Sage...a little green?

So a couple weeks ago I finally got around to paying a visit to Sage in the Soulard/Benton Park area.  It's right by the AB Brewery, in case you are unfamiliar with the area.  I had been hearing some really great things about Sage so I had been meaning to give it a shot. 

I brought along a good friend (Hi Erin!) and made a reservation for 8:15 on a Friday night.  (Reservations are prefered at Sage.)  We arrived just a bit early and decided to get a glass of wine at the bar...which took forever.  A worker, who I presumed was a bartender since she was behind the bar, came close enough for me to get her attention so I asked for a couple glasses of wine.  Her response, "I don't bartend."  And she finished what she was doing and walked away.  No nudge to the other two bartenders or anything to acknowledge us.  Kinda weird.  So our table was ready right around 8:15 so that was great.  It's a pretty small place with about 20 (or less) tables in the main dining area...no wonder reservations are preferred!  There are a couple tables in the bar that are open seating but don't count on getting one unless you are getting there early. 

By the time our server came over we had already decided what we wanted to eat so we placed our orders right away.  An hour and 15 minutes later (9:30) we got our food.  In the meantime, our server had come by to apologize several times saying they had a very large party upstairs (aha...must be a private room).  We were given some bread to hold us over (a good thing with how late it was) and Erin was given a "complimentary" glass of wine (we were definitely charged for it on the bill).  Interesting.  Dinner came and was decent but nothing that wowed me.  I have a feeling the very long wait for the food played a part in that though.  I had the Boursin Sun-dried Tomato and Proscuitto Stuffed Chicken Breast and Erin had the Pecan Encrusted Boneless Pork Chop.

When we were finished, our server (who really was very polite and apologetic about the whole ordeal...I do have to give him credit for that) came with the bill and gave us 50% off for being so nice about the tardiness of our meal.  I think that was more than generous so it pretty much made up for the wait!  He also commented that we would have to come back on a less busy night to get the full effect.  I'm not sure how to determine what night that would be since the place is so small but I plan to give it another go.  Maybe this time around I will bring the hubster with me. :) 

Have you been to Sage?  What was your experience?

Portabella (in review)

Last night gave me a rare opportunity to see a couple of my friends from graduate school...luckily all of these get togethers involve good food. This time around we were off to Portabella in downtown Clayton. None of us had ever been here to eat, but ever since I tried their "kick-ass fries" at the St. Louis Art Fair a few years ago, I hunt their booth down annually at this event and more recently at the Taste of St. Louis to have some. They call these fries "garlic-asiago fries" on the online menu but on their menu at the restaurant and their food booth at events call them "kick-ass fries." Kick-ass is definitely an appropriate description...these bad boys are phenomenal! I suppose they could call them "phenomenal fries" but it wouldn't have quite the impact as the current name.

We had reservations but it seems we didn't need them...only a few other tables in the restaurant were taken on this particular Wednesday night. Wine list by the bottle was nice but by the glass was a little skimpy, I have to admit. Only one cab? Oh well. The food and the service absolutely made up for it!

First of all, our waiter, whose name is escaping me right now, was wonderful. Sure he forgot to put in our order for kick-ass fries until I asked him about them a little later on but this was possibly the best service I have ever had, anywhere, ever. He wass absolutely dedicated to making sure that everything was exactly the way we liked it. He talked to us about customizing our dishes and changing things any way we wanted to make sure we got exactly what was best for us. For example, I ordered the Chicken Milanese but I'm (surprisingly) not a huge fan of marinara, which is on the side of pasta. Our waiter explained that the chicked comes on top of the side of pasta with the pasta tossed in marinara and marinara over the chicken. Oh, well marinara on the chicken actually sounded good but I'm still more of a cream sauce person (imagine that). So cream sauce went on my pasta and marinara stayed on the chicken...ended up being a really nice contrast. The pasta was just tossed in cream sauce, not drowned in it, and it wasn't too heavy or anything. And the portion sizes were huge! I barely made it through half of mine before having to box it up. I was one satisfied girl. :)

So here's how I rate Portabella in full:

Setting: 3.5--Downtown Clayton is a really neat area. However, parking was terrible (even on a Wednesday night) and with 40 still partially closed it was tricky for some members of our party to get there.
Ambiance: 4--A little too dark for my liking but it didn't feel too stuffy like some places can when the lights are that low. I think it would have been even better if it had been a little bit more crowded...seems strange to say but I think I would have gotten a little better feel for it that way.
Service: 5--I was really impressed with the service if you couldn't tell already. I wish I could remember our waiter's name...I would tell you all to sit in his section.
Food: 5--Everything I had was awesome and it sounded like everyone else was really enjoying theirs as well. Even Audrey, whose pasta was too spicy, loved it once our waiter brought her a small dish of marinara to mix in with her "spicy marinara" to tone it down....again with the awesome service. And while there were options above $20 most entrees were in the teens.
Drink: 3--Like I said, I was disappointed with the lack of variety on the "by the glass" part of the wine menu. They were a bit overpriced, too, in my opinion. I would love to see more selection, especially some more reasonable choices.

Overall...I'd give Portabella a 4. I would absolutely go back...just might sneak a bottle of wine in with me. ;) Just kidding! (maybe)

Oishi Sushi and Steakhouse (in review)

This weekend Tom and I were lucky enough to celebrate our good friend, Katie's, birthday with her. Lucky for us, Katie wanted to go eat at Oishi Sushi and Steakhouse in Chesterfield: think sushi bar meets hibachi grill. This particular eatery is located in the very popular Chesterfield Valley. I like to think of "the Valley" as West County's restaurant hot spot. They have a little bit of everything from upscale dining to Taco Bell. There are literally dozens of restaurants in the area to choose from...dozens. It can sometimes be overwhelming so it was nice to have someone else make the decision on where to go.

And what a good choice Oishi Sushi and Steakhouse was! Now it has been a long time since I had been to this type of restaurant. I think we decided the last time we went to a Japanese steakhouse was for my 19th or 20th birthday...yikes. Having your food cooked in front of you, teppanyaki style, is so much fun that it serves as your entertainment for the evening as well! (Keep that in mind when checking out the prices on the menu...)

I believe we had 7 o'clock reservations but there didn't seem to really be a wait, even on a Saturday night, so that was nice to know for future visits. Don't get me wrong, it looked like a full house, there just wasn't anyone waiting in the lobby area. No patios here but I suppose that could be a tricky set-up, eh? There are actually two main areas to Oishi. The first (to the left when you enter) looks more like your typical restaurant. Simple table set-up in a nice atmosphere perfect for when you are just looking for some terrific sushi rather than the whole she-bang. To the right you see all the grills with chefs cooking away! It's fun to watch different "tables" reacting to all of the different phases of cooking. My favorite was watching the chefs flip pieces of chicken or shrimp for the customers to catch in their mouths...took me two tries to get mine! The chefs all seemed to to be following the same general routine while adding their own special flair. (No, not the TGIFridays kind)

There were lots of options on the menu: chicken, steak, shrimp, lobster, salmon, etc, etc. You could even order up a combo of two or three items if you couldn't settle on just one. (I went with the shrimp and chicken.) Be prepared for an additional charge if you want brown or fried rice. White rice is the standard here. The prices seem a little high at first glance ($18.95-$34.95 per person) but it is important to keep in mind what all you are getting with your dinner. Each dinner comes with soup, salad, a very generous bowl of rice (we all went with fried rice), "shrimp appetizer" (2 shrimp served up whether you ordered shrimp or not...beware if you are allergic to shellfish!), lots of delicious veggies, your choice of meat or seafood, and noodles. Matt and I enjoyed some amazing sushi appetizers (spider roll and spicy tuna roll...delicious!!) before any of this even came and ended up taking large "to-go" boxes home with us. Add on the value of the "show" and it's really a spectacular deal!

Here are some pics of the "show!"

Here's the "onion volcano!" This is a pretty typical trick for this type of restaurant but I still think it's cool every time I see it. :)

Here Juno, our chef, worked on the veggies (hiding behind the water glass), shrimp (center), and two lobster tails (hiding behind the glass on the left). Talk about multitasking!

Here's a pic of Tom's meal. He ordered the sesame chicken with fried rice...delicious!

So how do I rate Oishi overall?

Setting: 4--Chesterfield Valley has a lot to offer and is a great location for us but tends to be a little far for our "city friends" to travel to.

Ambiance: 4--I liked that they didn't have all of the grills on top of each other, just grouped in 2s back to back and I understand why they make you sit with other parties but it would be really cool to have a group large enough to take up an entire grill so you aren't sitting with strangers. The grill set-up also made conversation difficult with other members of your party but with everything going on, I guess there wasn't much time for conversation anyway!

Service: 4.5--Service was terrific! We had a waiter, chef, and another server attending to our table (9 of us at the table). They kept us all happy and well-fed the entire visit.

Food: 5--How can I not give this food a 5?! The sushi was terrific and the entrees were incredible! The leftovers made a phenomenal lunch the next day...doesn't get much better than that.

Drink: 4.5--Small wine list, nice selection of Japanese beers/saki. Plenty of Budweiser products available for the purists. Cocktails (with and without alcohol) were also available. Good prices too!

Overall I'd give Oishi a 4.5. I would highly recommend it for groups of all sizes, for special occasions, or just for a nice meal out with a friend or significant other. Definitely worth it!

So many places I'd love to try next (Iron Barley is definitely on the list Amanda...thanks for the suggestion!) Have I mentioned lately that I love food? :)

Happy Labor Day!