the inside of the dumplings, with a little of the ligonberry sauce, was pretty tasty.  My 5th pick of the night, 3rd for another, 4th for another, but second to last for two others.  I probably wouldn't order again.

$12 was a fair price for an appetizer of this size.

Taste of Herring: saffron tomato, coriander chili, lime, ginger smoked soy. $12.

This dish falls solidly in the category of things I'd never normally order, but Emil was very excited for it.

I missed some of the details when the server described it, but there were three different preparations of the herring, three different colored baby potatoes, rye crackers, and a bunch of other edible garnishes.

I really liked the flavor of the rye crackers.  One of the herring preparations tasted really fishy to me and I didn't like it at all, but the other two seemed fairly fresh.  But, this just really wasn't my sort of dish.

My 8th pick of the night, but the clear winner for everyone else - the favorite dish for 3 of the other diners, and the second favorite of the other.  I certainly wouldn't order again, but this is clearly just personal preference.

$12 was a very fair price for the amount of fish.

Cured Norwegian salmon belly gravlax, spicy grain mustard, dill puree, lemon crème fraiche. $11.

The salmon in this dish was pretty good, flavorful, fresh tasting.  But, being the sauces lover that I am, what really wowed me was the accompaniments.  The dill puree was fantastically flavorful.  The lemon crème fraiche was slightly tart, creamy, and had a strong lemon flavor.  The dill, the lemon, and the salmon all combined very well.

Once the salmon ran out, I eagerly used my bread to soak up the rest of the sauces.  There was nothing earth shattering about this dish, but it was solid.  We all placed it pretty middle of the pack in our ratings: my 6th pick of the night, 4th for two others, and 5th for the other two.

And again, a good value, $11 was a very reasonable price for 8 pieces of salmon.

Krondill poached lobster Skagen, white fish caviar, horseradish, avocado, chili. $18.

When this dish arrived, we quickly realized that there was no way for 5 of us to share it, and ordered a second one.

This dish went the way of pretty much all lobster dishes for me.  I wanted to love it, but I am underwhelmed by lobster.  Sure, it is good, but I find fresh crab to be soo much tastier.  I basically always just want the lobster to be crab.  But that isn't the fault of this dish, nor Pläj.

Anyway, the lobster was tender, well cooked, with a variety of different types of meat.  The sauce was creamy and flavorful.  I skipped the little avocado cubes because of my allergy.  I again used my bread to lap all the sauce up.  This sauce is what prompted us to request even more bread!

This was was top pick for one diner, the second for another, the third for another, my 4th, and the 6th for the other.

$18 did seem a little high given the fairly small amount of lobster in the dish.  I probably wouldn't order again.

Swedish meatballs, potato puree, pan gravy, lingonberry, pickled cucumber. $15.

You can't go to a Scandinavian restaurant and NOT get the Swedish meatballs right?  I'd actually read a lot of negative reviews of these, but everyone really wanted to get them, so we did.  Of all of the courses, this was the easiest to split, coming with exactly 5 meatballs.

The meatballs had a good crust on them, and a really great flavor, reminding me more of sausage than of meatball.  I believe they were made from ox.  I did think they were on the dry side, although that wasn't too big of a deal given all of the other elements on the plate with which you could coat the meatball.

The potato puree was very creamy, basically just liquid mashed potatoes.  Meat and potatoes?  Check!

The lingonberry sauce was again an interesting component, bringing in tartness and sweetness all at once.  Like with the potato dumplings, I liked the ligonberry and potato pairing.

The pickled cucumbers were surprisingly tart.  They didn't really seem to go with the dish, but I really liked them.

I'm not sure why reviews of these were so negative, although none of us loved the dish, they weren't bad.  I'm glad we tried them.  Four of us ranked this 7th of the evening, and the other ranked it 8th.

Again, price was right, but I doubt I'd get again.

Caraway smoked salmon, roasted radishes, shaved fennel, watercress, lemon aioli. $18.

This was the dish I was most looking forward to (besides dessert of course).  I've been loving salmon lately (well, I've been loving very specific salmon dishes lately).

The moment I cut into the salmon, I knew we were in for a treat.  It was beautifully medium rare.  Tender.  With a fantastic smoky flavor.  Just delicious.

And then, there was the lemon aioli to drag it through.  Another incredibly flavorful, absolutely delicious sauce.  And of course, salmon and lemon go together perfectly.

There were also some roasted radishes.  I'm not entirely sure I'd ever had cooked radishes before, and I didn't really care for them.  They reminded me of turnips.

There were more little baby potatoes on this dish, well cooked, but just potatoes.  They were tasty with the aioli.  The shaved fennel and watercress were fairly forgettable.

This was by far my favorite dish of the night, and besides the herring that everyone else loved, clearly the winner for the night, as two others ranked it second, and the other two ranked it third.  It was a really amazing piece of fish for $18.  Would certainly order again.

Charcuteri: fennalar-salted lamb, syltrulle-cured pork belly, wild boar salami, lamb belly, spicy gooseberry jam, grilled rye.  $16.

I was pretty stuffed at this point, and don't really love charcuteri, so I mostly skipped this.  The chili spiced gooseberry jam was really interesting and delicious, I loved the spice in it.  The grilled bread was also really good.  The others were avoiding it because it looked (and was) incredibly oily, but I wanted to soak up more sauces from the other dishes, and we'd run out of plain rye bread, so I tried it.  It was indeed oily, but also rubbed with garlic, and was slightly crispy, and quite tasty.  I'm not really sure how it would have paired with the meat, but it was very good with the sauces!

The others didn't love this, with 3 of them ranking it last, and one ranking it 3rd to last.

Rhubarb lavender crumble pie, strawberry ice cream, vanilla sauce.  $8.

There are few things I love more than warm pie|crisp|cobbler|crumble|etc and ice cream.

This was an interesting take on a pie, fairly deconstructed.

The vanilla sauce was warm, creamy, and fun to drag everything through, but didn't have a particularly strong vanilla flavor.

The strawberry ice cream was creamy, and had a nice fresh strawberry flavor.

And the "pie" ... this was some tart, cooked chunks of rhubarb and some absolutely delicious, buttery, chunks of crumble.

I loved dragging a chunk of crumble through the vanilla sauce and scooping up some ice cream with it. Sweet yet tart, hot and cold, crisp and creamy, just everything coming together at once.  Not mind blowing, but very enjoyable.

My favorite of the desserts, and second favorite dish of the night.  4th pick for one other, but 3rd to last for another (the other two didn't rank as they didn't really have any).  I'd get again.  $8 was a good price for a dessert at a restaurant of this calibre.

Cardamom spoon crème brûlée, lime-mint marinated strawberries.  $8.

Oh yes, they had a crème brûlée on the menu.  Clearly, I had to get it, no matter how full I was.

You know me and crème brûlée.  I have very specific desires from a crème brûlée.  This one passed the first test with flying colors.  I tapped on it.  Solid.  I tapped even harder.  Still solid.  Yes!  It had a really thick hard shell on top.  One of the best top layers of a  crème brûlée that I've ever had, with a really deeply caramelized flavor to it.

The custard itself however was very, very watery.  Even more runny than a pudding.  I'm not really sure what was going on there.  It was pleasantly warm, and had a nice subtle cardamom flavor.

The lime-mint marinated strawberries on the side were absolutely delicious.  They were sweet, but in a great way.  They were soft.  The mint added a freshness.  Delicious.  I'd love a strawberry shortcake made with these!  I'm really not sure how they were supposed to go with the crème brûlée, but they were so tasty, I didn't really care.

Overall, this was a mixed bag.  The strawberries on the side were awesome, but this was supposed to be about the crème brûlée, which had a fantastic top, but strange consistency.  My second favorite dessert of the night, and third favorite overall.  The others were less into it, with one ranking it second to last, and another ranking it right in the middle of the pack.  The other two refrained from ranking as they didn't really have any.

I'd get it again, and $8 again seemed about right for a dessert here.

Cloudberry sorbet.  $3.

One of the other desserts came with cloudberry sorbet on the side.  We were intrigued by the sound of it, but didn't want the full dessert.  So we asked just for a scoop of the sorbet.

This was the worst dish of the night for me.  Cloyingly sweet.  I like ice cream, I like sweet, but this was just not very good.  I'm also confused by the term "sorbet" as it seemed to clearly contain dairy.  It was full of gritty seeds.

Would not get again.

Scandinavian and local cheeses, rye bread, pumpernickel and current flatbread, orange elderflower jam, honey apricot jam.  $14.

I'm a dessert girl, and was too busy eating the "real" desserts to pay much attention to the cheese plate.  I did try the different jams, but I didn't take any notes on them, and don't really recall much about them.

The others all had this, and all ranked it 4th to last.

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