Archive for category Good Wine/Beer Selection
The Bog Pub, Pocassett
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Good Wine/Beer Selection, Pub on February 22, 2014
A while back, we dined with some friends at a spot on MacArthur Boulevard called Cranberry’s Restaurant. As you can see from our review, posted here, we were kind of surprised by the casual atmosphere and service, and thought we would be less confused if we wore jeans and hoodies and sat at the bar, then called The Bog Pub.
So, here we are, wearing sweatshirts and Levis, and we’re still a little confused.
The bar is still called The Bog Pub, but apparently so is the restaurant. Nowadays, the whole place offers six entrees and a special, and the rest of the menu consists of interesting sandwiches, soups and salads, and a section called “small plates.” The price and complexity of these items makes them sound like tapas, but our server read us two specials and called them “appetizers.” Turns out that the “small plates” are quite large, but the portions on them are very small. That’s not to say you’ll stop at Burger King on your way home, but you definitely won’t go waddling out with a doggie bag, either. We hate to sound school-marmish about the language, but after a while, the occasional imprecise slip-up becomes a consistent theme.
Okay, rant concluded. Now for the review: Get what we got, and you’ll be pretty happy with The Bog Pub, or whatever it’s called. A tapas approach, with two small plates apiece, would be a filling meal of high quality and an excellent value by any measure.
The relatively diverse wine list included something we never see in these parts: wine on tap, which bartender Courtney said keeps the wine fresher. Gina chose a Pacific Cabernet ($8), and not only was it darned good, but it was the least expensive offering. The Big Dog got a Lehman Shiraz ($9). We liked our selections enough that we didn’t wish we’d tried flights, three 3-ounce pours available for $12.
After a long day, we only had the energy to share two small plates.
Gina’s pick was the pan seared duck livers ($9, shown in the terrible photo above). It was served on a bed of creamy polenta with a moat of “smoked gravy.” “Tastes smoky!” observed the Big Dog. The livers were crisp and flavorful, the polenta rich, and the tangle of microgreens intriguing. It was one of the most delicious dishes we’ve gotten in recent months.
The Big Dog selected cod croquettes. In retrospect, we were both probably expecting something like codfish cakes, leaden and squishy. Instead, we got a plate of fishy little poufs, crisp on the outside and moist on the inside, and yummy with the remoulade dipping sauce.
British Beer Company, Sandwich
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Chain Restaurant, Good Wine/Beer Selection, Pub on February 1, 2014
British Beer Company is a “chain” of 13 pubs, mostly in southeastern Massachusetts, that seeks to replicate the experience provided by a small town pub in Great Britain. We have no first-hand experience with the original concept, but a countryside dotted with BBCs seems like a pretty good idea. We got a look at two of BBCs restaurants on one recent night, and they’re both pleasantly warm and inviting, with decor that emphasizes rough-hewn wood… and beer.
BBC offers a very large selection of draft beers, ranging from the industrial brewery Kings of Beers that people inexplicably like so much, to obscure craft brews, including the IPA from our friends nearby at Mayflower Brewing.
We stopped first at the BBC in Manomet, a neighborhood in south Plymouth, on a Sunday night, hoping for a seat at the bar to watch the Brooklyn Nets with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnet in their ultimately triumphant return to the Boston Celtics’ storied parquet floor. The bar was full and the TVs were tuned to some obscure Atlantic 10 college basketball re-run. Fortunately, there’s another BBC right down the road, so we moved on.
Being on the Cape Cod side of the Canal, the BBC in Sandwich is far more mellow in the winter than it likely is during the summer, and probably more mellow than Plymouth is year-round. We easily found a spot at the bar, whose only other occupants were a young couple on a first date, which we surmised because the woman’s unbearably annoying laugh would likely preclude a second encounter.
Our pleasant but brisk bartender, Sunny, offered us a taste of some fancy cabernet, but Gina opted instead for the house (Avalon, $7), in part because the sample was overpowered by the odor of chlorine in the glass. The Big Dog spotted one of those little spoons that signifies the possibility of a black and tan, and got a muddled version ($6.50).
We started with an order of Andouille Scotch Eggs ($8.99). We’d never had any Scotch eggs before, and the basic premise, involving soft-boiled eggs baked in a crust, made Gina squeamish. But these were outstanding. The Andouille sausage made for a flavorful coating, the eggs were lightly cooked but not runny, and the presentation was nice.
The Big Dog ordered a steak and ale pie ($13.99, pictured above) as his entree. It came with a sauteed zucchini and carrot medley that was delicious unless you have an irrational dislike for green summer squash, and mashed potatoes. The crust was heavy and the Dog characterized the gravy inside the pie as “overbearing,” and the steak inside was overcooked. But we’re both Irish enough to know that this is probably just how people in the Old Country like it.
Gina ordered a mahi mahi dish ($16.99) off the full page of “gluten friendly” offerings. While the dish was delicious — moist fish topped with a piquant mango pico, with jasmine rice and approximately seven green beans — the order was apparently so confusing that the kitchen cooked something else entirely then discarded it before starting in on the proper order. We didn’t take note of the time and weren’t in a hurry, but the result was definitely a complimentary-dessert-grade delay, if not handwringing apology from the manager. Here, nothing.
There was enough positive about our visit to the British Beer Company to ensure our return, not just to Sandwich but also to Plymouth. The prices were very reasonable, portions large, food pretty good, and the atmosphere was comfortable. Maybe we just need to recalibrate our expectations before we go.
British Beer Company
46 Route 6a, Sandwich
www.britishbeer.com
Not Your Average Joe’s, Dartmouth
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Chain Restaurant, Family Dining, Good Wine/Beer Selection, Inexpensive Dining, Pub, Restaurant Review on December 7, 2013
Confession time: Gina and the Big Dog have been holding out on you. We’ve been telling you about all these great restaurants in the Southcoast region, but not about the one near the very top of our list.
We love Not Your Average Joe’s, a small regional chain whose closest restaurant to us is on Route 6 in Dartmouth. We go there whenever we find ourselves west of New Bedford. Or north of New Bedford. Or near New Bedford. We bought a Jeep from a dealership across the street, only because we could envision long delicious lunches while we waited for oil changes.
Last summer we managed to convince ourselves that Route 6 in Dartmouth was on the way to Foxborough (it is not) so we could stop for lunch on our way to the Patriots’ training camp. Let’s do a review! we exclaimed. This is delicious! we raved. What a wonderful spot! we enthused.
But for you… nothing. No commentary on cilantro-laced corn garnish, no photos of succulent scallops. Frankly, here’s the problem: we don’t want any more competition for a seat at the comfortable bar. But we do feel kinda bad about holding out, so here are reparations.
Not Your Average Joe’s is a wide open space, from dining room through bar area and into the kitchen. Clever Southwestern-inspired decor makes it work, and even at a crowded happy hour, conversation is comfortable. The center of the bar provides an entertaining view of the pizza prep area and wood-fired oven.
Our most recent visit was for a late lunch on a cold and drizzly day, and we were pleased to see that the menu had changed subtly with the season. Gone were the sunny avocado slices, replaced by warming butternut chunks.
With a basket of delicious chunky bread served with a peppery parmesan oil, we dove into a bottle of Clos du Bois cabernet ($30), a bottle we like enough to buy for evenings in The Doghouse.
The Big Dog ordered a Backyard Burger ($9.99) with cheese, and yes, it tasted like something that might have come out of our Weber, but for the accoutrements — a gleaming soft bun, a sliver of pickle, a soupcon of mustard. He choose greens as an accompaniment in lieu of fries and earned an entire pint of salted caramel ice cream points, redeemed later at home. The burger was perfectly cooked and delicious.
Gina started with a Not Your Average Salad, $3,99 with entree: a melange of young greens with the unexpected addition of hunks of blue cheese and blobs of dried tomatoes in oil. Love either and you’re in heaven. Hate both, like Gina does, and you’re still extremely happy with the remaining fresh salad.
For an entree, Gina picked the chicken enchiladas ($11.99). Two rolled corn tortillas arrived atop yellow rice with black beans, and under an outstanding herb-y poblano crema sprinkled with pumpkin seeds. The enchiladas were meaty and delicious throughout, but each roll’s crunchy end was particularly delightful.
The folks next to us at the bar ordered what we’re guessing was the raspberry sorbet ($6.99, like all desserts) and we apologize for not being able to take a photo of the beautiful presentation, for fear of seeming totally creepy. Take our word for it — the dessert was surrounded by piles of fresh fruit and poufs of whipped cream and looked outstanding.
So, to summarize: the food’s okay, the atmosphere is okay, and you probably shouldn’t go here. Especially when Gina and the Big Dog have a reason to be in Dartmouth, or anywhere near there.
Not Your Average Joe’s
61 State Road, North Dartmouth
www.notyouraveragejoes.com
New World Tavern, Plymouth
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Good Wine/Beer Selection, Pub, Restaurant Review on November 24, 2013
Here in the Dog House we have a policy: If you can’t say anything nice about a restaurant, don’t write a review.
Such was the case a few years back when we visited the New World Tavern. We ordered a couple of classic pub dishes — a Middle Eastern sampler and chicken wings — and found them to be so tampered-with as to be unrecognizable, and terrible. We’ve blocked out the details, but it was something like hummus made with butternut squash instead of chick peas, garnished with peppermint sticks. Something like that.
But during a recent visit to the Waterfront Grille in New Bedford, Brenna, our enthusiastic bartender, told us a new chef has dramatically improved the food at the New World Tavern. The context was that we should stop by the Pillory Pub at the Plymouth waterfront sometime before it closes for the season on December 1, because she works there nights and it’s a cool spot, then head up the hill to the New World Tavern for dinner. Her perspective was a combination of restaurant insider and Chamber of Commerce pitchperson, and we were sold.
So with no other plans for a chilly Saturday evening, we headed over to Plymouth’s waterfront. The Pub is across the street from the state park that houses the famous rock and the Mayflower II, and its expanse of open windows is probably a great vantage point for people-watching on a warm summer evening. Approaching the Pub with November winds whistling across the harbor, we were a little alarmed to see the accordion windows peeled back to expose patrons huddled in blankets. The heat is well managed inside, though, and Brenna served up a Mayflower IPA on tap for the Big Dog and a 14 Hands cabernet for Gina.
We walked up North Street to Court Street to find the New World Tavern packed with people, but with minimal effort we slid into a tall cafe table next to six 20-somethings who were out on the town, and listened for a while to Tom Fey singing folksy music and accompanying himself on a guitar.
The beer is the star of the show here, and the New World Tavern touts its 32 beers on tap and 120 bottles. The Big Dog chose Mayflower’s seasonal, Thanksgiving Ale, and while Kelly our server clearly thought that was a good choice, the Dog found it surprisingly more like a stout and less hoppy than his usual IPA. Gina ordered serviceable cabernet.
The Big Dog ordered a chicken proscuitto sandwich ($12), a salty concoction served on a ciabatta roll, with the slab of proscuitto topped with asiago and a big pile of arrugula. We liked it, and liked the crisp waffle fries that came with it.
Gina is on a quest to find the best fish tacos in New England, and wasn’t disappointed here. Nuggets of fried fish were served with a fresh tomato salsa and topped with a tangy buttermilk sauce. For $14 it was a fairly generous portion of three flour tortillas strung together on a skewer. The menu mentions pineapple and salsa verde, both of which, if present at all, were very subtle. The tacos were very good.
As we ate, crowds were streaming in to see The Sleepeaters in the back room, an intimate venue with a second bar. Up front, we could hear the band open with the Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers,” but the volume didn’t preclude normal conversation.
Brenna was right about the New World Tavern, and on our way back to the car we stopped in to tell her so. The menu is weighted towards pub specialties that pair well with beer — pizzettas and burgers each have their own section — with some interesting surprises, like braised rabbit, that we’ll have to return and try. But it was also clear that the days of freeform experimentation are gone. The experience was enough to make us rethink our rule, to say: If you can’t say anything nice about a restaurant, give it another try.
New World Tavern
56 Main Street, Plym0uth, MA
thenewworldtavern.com
Elisabeth’s, Fairhaven
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Good Wine/Beer Selection, Inexpensive Dining, Seafood Restaurants on June 12, 2013
Elisabeth’s feels like a diner when you enter, largely because of the chrome trim around its 15 or so tables. It is part of chilly gray/silver motif accented with an occasional nautical artifact. At the far end the skeleton of a rowboat hovers above the open kitchen, adorned with twinkling blue lights. At the entrance of the long, narrow room is a bar which, during daylight, feels more like a diner’s tall lunch counter.
There the diner comparison ends, as Elisabeth’s food is far more sophisticated, while prices are quite reasonable. Lunch entrees are in the $10 to $14 range, and slightly larger dinner portions topping out at less than $20. We think people would pay a bundle more for this delicious food.
We’d just made a rainy Friday afternoon jaunt to the fish market in New Bedford, so were inspired to sample Elisabeth’s scallop choices. When they arrived, we quickly realized that we had each ordered a dish the other of us would prefer, so we swapped.
Gina ended up with a selection off the regular menu, Sauteed Sea Scallops Espinage, a word we suspect someone believes is French for “spinach.” The dish, at $10.95, was described as “roasted garlic and spinach pesto with wine and cream on rice with tomatoes and asparagus, garnished with Buzzards Bay scallops.” We’ve posted a photo because it was as beautiful as it was tasty, and Elisabeth’s description, as well as anything we might come up with, could not do it justice. Under the deftly carmelized scallop pieces was a scattering of whole baby spinach leaves; the sauce on top was a delicious lemony, creamy concoction.
The Big Dog tucked into a daily special, Sauteed Scallop Chunks with tomatoes, lemon-basil pesto, fresh penne noodles, white wine and cream, again with the Buzzards Bay scallop garnish ($9.95). The penne had the telltale jagged edge and chewiness of a freshly made batch, and the dish had a generous dusting of parmesan cheese.
This followed a bowl of clam chowder ($4.95). Elisabeth’s version is an unthickened cream broth piled high with clams and potatoes. We’d also asked for a bread basket because everyone else had one, but the impenetrable sourdoughiness probably wasn’t worth the calories.
With our lunch, we enjoyed glasses of Genesis Meritage and Avalon Cabernet Sauvignon, each tasty enough to prompt us to look for bottles at our local wine shop. Our pleasant waitress, Amanda, told us that Margaret’s, a restaurant located two doors down, shares ownership, staff, and many menu elements, but Margaret’s is a BYOB joint that also serves breakfast.
Some might find the small portion size here to be an issue. Each of our dishes could have been bulked up with as extra scoop of rice or pasta, but to what end? We’d rather have top quality ingredients prepared well in small quantities than a giant pile of cheap carbs. We felt that the lesser quantity emphasized the quality and we liked that.
Overall, we found Elisabeth’s to be a very good experience with great food, and we look forward to returning.
Elisabeth’s
1 Middle Street
Fairhaven, MA
508-993-1712
Inn on Shipyard Park, Mattapoisett
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Good Wine/Beer Selection, Pub on April 28, 2013
We hardly ever dine at the standard times. The Big Dog is usually working at what others would consider lunch and dinner time, and it just seems weird to be in from the sunshine at noon. The downside to our approach is that we don’t necessarily observe how the waitstaff handles a busy room, and in the case of the Inn on Shipyard Park, our midafternoon lunch/dinner meant we probably missed a rollicking crowd. But what we got was the full attention of Tom, the pleasant bartender, and the skilled kitchen.
You may remember the Inn on Shipyard Park as the Kinsale Inn, an old-timey pub in Mattapoisett’s quaint downtown overlooking the charming Mattapoisett Harbor. They describe themselves as “the oldest seaside inn in the nation,” but the fact is, when you’re deep inside this rustic restaurant, you might as well be in Scottsdale for all the seaside you see.
But so what. We sat at the bar and watched ESPN, and had one of the best late lunches we’ve enjoyed in a long time.
We started with lobster egg rolls ($12). There was the expected kvetching about what the menu called “fresh curry mango chutney” but which tasted like mayonnaise mixed with pineapple juice. We didn’t really care, because the egg rolls were so delicious on their own — crunchy on the outside and meltingly moist on the inside. We think the stuffing was simply cooked julienned carrots and cabbage with enough lobster to get some in every sumptuous bite, without an overwhelming lobster flavor.
With the egg rolls behind us and full glasses of Mayflower Seasonal (Spring Hops) and 14 Hands Cabernet, debate ensued. This is not a good menu for those who find decision-making difficult. Through one half-hour segment of SportsCenter, we came up with dozens of appealing combinations, but finally settled on a cobb salad ($12) for her, and “savory meatloaf” ($11) for him, the latter because of a promise of green beans which never materialized.
In their place was a heavenly melange of flavorful summer squashes and red peppers. The meatloaf was mousselike in its lightness, grounded with dollops of gravy. A hearty scoop of mashed potatoes shared the gravy and a dusting of flavorful dried herbs, maybe parsley.
The cobb salad was simply the best we’ve had. The base was spinach. The toppings included a half avocado, a hard-boiled egg, grilled corn that was a tad spongy in April, nearly half a cup of bacon hunks, some bleu cheese, and halved cherry tomatoes. The garnish was a generous serving of grilled chicken slices. This was the kind of salad that makes one wonder why one can’t lose any weight. In fact, there was so much that we brought half the salad home for our “Dog House” dinner.
In all, The Inn is somewhere that we will frequent throughout this next summer season. Looking forward to sharing the experience with friends who we know will enjoy it as we did.
Inn on Shipyard Park
13 Water Street, Mattap0isett, MA
www.theinnonshipyardpark.com
Airport Grille, 41.41N 70.58W
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Good Wine/Beer Selection, Restaurant Review, Romantic Dining, Seafood Restaurants on April 7, 2013
Put your flaps up and landing gear down for final approach to this fine restaurant located, appropriately, at the New Bedford Airport. From the air, the Grille may look romantic or welcoming, but arriving by land, we entered through a winding industrial park road and walked through a formica-clad airport waiting room. The contrast made the sleek restaurant decor seem even snazzier than it is. Cape Air provides passenger service at New Bedford, and the Airport Grille certainly approaches island standards for those stopping in for a snack before their 50-minute flight to Nantucket.
For our earthbound excursion, we were joined by Estelle and Rupert, who were sipping espresso martinis when we arrived. We began with an order of PEI mussels in a traditional preparation of white wine and butter ($10). The dish was also available with littlenecks, and could be prepared Portuguese style, or diavolo. This was a great choice and should have guided the rest of our evening: when in New Bedford, even in a landlocked industrial park, eat fish.
The Big Dog and Rupert each ordered a salad which the ladies sampled. Dog’s “local greens” ($6) was crisp and fresh in a lightly applied balsamic vinaigrette. Rupert’s wedge salad ($7) looked pretty good, despite slices of wan, wintry tomatoes, but Estelle said the creamy dressing was oppressive.
Gina made the best entree choice of the night, selecting roasted sole ($18) and scarfing it down before the rest of the party had a chance to get a good look at it. The sole was layered with crab meat and linguica atop risotto with green beans. The stack was topped with hearty crumbs and a light lemony hollandaise sauce, a delicious combination. (Note to dining companions: See photo above.)
Estelle selected a pappardelle bolognese ($15) whose lightly applied sauce had a nice tang to it.
The Big Dog ordered a sirloin steak ($26) and regretted it because of that whole fish thing. The steak cut was gristly, the asparagus tasty but nothing spectacular, and even the bernaise sauce was weak.
Rupert ordered salmon ($18). It came with couscous and broccoli rabe and a piquant sauce, and was excellent. The very fresh and hearty cut of salmon was perfectly prepared and complimented by the yummy sauce.
With our entrees, we shared a bottle of Bazan malbec ($30) which we all enjoyed.
To conclude, we shared a creme brulee, because it turns out that Estelle also adheres to Gina’s rule that if creme brulee appears on the menu, you have to order it, because it’s invariably delicious, and it’s not like you’re going to make it at home. It was topped with a kind of a sad-looking strawberry.
Before taking off, we poked around the restaurant, which was quiet for a Saturday, and found a lovely lounge where comfy leather chairs were arrayed around a gas fireplace. We’re guessing that the sunset, as well as the display of air traffic in the summer season, would be pretty spectacular. But the food was great too, and that’s a rare combination.
Airport Grille
1569 Airport Road, New Bedford
www.airportgrille.com
Rye Tavern, Plymouth, MA
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Good Wine/Beer Selection, Outdoor Dining, Pub, Romantic Dining on March 29, 2013
The Rye Tavern is located on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The sooner you get over that, and stop worrying about running out of gas or being eaten by bears, the better off you will be.
The structure was built in 1797 and presumably at that time it was on a busy thoroughfare. Today, one dirt entrance takes you past the golf course community known as The Pinehills, and the other brings you in through bucolic horse farms. These are neighbors who think nothing of shelling out 45 bucks for a bottle of Cabernet, as the folks next to us at the bar did. That’s pretty pricey for us canines, but not inconsistent for the menu.
That said, our total before tip, for two appetizers, two entrees, and a bottle of La Fiera Montepulciano ($25), came to just $91. Not bad for an excellent, ample dinner of fresh ingredients, as local as the bitter March winds would allow, prepared at the direction of an expert chef. We happened to be on duty for the first night of a new menu, and we had difficulty making choices.
Our mild red wine arrived alongside a bread basket that the Big Dog thought was the highlight of the dinner — a sweet, cakelike cinnamon bread and an oatmeal bread that probably contained something like pumpkin.
But surely the actual highlight was the carrot and ginger soup ($7) that the Dog ordered as an appetizer. Topped with a dollop of brie and sprinkled with chopped chives, the puree was thick enough to eat with a fork. The sweet carrots were edged out by the spicy ginger in a concoction that transcended the traditional combination.
But no! The real highlight was Gina’s crispy brussels sprout appetizer ($6). Braised sprout leaves fluttered around a puddle of lemon aioli, anchored by meaty sprout halves and sprinkled with teeny candied sunflower seeds. Kathleen, our able bartender, said a previous seasonal menu had omitted the sprouts appetizer, and regulars were very unhappy.
If our entree selections were any indication, Chef Joanna Farrar’s M.O. is to mix the vegetables and starch together, plate it over a ladle of sauce, position the protein on top, and garnish the dish with something interesting. For people who use a divided dish into adulthood, this is a disconcerting approach, but some of us like it. The Big Dog is on the fence about it, and this affected his view of dinner.
He ordered scallops ($23). Five large scallops were seared to a mahogany color while maintaining their juicy interior. The ladle was a rich balsamic glaze. The veggie/starch mix was quinoa, tomatoes, and olives. The garnish was arrugula in a lemony dressing. Despite the Dog’s reservations about quinoa, apparently an acquired taste or texture, there was nothing left to bring home.
Gina’s dish ($25) was a mix of couscous, mushrooms, and peas, topped by two generous and juicy slabs of swordfish, garnished with a bright salsa verde and a scoop of house-made ricotta. She ultimately agreed with the Dog that the combination of everything was overwhelming, but the Divided Dish gene she inherited, along with the ability to separate ingredients with a fork or knife, revealed the individual elements as delicious.
Now, to offset our whining about the bumpy, bear-lined roads, we should mention one feature that will bring us back, and two others that are really cool. We will definitely find our way back to the Tavern to sit outside on the heated patio around a gas fire. The country setting and charming landscape would make this a great spot for outdoor dining or just a gruner veltliner on a summer night. A secondary feature is what they describe as a 2,100 square foot vegetable garden. And finally, imagine wending your way through a two-century-old tavern, complete with what appear to be original features, into a nicely appointed restrooms complete with wooden sinks. No kidding! They’re new, and they’re beautiful.
Plymouth is full of odd antiquities, and here is one that is well off the beaten path — and well worth visiting. We envy the folks for whom this is a neighborhood tavern.
Rye Tavern
517 Old Sandwich Road, Plymouth
www.ryetavern.com
Cork, New Bedford
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Dining with a Great View, Good Wine/Beer Selection, Romantic Dining on February 6, 2013
Eggplant roulade and sauteed shrimp
We just discovered the best dining deal in the Southcoast region in one of the most unlikely places.
Cork, on New Bedford’s historic waterfront, has started offering a special called “Tuesday Tastings.” On the first Tuesday of each month, Cork is offering five tapas selections paired with five unusual wines for just $30 per person. Yes, that Cork, where a dinner for two with wine can easily set you back a hundred bucks under normal circumstances (mostly because you’re afraid of the word “tapas” and will order way too much food).
The premise with this Tuesday thing is that they’re tastes — the servings of both wine and food are small. But these are extremely generous tastes, and unless your standard serving involves the word “bottomless,” you’ll like this.
The Big Dog suggested that four friends join us, and those two other couples slid into their seats in the cozily refurbished historic building just as Sally from MS Walker Inc. started waving around a bottle of Espelt Vailet, a crisp white blend from Spain that for several of us was our favorite wine of the night. An equally crisp pinot grigio from Italy quickly followed, and Sally explained that while the Spanish blend was paired with the eggplant roulade and the pinot with the sauteed shrimp, we should mix and match.
The two tastes arrived side by side on rectangular plates and got rave reviews from our party. The grilled eggplant slices were artfully wrapped around chunky tomato slices (which Gina thought would have been better in the summer), goat cheese, and arrugula, and topped with a balsamic glaze that was thick and dark as chocolate sauce.
Sauteed shrimp was a buttery melange of pancetta cubes and cherry tomato halves, made fiery — too hot for the Big Dog, who thought the heat detracted from the dish’s flavor — by sliced hot peppers.
Next came two red wines, a tempranillo from Spain and a montepulciano, which like the pinot grigio was from Cantina Zaccagnini of Abruzzo, Italy. Both bottles came adorned with a sprig of grapevine that Sally said was affixed by the ladies of the village. The ladies of our village liked the montepulciano, despite the winemaker’s promise that it would taste like “a mouthful of leather” (and other things — you know how they are).
The Spanish Vina Zaco was paired with a dish that was innocuously described as slow braised beef crostini with Great Hill blue cheese and chive oil. It was nothing to look at: two blobs of beef on toast.
But its intoxicating scent preceded it, and the taste was pure heaven, its homey texture made rich with exotic spices. We tried in vain to identify the spice until finally, one of the waitstaff told us it was an Asian five-spice powder plus curry. We’re pretty sure the mention of curry was intended to throw us off course and prevent us from trying to make it at home.
Lost in the furor over the braised beef was another dish that was pretty good. They called it a raviolone, which is apparently different from a raviolo (the singular of ravioli, of course) because it’s bigger. It was stuffed with an excellent sausage mixture and fried with panko.
We ended with a painfully sweet pink sparkler, also from Italy, and a ball of chocolate chevre, probably excellent if you like that sort of thing, served with a little crostini over honey with sea salt.
We enjoyed good company, five delicious dishes we might not ordinarily have tried, and tasty wines that were expertly paired with the food, all at an amazingly good price. The unobtrusive wine talk made it educational. If Tuesday nights depress you, as they certainly do us, we would encourage you to visit Cork for their Tuesday Tastings.
Cork Wine and Tapas
90 Front Street, New Bedford
www.corkwineandtapas.com
The RooBar, Plymouth, MA
Posted by Gina and The Big Dog in Good Wine/Beer Selection, Romantic Dining on January 23, 2013
Gina and the Big Dog had a serious difference of opinion about this cool spot which has long anchored the redevelopment of the historic Plymouth Cordage Company factories in North Plymouth. It wasn’t the decor, which we agreed was a beautiful tribute to the old building and an elegant reuse. It wasn’t the food, which we agreed was delicious and creative. But more on our differences later.
On a frigid Tuesday evening, we were among several parties gathered around the warmth of the soaring bar. Tim, our cheerful and helpful bartender, offered us a stack of menus, including a special weekday prix fixe menu, where for $21.95 apiece, we could have chosen one each from a select list of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Not being dessert eaters, those arrangements rarely represent a good deal for us, although the options all sounded wonderful.
In fact, the menu itself was worthy of note. Each artful description noted the dominant flavors, not every ingredient like some places do.
As we often do, on this night we opted to split an appetizer, a salad, and an entree. We started with a glass of Crios malbec for Gina and a Wolf Blass shiraz for the Big Dog, each $8 per glass. The shiraz was particularly outstanding, and we noticed that the RooBar has had some sort of accolades from Wine Spectator.
So, back to our pesto arancinis. Our order ($8) included a half dozen perfectly prepared bites of cheesy risotto, coated with panko crumbs and lightly fried. They were good without their accompanying red pepper mayonnaise, but to be honest, the sauce was pretty good on its own, too… and on the hearty bread that started our feast. Yum, said the Big Dog.
The Dog has learned that Gina is always going to order a roasted beet salad whenever it appears on the menu, so he suggested it preemptively. This version ($7) arrived with very cold beet slices arranged on an icy plate topped with lightly dressed greens, chunks of goat cheese, and candied walnuts. We liked it a lot.
Meanwhile, we snuck a peek at the food being served to our fellow diners, all of whom seemed to be regulars, and started planning our next visit. One diner had a salad with a giant slab of salmon on top, and we looked forward to our entree, described as “pan roasted Atlantic salmon with baby gnocchi, portabello mushrooms, spinach and sweet vermouth Dijon cream” ($23).
Here’s where our difference of opinion emerged. Our entree arrived exactly as promised, with the tiny gnocchi maybe given a little pan sear first, to create a delicate crust on the hearty pasta. The sauce was delicious and the salmon perfectly cooked.
But yes, the salmon was an unexpectedly small portion, especially given the enormous fish on the salad next to us. The Big Dog contended that we had to take points off for skimpy portion size — our loyal readers demand honesty. Gina, on the other hand, felt that the dish was so unbelievably yummy that a serving of any size would have seemed insufficient.
And we’re thinking that it was probably representative of the restaurant’s approach: a dish that was unusual but not weird. We visited another spot in Plymouth recently that insisted on clever twists to classics, and the result was simply revolting, so we know it can happen. Gnocchi is often gummy, salmon often dry, and arancini can be a mess, but at RooBar these dishes were expertly prepared and flavorful.
You be the judge: We highly recommend RooBar, and bet that on a weekend night, it’s a hopping nightspot where the great food is a bonus.
The RooBar
10 Cordage Park, Plymouth, MA
www.theroobar.com
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