Saul

I met with a reader at Saul, one of the few Michelin-starred restaurants located in Brooklyn (the others for 2010 include: Peter Lugers, Dressler, and River Cafe). The restaurant wasn’t very large and I actually hadn’t read too much about the place (luckily, the reader I dined with had read up about the restaurant beforehand).

We started off with a bread basket:

After we placed our order, the server brought along an amuse bouche – mushroom soup with homemade croutons:

The soup was very light and a great way to start our meal, especially since the bread from the bread basket was way too tough to enjoy.

For an appetizer, I ordered the grilled octopus salad with bacon:

The grilled octopus had a very chewy texture – a little too chewy to be enjoyable – and the flavors of the sauce that accompanied the grilled octopus were very acidic, which made the salad taste very Asian (a little too much vinegar, I’m guessing) The brussel sprouts and other vegetables were definitely more enjoyable than the actual octopus.

My reader, Steve, ordered the seared foie gras:

The foie gras was slightly veiny and definitely didn’t have a clean texture or taste – it was also slightly muddled with so many sauces. Steve enjoyed both appetizers but I wasn’t a huge fan of either.

For my main course, I ordered the pan-seared skate:

Skate is definitely one of my favorite types of protein and the way the skate was prepared at Saul was enjoyable, but the sauces that the skate was paired with were too heavy and muddled.

Steve ordered the squab:

The squab was probably my favorite dish of the night – prepared well, simple sauces, and earthy vegetables that were paired well with the bird.

For dessert, we ordered the baked Alaska, what Saul is really known for:

I was afraid I wouldn’t like the dessert because I’m not a huge fan of marshmallows (I think they’re too sweet) but this baked Alaska was absolutely divine; marshmallows that were slightly browned for texture, ice cream on the inside, and a nice crispy chocolate cookie to add a little texture to the decadent dessert.

My coworker asked what I thought of Saul the next day and I said that I liked the food and it reminded me of a nice neighborhood restaurant, but definitely not worthy of its Michelin star.