When you make dinner plans with someone and you tell them “just pick wherever you want to go and let me know…” you can’t then decide you don’t want to go wherever they picked. So we found ourselves at Abbondanza. Since our last experience there was less than stellar, we hadn’t been there in a while.
We arrived and met our friends and were seated immediately (the joys of off-season). This time we had pretty good service. In taking
full advantage of my doctor saying “no restrictions after your surgery” we started with an order of fried zucchini, which was delicious. FKGuy ordered the porcini ravioli which were creamy and delicious, and not gigantic portion. Don’t get me wrong, it was big, just not stupid big. I ordered the Capellini Estate, which is angel hair pasta with olive oil, tomatoes, crushed red pepper and garlic. Lots of garlic. Yes, I know it is inexpensive for the restaurant to make this dish, but the portion was just silly. I ate what I was going to eat of it, FKGuy had a little bit and we took the rest home. The next day we both had lunch, which is a good value for the $14.99 dish, but I will say, it is really overwhelming to be served something so gigantic.
Overall, it was a good experience. I am still not rushing back, as there are too many other good places, but if someone wants to go, I would not argue.
The next day, we went to another seldom-visited restaurant (for us): 7 Fish. Why do we hardly go? The food is great, but service is usually rushed. I’ve said it before, but I do not want to be rushed in and out in 45 minutes for an expensive meal. Well, for any meal, really.
But we went to 7 Fish when we knew Fred, one of the owners of The Flaming Buoy, would be tending bar. So I knew we would not be rushed and it would be a pleasant experience. The thing about not frequenting a restaurant is this: I tend to get into a food rut. So, we ordered the same things we always get, on the occasions that we do get to 7 Fish. We had the warm grouper roll, a sushi style roll that is served warm, full of flavor and generally the reason I want to visit the restaurant. We also enjoyed a fish taco that comes with spicy cabbage slaw on the side, and it truly makes the dish. Amazing! At Fred’s suggestion, we veered off the normal three-cheese-Cesar course and had the roasted red pepper and goat cheese salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Although it normally comes with a different dressing, this was outstanding!
Finally, we enjoyed the snapper in the Thai yellow curry sauce. It is always outstanding, so naturally it is hard to get anything else. Of course, after eating all that it was impossible to find room for the amazing sounding desserts. Next time, I am all over that strawberry pie.
I enjoyed our marathon of places-we-hardly-ever-go, as each experience ended up being a lot of fun, with good food and service.
