I had an absolutely delicious dinner at The Original Fish Market in Pittsburgh. One week ago tonight, actually. My dish was a luxurious, yet light, Lobster Pasta Provençal, made with lobster, garlic, roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and white wine. The roasted tomatoes were a juicy addition to the white wine sauce, keeping it very light but savory. I’m guessing they used crimini mushrooms, but that’s still just a guess. I couldn’t tell the exact combination of herbs (if any), but there was such a flavor to this sauce! It could have come from the mushrooms and/or the wine, but whatever it was, it was a delight to my taste buds! The lobster was, of course, very tasty, and it gave some heft to the dish… But honestly, it was the roasted tomatoes and the sauce that made this meal so delicious! Big yummm… I’ll have to look up some Provençal sauce recipes and play around with them soon.
The other restaurant that we frequented was Tonic Bar and Grill. The food was good, but not nearly like my meal above. And the service did leave something to be desired, at least the first time. (We ate there twice for lunch.) My first meal was a Crab Cake Sandwich with mustard aioli… That was definitely a treat! The crab cake was moist on the inside, crispy on the outside and, well, filled with yummy crabmeat! I was thinking to myself how lovely is was to be out east and able to enjoy some good seafood… not really considering how we were, in fact, in western Pennsylvania. That said, it was still very tasty, even if I couldn’t quite smell the salty ocean air… My other lunch dish was a quesadilla with chicken, pesto, sundried tomato, provolone and parmesan. It had a tasty crunch to it and tasted good, but overall, I think there were too many sundried tomatoes in it. They add such a robust flavor, and I usually really like them… This time though, I think there were just too many of them. I’d definitely go back for the Crab Cake though. 😉
The Food Groove 