As you Phyllis-teens know, I am not much of a lunch person, but this past Friday, a dear friend was in town and the only time we could meet up was at lunch, so we opted to head to Kinkead's where my absence has been known for way too long.
The courteous staff, good service and excellent food make it easy to see that it is Washington's NUMBER# 1 Zagat rated restaurant in the "Most Popular" category.
Our cozy corner table gave us a view of the kitchen as we settled in with a tasty glass of PALLISER ESTATE 2006 Sauvignon Blanc from Martinborough in New Zealand which works great with almost any seafood.
Our truly wonderful server Stephen gave us ample time to schmooze and catch up and brought our appetizer (which we split) of TUNA TARTARE JALISCO which has been a long time standard. The large chunky tuna is superb and tasty with lots of spice, avocado and lime and has radish and jicama in the adjoining small salad. We also enjoyed the always excellent FRIED IPSWICH CLAMS which seemed to be even better this time. The batter seemed a bit lighter and crispier and tastier (has there been a change?) and the clams are moist and tender; and who can refuse the excellent dipping sauce!
More wine and more talk and our entrees arrived and the portions were larger than we expected. The LOBSTER ROLL has a peppery jolt and the meat is firm, fleshy and moist (I just tasted) and my MAINE SEAFOOD CHOWDER was a dream. The "chowder" was actually not the New England style thick soup I had expected, but somewhere between this and a rich bouillabaisse that was just perfect. Loaded with bay scallops, Blue Hill Bay Mussels, Finnan Haddie and moist tasty Stone Crab claws it was an amazing and filling treat.
So filling we could not even ponder thoughts of dessert and made our way out thanking everyone for a super lunch.
