Table Little Silver last night
We were six people at the chef's table last night at Table restaurant in Little Silver. It is byo and between the 8 bottles of wine we brought we had that end covered ;o)
The food easily lived up to all that good wine too. We started with an amuse that set the tone for the evening nicely and things continued onward and upward from there.
A shared spinach salad and bowl of clam chowder went quickly and I also got to taste the tempura tuna sushi roll, risotto/crawfish cake, and calamari. All were very good, with special kudos to the lime dipping sauce on the squidies ( gold star to bgut for that recco!)
We didn't pass around the mains this time, but I was so happy with my huge cowboy steak that I didn't mind not trying those nice looking lamb chops. I have a big appetite and even I couldn't finish all that steak. At least not if I wanted to try some of the desserts ...
And I did. A white chocolate cheesecake with caramel sauce was very good and a bit lighter than I expected (thank goodness). We also had a good warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream in a tasty raspberry sauce, an excellent apple tart also with some ice cream, and a selection of sorbets (loved the coconut).
Still my pick for the best of the newer restaurants in our area.
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Angelina
Jan 18, 2008 02:15 AM
WOW!!! Thanks all of you!! This place has been on my list, but never went...but with these juicy descriptions by seal, bgut1, and RGR...I am sure to go!!!!
So nice to hear you all had a wonderful time!!! Thanks for the great write ups..so when do you all take over for Andrea Clurfield?? haa haa :)
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val ann c
Jan 17, 2008 04:16 PM
Oh that all sounds so good! I'm glad you all enjoyed it. "Table" definitely goes on my list.
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re: val ann c
shorebilly
Jan 17, 2008 04:56 PM
Thanks all of you for the detailed review! A special thanks to RGR for the website, will be adding it to the short list of places to try, sounds great!
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First off... Thank you, bgut! :-))
Mr. R. and I were so pleased to be able to join the seals and the bguts for what was, to put it bluntly, a helluva fabulous evening! Great cuisine, fine wine, and, of course, wonderful company. :-)
I had actually forgotten that seal had been to Table once before, but I did re-read bgut's glowing review before showing up, so I was fully prepared for some delicious food, and happily, Chef Martin Bradley, a thoroughly charming and talented man, was truly on his game.
Let me start by saying a word about the bread. It was delicious. It came with the ubiquitous oil accompaniment, but Mr. R. and I prefer butter, and when we requested some, the quality was very good.
As was mentioned, two items were ordered for the table: the New England clam chowder and the spinach salad. Based on the few spoonsful of soup I got to taste, I'll definitely be ordering an entire bowl for myself sometime in the not-too-distant future. Having o.d.'d on superb chowder the past two summers in Maine, I can safely say that Chef Martin's version is stellar. He manages to impart deep, rich flavor without making the chowder too heavy. Acc. to seal, Chef Martin won an award for it, and I must say it's very well-deserved.
The fresh baby spinach salad with roasted beets, pears, and a roulade of goat cheese, sun-dried cranberries and walnuts was a different and very welcome take on the common greens with goat cheese salad.
For our appetizer, Mr. R. and I ordered the Southwestern crawfish risotto cakes. Two generously-sized cakes composed of Cajun-spiced risotto and crawfish were rolled in seasoned panko breadcrumbs and perfectly fried so there was not a hint of oiliness. Crunchy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside, these babies were a treat to the palate! The accompanying pickled spiced slaw with red remoulade was a great counterpoint to the slightly spicy cakes. We passed small portions around for everyone to taste and were offered tastes of the appetizers our dining companions ordered. To be honest (as I always am, to a fault!) I'm not a calamari fan, so that dish didn't do anything for me. And I didn't try the tuna rolls. However, Mr. R. pronounced them both excellent.
For our main courses, I, like bgut, had the rack of lamb. I have had many racks in my dining life, and this one has to go down as one of the best! Coated with a honey-mustard glaze, roasted to a perfect medium rare, and napped with a fresh mint and malt vinegar sauce, every bite of the excellent quality lamb was a taste sensation! As for the accompaniments, the haricots verts, one of my favorite vegetables, were divine, and while I don't usually like mashed potatoes, I must admit that Chef Bradley's ultra-smooth and creamy turnip mashed potatoes entirely won me over.
Mr. R.. had the aforementioned cowboy steak, which I tasted,and thought was amazing both in size -- about as big as half a calf -- and in flavor. Somehow, he managed to exercise good portion control, so we will be dining this evening on his leftovers as well as on some of my lamb, which I decided to forego in the cause of being able to have dessert. All were all first-rate though my particular favorite was the apple tart.
I am in total agreement with my dining confreres that Table is a huge asset to the local dining scene. All too often, my high expectations are not met, but in this case, they were not only met, but exceeded! If you haven't been to Table yet, the word is "Go!" Mr. R. and I will definitely be returning there very soon.
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bgut1
Jan 17, 2008 02:31 PM
Hey Seal - Thanks for doing the write up. It was a great time and we tremendously enjoyed the company. It sure was a lot of wine (but we were responsible and drank in moderation) :). Special thanks goes to Mr. RGR for that fantastic Bordeaux he brought along.
(new paragraph for my buddy)
I was thinking the same thing this morning about the mains. We passed around the apps and the desserts but not the entrees. I guess we were so "into" our food, all civility was thrown out the window. My sincere apologies as I would've been happy to share a few bites of the magnificent lamb. Thanks to Chef Bradley for taking the time to talk to us as well as for the fabulous food. I agree with you that Table is one of the best new ones out there. Highly recommended.
