I’ve seen the place, driving by it. It used to be a really good seafood place, Blue Point Grille. I’ve heard a lot about it and now that the girls are over grandma’s for the weekend. We are actually able to go check it out. Great job by the wife on getting grandma to take them for the weekend. I might actually get some sleep this weekend. We went with the seven course taste menu:
- White and Raisin Bread with Sun Dried Tomato Paste, Olive Pate, Bok Choy Pate, and Honey Lavender Butter- They first brought this out and we were pretty amazed. What is awesome is how the paste varies based on salty or sweet bread. For example the Tomato paste was awful with the white bread but it went really well with the raisin bread. The Bok Choy went well with white bread but was not as good with the raisin. Olive went with everything, the Butter was better with the white bread.
- Green Pea Flan | Cream Sauce | Crushed Wasabi – “compliments of the chef”. Come on we all know we paid for it. It was a good starter. Kind of bland, get the taste buds moving. The onion and wasabi helped accentuate it.
- Silky Cream Corn| Parmesan| Tomatillo Cream – Good silky corn soup. Nothing extraordinary.
- Divers Scallop | Bacon Powder | Melon Seed Milk – One medium sized scallop. The scallop itself wasn’t anything to write home about. But with the sauce and bacon, it went from a two to an eight.
- Sweet Plantain Fritters| Refried Coconut | Peanut Butter Powder – The bomb of the night. When serve, it looks like two small burnt balls staring at you. Taste wise it was bland and hard. the honey sauce helped somewhat but not really
- Fried Soft Shell Crab | Potato Salad | Mustard Tartar Sauce- Half a crab was served. The crab itself was a little salty. Mixed with the Potato salad, it harmonized well. The Tartar sauce was interesting with the extra kick on the dijon mustard.
- Ahi Tuna | Jicama Ceviche| Papaya Vinaigrette – A cube of tuna, about one sq inch. Roasted pretty nicely. The seared tuna went well with the pepper encrusted on it. The Jicama Ceviche was not up my alley. Wife loved it cause she loves, cucumber/tomato/avocado salads.
- Slow Roasted American Lamb | Plaintain Loaf |Red Palm Jus – The plantain loaf was nice with the lamb. The lamb was amazing. It didn’t have the mutton taste that you are accustomed to. The sauce tasted like a BBQ sauce, but much sweet and much more fresh. Eaten with the mint pearls, it is superb.
- Chocolate Banana Tiramisu | Marshmellow Foam | Coriander Fluid Gel – Interesting take on a classic tiramisu. It could work, especially with the orange gel that went on the side. I was more in love with the marshmellow foam thing that went with it.
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Decor: The place is nice with the windows facing out to the street. A lot of light flowing in. The shells hanging from the ceiling is a nice touch. The tree vein design on the walls are nice as well. Overall very pretty. The waiters/waitresses are friendly and nice. It was hit or miss on ordering. Some when bringing the food announced what everything on the plate was, some just dropped it off for you and moved on. The service is slow though.. We were there for close to 2 hrs 15 min. I think it’s part of the French slow dining experience.
Overall Assessment: ($$$$$, 8/10) Wife and I both agreed. By far, the prettiest food we’ve ever seen. The taste on the food was a hit or miss. Some were very good (pate/lamb/scallop), others missed (plantains), and most average (corn soup/crab). One thing we liked was how there is definitely innovation, an attempt to fuse flavors together. Hence the menu has three things for each entry. The unsteadiness drops the rating.
Website: http://www.farraholiviarestaurant.com/
Location: 600 Franklin St 22314
Reservation: Opentable
Takeout: No
Hours: Sat – Sun; 1100-1430, Mon – Sat; 1730- 2200, Sun; 1730 – 2130
