B's Blog

Last night I went to Cafe Pacific in Highland Park Village.  The antique appeal was quaint and inviting.  Looking around the room, the avg clientelle was older, drinking wine and chomping on lobster tails.  There was an elderly couple next to us celebrating their 50th anniversary while showing every waiter, maiter D, and sommelier, a picture they had brought with them of their first anniversary.  I wouldn’t go as far to say romantic, but it definately has an elegant charm.

The three course tasteing menu offereing was as follows…

for a starter your choice of:

• Vichyssoise, a cold potato leek soup
• Salmon Spring Rolls in a Mango Sweet and Sour Sauce
• House Salad

For a main course:

• Braised Short Ribs with Shrimp and Spicy Polenta
• Hawaian Hebe with Cold Asian Noodles
• Seared Chicken Stuffed w/ Goat Cheese and Mushrooms

For dessert:

• Lemon Sorbet
• Pecan Ball (vanilla ice cream rolled in pecans w/ chocolate sauce)

As we sat down, our table was onslaught by sweet potato shoe strings.  Although messy, they were warm and seasoned to perfection.  Shortly after, perfect martinis arrived with bread for the table.  We had an off-menu appetizer, the nightly special, a personal favorite, Oysters Rockefellar.  These delectible oysters were made with the utmost care, and the gooey cheese and fresh spinach stuffing was to die for.  This was followed with tasty, slightly better than average house salads and our salmon spring rolls.  They had a nice crunch and lots of asian flavor.  Nobody tried the soup.

Next was the main course.  As for the braised short ribs, they were tender but they lacked in taste.  The three miniscule shrimp on top were almost insulting.  The best part of the dish was the spicy polenta mixed with the short rib au jus to say the least.  The Hawaiian Hebe on the other hand, shameful they only had one fish offering at CAFE PACIFIC, was dry, dull, and tasteless.  It lacked any color but well done and was complimented by spicy and cold noodles.  The dish was a weak expression of seafood from a restaraunt that vies to be a top contender in that category.  Nobody opted for the chicken.

For dessert it was an overwhelming majority to get the pecan balls.  They were, hands down, the second best part of the meal, just behind the Oysters.  They creaminess of the ice cream was complimented by the texture of the chopped pecans and fabulous chocolate sauce.

Although I feel our dinner was subpar, we did order off a restaurant week menu.  I am of the opinion the menu should have excelled where it failed thinking they would have the opportunity to impress more first time diners and gather a larger clientele base.  After all I have said, I would be willing to go back.  Deep down, I believe, it has to be bettter.  Unfortunately for me and my fellow diners, maybe the kitchen was just having an off night.

Brandon