Ursula's Dish on Dish

By: Ursula T-C

To celebrate my birthday, my husband, Kevin, and I decided to try a new (to us) restaurant called DISH in Red Bank, NJ. After a short walk from our apartment to the place, we walked in to the cozy restaurant that was filled with amazing aromas and a very comfortable feel. As soon as we sat at a cute little 2-top against the wall, a bottle of my favorite champagne, Veuve Clicquot, showed up courtesy of my wonderful husband. Because DISH is a BYOB, he had stopped by earlier in the day to drop off the surprise...a very happy little surprise :0)

I had already checked out the menu online before we went as I do with most restaurants, the happy burden of a true foodie. The menu is short and sweet but satisfies all tastes. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, DISH actually offers a prefixe menu which includes an appetizer (either a soup, salad or app), an entree (3 to choose from) and chef's choice on dessert all for only $25!

Since I had already read the menu online, I had basically picked what I wanted until I heard the specials...I heard blue cheese, lobster, and salmon and I was sold. I chose the wedge of lettuce with fresh, homemade blue cheese dressing with bacon bits and the lobster encrusted salmon with rosemary potatoes and asparagus and carrots specials while my husband chose shrimp wrapped in bacon and, as always, a meat dish - stout braised beef short ribs. My mouth is watering again even as I type this.

As we waited for our appetizers and enjoyed our champagne, I took a look around the restaurant. Its cozy, only about 15 tables, plates used as decoration on the wall. The restaurant looks like a store front from the outside with a huge show-window up front. Not too loud. Intimate enough for a romantic couple dinner but also feel comfortable with a bigger group of people..

Our appetizers came. My salad ended up being about 10 leaves of fresh, crispy lettuce with a TON of the homemade blue cheese dressing poured over it with bacon chunks sprinkled on top. Don't get me wrong, I love me some blue cheese dressing but the amount was obscene. I scraped off most of the dressing and still enjoyed the salad but wish there wasn't so much. I had such a big a pile of leftover dressing on the plate that when the waitress came to pick it up, she actually took my salad fork and poked in the blob to ensure there wasn't anything left in there! Hopefully they don't waste so much in the future.

On the other hand, Kevin's appetizer was glorious. The shrimp were each a very good size and perfectly wrapped in bacon. On the bottom of the plate there was a wonderful surprise...cheese grits. On the menu it is written quite small below the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp wording so it was forgotten until the plate showed up. Kevin is not very adventure and though he tried a small bite, I was the receiver of this deliciousness. The cheese grits tasted like Italian polenta but a cheesy version instead of a potato undertone...and it was wonderful. There was only a small amount and I savored every bite.

Next came out entrees, lobster encrusted salmon dish was beautifully presented while Kevin's short ribs were a splendid pile of meat. We dug right in and didn't speak for a good five minutes other than groans of delight. My salmon was great, the encrusted lobster actually ended up being kind of a lobster cream with chunks of lobster in it that was a layer on top of the salmon piece. I think it could have stayed in the oven about 5 minutes longer and it would have been perfection but it was extremely good otherwise - and a large portion as well. The potatoes and veggies weren't anything to write home about but a good side addition.

Now Kevin's dish needs its own paragraph. These short ribs were magnificent. Only a hair behind our amazing short ribs at Mama's Fishhouse in Maui. The food on the plate was a big mash-up but with every, bite you wouldn't wait to get another forkful in your mouth. The meat was perfectly tender and melt in your mouth good. The sauce had small cubes of beets in it so they sucked up the juices of the meat and the sauce. When you took a bite, they burst in your mouth creating pure joy. THEN when you add in the maple sweet potato mashed puree, you pretty much could say I died and went to Heaven tasting this dish. Amazing. It was so sweet and so wonderful. I actually took some of my rosemary potatoes and dipped them onto his plate to soak up some more of these amazing flavors.

After we thought there was no room, the waitress and Kevin convinced me to have dessert...I thought the Veuve was dessert the whole time! :0) I took a gander at the desserts and immediately saw Crème Brûlée. Any time this or flan is on the menu, I order it. So I did. The dessert was ok, I've had better. But it was good. It could have been heated or torched more. I still enjoyed it.

After my 3-course meal and bottle of champagne, I rubbed my belly and we very happily walked home to our apartment a few blocks away. I recommend a walk afterwards because its a lot of food, but absolutely amazingly delicious nonetheless. Go. To. DISH.

Image# 0389 - short ribs - blurry because the plate was steaming!
Image # 0390 - lobster encrusted salmon
Image # 0392 - creme brulee