CafeChatNoir

Ocean Boulevard still kicks ass, much to my delight. It’s jumped straight to the top of my list of favorites over the past couple years. The also bill themselves as a Martini bar, so a good 1/2 of the drinks page is martinis and other various ways to fill a martini glass with pure alcohol.

They have a drink called the South Beach. Stoli Oranj, Absolut Citron and a splash of something. (Air, I suspect.) Sublime, thought it should be called the “smack you on the ass” martini.

Shrimp and heirloom grits for my app, and I would not share. (Thought I do have to think that heirloom grist are simply a box of grits found in the back of the pantry that don’t have any weevils in them.) Shrimp was marinated and grilled, and the grits were done perfectly. And it’s an appetizer that is actually appetizer sized so you’re not going to ruin your meal.

My brother, the more generous of us, got the jerk beef tips app and actually shared with everyone. Those were great, too, and again a small serving that is actually appetizer sized.

I went for the special – seared Mahi-Mahi (always good) over a grits cake (sold) with succotash and bacon. (SOLD!) And some more shrimp thrown in for good measure. And the bonus: teeny tiny baby lima beans in the succotash that were soooooooooo good. (I know it’s a love/hate bean. I love them.)

Lisa and I were also apparently in an eating competition – except that no one told us it was a contest until the end of the meal. (For the record, I won. It seems it became a contest when we both ordered the special.)

From what I understand the crabcakes and steak that others got were quite good as well.

The only downside was that everyone was too full for dessert martinis at the end of the night.

Definitely on the “must go again next year” list.

MP 2.5 on the Beach Road. Make reservations!!

Port O’ Call is still one of my favorites. I don’t think the menu has changed in forever, but everything is great anyway. They also have a kickass gift shop filled with tons of shiny things and vintage jewelry, and who doesn’t love that? This is one of those places where I don’t think I’ve had the same thing twice, but I can’t be sure because all I can really remember from year to year is that it’s all good and whatever I get, I know I’ll like it.

Started off with the Oysters Rockefeller, which they apparently make a little differently from the standard, as it has spinach in it. (That was part of the reason I ordered it – one year I overheard a woman giving the waiter holy hell over the fact that OR is not supposed to have spinach in it. Though it’s quite clearly noted on the menu.) Well, I liked them and would get them again, so I can only assume this woman simply doesn’t like anything that doesn’t conform to her ideal of normal.

Then I moved on to the seafood carbonara. Shrimp and scallops and pasta and bacon. You can’t go wrong there.

Sadly, I made no note of what anyone else ordered but we all were quite satisfied by the end of the night.

They also have a very cool bar, if you’re just looking for a nightcap, it’s definitely worth popping in.

MP 8.5 on the Beach Road. Reservations accepted. Probably not needed but we always get them anyway.

Meridian 42

A bit of a bust. They did in fact change ownership last year and the new owner (who I think was one of the original partners, but I’m not 100% sure.) decided to scale back to just Italian.

The calamari is still fantastic, but the rest of it was just average. Tev did point out that the biggest problem is that they suffer from people knowing how great they were with the Mediterranean menu and plain Italian doesn’t really measure up.

Between the 4 of us, we had softshell crabs, sea scallops and veal marsala. The scallops were reported to be pretty good. The crabs were OK, but I’ve had better – something was off with the frying – maybe a bit overdone? The veal was OK, but it was also commented that maybe they just got a bad cut of meat, and there is only so much you can do with that. The side of the night was penne pasta with marinara, and honestly, it was mediocre at best. It’s just disappointing considering how good everything was in years past.

I can understand wanting to go with a “safe” menu in this economy, but you have to step it up and make sure it is GOOD. If you’re just average Italian, you’re not going to last around here, and in 2 years, there’s going to be yet another owner. Unless I hear that something has really changed between now and next year, I doubt a return trip is on tap.

#1 Ocean Blvd. Reservations accepted. (But probably not needed if things continue the way they are…)

I’ve gotten poked for not getting the food reports out, so here they come – expect a slew in the next day or so. Here we go!

Barefoot Bernie’s Tropical Bar

New for us this year. They have all the standard beach seafood fare with some Jamaican and Tex/Mex thrown in and the usual fruity beach drinks.

Got the Tex Mex chicken potato skins, which were really good. Though, they don’t come with sour cream… Some other sauce, which was very good, but it was all I could do to not ask for sour cream. My brain can’t really process potato skins without sour cream. For dinner I got plain old fried shrimp. Not exciting, not exotic, but just what I wanted and they just hit the spot.

Little bro got wings to start and the steamer platter (clams, shrimp & crab) and polished that off in short order.

Not fancy or outlandish, just good and worthy of a return visit.

MP 4.5 on the Bypass. No reservations needed.

The Black Pelican

This is the third time I’ve been here and it’s been kind of all over the place. The first time I got the Prime Rib and it was delicious. The second time we went with Tev & Lisa, and it was a comedy of errors in getting our orders right, but the food was good and we got a free round of drinks for the issues.

This year – not so great. Started with the crab rangoon which was very good. Then moved onto the Cajun Fish bites – cajun fried catch of the day, which was swordfish. Not bad, but not much that was cajun-y about it.

Then I got the shrimp and grits. Shrimp sauteed in onions, garlic, peppers and tomatoes, over jalapeño cheese grits. I just hoped that the jalapeños wouldn’t overpower everything. Turns out that was the least of my worries. They neglected to mention to half a jar of chili powder that was dumped in while they were cooking the shrimp as well as the chili powder dusting on the rim of the plate. (Every time the air currents changed, you’d get lungful of chili powder…) Even with the grits, the shrimp were WAY too hot, and I do like spicy food. However, the grits all by themselves were stupendous.

Donald had the same problem with the ribs he ordered – all spice and no taste. There’s a line between being spicy and inedible, and they seem to have lost sight of where that line is. Probably off the list for next year.

MP 4 on the beach road. No reservations needed.

Kelly’s

Kelly’s is weird. The food is quite good but there is always some odd thing that is more memorable. First trip it was the weird cocktail waitress that I was quite sure was trying to kill us. The the odd little room the four of us had to ourselves last year. (I guess we looked like we were going to cause problems.) This year it was the hostess with pink hair and a sternum piercing. (Not gross, just extremely painful to contemplate.)

Also, there is a bit of a fading glory thing going on. In 2000 it was named the best place to meet babes by Playboy magazine. I don’t think it still holds that distinction. It also seemed that the average age of the clientele had jumped about 15 years in the past 12 months.

But, weird or not, the food is great. You start with a kickass bread basket with 3 or 4 types of bread and biscuits, so everyone will find something to fill up on even before dinner arrives.

I got the clams casino started, and they were very good. (Awful Arthur’s is still #1 for those in my book, though.) The rest of the table shared a plate of calamari, and happy “this is good” noises were being made all around. (I was too busy with my clams to pay attention to any actual words.)

I got the special – rockfish with crab over rice and veggies. VERY good. (I also just love rockfish.) In an unusual turn for me, I ate all the vegetables – green beans that had a ton of butter and a touch of cumin of all things. (Took me forever to figure out what it was, and then when I figured it out I yelled, “IT’S CUMIN!” like some culinary tourette’s patient.)

Tev got the softshell crabs and said they were quite good. At this point, neither myself or my brother can remember what else we ordered, but that we were all happily stuffed at the end of the night. (As I said, there is always something else that prevents us from remembering what we ordered…)

Definitely a repeat.

MP 10.5 on the bypass. Still working out the kinks of call ahead seating.

Ah, the beach. Where my diligent monitoring of calories expended vs. consumed goes out the window. Not only is there food, wonderful food, but tons and tons of SEAFOOD. Sure, we’ve got the bay right next door back home, but it’s not quite the same.

Last night we hit what has become our traditional first night spot – Awful Arthur’s. Sure, I suppose it could be considered a tourist trap, but you could say that about every place down where between May and September. And the food is great, so, whatever. No matter what time we go, it’s always an hour wait. But that’s not so bad, because after they inform you of the wait time, the hostess says, “But you can go up to the bar and we’ll come get you when the table is ready.” Gosh, go upstairs and drink beer and have a great view of the ocean. Yes, that sucks.

So we went upstairs and knocked a few back and watched the waves and Nascar and TdF, and in a near Rainman move, my brother closed out the bar tab a mere 2 minutes before the hostess arrived to take us to our table.

I have had a craving for clams casino all week, so a half dozen of those was a given. Fresh clams, sweet peppers, butter and bacon. Tell me how that could possibly go wrong? Oh – it can’t. We were also right under one of the a/c vents so coup was a must as well. The crab and lobster bisque is awesome. It’s think and creamy and tomato-y and just spot on. And then there were hushpuppies. Don’t think you can really go wrong with fried cornmeal and butter, either.

Little bro got the soup and the crabmeat in butter. I’d say it’s a classic rookies mistake of getting two insanely rich items, but I’ve made the same error myself many times. The crab in butter was great, too. I supposed it’s a good think I have a 5 mile run this weekend.

Matt – I didn’t get the oyster shot, but there is still plenty of time.

Tonight it’s Meridian 42, which in the past has been fantastic. I’m a tad concerned it’s been basically Mediterranean influenced seafood and such, and now they’re billing themselves as “Italiano” – which could mean new owners and/or management, or someone just decided that Italiano sounded a little less intimidating somehow. I’m hoping for the latter, as the couple items on the sample menu looked to be in the same vein as years past, and I really hope they haven’t “dumbed down” the food. If nothing else, they make a killer dirty Goose martini.

Somewhere, in a drab little cubicle, there is a government accountant that bursts into tears every month trying to reconcile the rent accounts because the Cubans won’t cash the damn rent checks.

For the locals: If you’re contemplating a trip to Lucky’s Sports Theatre & Grill – they do not have pool tables. (I don’t know why I thought they would, but I did, and they didn’t.) It’s as if Glory Days, Q-Balls and the old video arcade at Springfield Mall had a drunken threesome and produced a love child. The OTB feed is a nice touch if you like to watch the ponies, though.

Tonight little bro & I had dinner at The Left Bank – the only 4 star* restaurant on OBX. It was completely phenomenal. This is the same restaurant where cooking school weekend took place in April. You have the choice of the chef’s tasting menu, which is 7 courses and it’s all plotted out for you, or the 3 course menu where you have 4-5 options to choose from on each course. We both went with the tasting menu. Go big or go home. :) I’ll be completely honest – it wasn’t cheap, but this isn’t also the type of place you’re hitting every Friday night, and it was worth every penny. (And I actually dropped more on my own at dinner at Morimoto’s in Philly, so it was a deal.)

At the end of the evening, I asked if I could get a xerox copy of the tasting menu, as I definitely wanted a copy to take home for the Insane Chef. Apparently this is a very common request, as we were handed two copies, rolled up and tied with a ribbon.

Tasting menus are great, because if they’re done right, you end up with a ton of courses, but all are portioned just right and when you’re done with dinner, you’re happily full – no worries of getting halfway through and thinking, “I can’t eat anymore.” Everything was awesome, and as Donald said as we started, “I think I will lose count of how many things I’ve never eaten before.”

Cold Parsnip Soup – Came in a little demitasse cup and was so yummy. Tasted more like a corn/onion puree to me than anything, but incredibly good. I instictively went for my spoon, and the server assured us that, no, just go ahead and drink it from the cup. I still think they were trying to see if they could make us abandon our spoons…

Salmon Carpaccio – Salmon with salmon roe and a bit of herbed creme fraiche. Superb. I’ve never had raw salmon before, and I will definitely have it again given the chance.

Chilled Tomato Gazpacho – Had blue crab and an edible cucumber blossom in it to boot. Outstanding. The cucmber blossom was new for me – it had the flower and part of the stem – crunchy with just a little “cucumberness” to it. Really, you just can’t go wrong with chilled soups in the summer.

Black Cod over Crab Risotto – I’d never had black cod before, and this was fantastic. It still had the skin on and I’m not sure exactly what they did to it, but it was nice and crispy and had none of the oiliness that you might think of as far as fish-skin goes. The risotto was completely decadent.

Veal Tenderloin over Beluga Lentils – I love veal, end of story, so you can’t really go wrong there. SO good. The bordelaise sauce and the lentils and wilted arugula with it just went perfectly.

Cheese & Figs – Some sweet/candied figs and a somewhat bitter-ish cheese, which we quickly figured out that you’re supposed to eat together. Holy crap, the two of them together were absolutely wonderful. I know that fruit & cheese are supposed to go together, but I’ve never been able to figure out *which* fruits & cheeses go together. Nice to have someone else figure it out for me.

Berry Blossom & Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream – The ice cream is self explanatory and was great – and I really don’t much like strawberries *in* things – just give me a plate of fresh ones and I’m happy. The “berry blossom” was a layer of blueberries, a cheesecake type layer, a chocolate cookie shaped like a flower, more cheesecake-y goodness, another cookie and then a blueberry on top. Awesome.

Then the coffee/cordial menu came around. I got the espresso martini – Godiva dark, Bailey’s, Stoli Vanilla, a shot of espresso, and 3** coffee beans. Tasted just like a coffee milkshake.

All in all, the best meal I have had in a very long time – if you’re ever down there and have a few bucks to drop on a spectacular dinner, DO IT.

* – I can’t remember who does the ratings, but 4 is very rare.
** – We learned last night at Meridian that per Italian tradition w/Sambuca, an odd number of beans means you’re welcome to come back, an even number, not so much…

Well, amazingly enough the pancakes came out pretty darn well despite the fact that I literally cannot remember the last time I made them. (Thank god for bisquick and buttermilk.) However, I do need to locate a better pan for it next time around, cause flipping them was a little on the sketchy side and there were a few that ended up in the trash. The paprika bacon was wonderful, no surprise there.

I do believe I’ll have a Mardi Gras Guinness before the night is over, if nothing else to drown my sorrows if the Caps don’t win this evening. (3-2 Montreal, 10:15 left in the 2nd period.)

By sheer luck I stumbled on a link for the Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar via del.icio.us, clicked on it because it sounded intriguing and discovered it’s in Philly, less than a mile from where I’ll be staying next month. Oh hells yes, I’ve made a reservation for when I’m up there. Really looking forward to this trip.  Which also reminds me that I have GOT to figure out where on earth I put my camera.

Balvenie 12 year Doublewood Single Malt is very, very good.

Zum Rheingarten down in Quantico has some of the best German food I’ve had. Small, so you need reservations, but completely worth it.

German Gourmet now does hot brats to go. Yum.

Argentinian wines kick ass. They have such a consistent growing season, you don’t really have to worry about getting a particular vintage. (Yes, I did take a mini class on Argentinian wines tonight, why do you ask?)

I will readily admit the lack of instant internet access is driving me somewhat nuts. The last time I was here, the zero in netzero still meant free and I just used one of their dialup numbers for the week.

Today was putt-putt day. Three courses in three hours. During the hottest damn part of the day – but they are definitely not crowded. Lost Treasure gets my vote as the best for a couple reasons: a) the train that takes you to the top of the mountain to start and b) about 1/4 of the holes are in “caves”, so you have lots of shady spots.

Carolina Seafood tonight. A paradise of gluttony, aka seafood buffet. Very, VERY good food, and oh so much of it to pick from. Place opens at 4:30 and folks are in line at 4PM, and we were amongst them. :) Oh so very good. Lisa scares me – she isn’t much bigger than I am, ate what seemed to be half her weight in crab legs, and admitted upon getting back to the house that she was still a little bit hungry… We’ve decided she’s not human.

When driving about, found that the Vitamin Sea surf shop is now a gift shop of some sort – may have to make some phone calls to see if perhaps they moved. I do hope so, as they were one of the best down here, and totally independent. I like businesses like that. Speaking of independent vs chains, I’ve yet to see a Starbucks down here – I had figured for sure that one would have popped up somewhere.

Sunburn has faded for the most part, but I think it may be another day before I hit the beach again, no need to make it worse.

Little bro & friends are leaving tomorrow night to head back home and I’ve got the place to myself for the next week. I do miss my critters – it would totally kick ass if I could bring them along with me.

Coffee on the beach again this morning. Oh yes, it is going to suck mightily to go back to the real world.

Note to : good luck!!! (Even though you likely won’t see this, but ah well, the thoughts are there!)

Totally forgot to find a thermos or travel mug when I was out & about yesterday. Really need to get something, though, given my predilection for sloshing coffee everywhere when it’s in a real cup. Went out today and found a place that had them in the window, but they closed at 3PM and I was a bit too late. Also saw something there you don’t see too often and that is police line tape. But it was also just around a sign that had fallen off the overhang of the coffee shop…

Found an ad for Whalebone surf shop last night – looks like they just moved farther down the bypass. *whew* Vitamin Sea apparently is still around, and I consider them to be the best surf shop here. There will be a day of just me hitting all my shops… :)

Hit Jolly Roger’s for dinner last night – still the best Crab Imperial ever.

I think tomorrow I am going to head over to Manteo and the Elizabethan Gardens. It’s very cool – formal English gardens that were built in the 50’s by the Garden Club of NC as a memorial to the first settlers here. They’re incredibly beautiful. Oh, yeah, and the brewery being right there doesn’t exactly hurt either.

Please, PLEASE remind me again that I shouldn’t be plotting how to buy property down here. It’s bad that I am suddenly finding inspiration to get my place sold, LOL.

3 hours on the beach today – sadly, my sunscreen didn’t quite cut it and my legs are somewhat pink. (Sunscreen: SPF 30 Sweatproof, check, Waterproof, check, Towelproof from sitting, not so much.) Now have spray on Solarcaine to also help offset the flying critters that also decided to snack on me today. Good waves, though, lots of surfers out, can’t exactly shoot the curl, but any wave you can stand on is better than none. Been threatening to go get a board, little bro says it would be too dangerous — to the other people in the water…

I think NAS Oceana must be doing some exercises today – have seen three jets over the beach today – very cool.