Restaurant Review- EVOO
I am bringing back the restaurant reviews because I have been to some awesome restaurants in the area and want to share my experiences!
Wednesday night I visited EVOO, I’m not exactly sure how it is suppose to be pronounced…do we go the Rachael Ray route (E-V-O-O?) or say is like a real word (e-vue?) Regardless of how you say it this is one of my new favorite restaurants. One of my Dad’s friends had mentioned this place and commented about how dangerous it was to live across the street from it, and I can see why…I could eat here every night.
The restaurant has a wonderful ambiance, warm mustard/pumpkin colored walls, the popular high ceilings and an extensive bar area. It was the picture of a perfect intimate restaurant.
I have this habit of looking at a menu online and choosing what I will order before arriving at the restaurant. Well, I knew this place would be good because I couldn’t chose just one. Up until I had to order I was still stumped. One thing that was no question was the ordering of calamari as an appetizer, I think I am on a mission to find the best calamari. This was very well cooked, the usual fried coating but was accompanied by a slightly spicy creamy sauce, I was a nice change from the usual marinara which I now seem to turn my nose to.
The bread brought to the table was a bit dry but still had an interesting flavor and as expected a plate of extra virgin olive oil was brought to the table with cracked black pepper. Though the olive oil was not a nice deep green as I had expected it still had a nice fruitiness that kinda grew on me as I tried another piece.
I ended up ordering salmon with a fois gras hollandaise sauce upon a portabello polenta with balsamic reduction and haricot verts. Wow. This dish rocked all the way. The polenta was soft and creamy and had a wonderful saltiness. The salmon had a wonderful crust from searing and I was surprised about how much I liked the hollandaise as I thought this would be a bit too heavy with such a rich fish. But the balance was decadent and I literally cleaned the plate.
The one pitfall was the dessert menu. I was expecting some wonderful concoctions and spinoffs of the traditional dessert fare but was sadly disappointed as I was presented with the usual creme brulee, sorbet, profiteroles and cheesecake. *sigh* I guess it can’t be all perfect, though I appreciate the lack of guilt of a dessert I really didn’t need!
So I would definitely give this place five out of five forks, and I can’t wait to visit again!
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December 2nd, 2007 00:25
Wow…salmon with foie gras hollandaise on a portobello polenta??? Super-yum. I don’t know if I could forgive them the predictable dessert fare after that though!!
January 4th, 2008 11:53
[...] Against my better judgment, I ordered dessert. I was full as it was but how much damage could a trio of sorbet do? We were presented with a cranberry, caramel and green apple sorbet with a few butter cookies. (Caramel was the best!) It was the perfect ending to the meal, not at all a disappointment like some other places. [...]