Ruth's Chris Steak House

For new posts and updated information please visit my new food website: GetNMahBelly.com

Blackened Sea Scallops over Cheesy Polenta Cakes (Ruth's Spring Classics Menu)

Drown in deliciousness with Ruth's Chris Jumbo Sea Scallops seared with blackening seasoning served over polenta cakes and drizzled with garlic butter and a red pepper pesto.  You'll fall in love with your first bite and each bite after will make you melt from the sweet tender, most perfect scallops ever cooked.  The red pesto adds great flavor, sweetening the dish and complimenting the scallops at the same time.  A great textural balance with a smooth pesto, plump meaty scallops, and moist creamy yet crispy polenta cakes.  Amazing scallop dish!

Spicy Lobster

Tried of winter?  Bring "July's heat" to you with the Spicy Lobster appetizer.  Succulent lobster, lightly fried, tossed in a spicy cream sauce with a tangy cucumber salad; this dish brings sweet & spicy fireworks to your mouth.  The cucumber salad with cilantro adds brightness and balances the dish.

Mandarin & Crispy Prosciutto Salad (Ruth's Spring Classics Menu)

Arugula salad tossed with dried cherries, sliced red onions, mandarin orange segments and sweet bacon vinaigrette topped with parmesan shavings and crispy prosciutto pieces.  You get an amazing balance flavor of warm smoky, sweet, and tangy.

Filet & Lobster Tail Rockefeller (Ruth's Spring Classics Menu)

A six-ounce filet prepared to your liking served with a four-ounce lobster tail topped with a Rockefeller mix of garlic butter, yellow onion and creamed spinach.  The lobster is plump and tender and rich with all deliciousness from the Rockefeller mixture.  The filet is sooo good, you need nothing more than the minimal seasoning sprinkled on; a true steak.

Chocolate Sin Cake & Fresh Berries (Ruth's Spring Classics Menu)

Rich and sinful flourless chocolate cake with a hint of espresso.  Step in to the dark side and loose yourself in the thick creamy chocolate.  Fortunately, fresh berries and a smooth light milky sauce breaks the evil trance yet pull you into another state of tasty pleasure.

ruthschris.com
2137 Deming Way  Middleton, WI 53562
(608) 828-7884

View Larger Map

Fulton's on the River - High Quality Delicacies

For new posts and updated information please visit my new food website: GetNMahBelly.com

Twin Wild Cold Water Lobster Tails

Don't let the word "cold" steer you away from this voluptuousness especially when there are two seven ounces wild cold water lobster tails, boiled with melted butter and served with grilled lemon.  If you're a fan of sweeter and more tender seafood, cold water lobster is the way to go.  Already succulent with a luxurious texture, Fulton's escalates the natural flavor simply by broiling it with melted butter.  These lobster tails are so luscious; the melted butter on the side is not necessary.

Firecracker Glazed Shrimp

The Firecracker Glazed Shrimp definitely brings excitement to your taste buds and more.  The crispy fried jumbo shrimps are gently blanketed with a tempura-like batter and smothered in a spicy yet sweet sauce.  Each bite stimulates a blissful moment and reminds you that this is what seafood done right should taste like.  This appetizer calls for jumbo shrimp, maybe in Fulton's mind for sharing, but I say it's because they know you can't get enough.  I don't recommend sharing because everyone would want their own.

Fresh Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes

Fulton's Fresh Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes are served with their house made tartar sauce and coleslaw.  No imitations or non-sense fillers here, just nice white tender succulent crabmeat.  The only complaint is that the slaw is a bit too tangy and acidic; I left it alone, leaving the meal missing a complementing flavor component.  But the crab cakes are still absolutely delicious; I would order it again.

Seared Seasonal Scallops

Surf and turf doesn't always have to be lobster and steak.  Fulton's seafood and meat combo involves perfectly seared scallops and tender pork belly.  The brilliant idea of having pork belly served with seared scallops takes the dish to an extreme level of satisfaction.  The delicate pair was cooked flawlessly with a melt in your mouth texture.  So satisfying, you'd want to stay faithful to this dish.

http://www.fultonsontheriver.com/
315 N. LaSalle St, Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 822-0100

View Larger Map

The Cheesecake Factory - More Than Just Delicious Desserts

For new posts and updated information please visit my new food website: GetNMahBelly.com

Strawberry Shortcake

 If it weren't for my sweet tooth, dessert loving friends, I would have missed out on a ton of deliciousness The Cheesecake Factory has to offer.  Of course your first impression on the name itself is sweet rich dessert, so why are there so many people dining outdoors for brunch early Sunday morning at this restaurant?  Well, you just have to make it out there.  The second you enter through the grand doors you'll notice amusement theme feel where the size is grand, the decor is grand, and best of all the food is grand.  To give you an idea, we held up a dollar next to their delicious Strawberry Shortcake.  This simple dessert of shortcake with vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries and whipped cream was just the perfect touch to complete our meal.  Each strawberry had the perfect sweetness and tartness that complemented the soft flaky cake and creamy dairy.  As grand as this dessert was, the fresh deliciousness had me wishing I didn't have to share.

Miso Salmon

The grand theme is repeated in their menu.  You'll find dishes influenced from all over the nation and world.  You'll find American, Spanish, Italian, Caribbean, Asian, and so on.  The Miso Salmon is served with snow peas, white rice and surrounded by a pool of delicious miso.  The salmon was tender and flaky, cooked with great color and flavor and is enhanced to exquisiteness when touched with the sweet savory miso sauce.

Shepherd's Pie

And even with a grand ceilings, grand furniture, and grand dishes, you can find a homey comfort with their Sheperd's Pie.  Made with ground beef, mushrooms, carrots, peas, zucchini and onion in a savory sauce covered with a mashed potato-parmesan cheese crust.  How much more comforting can that be?  The delicate veggies sits in a spa of savory brown meat base warming you with comfort in each bite.  The mashed potato takes it to another level of comfort as the creaminess of the mashed potato works your taste buds and massages you to tranquility.

www.thecheesecakefactory.com

Mariner's Inn Restaurant Week Dinner

For new posts and updated information please visit my new food website: GetNMahBelly.com

Mariner's Inn Restaurant Week Dinner 3-course meal for $25

Classic Surf & Turf

Classic Surf & Turf - An 8 oz. center cut top sirloin steak paired with a 6 oz. lobster tail.  An amazing dish Mariner's Inn choose for their Restaurant Week.  The steak was so tender and sweet you would think you had the filet mignon.  How did they do it? I don't know, but it was flavorful and absolutely juicy.  The lobster tail was great, the size was unbelievable for the price and also to be in the MidWest.  Just a little butter needed to break the abit over salted seasoning.

Admiral's Salmon

Admiral's Salmon - Fresh salmon filet stuffed with shrimp, crabmeat, and fresh vegetables baked and glazed with a lobster cream sauce.  This dish captures the essence of the sea.  Every bite of salmon, crabmeat, and shrimp with the lobster sauce was so creamy and lovely, you find yourself swimming in sea of deliciousness.  Absolutely wonderful!

marinersmadison.com
5339 Lighthouse Bay Drive, Madison, WI
(608)246-3120

View Larger Map

Ocean Grill Restaurant Week Lunch

For new posts and updated information please visit my new food website: GetNMahBelly.com
Ocean Grill Restaurant Week Lunch $15 (Oysters, Baked Sole, & Fruit Sorbet)

Oysters

Baked Sole

Fruit Sorbet

The best part of this meal is the wonderful butter silky smooth flavor of the beurre noisette of the Baked Sole.  The Sole was cooked perfectly and was accented with herbed bread crumbs.  With it's delicate flavor, the cooked asparagus and beurre noisette came together as a delicious delightful light dish.

oceangrillmadison.com
117 Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard, Madison, WI  
(608) 285-2582

View Larger Map

McCormicks and Schmick's Seafood Restaurant

For new posts and updated information please visit my new food website: GetNMahBelly.com

Grilled Swordfish

Seafood expectation in the Midwest wasn't too high for me. I missed the real deal of fresh seafood until I ran into McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant in Milwaukee, WI. Their menu updates twice daily to keep up their fresh reputation by making sure they serve seafood that is in season. My girlfriends and I went for lunch on a Saturday and loved their dishes so much, we had to do lunch again the following day. And yes, the menu was different from the day before.  They do have a few dishes that are available year-round, seasoned seafood such as their delicious grilled swordfish served with roasted tomatoes dressed with delightful herbs and beautifully placed on a creamy buttery bed of fettuccine.

Oyster Tray

I had their variety oyster tray that placed 8 seasoned oysters, and not one was disappointing. It was surprising to find that all the oysters were succulent, fresh and clean, and absolutely luscious.

Mac n Cheese

And being in Wisconsin, I had to try the mac and cheese dish which totally changed my mind about simple pasta. The complexity of the dish contained rock shrimp and spicy andouille in Wisconsin cheddar cheese sauce; the cheese variety were distinct and complimentary at the same time; from creamy, rich, and smooth to tender and smokey with a slight kick.

Coconut Fried Shrimp

Another wonderful attribute of McCormick & Schmick's is that they serve seafood all ways. You'll get to choose from multiple styles from Italian to American to Asian. Along side of the pasta dishes and burgers and sandwiches, you'll see on the same menu sushi & sashimi, even a Banh Mi Asian sandwich and coconut fried shrimp with sweet Thai chili sauce.  McCormick & Schmick's is a great place for wonderful, fresh seafood and can satisfy people of all tastes.

McCormicks & Schmick's 
2550 North Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, WI 
(414) 475-0700

View Larger Map