Last night we tried the newly reopened CLYDE's of Chevy Chase, which is very much in the vein of most Clyde's. The menu is large and varied with some decent wines as well. The decor is, well, deco-Clydes, and if Samuel had joined us he would have adored the little train running around the place as well as the giant ship models, especially the huge BREMEN all lit up!
We tried a bottle of BRANCOTT Sauvignon Blanc 2004 from Marlborough which we have always enjoyed. This vintage is a bit more perfumey, but still crisp with a big citrus acidity loaded with grapefruit. It was great with our CRAB TOWER, which I liked more than Will did (he didn't like the warm and cold combo). The warm rice cake on the bottom is topped with a huge portion of jumbo lump crab salad, tobiko, avocado, coconut curry and a wasabi sweet chili mayo. I think this is a great combination of flavors and works great.
Our server recommended the PAN SEARED SCALLOPS with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Portobello & Shitake Mushrooms, Cider & Butter Sauce. This was like a thick stew or potato, mushroom & apple with the delicious scallops on top. Will chose the HEARTY LAMB STEW over Mashed Potatoes which wasn't as enjoyable. The stew sorely needed more lamb, although the sauce was quite tasty.
Our guest had the PORK LOIN which she specifically ordered without cabbage, although it still came with a huge mound of the vegetable! Our server rushed in, quickly removed the dish and came back with a clean plate and extra (if I may add, superb) crunchy huge potato puffs with
their creamy inside.
The BREAD PUDDING was uneventful and big enough for four people. Too bad it wasn't that delicious. The only real problem we had was our request for a cocktail refill THREE times before it finally arrived.
In a nutshell, CLYDEs can be fun and enjoyable, just be sensible when ordering and DO listen to your server's recommendations!
