Annoyingly Boring?

As mentioned in my last post my wife and I had a real live date this past weekend. Her employer had told her to go out to a nice diner and expense it since she had recently kicked ass on a project she was managing. Since we were not paying we wanted to do it right, but not be over the top. We decided on a local place called the Scarlet Oak Tavern. I present this post as part slice of life/part review.

We had heard from others who had been and some reviewers that this was the place that might actually show some staying power in the location that it calls home. The corner of Routes 228 and 53 in Queen Anne’s Corner in Hingham has seen no less than 3 places come and go in recent years. I hadn’t been in the place since it was The Whiton House, and boy what a difference. Apparently the new owners have sunk a cool million into renovations and it shows. It also shows some guts as a location with a track record of failures isn’t really the place that makes you go running for the checkbook before you even open the doors. But good on them!

Scarlet Oak is housed in a building that dates back to 1766, once a private residence. While it still has some smaller rooms that give you the sense that that was the case the beautiful, open bar on the ground level has a clean modern look that meshes perfectly with the old feel a la the exposed beam ceiling. Upon arrival, we were told there would be a 45 minute to an hour wait, which was to be expected on a busy Saturday night. No problem either, we were out and enjoying ourselves and in no hurry in general. We found our way to the bar to get some drinks.

When I was walking up to the bar area I noticed Anchor Steam on tap, and that looked like a good choice. We found a couple stools settled in and then I went up to order drinks. When I was getting up from my stool I noticed a small old-timey poster on one of the beams that said “Sierra Nevada” on it. When I hit the bar I subconsciously ordered a Sierra Nevada. As it turns out they had that too, albeit in bottle. Not what I had in mind originally, but always good.

I paid cash for the round of drinks, returned to our spot and sat and chatted and generally enjoyed the atmosphere. Some while later, the waitress came along and asked if we wanted another round, I took another beer (this time, Anchor Steam). She brought it back but didn’t look to be paid. It must have gone on my nonexistent tab.

About an hour had passed and, although we were not in a hurry I went to check in with the hostess just to make sure they knew were we were. The bar was very crowded and most people were standing, but we were sitting so we would be hard to find. While I was up I went to the men’s room which was, not surprisingly, very clean and tidy (Phantom gave Scarlet Oak a 9 for cleanliness).

Returned to my wife at the bar and ordered one more beer, figured at this point maybe the beers would hit the check and since my wife’s employer was paying… Turns out the hostess came to find us and walked us upstairs to our table. I never saw that beer. A sad story to be sure. Had to duck to make it up stairs, a reminder that the building is 241 years old.

We were seated at a table in a room with a (gas) fireplace and about seven other tables. It was loud, and would get louder (courtesy of a just a wee bit too much wine at the table behind me), but not so loud that it was bothersome. Our waitress came right over took drink orders and the usual routine. This time around I ordered a Gibbet Hill Brew, apparently the house brew of one of the owners other establishments. I had never had it, it was pretty good.

After we had placed our drink orders another waitress came by to fill our waters and tell the the specials (we had already heard them from ‘our’ waitress).   A bit odd, but we didn’t say anything. I guess there was a bit of miscommunication between the two of them and the ‘extra’ waitress apologized a few minutes later.

Now that we had it clear who should be taking our orders we chose appetizers. My wife ordered “Iced Jumbo Shrimp”, and I the “House Cured Olives and Homemade Focaccia”. The shrimp were indeed jumbo and my focaccia was great. The bread was chewy and crunch all at once and the mountain of olives could have been a meal unto themselves.

For entrees I chose the “Bone-In Rib Eye 20 oz.”, medium rare with Blue Cheese Compound Butter, baked potato and wild mushrooms. My wife ordered “Fettuccine with Wild Mushrooms toasted pine nuts, imported parmesan, and basil” Although I don’t eat lobster, I ordered an add on of a lobster tail for my wife. I am sure they would have added it to her order, but the menu said it was available as an add on with steak orders, so rather than rock the boat…

My steak was cooked just as it should have been and was absolutely delicious. I had several of those bites that border on orgasmic, when everything just falls into place - texture, taste, aroma. My wife laughs at my reaction when I take those bites. It’s, generally speaking, a good rule of thumb to laugh at me anytime. My wife enjoyed her entree too. It looked and smelled delicious.

Service was not slow, but never rushed. It was great to be able to really enjoy a meal without feeling rushed in a restaurant that was so busy. Even my wife’s service was great. At one point I got up again to go to the men’s room (and to take a bit of a peek around the second floor) and when I returned, ta-dah! a new beer. What a woman.

We were both stuffed, I refused to not finish my meal, my wife was more sane and took home her leftovers. Stuffed or not, we looked at the dessert menu and decided we would split a slice of pecan pie. As it arrived you could tell, just looking at it, that it was not going to be as good as my wife’s. It was actually downright disappointing. It is served cool, and the pecans are just a thin layer on top. The bulk of the pie filling is just overly sweet gooey mush. Oh well, it was taken off the bill (not that we were paying) without even asking for it to be taken off.

All in all it was a great meal out and we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves so much we headed home after even though my in-laws, who were sitting for us, told us not to hurry. That and it was too late to try to see a movie anyway.

Well done Scarlet Oak. I would definitely go back. Although the steaks aren’t cheap, there are some reasonably priced menu items for sure. They also have a bar menu that has some good looking items on it.

If you are on the South Shore and you haven’t tried Scarlet Oak Tavern yet, you should.

Oh, and that second beer I had at the bar. Wasn’t on the bill. Free Beer! Whooo-hooo!