Oberon Grill

Quiet Wednesday night, but the start of a long weekend so it seemed like a good time to check out the Oberon Grill in Old Town Eureka.

Sat down and ordered a round of classic Manhattans to see what their bar was up to. Then we decided to split the Chef's special appetizer of Shrimp Cakes with a pesto sauce to start. I ordered the apple and brandy glazed pork with mashed potatoes, and Geoff went with the roasted chicken breast, pan seared in white wine and served in the Mediterranean style with sundried tomoatoes and olives, with a side of rice pilaf.

The drinks were watery. The bartender got distracted while making them and let the bourbon sit and melt the ice. I know this because Geoff watched her make them, and saw her walk away to double-check the recipe mid-stream. It wasn't bad enough to send back, but lesson learned: skip the bar.

The shrimp cakes had very little shrimp in them - and what there was was the cheap tiny pink bay shrimp. They were cooked okay, but were almost tasteless under the pesto sauce. For a special, well, doesn't say much for the kitchen does it?

For my entree, the pork chop was not glazed at all, it was just covered in apple sauce, and I could not taste any brandy. Geoff's chicken was not roasted. It came out white as snow, and the only flavor was from the sundried tomato and olive topping. Both our vegetables were dripping in butter and we didn't enjoy them much, but the rice and potatoes were tasty and got eaten.

Geoff said during dinner that this was essentially overpriced conference food meets Trader Joes, At first I thought he was being a bit harsh, but really, it was just standard hotel entrees dressed up with Trader Joe's style garnishes. It would be fine to get this if I was stuck eating a dinner at a hotel during a business event, but to have this at what is suppose to be one of the better and more expensive restaurants in town....well, this is the sort of thing that makes people have a dim view of their dining options in Eurkea to begin with.

On a bright note, the service was the best we've had in town. We asked for the entrees to not be served until after the drinks, and he came back and asked when he could have the chef fire the dinners - and didn't act like we were being pains about it. He was attentive without being obnoxious, and I know this shouldn't be a big deal, but believe me, I've grown so accustomed to bad service I forgot there was another option. Oh, and I did tell him that the pork was not glazed...that apple sauce is not glazed, and he said that yeah, other customers had said the same thing and that he would mention it to the kitchen because the meal was not described well on the menu. In retrospect, would have been nice if he had said something earlier.

Half way down the list for this project, and this is the first restaurant that I definitly will not returning to.