Chelsea Madren
Member Since: 03/04/2012
Listing Reviews
Categories: Modern American, Seafood
06/26/2012 - 07:38 pm
Artichoke & Goat Cheese Flatbread is topped leaf spinach, balsamic onions, and roasted peppers. This had some really good flavor combination -tangy from the balsamic onions, hearty vegetable flavor from the artichokes, creamy & salty from the goat cheese, sweet from the roasted peppers, and a vibrant green vegetable flavor from the spinach. Perfectly executed and paired well with the Aveleda Vinho Verde 2010. The wine was crisp, with a tart front and smooth finish, good acidity and almost disappears like a natural palate cleanser. A second fermentation of this wine adds a slight effervescence which is very pleasing. Thumbs up, way up! Chilled Lobster & Shrimp Spring Roll comes with a dipping sauce trio of cool salsa verde, aromatic lemongrass, and sweet-hot red chili. It was a beautiful presentation! There was a generous amount of lobster and shrimp versus vegetables and noodles. This is a great summer dish with fresh flavors - perfectly cooked, chilled seafood with crunchy vegetables for texture. Hirsch #1 Gruner Veltliner 2009 was spicy and bold on the front and with the spring roll by balancing out the flavor for a crisp finish. Thumbs up, way up! Organic Arugula Salad mixed with watermelon, grilled golden beets, goat cheese, jicama, and topped with toasted pistachios. The cumin lime vinaigrette was fabulous! Perfectly executed in flavor and texture - peppery arugula, sweet beets, creamy goat cheese, crunchy textured jicama, and smoky flavor from the pistachios. Unfortunately, the Honig 2011 did not pair very well with this dish. Otherwise, thumbs up, way up on the salad! Mini Indulgence Desserts was a tasting of all of classic desserts served in shot glass like vehicles - Key Lime Pie, Mocha Macchiato, Pecan Pie, Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse, Market Fruit, Blueberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Rocky Road, Chocolate Chip & Raspberry Cannoli, and Meyer Lemon. The Key Lime was just like eating a slice of pie, key lime custardy filling, graham cracker crumbles, and whipped cream. The Market Fruit was like a mini fruit bowl of strawberries, blueberries, pineapples, and other seasonal fruits. The Chocolate Peanut Butter was awesome and it's one of my favorite sweet combinations! Almost like a chocolate peanut butter mousse, but not too heavy with a luxurious texture. The Blueberry Cheesecake tasted exactly like a blueberry cheesecake. The cheesecake was fluffy and not too heavy. Blueberries are my favorite topping for cheesecake so I was in heaven! The Rocky Road was a chocoholics dream. The chocolate mousse was decadent and rich, yet not too heavy. The marshmallows and crunchy nuts were the perfect addition. The Raspberry Cannoli was topped with an empty cannoli shell to dip into the creamy cannoli filling with raspberry sauce and chocolate chips swirled into the mixture. The desserts were paired with Jam Jar Moscato 2011. The wine was a little too tangy and sour. It didn't match with this. I think a sweet port would work better or a café au lait. Overall, thumbs up, way up on the desserts!
Categories: American, California, Seafood, Steakhouse
03/17/2012 - 02:55 pm
Escargots Bourguignonne are served in a Brandy Pernod Garlic Butter. OMG, this is just like I remembered it. The Summit House was my first experience with escargot. Being from Hawaii, we eat lots of sea snails (called tsubu in Japanese). Escargot is so much better as it absorbs the flavor of anything that you serve with it. The Brandy Pernod Garlic Butter sauce is amazing! The escargot explodes with flavor. Tip: when you scoop the escargot from the holder or shell, make sure you dig deep to pick up the garlic chunks on the bottom. If you have eaten all of the escargot, take your bread and soak up the leftover buttery garlic flavor. Your bread is now a beautifully garlic flavored delicacy. Thumbs up, way up! Rib Eye Steak is a 20-ounce USDA Prime bone-in rib eye, oak wood grilled, and served with straw onions and Gruyere au gratin potatoes. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare with an awesome char-grilled seal. The steak was tender, juicy, and full of flavor. The au gratin potatoes had a splendid brown crust of cheese on top and creamy layered potato goodness underneath. The vegetables were sautéed to perfection allowing them to retain their crispy greenness. The fried onion straws were okay. The dish would probably be fine without them. Thumbs up, way up! Since we were celebrating my husband’s birthday, they brought out a little something sweet to end our evening. The Summit English Trifle is layers of rum and brandy soaked cake with English custard, strawberries, Chantilly cream, and toasted almonds. I love that they had a little “Happy Birthday” chocolate placard and a candle to make a wish. The trifle was scrumptious and light. This was the perfect end to a heavily-laden meal of beef. Thumbs up, way up!
Categories: American, Barbecue, Sandwiches
04/14/2012 - 06:49 pm
The Pulled Pork is exactly what it sounds like. It’s tender, slow-cooked, smoked pork that literally falls apart into shreds. They toss it in Blake’s BBQ sauce and serve it up in a lump. It has a little too much BBQ sauce for me. I’m more of a smoked meat person who uses the sauce on the side to add as needed. Otherwise, the pork tasted pretty good. Thumbs up! Blake’s Big Pulled Pork Pile is slow smoked pork, pulled and served on their big bun with BBQ sauce, cole slaw, and red onion. You’ll definitely need extra napkins for this sandwich! Again, a little too much BBQ sauce for me, but my family loved this sandwich! The sweet, BBQ sauced smoky pork complemented the cool, creamy cole slaw. The bun was soft yet held this pork beast together. Thumbs up! If you’re feeling a bit of Man vs. Food hunger, they also offer the Blake’s One Pounder Bomber or “THE BEAST” (two and a half pounds of food, YIKES!) Sandy’s Bread Pudding is a huge portion with a side of vanilla sauce to slather on. It was a very dense and custardy bread pudding. It had a bit more raisins in it than expected. The vanilla sauce was creamy and gave it a down-home comfy goodness. Thumbs up!
Categories: Latin American, Seafood
03/04/2012 - 10:15 pm
Bistec Apanado is pounded top sirloin steak covered in garlic, lightly breaded, pan-fried, and served with salad and rice. It’s the Peruvian version of the country-fried steak or steak Milanese. The steak was tender, juicy and infused with just the right amount of aromatic garlic flavor. The light bread coating gave it a beautiful caramel brown finish and absorbed some of the steak juices as a bonus. The rice was fluffy and a hefty portion at that. The salad was fresh and crisp. Their vinaigrette is reminiscent of a red wine vinegar and oil mix, tangy but not overwhelming. Thumbs up, way up! Cabrito Norteno is lamb stewed with minced onions, cilantro, Inka wine, and served with rice, white beans and sarza criolla. The tender lamb was cooked to perfection. The rice was a perfect side, a delicious way to get every last drop of the precious sauce. Add some of the sarza criolla (Peruvian salsa) to the white beans to kick it up a notch! This is a perfectly executed dish from beginning to end – almost licked the plate clean. Thumbs up, way up! Jalea is lightly floured fresh fish, shrimp, and calamari deep-fried, topped with sarza criolla, and served with yucca and potatoes. They are not kidding when they say, “Share a Meal!” on this entrée. It is HUGE! Every piece of seafood is fried to perfection – fish was tender and juicy, shrimp was crisp and sweet, and calamari was tender. No rubbery seafood here! The sarza criolla enhances every bit of seafood and gives it a little citrus zing. I’m not a big “citrus on seafood” person, but this did not overpower the delicate flavors of this dish. You’ll love the fried corn kernel topping! It’s like a cross between popcorn and a corn nut. I was able to eat a third of this dish and had plenty of leftovers for the next day. Thumbs up, way up!
