Editorial
Front Page - Friday, December 4, 2009
Weekly Indulgence
Samara Litvack
Last night, I had dinner at Bonefish Grill, off of Gunbarrel Road. When our server, Phillip, discovered it was my first time at the restaurant, he kindly walked me through both sides of the menu.
He began with the progressive wine list, explaining it starts with the lighter, milder flavored wines and works its way down to the more full-bodied, intense flavors. White wines, he said, are on the left and reds are on the right.
He pointed out the specialty martinis (the seasonal Handcrafted Pine-Apple Martini and Winter White Cosmopolitan are featured right now), as well as the beers and nonalcoholic beverages (Coke products – my favorite).
He flipped over the menu and started the explanation of appetizers. He suggested the bang bang shrimp, for which Bonefish Grill is perhaps most famous, that consists of a generous portion of shrimp, tossed in a spicy aioli sauce. It does have a little bit of a kick, he said, and it is by far the restaurant’s most popular appetizer.
He also suggested the Singapore calamari, which is deep fried with red and green bell peppers, drizzled with an Asian drizzle on top and served with a spicy Asian sauce.
In the middle of the menu is the grilled fish section, where an impressive selection of fish – gulf grouper, Chilean sea bass, Norwegian salmon, sea scallops and shrimp, long-fin tilapia, snake river rainbow trout, cold water lobster tails and ahi tuna “Tokyo style” (served with Asian vegetables and Jasmine rice) – can be chosen and cooked over the wood-burning grill. The fish, which is hand-cut fresh by management daily, comes with a choice of one of four signature sauces, including mango salsa, which has a sweet taste, due to the fresh mango; chimichurri, which is olive oil/parsley based; pan Asian, or teriyaki ginger glaze; and lemon butter.
Entrees on the main menu, except the diablo shrimp fettuccini, come with one side item and the seasonal garnish, which is right now a succotash, consisting of roasted corn, Applewood smoked bacon, haricot vert green beans and red pepper.
(If your mouth isn’t watering by now, you might not appreciate the rest of this column. By the time Phillip finished going over the menu, I had about 15 selections in mind and no idea what to choose.)
Phillip also went over the daily specials menu before taking our drink order, and everything on it sounded unbelievable. When he came back with our waters, I ordered a starter cup of the corn chowder with lump crab. I’d narrowed my search down to two items – the pecan parmesan crusted rainbow trout, sautéed and topped with artichoke hearts, fresh basil and lemon butter (yum), and one of the daily specials, the lobster thermidor mahi mahi, served with a hint of sherry on garlic whipped potatoes.
Phillip didn’t waste any time in telling me that what I wanted was indeed the lobster thermidor. With that kind of confidence, I figured I should take his word for it.
Soon after placing our orders, he brought us bread and pesto. I usually don’t eat bread at restaurants, as if I do, I tend to get full before my meal arrives, but after his description of the pesto, I had to try it. Made with pine nuts, basil, Parmesan cheese, oregano, crushed red pepper, salt, garlic and Kalamata olives, Phillip joked that the kitchen had just thrown everything it could find in there, marrying it with olive oil. But, when you like every ingredient you put in a dish, you’re bound to like the end result, too. I ate two pieces of bread, soaked in the pesto, and somehow stopped myself from picking up a third.
My corn chowder was out of this world. It was wonderfully smooth and creamy. The textures of the corn, potatoes and peppers were a perfect blend, and the sauce in the dish pulled the flavors together fantastically without overpowering the delicate sweet taste of the crabmeat.
I could have easily eaten another cup of that soup, but I’m glad I didn’t. My entrée arrived only minutes after I took the last bite of chowder, and it was as wonderful in real life as it had been in Phillip’s description.
I’d never had lobster thermidor, and I cannot believe I’ve waited so long to try it. It was absolutely amazing. That sauce, rich with sherry, perfectly complemented the sweet lobster meat. My mahi was grilled to perfection. The whipped potatoes boasted an intense garlic flavor (more wonderful than I can explain in words), and the blended flavors of the Applewood bacon and red peppers made for a very tasty succotash.
My dinner guest had the tempura shrimp and steak, with a six-ounce sirloin cooked (perfectly) to medium rare. Those shrimp were the biggest I ever remember seeing, with a slight sweet flavor that Phillip credited to the Asian drizzle.
Despite our server’s persuasion, we opted to skip dessert. I’d gotten so full from my chowder and entrée that I wanted nothing more than to head home, curl up on the couch and enjoy my Monday night sitcoms. I really couldn’t think of a better way to spend an evening.
I will absolutely return to Bonefish Grill to try some of the many other items listed on the menu. Although, if that lobster thermidor mahi mahi is on there, it’s going to be really hard to
pass it up.
Contact Samara at samara@hamiltoncountyherald.
com.
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