The Brewster Fish House Review

The Brewster Fish House: Very good food and drink, with incredible lobster chowder

Overall rating: 90

Food rating: 90

I'd heard about The Brewster Fish House from the same friend who had recommended Fin. The Brewster Fish House doesn't take reservations, though, and is typically very busy, so we hadn't tried it. However, this week is back to school for some locales, so Cape Cod is much quieter than usual for a pre-Labor Day week and thus we made it in early to a nearly empty restaurant.

The location is small but the tables are not crowded together, however it was overly air conditioned. The wait staff were welcoming and helpful with recommendations.

I tried two mixed drinks both of which were very good and both of which were unusual flavors. Not the sort of thing that everyone would necessarily like, and this foreshadowed much of the meal.

For appetizers, I ordered an odd seared foie gras preparation that included herring and white peaches. It was very good but not incredible. My wife ordered a sashimi special that she felt similarly about. However, the waitress had said people go out of their way to get their lobster bisque, and so we also shared a bowl of the bisque. Although I love lobster, I'm nearly always disappointed in lobster bisque. Not so at The Brewster Fish House. Their lobster bisque was one of the more wonderful foods I've eaten, creamy with chunks of lobster, but not overly heavy or improperly seasoned. I'm not sure how better to describe it, but it's worth eating there just for the bisque. I also tried some of someone else's fish chowder, and this was very good.

For mains, my wife got lobster prepared out of the shell with pain perdue, mushrooms, tomatoes, fennel, and some beef bone marrow. This was very good. I had fluke with couscous served with brown butter dashi poured into the bowl. The fluke was delicious, though the skin was a bit tougher and/or less crispy than it might have been. The flavor combination was unusual.

For dessert, I got an odd plate of panna cotta served with a topping of whipped cream, some fresh slices of fruit and blueberries in a separate section of the plate, and a third section with olive oil cake topped with peach ice cream. There didn't seem to be much coherence to the dessert. All three parts were good, though the cake/ice cream was best and the panna cotta a bit dull even with the fruit.

Another member of our group got blackberry sorbet (a song by Prince has been running through my head since), and did not like it. However I thought it was really amazingly good though with a very strong and somewhat sour flavor; I'm not a sorbet fan but this was wonderful.

So, reviewing this restaurant is a bit tricky. First, I think the flavors are unusual and this is not an ideal place for people who do not like strong or strange flavors. However, I'm mainly focused on this because the group included people who were less-than-thrilled with such foods, and usually we're out on our own where I wouldn't be commenting on this. Second, and more central to the issue, is that much of the food was very good but not great, the drinks were excellent and strange, and the lobster bisque was so incredibly good that we would be eating here again no matter what the rest of the meal was like.

So the 90 rating needs some explanation as it overrates the overall food a bit, and dramatically underrates the lobster bisque. That said, The Brewster Fish House is one of the very best places I've eaten on Cape Cod.

The Kirkland Tap and Trotter Review

The Kirkland Tap and Trotter: Good food and excellent drinks in a relaxed atmosphere

Overall rating: 87

Food rating: 85

It took us a long time to make it to KT&T, but we finally got there last weekend. Tony Maws' other restaurant, Craigie on Main, has some of the best food in the Boston area, but the reviews I'd seen of KT&T were kind of mediocre. KT&T is in Somerville, around the corner from Bergamot.

The space is brighter than Craigie and more open, and KT&T has an overall relaxed feel to it. Like Craigie, though, the wait staff were extremely friendly, accommodating, and helpful. I asked our waiter for a number of recommendations, and he clearly was giving his actual favorites, and neither trying to avoid giving a recommendation nor up-selling us.

One of these favorites was his favorite cocktail, Smoke N' Bols, which was really wonderful. My wife got a coconut margarita that was unusual and also very good.

For appetizers we got a mussel stew, made with pasta, and the crispy-fried pork ribs. The mussels were very good and the pasta was excellent. I thought the ribs were good but nothing special, but my wife thought they were really superb.

For an entree, we both got the roasted Scottish sea trout, prepared with rice and vegetables. The waiter had told us this farm-raised trout tasted like salmon and that the vegetables were fresh and delicious. Both of these were accurate, but the fish itself while perfectly cooked and tasting like salmon wasn't actually all that interesting. The accompanying vegetables were great.We also got a side of grilled rapini (broccoli rabe) that was well prepared but nothing unusual.

We didn't get dessert, and the price with two drinks each, two entrees, two appetizers, and one side was about $70 per person, so overall a pretty reasonable price.

Overall, the drinks were great, the food was quite good, and the atmosphere and service were excellent. The food is somewhat different from what you would get at most other places in the area, and we will certainly be heading back. Those mediocre reviews I'd seen don't do the place justice.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns Review

Overall rating: 98

Food rating: 95

Blue Hill at Stone Barns: An amazing dining experience

I'd been hearing that Blue Hill at Stone Barns was the best restaurant in Westchester, where we travel fairly often, but had been unable to get a reservation. Then, a couple of days before we were heading down I checked and found an opening for dinner and snapped it up.

The Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a non-profit center created by David Rockefeller on land from the Rockefeller estate. Much of the food comes from the working farm, its greenhouse, and surrounding farms.

Reaching Stone Barns is pretty easy, but getting to the parking area at twilight was relatively unmarked and involved a fair number of twisty roads. Once there, we were met by a valet to park the car. You then walk through an open court with surrounded by stone buildings to reach the restaurant. It's a really beautiful space. We didn't take pictures, so I am stealing from the Internet:

The dress code is jacket and tie for men. Once we entered we were offered a chance to either go to our table or sit first at the bar and have drinks. We chose to go to the table, which was in a gorgeous dining room (another stolen picture):

The tables are spaced far apart, and the acoustics make it easy to talk privately. There were an incredibly large number of servers for the number of guests, and so we were very well attended to.

You could easily imagine this feeling stuffy and formal, but it didn't. Everything and everyone felt comfortable and welcoming. I ordered a drink that was basically an old fashioned made in birch wood, which added a birch beer flavor. Unusual and wonderful.

There is no menu at Blue Hill. Food just starts arriving once they check to make sure there are no dietary intolerances. Most courses involve just once piece of food for each guest, and there were 25 or more courses. These ranged from an initial piece of lettuce with some dressing on it, to venison, to dried herring. At one point our table was taken to a separate building (that used to be the manure storage on the farm), where we had some amazing bread with a couple of different accompaniments. I ordered a glass of wine that was at the lower end of the wine prices, but was really delicious.

The foods were unusual and delicious, and the setting and service made it the best restaurant experience I've ever had.

The prices matched the experience: $198 per person before drinks, tax, and tip.

I don't think I can do the restaurant justice in this review, and the expense is enough that it's hard to imagine going back for quite awhile, but if you are in Westchester and want one of the best dining experiences you will ever have, go to Blue Hill at Stone Barns.