Sweet Yet Sour

There will be no Encore for me…

Saturday, November 29th, 2008 | Restaurant Reviews | 1 Comment

One of things that I miss about my life pre-Anna (besides sleep) is restaurant reviewing.  I miss going to a new restaurant, hanging out with friends and having the whole restaurant review experience.  I really had a good time on the Cupcake Tour, and it made me miss RRC more.

Recently, when my friend Jen wanted to meet for dinner, she let me pick the restaurant, knowing that I would love to pick out somewhere new to go.  It’s rare that I go out at all these days, but Jen is willing to meet late (7:30 p.m.) on weekend nights to accommodate my schedule of putting Anna down and then heading out for the evening.

Anyway, I looked around and decided to try Encore.  It has gotten a “Best Fries” accolade from Westword, and what tipped the scales for me was that it is located next to the new Tattered Cover on Colfax.  That way, when Jen and I got done with dinner we could work off our meal looking for books. Sounds perfect right?

Unfortunately, there will be no encore at Encore for Jen and I.  As soon as Jen and I walked into the restaurant, we knew we were not right for the restaurant.  I say this because it seems that Encore is one of those “places to go if you’re in the in crowd”.  The people are pretty, well-dressed, young people with no fat on their bodies and Appletini’s in their hands.  I am SO not like these people…

They are also incredibly loud people.  This is a personal prejudice, but I do not want to have to yell at my fellow dinner and the waiter in order to heard.  Encore seems to encourage this sort of noisy atmosphere as if this will making your dining experience better.

Anyway, on with the rest of the review…

The restaurant is located on the east side of the Lowenstein Theatre, and there is a connecting door between Tattered Cover and the restaurant, as well as an outer door.  Parking is pretty convenient, with some on-street parking, but this was all taken, so I opted for the parking garage next to Tattered Cover (it’s free and well lit).

The decor is cold modern, but with low lighting in the evening so it seemed like a warmer place than it probably is during the day. We were seated at a tiny table for two along the west wall that gave us a nice view of the wine cooler. The wait staff were all courteous and generally quick to respond.  The kitchen is open for viewing for the diners and this may in part add to the noise in the restaurant.

While Encore has a large wine list, it is stingy on the wines available by the glass and even these are expensive, with the cheapest being $7.  As a side complaint, I hate the huge mark-up that restaurants perform when selling wines by the bottle.  Encore sells a wine that I buy regularly from the liquor store for less than $25 a bottle that was selling for $66.  Come on!

I’m not drinking these days, so the wine prices don’t matter much to me, but I can testify that the bar at Encore makes a nice Shirley Temple for $2.50.

We began with the “Wood Fired Artichokes with Truffle Butter and Aioli”.  I’m not sure that I tasted the truffle in the butter on the artichokes, but they were nice warm and crispy artichokes and the aioli was good.

I’m always on the lookout for a good burger, and since we’re living on a budget lately, the “Encore Burger with Gruyere-Bacon-Blue Cheese Compote” for $10 seemed like a good choice.  That way, I could try those award-winning fries with the burger. The burger itself was good and cooked to my specifications.  The compote was okay, but not great.  The amount of Gruyere and blue cheese overwhelm the bacon and these tastes are not, in my opinion, a good pairing with the fries.

What makes the fries stand out is the hot mustard sauce with which they are drenched.  The fries are nicely done shoestring fries, and the hot mustard (picture a thinner version of the Chinese hot mustard served with egg rolls) is great.  But again, the combination of the hot mustard sauce and the compote on the burger is not good.

Jen tried the “New England Style Baked Scallops, White Wine Butter and Ritz Crumb”.  Jen also ordered the seasonal vegetable, which that night was a roasted eggplant in Miso sauce.  Jen enjoyed the baked scallops, but had to avoid the Ritz crumb topping, as it was apparently too salty for her to really taste the remainder of the dish.  Her roasted eggplant was really very good, but best eaten immediately after it arrived as it lost it’s luster once the eggplant cooled.  When the eggplant arrived it was light and crunchy but as it cooled it became more rubbery.

The food at Encore is good, not great and is pretty pricey.  Jen’s scallops were $20 and my $10 burger was one of the cheapest things on the menu.  Don’t go here on a budget.

If you’re someone who doesn’t mind a lot of noise while you are dining, then feel free to try Encore.  For Jen and I, we escaped as soon as we could to the quiet of Tattered Cover after our dinner.  On the other hand, if you have a friend who drones on and on about themselves or other boring matters, you might want to meet them at Encore; you won’t be able to hear them over the noise…