Providine Goes (back) to Pittsburgh, part 2

I don't generally like to write about restaurants that I only dine at once, but given the lack of bits here recently, and the likelihood of getting back to Bistro 19 in Mount Lebanon any time soon, I thought it would be good to practice my typing. (eating is always pretty well practiced)

Bistro 19 is an upscale restaurant on the main drag of Mount Lebanon, just south of Pittsburgh offering America fusion cuisine. An extensive wine list is available, categorized not just by color or type, but also by dominant flavor characteristics, such as spicy and bold, refreshing, etc. We opted for an inexpensive Spanish Rioja.

Salads were a mix of interesting and standard. For the slightly unusual, a pear and beet salad was offered and good, well balanced with a not overly sweet vinaigrette and candied walnuts. Other salads that we tried were the Caesar, spinach and mixed green salads.

Many items on the menu are locally sourced, where possible, but the menu does not maintain a slavish adherence to this, offering tilapia, basa, shrimp and other items from outside the area. I chose the Black Tiger Shrimp entree, which were butterflied and "stuffed". Served with an excellent Risotto, creamy and flavorful, that coupled extremely well with the rich wilted spinach and sauce of the base of the dish. I thought the shrimp and stuffing to be somewhat bland, with the rest of the dish being excellently prepared and thought out to provide very complementary flavors.

My companions ordered the duck breast entree, pumpkin ravioli and crab cakes. While no one was willing to let me taste their dishes, everyone was extremely happy with their entrees. I could see that the crab cakes were compose primarily of lump crab meat, with very little filler added to their very generous sizes. Easily 3 inches across and over an inch thick and served with smashed potatoes.'

While dessert was on offer, with such options as pumpkin creme brulee, with a pumpkin pie waiting at home, we gave these selections a miss.


Salads; $5, Entrees: $15-$30, Wine: $8-$14/glass, $30+ per bottle.

Read more...

Rick's Roadhouse

Rick's Roadhouse
370 Richmond Street
Providence, RI 02903



As a lover of BBQ (and Asian and Indian and ... ) I'm shocked that I hadn't even thought to try to find a good place to get a pork sandwich, ribs or chicken. And thanks to a good friend having a birthday, and loving NC style Q, I've now been educated to one of the offerings in Providence for this fine and distinctly American cuisine.

First off, I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant that offered tasting flights of Bourbon, Whiskey and Tequilas on their drink menu. A great idea, and well received by the birthday boy who is deeply into Whiskey and its various styles. The rest of the drink menu is nothing to be ignored, with a draft list not typical of most local places.

The menu ranges from $5 dollar burgers and sandwiches up to a $19 combo plate. One highlight is a reinterpretation of a Cuban sandwich with pulled pork. The menu is presented with tongue firmly in cheek section headings and item names. Reports from my fellow diners is that the beef brisket is excellent as either a sandwich or entree. The quantity of food served is reasonable and easily eaten in a single sitting without feeling stuffed.

As is typical of any quality BBQ place, sauces were on the table in unmarked squeeze bottles. In Rick's case, there are only two sauces, a sweet-spicy and a sweet sauce. Both were very good, though I could have wished for a little wider variety, such as a vinegary sauce.

I opted to go to the expensive end of the menu and ordered the chicken and baby back ribs combo platter. Accompanied with excellent BBQ beans, which seemed to be about equal parts beans and pulled pork and a somewhat sweet cabbage and carrot slaw, the dish was great. The chicken thigh and leg meat nearly fell of the bone on its own, tasted good on its own and went well with the table sauces. The ribs seemed to me to be a bit on the dry side, but tasted excellent and worked equally well plain or with the table sauces, with a slight preference for the sauces to kick up the moisture.

A table companion ordered a side of Mac and Cheese for the table and none were disappointed with this heavy, creamy, cheesy dish. Large elbows, abundant, creamy yet thick cheese sauce made this tastes like a well prepared version of a stove top Mac and Cheese. Way better than a boxed mix, not quite as good as a slightly dryer and crisp top baked, but still superb.

After a hearty meal, a couple of handfuls of fresh peanuts and a large beer for me, we skipped dessert.

Price Range: $6 - $20

Recommended? Great BBQ and Staff, Go!

Date of Visit: July 29, 2008

Read more...

Temple Downtown

Temple
106 Francis Street
Providence, RI 02903
401.919.5050


I took the opportunity offered during Providence's Restaurant Weeks to sample a prix fixe menu at Temple. I would have loved to have sampled many of the other fine restaurants who were participating, but time is a limited resource. I decided therefore that a friend and I would visit one of the swankier places in downtown.

Located directly across from the state capital in the uncompleted RI Masonic Temple. After sitting abandoned for 80 years, it has been converted to the Renaissance Hotel with Temple restaurant occupying space downstairs. The space is very open and hip leaving me to wonder if I was dressed appropriately, in my business casual clothing to fit in. No worries, business casual never really goes out of style, just the colors and patterns change. The space is beautifully finished with a large lounge and bar at the bottom of the steps from the entrance. The main dining room is also very open, surrounded by semi-private booths and open and closely spaced tables.

Our waiter for the evening, Gustavo, was extremely good, many times quite surreptitiously filling a water glass without being noticed and offering second glasses of wine and yet not hovering over the table. Dinner pace was comfortable, with a three course meal spread nicely over a little more than an hour.

As to the food, all excellent. I opted to use the Prix Fixe menu and ordered the Roasted Beet Salad, Tri-Tips steak with tamarind sauce and a finish of one of the few restaurant desserts I'll eat, cheesecake. My companion also had the beet salad and the Twice Truffled Farfalle. The beet salad had a nice combination of flavors, the sweetness of the chopped roasted golden beets with the tart saltiness of bleu cheese and bacon made for an interesting and refreshing start to the meal. I didn't particularly taste the vinaigrette with the strong flavors of the beets and cheese, but also didn't feel that the salad lacked in flavor.

Our entrees were also both excellent. The medium-rare was perfectly done, seared on the outside and pink throughout without running juices. The tamarind sauce served to the side was a very good complement of tart and sweet with just a hint of spice. Served on the side were very lightly fried mini-fingerling potatoes. The potatoes could have used a little something to bring out their flavor. The bite that I had of the farfalle dish was also quite good, though I didn't have enough to study its flavors, she assured me that it was excellent.

For dessert, the mini-cheesecake, heavily tasting of vanilla, was more moist and less heavy than a traditional New York style cheesecake. At about 5 inches across the round, it was easily enough for two, though I didn't have much difficulty eating all but a couple of bites. My dining companion wasn't as enamored of the cheesecake, not being as big a fan of vanilla flavors as I. She did steal all of the fruit off the top though. A fine conclusion to the meal. Also on offer were fresh fruit flavored sorbet's as well as chocolate and vanilla gelato.

The menu is varied and defies categorization, ranging from flatbreads, traditional salads, steak, fish, as well as some unique combinations, such as the beet salad.


Price Range: Appetizers/Salads: $7-10, Entrees: $17-28, Valet: $3

Recommended? Yes. A little on the expensive side, but the service was attentive, food was very good and excellently prepared. Midweek, not overly crowded, so noise levels mentioned in other reviews wasn't an issue.

Date of Visit: July 15, 2008

Read more...

Fatty McGee's Dublin Pub

Fatty McGee's
55 Union Street
Providence, RI 02903

Unfortunately for this review, the menu is in the process of being changed, so this review may be outdated very quickly. The owner told me that due to low sales volumes, many of the seafood items (stuffies, crab, clams) on the menu are not available, and new menus haven't been printed yet. This left the standard pub fair of sandwiches, burgers, nachos, cheese sticks, wings, etc.

I had a very disappointing Reuben. The meat was overcooked, dried out and tough and the sandwich didn't have enough sauce on it, in general, it didn't taste like much. Probably the first Reuben I've had that wasn't good. In contrast, a dining companion had a the Mac and Cheese, according to the owner, one of the best items on the menu. Given the reaction and rampant sampling by everyone at the table, this is not an overblown assessment.

I found the wings and sauce to be unexciting, the buffalo sauce seemed to be just a cup of red hot without much butter or other spice to it. The wings are served plain and the sauce is provided on the side for dipping. The nachos were okay, but not great, certainly not as good as the ones at Spats. The quesadilla was decent, nothing fantastic, but reasonably tasty.

Friends I've dined with here have either loved or hated the grilled cheese sandwich. The decisive ingredient appears to be the inclusion of a thinly sliced tomato, which isn't mentioned on the menu, for the tomato hater, not a good sandwich. The burgers have been reported to be good, but I haven't had a sample of one.

Our waitress Christina was great, handling the 11 of us quite jovially and genuinely helpful, making recommendations to folks. One of her favorites was the Reuben, so I can only assume that I had a poorly prepared example. The owner was also about and quite friendly and talkative.

Price Range: $8 - 15

Recommended? Great staff, very friendly and helpful. But most of the food is only okay, go for the atmosphere, to watch sports or for one of their weeknight events like Karaoke or Trivia.

Date of Visit: July 14, 2008

Read more...

Waterman Grille

Waterman Grille
Four Richmond Square
Providence, RI 02906

Approaching and entering Waterman Grille, I was greeted the subtle but unmistakable scent of wood smoke. This small old looking brick building is dwarfed by a very modern looking pink building. On entering at street level, one has a clear view into the kitchen over the bar. I didn't see it, but a lower level was in evidence with an outdoor bar and outdoor seating at river level.

We had considered what the dress code might be before going, with high prices and fancy looking web site and photos, but entering, found that the rest of the patrons were dressed in casual wear and we needn't have worried. From perusing their website, the upstairs and facilities can be used for more formal dining, though it isn't clear if that room is used for daily dining.

The restaurant's main floor creates a casual, cozy atmosphere with its blend of brick, dark woods, and open beamed ceilings. The main level dining room is lined with windows looking out on the Seekonk River, Henderson Bridge (aka the Red Bridge) and the East Providence shoreline of the river. While dining we had the pleasure of watching four rowing boats speed down the river. It is easy to imagine that later in the season sitting on the many outdoor decks would make for a very pleasant dining experience.

At the time of my visit, the restaurant had extended their Monday night Prix Fixe menu beyond the original April 28 run date. I chose not to enjoy that phenomenal combination, the only person at a table of seven not to do so, and ventured into the full menu. My top two choices from the menu led to many minutes of agonizing, the lamb steak or the Cioppino. I opted for the lamb, and was treated to a very generous steak, perfectly cooked to medium-rare served over very good mashed potatoes. I ordered the Waterman Salad as an appetizer since the meal didn't really include any vegetables, a minor complaint.

I was not impressed with the Waterman Green Salad. The best item on the salad plate was the small piece of toasted bread with olive oil and a generous spread of goat cheese. The salad itself was a spring green mix with a very understated dressing that I couldn't even taste. Another of my dining companions ordered the same salad and concurred with this analysis. Everyone else was extremely happy with their beef skewers and stuffed mushrooms, with the beef skewers and its extremely delicious spicy, "fiery" on the menu, cashew "dip" being the crowds favorite. I say dip, because it was much more of a thick spread of coarsely chopped cashews, a low level, but detectable and very complementary, addition of spice. My companions were eating this dip with a fork when they were out of beef.

With the current Monday Prix Fixe, the winners overall as best choices were the Beef Skewers, Hereford Top Sirloin, and the Tiger Cake dessert. I didn't order a dessert, but did sample the Creme Brulee and must say that it was also excellent, though I think served while still a little bit warm. Early spoonfuls of the custard were warm and soft, but the final bites (my dining companion had eaten too much) were set nicely and had the perfect custard texture, especially contrasted with the thick and crisp caramelized sugar layer. I regretfully didn't get to sample either the Tiger Cake or the Tropical Sorbet, though one of the other diners, who especially loves creme brulee, which was very good, declared the cake the better of the two.

The only major complaint for the evening was that
two of my dining companions had ordered the salmon entree and received
only partly cooked fish. The wait staff quickly took the meals back to
the kitchen and had them replaced with new preparations fish within a
few minutes. The service staff were very attentive and friendly, one
whom at one point volunteered, during dessert selection, that he felt
the Tiger Cake was an excellent choice, having had two pieces as his
lunch.


Price Range: appetizers: ~$10, entrees: $15-30, dessert: $8

Recommended? Absolutely: Well prepared and flavorful food.

Date of Visit: May 12, 2008

Read more...