So, we are in the middle of Restaurant Week and here’s how it’s going:
Last Friday, we went to the Melting Pot. Yummmmy. The special right now is Latin American so all of the meat had a special spice to it. As we did with the winter edition of Restaurant Week, we are determining a ‘winner’ for each course, each evening and eventually, the entire Restaurant Week. I chose the Latin American entree, so I won the night.
Saturday was a restaurant known for its vast wine collection. We ate there last Restaurant Week as well. The service was lackluster both times so I don’t think we’ll go back. I won that night although Gene won the appetizer round (his bisque was better than my salad); my duck was better than his steak. I’ve kind of forgotten what I had for dessert, but it was better that Gene’s dessert so I won. Yay.
Sunday was a fancy Italian place. I started with the carpaccio, which is raw beef sliced very thinly. It was incredible! But Gene’s scallop with truffle was better. I was shocked too! I thought I would win the main course round – I ordered Black Ravioli (it’s black because it’s colored with squid ink). Gene’s veal scallopini was better (and my ravioli was…well, OK). Things got better when my chocolate lava cake made me weak in the knees…until I tried Gene’s pana cotta. Oh well. It was easy to lose when the opposition was so damned delicious. I hope we go back there sometime not during restaurant week.
On Monday, we went to a restaurant across the street from our house (during the week, we stay closer to home since I work until at least 6 pm each night). Normally I don’t really care for the restaurant – it’s a little too much money for too little food – but with the restaurant week special it was a lot more reasonable. I started with the calamari, which had a little hint of wasabi sauce and was freaking delicious. Gene’s appetizer was goat cheese, roasted garlic and (roasted red peppers?) on pita and was also good, but nowhere near as good as the calamari! Yay. For my entree I had crab cakes – they were good, but oddly Gene enjoyed them more than I did. Gene had the ribeye, which he enjoyed. It came blackened (intentionally), which I just don’t get. Dessert was cheesecake for Gene and carrot cake for me. Gene won because none of the rest of my dinner was as good as the calamari.
Tuesday was a restaurant near the house. My appetizer was “Juusto”, which is a baked Scandinavian cheese. It was a young cheese, which causes the cheese to squeak a little. Mmm. Gene’s appetizer was bisque. It was good but rated a zero on the squeak-o-meter. My entree was half a chicken, which was delicious. Half a chicken is a lot, though. Gene had steak (he likes steak, what of it?) and it was also delicious. Dessert was strawberry shortcake (Gene) and cheesecake (me). Gene won because, again, the rest of my meal didn’t compare to the appetizer.
Today – Wednesday – I was home sick from work most of the day but we still went to dinner. Typically I work until 7 on Wednesdays but since I left work at 3-ish (sinus infection, on antibiotics, hooray) we actually went to the restaurant – another random local place – right at 5 PM. In time for the Early Bird Special – restaurant week meals are typically $30 but the early bird was $14. Since my appetite was pretty nonexistent I went for the Early Bird meal (“I’ll be the only person not named Myrtle who’s ordered the Early Bird!”). It was bisque (I could have had salad but I really wanted something hot to soothe my throat), a nice piece of Prime Rib, and for dessert a scoop of ice cream. Which was also nice on my throat. Gene had a time of it…he was going to order the Early Bird, with the fish instead of the prime rib, but they were out. So he got the restaurant week meal and asked to add on asparagus to his meal. The poor waitress was mortified, having to explain that they were also out of asparagus. Gene’s meal ended up being shrimp cocktail (OK, but a little fishy), house salad (no idea how this was, but it looked good to me), lamb shank (he’s had it before at this place; I had a piece last time and it was a greasy gravy covered mess, not my idea of good) and an “Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich,” but homemade. It was nice. I stole a little of his hot fudge for my plain ice cream. Winner is TBD – Gene’s on a work call and we didn’t discuss winners.
(Actually, I win because I’m just waiting for the Contac to take effect and send me to sleep. So ready for a good night of rest!)