bluezoo, we tried something new (two things actually)

This visit to bluezoo began with my visit to Mandara Spa (Balinese Massage), and nick waited for me in the bluezoo lounge. At the time, they were working on changing the cocktail menu and he had the opportunity to try the White Negroni … verdict, it’s very smooth.

We’ve talked about having the raw bar selection platter at bluezoo – two reasons, (1) a selection of raw seafood is generally low calorie and (2) it’s difficult to hide the quality of your seafood in a raw selection.

We’ve come to like having a beer with our raw oysters and clams – so we proceeded along those lines. I had a Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel (9% ABV & 59 IBUs) and Nick ordered the Dupont Saison (6.5% ABV & 25 ABUs). We both liked our choices and how they went with the seafood selection (BTW it isn’t all raw, the lobster and the shrimp are cooked); but the Dupont Saison was better than the Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel.

There was a new lounge group playing on this Friday night. While we still really miss the Beau Sisters, this group was the best so far in the search for replacements. They called themselves “the bluezoo lounge singers” (Sunshine, Martin Little Boy Blue, and Becky Jo) and on this evening, they weren’t too loud and did a good job on the covers they were doing.

Back to the seafood selection…

• Wianno Oysters – we’ve had these many times at bluezoo, the flavor of these was pretty good, I thought they tasted of the ocean and nick agreed; it isn’t uncommon that the oysters at bluezoo aren’t shucked perfectly (on this night, one of nick’s wasn’t cut free of the shell and one of our oysters had bits of shell in it)
• Middle Neck Clams – we were surprised by how good these were, Nick had gotten a little tired of getting raw clams because the flavor had been weak recently, tonight though, these were full of flavor and we both enjoyed them

 

• The tuna crude (red item on the bottom left) was quite tasty – sesame oil, soy sauce, and a bit of citrus (I think) – but the texture was a bit mushy.
• The cerviche was white fish (multicolored item in the upper right) was very lemony and very firm – not something I’d run back to get, but I couldn’t stop dipping my fork into this.

 

• Nick isn’t a fan of lobster as a general rule, he had a little taste of this. First off, it wan’t overcooked. Secondly, it had some sort of flavored oil on it = yuck. I ate most of it and would have vastly preferred it “naked” – the flavors in the oil bath didn’t meld well with any of the sauces. The butter sauce tasted of lemon and sugar (another yuck).

 

• The shrimp had the same flavored oil on them … double yuck. I really don’t expect a seafood selection (raw or cold seafood) to have anything on it – that’s what the lemon and the sauces are for.

This wasn’t a hit for us overall. BUT we were pleasantly surprised by the oysters and the clams… would have been happier if we’d done our regular thing and ordered a selection of bivalves. However, the dinner wasn’t a bad one — Chef Ryan had a surprise for us to try… Ulyana had let us know that something was coming and we asked her to select two wines that would go with the surprise, she brought out the Roth Pinot Noir (nick really likes Pinots and we’d had this one during Chef Cib’s Pasta Class during the Food & Wine Classic) and the Malbec Mendoza (it was also quite nice).

The surprise 🙂 … Lamb with pickled pepper relish and risotto barley.

This dish is being prepped for the new spring menu – with a difference – on the bluezoo dining room menu, it will feature pressed chicken instead of lamb. This promises to be interesting if the quality of execution doesn’t change.

The lamb had a nice salty crust while the interior maintained a juicy, rare meatiness… Yum! Also, the combination of medium rare lamb with a good red wine can’t be beat!

The barley risotto was a bit of a surprise – chewy, lemony, and a bit less rich than most risottos. I really enjoyed the texture and flavor of this starch.

The lamb and barley risotto was a sure hit for us. The seafood selection, not so much.

An observation based on our experiences in the last 6 months or so… bluezoo is turning out some amazing dishes that aren’t seafood, if you’ve been avoiding bluezoo because you don’t like fish, there are plenty of other choices for you here.