Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Jonathan's Birthday: The Capital Grille

As the finale of Jonathan's birthday celebrations, we had a nice dinner at The Capital Grille in Philadelphia. It came highly recommended by his uncle, Dennis.

We started out with soups, Jonathan having clam chowder while I chose lobster bisque. Definitely the largest pieces of lobster in any soup I've ever had. Very tasty. The chowder (New England) was also good, Jonathan mentioned that it had great flavor.

We had a very knowledgeable server, and she helped Jonathan choose a delicious wine to accompany his delmonico steak. The steak was dry-aged and had a twelve-year-old balsamic seasoning it. He really enjoyed it, and the bite I had was pretty good. I went in an entirely different direction, choosing the sesame seared tuna with gingered rice. It was sushi-grade, so I had it rare, of course. The three accompanying sauces (soy, wasabi, ginger) were fantastic complements, and it was delicious.

Sides are ordered and served family-style, and we chose the potatoes au gratin and the oven-roasted mushrooms. The potatoes were also suggested by Dennis, and they were delightful. I can't think of any potatoes I've ever had that were similar, and even Jonathan went back for more. We had a bit to take home, and they were good reheated as well. The mushrooms were an assortment of shiitake, oyster, portabella, and cremini... all very good. We both agreed that they could have used more garlic (they were flavored with garlic butter, thyme, and rosemary), but they were still very good.

All in all, aces in our books. We were stuffed, even after pacing ourselves through the nearly-two-hour meal. We'd recommend Roz, our server. She was friendly, warm, knowledgeable, and even gave us a coupon for a complimentary appetizer next time.

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