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April 04, 2006
fishin' in Syracuse
Had a lovely dinner last night at the relatively new Bonefish Grill in Fayetteville. In a town where Red Lobster is considered a good seafood place, I have to admit I wasn't expecting much. I was very happily surprised.
Bonefish Grill was founded in January 2000 in St. Petersburg, Florida. If you look at their finder map, you can see they've grown rapidly all over the eastern part of the United States, with a few outposts west of the Mississippi, including 2 in the Seattle area and one in the Tri-Cities area in eastern Washington. (Now, I'm not saying this place will send Anthony's or Arnies scrambling for customers anytime soon, but they'll be right in there with those fine establishments).
Anyway, check out the menu, particularly the section on grilled fish. The regular options all sounded good, but since Grilled Halibut was on the special sheet, that's what I had - and it was perfectly cooked. The island rice, which you can see in the pictures, was also good, though I thought it could use a bit more salt. But that might be because we started the meal with the Bang Bang shrimp - and WOW are those ever good! Fresh shrimp, not battered, but quickly deep fried to a light crunch, and then stirred into this wonderful remoulade-like sauce with just the right amount of cayenne in it. Yumm-o. My partner had a combination of grilled shrimp and scallops with au gratin potatoes. He said both were very good.
The wine of the evening was a King Estate Pinot Gris. It was bright with a nice citrus note, very light and pleasant, and paired excellently with the fish. Now, it was expensive, and not until I looked them up did I realize they are an organic winery, which accounts for the difference in price between it and some large vat production. It was nice, but I think the spicy shrimp might have affected my appreciation for the subtler notes of the wine. I'd like to try it again, but haven't seen that label anywhere else in town.
So, seafood fans, take heart (and money...it's not the cheap dinner), there is now a place you can go for really good fresh grilled seafood right here in orangeville.
Posted by cageyer at April 4, 2006 07:27 PM