Saturday, November 22, 2014

The Grove

A couple weeks ago we got the rare privilege of dining at The Grove. Mel was turned on to it by a coworker who said that we had to try it and that it was one of the best restaurants in town. So we found time to head out there. They have it where you can either choose to a 3 course meal, or you can eat al a carte. We both chose the 3 courses, with a starter and dessert.


We started with a plate of three of the starters. We chose the goat cheese with fried biscuits and saffron honey and orange marmalade; chicken wings with kimchi, peanuts, and curry; and cheese hush puppies with a sriracha sauce. The goat cheese paired really well with the honey and marmalade, and the fried biscuits were really good. It was the pick of the three. The wings were good as well, but not as much to Mel's liking. They had a little bit of heat and the kimchi paired well with it. The hush puppies were really good too. The cheese was in with the actual hushpuppy and it went really well with the sauce. The only thing I didn't like as much were the pickled veggies that came with them.

Mel's first plate was a gnocchi with pumpkin and duck confit. The gnocchi were perfectly made and paired well with the sweetness of the pumpkin and saltiness of the confit. It also had nice balance with the greens that added a little bitterness to round out the flavors of the dish.

I started with the quail with beans, a mustard sauce, and a fried egg. This was the first time I had eaten quail, and it was very good. I would liken it to more like a duck or the dark meat of a turkey than to chicken. The egg had a nice runny yolk that mixed in well with the beans. The mustard sauce paired really well with the quail. Overall a very good dish.


Mel had the potato soup next. It had a little salad and potato chips with it. The soup was incredibly creamy and the chips added some texture. The little salad also brought a little bit of freshness to the soup. It was a good second dish in the meal.


I had the seared and rare steak salad. In addition to the steak were peppers, caramelized onions, fried shoestring potatoes and greens. There was also a parsnip puree. The steak was delicious. While rare, it had a lot of flavor to it. The fried potatoes added some texture and onions and peppers some sweetness. The puree went great with the steak. The only issue I had was not enough steak and too many peppers. If there were a few more pieces of steak I would have been a lot happier. But over all it was good.


Mel's final plate was pork two ways, with roasted loin and crispy pork belly. It came with roasted potatoes and squash, and fried grits. The veggies were good, and so was the loin. Nothing really special. The pork belly and fried grits though were outstanding. The fattiness and saltiness of the belly was the perfect foil to the grits. A plate of just that would have been worth the price.


My final plate was walleye with patatas bravas, harissa sauce, radishes and veggies. The walleye was cooked perfectly and went really well with the sauce. The patatas bravas were well seasoned and had good flavor. The radishes provided a nice crispness to the plate. Once again a good plate.


We finished with a buttermilk lemon poppyseed ice cream. It was the perfect end to the meal. The lemon was refreshing while the buttermilk added some tanginess and creaminess to the ice cream. The poppy seeds brought some texture to the ice cream. A good end to the meal.

Overall I was extremely impressed with The Grove. It easily gets my recommendation. In fact it is better than some of the more established restaurants in the city. I would happily put this up there with Bistro Bella Vita and will definitely go there again.