There is a certain artistry required to do seafood well. One would think that mankind would be highly adept at preparing fish and other "fruits de mer," given our history of civilization along rivers and ocean coasts, but the simple fact of the matter is that many people are paralyzed at the thought of cooking seafood and most other people who think they can are, um, misguided.
So, it was quite a pleasant surprise to lunch today at Kinkead's Seafood and Oyster Bar and have not one but two excellently prepared seafood dishes.
My meal was a business luncheon, so Kinkead's was nearby, and it just so happened that Kinkead's is participating (for lunches only) in Restaurant Week this week. For those unfamiliar with Restaurant Week, twice a year, a goodly number of D.C. area restaurants offer special prix fixe menus at the established price of $20.06 for lunch and $30.06 for dinner. Now, Kinkead's is one of those D.C. restaurants in the "very expensive" category, meaning a person should expect to pay more than $50 per person for dinner, excluding wines and cocktails. From the looks of the regular menu, I think one would probably spend at least $40 on lunch, so the $20.06 three-course meal is a wonderful bargain.
My first course was the grilled squid with creamy polenta and tomato fondue. I received a very generous serving of large, wide rings of squid which had been grilled to just the perfect degree of doneness, with none of the chewiness of undercooked squid or rubberiness of overcooked squid. The squid pieces were carefully arranged on their sides in a straight row atop a mixture of the polenta and the tomato fondue; a generous layer of pesto topped the squid, and the food was garnished with the top leaves of a fresh basil plant. The tomato fondue was essentially a hot, chunky tomato sauce, but without the sweetness and extra spicing of a pasta sauce. The polenta surprised me a bit; I'm used to polenta being a rather solid and substantial Italian version of cornmeal mush, so I expected a slice or a scoop instead of the nearly sauce-like polenta mixture they'd squirted on the plate. So, while the polenta disappointed me, it was just a minor accompaniment to the delicious squid, so I'm not too worried. My colleague ordered the shrimp and crab pupusa with green tomatillo sauce and jalapeño cabbage slaw. We didn't discuss food, so I can only make external observations. The pupusa appeared to be two thin cornmeal masa "pancakes" maybe two inches in diameter put together like a sandwich with the shrimp and crab mixture in a thick creamy looking sauce in the middle and a little bit of flaked crabmeat on top as a garnish. The jalapeño cabbage slaw was underneath the pupusa, and I think the jalapeño hotness was too much for him, since after one bite, he drank some water and didn't finish the slaw.
We both had fish for our main courses. I ordered the brioche-crusted cod with artichoke puree and garlic mashed potatoes. My large plate was covered with a cream sauce (perhaps with a hint of artichoke flavor?) upon which was placed the fish, a ripe, peeled and seeded, cooked tomato, and a small dollop of garlic mashed potatoes with a grilled half of a miniature artichoke on top of the potatoes. The cod was divine. The piece of fish was probably a good inch and a half thick, yet every bit of it was perfectly cooked to the exact translucent doneness, whether in the middle of the fish or on the edges, and having struggled with cooking fish myself, that is a great accomplishment! The brioche crust was a dredging of the fish in tiny brioche crumbs that had an excellent, almost crunchy, texture and flavor. My colleague had the grilled mahi-mahi with a sweet potato tamale served on a bed of black beans. A darkly herbed butter was melting atop the fish. He ate it all, so it must have been good, and I was really wanting to ask him for a tiny bite of the very interesting looking sweet potato tamale, but obviously, that wasn't the appropriate venue.
With the first and second courses, we had a plate with a large square of butter and an aluminum bowl filled with hard rolls, foccacia, and a fruited (but not sweet) nut bread.
For dessert, my colleague had the sour cherry crème brulée served in a ramekin with a couple of wedges of thin cookie. It looked like there were a few dried cherries in the custard mixture, but there was no red color or any accompanying sour cherry sauce. I had the artisanal cheese plate with fruit, nuts, and walnut-raisin bread. There were three cheeses (identified in the menu but I wasn't able to write them down) that included a scoop of a very soft, mild goat cheese, a slice of a moderately soft, yellow-white cheese, and a slice of a blue cheese, which may have been from sheep's milk, but I wasn't sure. With the cheeses were two slices from a big, green apple, a whole dried apricot, a couple of cubes of an orange, densely gelatinous quince paste (it was actually very good), and several toasted pecans. It was a good sized serving for one (most cheese plates I get are two big for just one person), and my only complaint is that they provided only two small pieces of the walnut-raisin bread, and a third piece would have been very useful.
Service was adequate and I had no complaints, though I wasn't impressed, either. Lunches are always a rush, and we'd been put out on the indoor "patio" that is inside the shops where the restaurant is located, so by not being inside the main dining room, we might have been a bit too out of sight, out of mind.
It was nice not buying, though I did notice one shocking thing on the bill: my glass of iced tea was $2.75. Good thing I had a refill!
Anyway, Kinkead's has a reputation for being one of the best seafood restaurants in D.C., and they acquitted themselves well today. If you're on an expense account, I'd highly recommend it.
The only downside of my luncheon is that while we were in the restaurant, it started to rain and I got to walk the three blocks home in the rain. My hair was wilted. :(
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