Brasa Bar Menu

[mb7o]

Add another satisfied customer. Tonights meal: wild greens salad, curried mussels, and savory empañadas (onion, golden rasins, a bit of tomato, and something else). All excellent, plus a glass of wine. Just figure on adding 100% to the half-price food for a drink, tax, and tip.

Also noticed that the cinerama is showing Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm for the next few days. Get there early, the ticket line for the 7:30 show was still pretty long around 7:35. I hope I have time to go this week.

[MsRamsey]

I went to Oceanaire last night in memory of my mom's birthday. The only happy hour specials were 1/2 price raw oysters and 1/2 price shrimp cocktail. Last night (Wed.), the specials went only until 6:00 PM.

I love Oceanaire's decor. I am a fiend for art deco, and they pull it off nicely. I adore raw oysters, so I had a few of those. I had a crab cake (which the bartender mentioned unsolicited, but I heard her give the exact same description to other customers, so it was a corporate-mandated "do you wants fries with that" kind of thing). The crab cake was alright, not wonderful. Yes, lots of crab meat, but other things that hid the flavor of the crab (celery,which I can do without most of the time, and a very spicy hot, vinegary sauce on the plate). There were quite a few pieces of shell hidden within as well.

The bread is great; a white sourdough, very fresh. The butter(?) served with the bread is just bad; it's whipped and flavorless.

I would go again, probably just for raw oysters.

Kathy

[Schielke]

Katie and I went with a friend last night. Wheeeee.

Good times had by all.

We had:

Pizza with chorizo and green olives- I am starting to appreciate olives more and more. This pizza is one reason why. The crust is just so damn good. I do think it needs a tiny bit more chorizo though.

Steak Frites with Cabrales butter- The frites were really really good. It has been so long since I have had a really good example of fried food. Go Brasa. The steak was pretty good, nothing exceptional. For the price it was amazing though.

Lamb burger- The lamb burger was very nice, I would have wished it has more of a lamb flavor. Perhaps some cumin in the meat would bring it out. Still very nice and one of the better burgers I have had.

Brasa Sundae- Served with long spoons in a tall narrow cup. Tasty ice cream layered with traces of caramel, strawberries, and some kind of chocolate cake. I felt like a winner after eating it. Yeah!

I had a better look at the drink list and am now not so angry about it. The Chimay beer was listed at 7.50, which is still outrageous. Other beers were 4.00 a pint, which is still pretty pricecy, but not crazy.

Specality drinks run between 7.00 and 8.00, which is not too bad either. We tried out a few of them with good results. Katie had a Belini, which was quite tasty (Champagne and Peaches is what it said on the menu). Ian our friend had a Tradewinds, which is like a mojito with huckleberry reduction. Excelent drink. I had a Negroni, I have been meaning to try it for a while somehwere. It is campari, gin, and vermouth. Very dry, but very flavorful.

We saved 20 bucks on the food bill, but made up for it in drinks. hehehe. I need to stop drinking to stay in budget!

Ben

[malarkey]

This is on my list for next week ;-) I can't wait.

[col klink]

We saved 20 bucks on the food bill, but made up for it in drinks.  hehehe.  I need to stop drinking to stay in budget! 

Nah, just brown bag it. Bring a bottle of bourbon, keep it in a brown paper bag and order a 7up. I bet you even get free refills on pop!

If I can get away with it at Safeco all of the time, you should to do so at Brasa.

[mamster]

Laurie and I are going this weekend, probably with heyjude and Senor Jude. We are going to put this place OUT OF BUSINESS, baby!

Wait, that wasn't the point?

[Schielke]

Is the happy hour also on the weekend?

hmmm.

[nightscotsman]

Is the happy hour also on the weekend?

7 days a week. heheee!

[Schielke]

That is the best thing ever.

Ben

[mamster]

We did it too!

Laurie, heyjude, the Rt. Hon. Jude, and I took the Brasa bar by storm last night. We ordered six dishes, and our waiter took the initiative and split them up into two courses. First, the curried mussels, the spinach salad, and the squid. It was a serious mollusk-fest. These mussels are incredible--has anyone else gotten them? Big, perfectly cooked mussels in a coconut milk-based curry broth. We ate all the mussels and then attacked the broth with the (really good) bread. The squid was also excellent, both rings and tentacles over a thin layer of spicy sauce. Tentacles are where it's at. The spinach salad had a nice creamy but properly tart dressing with chunks of bacon.

The entrees didn't quite live up to the standard set by the apps, but do they ever? We got the pan-seared fish (opah, our waiter told us), and it was well cooked, but it's not a great fish to start with and the spice crust was just too heavy on the cumin. The accompanying fried onions are brilliant, though, better than similar ones I've had at Cafe Campagne and elsewhere. We also had some nice mashed potatoes, and the steak frites; I thought neither the steak nor the frites were exceptional.

We finished up by splitting a Brasa sundae. This is a well conceived dessert, served in a very tall glass. The problem with a classic ice cream sundae, they must have reasoned (and I agree), is that the first couple of bites of ice cream and hot fudge are wonderful, and then soon the fudge runs out and you have a huge amount of plain ice cream.

To avoid this unfortunate outcome, the Brasa sundae just keeps changing as you go down. I didn't take notes, but there were some strawberries, caramel (and maybe also caramel ice cream), a brownie, chocolate shavings, and several flavors of ice cream. Does anyone else know about Greenland ice cores? The idea is that you remove a long cylinder of ice and look at the chemical and biological composition of the various strata and learn things about past climatological and evolutionary trends. Well, the Brasa sundae is what you'd get if you took an ice core on Planet Ice Cream (or maybe the Land of Dairy Queen in the commercial).

Total for four with cocktails (also good; I had champagne mixed with Clear Creek pear brandy) and a generous tip: $85. We are STEALING your FOOD!

[tighe]

First, the curried mussels, the spinach salad, and the squid.  It was a serious mollusk-fest.  These mussels are incredible--has anyone else gotten them?  Big, perfectly cooked mussels in a coconut milk-based curry broth.  We ate all the mussels and then attacked the broth with the (really good) bread...

I had these as part of the 3 courses for $25 menu they were doing (along with a lot of other restaurants) last February. You're right, they're sublime. I'm really itching to do the happy hour menu....

[malarkey]

These mussels are incredible--has anyone else gotten them?

You're right, they're sublime. I'm really itching to do the happy hour menu....

ARrrGh! me too!!

[heyjude]

While I was waiting for my group, I added up the bar menu and figured we could have everything on it for just over $100. So, I really think, we should all meet there soon, order one of each item and lots of drinks and then order more of our favorites. They deserve to make money on us from the alcohol and we deserve lots of the sundaes. There are still several items that none of us have tried. We ought to give them advance notice. How does this sound for a November get together?

[MsRamsey]

It sounds great to me, but I will be gone for the first half of November so might not be able to make it.

Also, we talked a while back about setting up a class or two with the chef at Mistral, with Ben as the organizer. I was pretty excited about the possibility of doing this, and there seemed to be more than enough people interested. It's been on my mind, and I mention it just to keep it on a burner (front or back, I dunno).

Kathy

[Schielke]

MsRamsey- I have been thinking about this too. I will give him a call in the near future to see what he has to say. Once I get some details about it, Ill post a thread to figure out a date and topic and such.

I would have done this sooner, but funds were a bit tight and I wanted to wait a little.

Heyjude- That would be cool and I would love to go.

Ben

[malarkey]

While I was waiting for my group, I added up the bar menu and figured we could have everything on it for just over $100. So, I really think, we should all meet there soon, order one of each item and lots of drinks and then order more of our favorites. They deserve to make money on us from the alcohol and we deserve lots of the sundaes. There are still several items that none of us have tried. We ought to give them advance notice. How does this sound for a November get together?

count me in ;-)

[heyjude]

OK. Now let's find a date that most of us can be there after MsRamsey returns from gallivanting. My in-laws will be here from 11/20 thru 11/25 and while they do eat, I'd rather go elsewhere with them. I'll call Brasa when we decide. Just remember, half-price is from 5:00 to 7:00, but we can drink until close.

[nightscotsman]

I'm in too!

When is Thanksgiving this year? I'm going to be cooking like a banshee the week before, so how about the week after? Perhaps the Friday after Thanksgiving?

[MsRamsey]

Thanksgiving is November 28. Maybe we can all synchronize our calendars/watches/PDAs when we get together on Thursday.

[col klink]

I'm in, but my whole Thanksgiving weekend is taken up. It'll probably be best to discuss this at the pot-luck.

[Schielke]

Heh heh heh,

I have convinced my friends to go here for dinner with me on Sat evening before a movie. This time I am targeting things such as the mussels, soup, and cheese plate.

Maybe a lamb burger for good luck.

Ben

[girl chow]

Nice quote Shielke!!! (even if it's an ooooooldy but a goody).

[Schielke]

heh heh heh, yeah I ran across that today while surfing. I thought it was appropriate due to all the raves we have been giving brasa.

[malarkey]

I'm out of town all of Tgiving weekend :-/ so if ya'll pick the day after, I'll have to give it a miss.

[nightscotsman]

Oh, wait - sorry for the confusion, but I meant the Friday after Thanksgiving weekend, not the Friday after Thanksgiving day

The day after Thanksgiving is for brunching and recovery, of course .