Belated Birthday
Kev’s birthday was snowed in. Now time for birthday night out.
By Jan Walsh
It snowed us in for Kev’s birthday week. So, rather than his wish of reservations at Ocean Restaurant, he got his new wish for homemade chicken and dumplings and a blueberry cheesecake.
Tonight, Kev, Ross, and I take our favorite seats at the end of the bar. Bar seating here is always a treat. It boasts an open kitchen view, some of the best bartenders in town, and makes sharing a breeze. A natural wine, Slovenia bottle of Pet-Nat Rosé Kabal Bajta 2023 bubbles and cocktails of Ocean Martini and Tom Collins are paired with Ocean’s comforting, two ways bread. The soft, warm bread is dipped in olive oil, and we create crostini of the toasted bread, topping it with a tomato cucumber mix.
For a first course, we share Kev’s favorite, off the menu nightly special, Baby Lobster Tails and Oysters on the Half Shell. The baby tails arrive hot off the grill with lemon and warm butter. With a gentle tug the tails pull away from their protective shells, which they were grilled in as they were basted with “The Love,” Chef George’s secret blend of spices. This is the best lobster! Consistently cooked to maintain succulence. It melts in the mouth with pleasing flavors of butter and spice that balance the smokiness of the crustaceans. From the raw bar’s oysters on the half, Alabama’s own briny Naked Jade from Mon Louis Island and Florida’s sweet Little Honeys from Apalachee Bay are chosen. Both are plump and end with a buttery finish and highly recommended.
For our second course, we share Dee Sushi Roll and B. D. Shrimp Cocktail. There is no better sushi in Birmingham than at Ocean. Namesake of Dee who makes the sushi, bbq eel, tamago, red pepper, cucumber, green onion, avocado, eel sauce shine in this ravishing roll. Once a classic, from the 1960s until the 1980s in the U.S., my favorite shrimp cocktail memory is in New York City on my senior high school class trip. A small group of us went to a fine dining restaurant for dinner. I ordered it, and my classmates were so envious that I had to share with everyone. Finding shrimp cocktail on a menu today is much less common. And the shrimp is chilled to perfection. Each crisp bite is enhanced by house made cocktail sauce, and as easy to eat as the lobster. Yet for those who like to peel and eat shrimp, this option is also on the menu.
For entrees, we each order our own. While you will never find better seafood than at Ocean, the menu also offers some of the best steaks in town. Kev knows. He opts for Herford Filet Mignon. Ross has Georges’ Bank Sea Scallops. And I have the Pan Seared Grouper with PEI Mussels. The steak arrives sizzling and steaming enhanced by house Worcestershire and crowned with a beautiful onion bacon butter. Accompanying the steak is a masterpiece pavé and flavorful haricot verts.
This tenderloin steak is the epitome of 1990s dining, when it was all the rage: tender, pure and mild beef flavor, gorgeous grill marks, and grilled over hardwoods to order. The superb scallops are completed with roasted parsnip pancetta lacinato kale, smoked pears, and a stone ground honey glaze. The grouper is large in portion, golden outside, white and pristine inside. PEI Mussels are an excellent accent. I love mussels but do not always want a bowlful. The seafood floats on a bed of risotto, which rounds out the dish with Italian starch. Yet if all this were not enough, the star of this show is the curry sauce, with cilantro and blood orange oil. “Wow!” I exclaimed on first bite. Never had curry like this before. It is a far cry from my first taste of curry, mother’s attempt at curry eggs, which I still have PTSD over. Bless her heart! Bright and bursting with robustness, blood orange oil adds a level of citrus refinement to this smashing synthesis. I could not finish this paragraph without seeking out my own source for blood orange oil. Catch this dish!
For the birthday boy’s dessert, he orders ice cream. If ice cream is on the menu he will order it, birthday or not. And Ross has the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake. Kev’s Baklava Ice Cream is presented in two layers with a chocolate, cursive birthday message. He closes his eyes, makes a wish, and blows out the candle. The sweet, rich, warm crusts enveloping the ice cream make it a perfect warm, cold dessert, and add a crunchy texture to the creaminess of the ice cream. The cheesecake is a chocolate from top to bottom, with white chocolate ice cream and bright and fruity strawberry coulis. A chocolate lover’s dream. Happy Birthday, Kev!
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