Sans kids
Grandma was in town a couple of weeks ago and my wife and I took advantage of the free babysitting to use an old gift card to one of the restaurants run by the Worcester restaurant group. We have visited the Sole Proprietor and 111 Chop House many times in the past so we decided to try Via.Italian Table. Overall the meal was good and as expected a bit pricey, but the one thing that really stood out was the appetizer.
Via was offering lobster garlic bread as a special appetizer offered that evening. This appetizer is amazing. A large slice of Italian bread brushed with garlic and butter, topped with large chunks of lobster and several kinds of cheese. It was then baked and served with marinara sauce. My original though for tonight's blog was another lobster dish, but since I am still thinking of the lobster garlic bread at Via and it may have influenced my decision elsewhere I decided I had to give it the credit it deserved.
With the kids
Now onto my original thoughts for tonight. Last week I went to dinner at the Chateau in Westborough. as I think about it now I don't think I ever appreciated the Chateau in Waltham when I lived there...or the one in Westborough is just better. Maybe "family dining" doesn't really make sense until you have a family. Whatever the reason I do enjoy the Chateau in Westborough. I have a few standards that I order, but nothing really exciting just a standard good meal.. My kids stick to the pizza and the chicken fingers, as many kids do, and recently mine have added mozzarella sticks. The meal at the Chateau is always good, the service is fast, and the prices are reasonable. I also like the that atmosphere is slightly noisy. I know my kids have not mastered the volume control on their voices yet and I hate to bother others with a 4 year old's over exuberance for chocolate milk.
Last week on my visit to the Chateau I was in the mood for something different. As I was looking at the specials menu I noticed a special that included mini lobster casserole, with the choice of either broiled scallops, baked stuffed shrimp, marinated sirloin tips, or grilled turkey tips. This is served with rice Florentine and a vegetable for $19.99. I must have still had lobster on the brain from the garlic bread so lobster sounded really good. I ordered the lobster casserole with the steak tips.
I was actually amazed at how good this entree was. Please don't misunderstand I know the Chateau has good food and the general manager, Michelle Sweet, runs a great restaurant, but this was far better then I expected. I think the biggest win was the size of the lobster in the mini casserole. There were huge chucks of lobster. I tried to take a photo with my poor excuse for a phone camera to give readers an idea of the size of this dish. This was the best I could do as I started getting weird stares from the table next to me. Unfortunately the image doesn't really do it justice.
The meal was so good last week, I took the kids out to dinner again tonight...mostly so I could have the same dish again. I am happy to report the second consumption of this special mostly held up to my inflated memory of the first time. I say mostly only because the tips were a done a little too much for me this time. I like to hear the faint moo coming from my steak and these were a little over medium. The first time they were perfect still tonight they were tasty, and the lobster was, once again, the star of the show.
If you think a good lobster dish is only avaible in the summer, I say think again. The Chateau has twice proven to me that they know how to please a lobster lovers palete with potions that will definately fill you up. I may have to take the kids again with grandma when she visits later this month. Lobster love runs in our family, she would be upset if I don't include her in this find.
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