It’s Martin Luther King Day, and our teenage daughter is home from school. Chilly weather blankets Connecticut. The evening forecast threatens high winds and a wintry mix of precipitation. Our thoughts naturally drift to—lobster!
That’s because Dish Bar & Grill,
one of my favorite Hartford area restaurants, has reprised its spectacular Lobster Fest (click on photo to enlarge),
which is running from Monday, January 9th to Sunday January 22nd. Some restaurants offer summertime lobster boils and the like, but no restaurant that I’m aware of offers a deal as elaborate as this one, and certainly not in the heart of winter. It’s very cheering! For $29, this three-course, prix-fixe menu includes a choice from three lobster appetizers, three lobster entrées and three (non-lobster) desserts. My companion joked that one of the desserts should have been lobster claws (flaky sfogliatelle pastries with a French cream filling). Touché!
Because it was a Monday, a holiday and the weather was threatening, the restaurant wasn’t terribly busy.
No matter. Soon we were ensconced at a nice table, my tropical wife unwilling to surrender her coat until she had warmed through and through.
The Parker House rolls we were brought
would do the trick. Brushed with a little melted butter
and sprinkled with sea salt, the rolls soon gave us an inner glow.
No wonder these irresistible rolls placed #78 on the list of the top 100 foods I enjoyed in 2011!
Our waiter took our wine order and returned with everything we needed,
including this delightful screw-top Grooner Grüner Veltliner
and a chiller in which to place it.
Note that on Mondays, Dish has half-price bottles of wine.
We were three people in all so we could try ever appetizer, entrée and dessert. There was no dissension over who would get what because everything sounded so great. And yet, everything tasted even better than expected! Bob had the lobster fritters,
which came with a spicy rémoulade so good he saved the remainder for future use.
Ann had the lobster roll sliders with celery salt and citrus aïoli, and all anyone could say was “wow!”
And as for my lobster bisque with aged sherry, suffice it to say it was as good as any I ever had.
For the next round, two of us were brought the implements of (lobster) destruction.
Bob didn’t need them, having selected the elegant lobster pot pie for his entrée.
Ann only needed them in theory, even though she had ordered the lobster boil with clams, corn on the cob, and drawn butter.
This girl grew up on a Mindanao prawn farm—she knows how to break down crustaceans like no one alive! She used the shellfish cracker, but said her teeth would have sufficed.
I, however, was glad to have all of the implements of destruction as I attacked my Thai-style lobster with spicy chili sauce, basil and lime. What a great dish it turned out to be! I never expected a whole lobster!
For dessert, Bob enjoyed a slice of vanilla bean cheesecake with mixed berries.
Ann worked over the Dish sundae with vanilla ice cream, caramel, chocolate sauce and incredible candied peanuts that added both texture and excitement to this American classic.
And I finished with a lovely milk chocolate panna cotta with a little chocolate soil for texture and visual appeal.
As good as it was, I couldn’t help eyeing the cupcakes that were being prepared, gluttony being the deadly sin that food writers have most to fear.
Credit executive chef Bill Carbone with being as great with desserts as he is with savory dishes!
Watch for his Winter 2012 Taste of Hartford menu, running from January 23rd to February 5th.
Dish Bar & Grill, 960 Main Street, Hartford, 860-249-DISH
www.dishrestaurantgroup.com