Oceanaire Seafood Room

The other night we went to dinner at Oceanaire by Metro Center in honor of my friend Suzi, who had back surgery on Friday. (Speedy recovery Suz! French martinis are waiting!) Speaking of French martinis, Suzi and I both started with those while we looked over the menu. I love French martinis, I really do. The problem is most places don't have a clue how to make a good one. Oceanaire does, which means I had two.

For appetizers, we ordered fried asparagus and Caesar salads. The Caesar wasn't bad, I just a bit light on dressing which means light on flavor. The asparagus was pretty good, not too greasy.

For an entree, I ordered the cornmeal crusted trout. It had a perfectly crispy coating and the inside was tender, flaky and moist. I would definitely order that again. We all agreed to split the sauteed spinach with garlic, Au Gratin potatoes and hashed browns a la Oceanaire as the sides for the table. The spinach could have been skipped. I love garlic spinach, but again, this one lacked flavor. The potato dishes, however- they were full of it. The hashed browns came out on a plate that appeared to be holding a giant tater tot. How can that NOT be good? The Au Gratin potatoes were incredibly creamy and cheesy- all top-notch things in my book.

Overall, the food was pretty good and the service OK. It isn't the absolute best food I've ever had, but I am also partial to completed dishes as opposed to steakhouse-style menus with staple dishes and family style sides. That being said, I had a good meal although I wouldn't make a habit of going there as it's a bit on the pricey side.