Friday night, John and I welcomed Todd home after his first full week away with dinner at Royal Oak standby, D'Amato's. Normally, it's good for nice evening out--low key, great food, good service, comfortable wood-paneled decor, and a wall of windows looking out at the bustle of Royal Oak.
For some reason this time, while everything else was as impeccable as usual, the food failed to deliver. Maybe it's because we strayed from our normal fallback options: a perfectly cooked dish of pasta (the "Napoletana," spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and basil, or the Penne with wild mushrooms in a madeira sauce), woodfired pizza (Four Cheese, Tuscan), or a bowl of steamed mussels (special menu only). Their Beef Carpaccio appetizer, and entrees such as macadamia encrusted Chilean Sea Bass and Vegetable Napoleon, also rarely disappoint.
Though John did get a delicious Asparagus & Sundried Tomato pizza with wild mushrooms, prosciutto, and goat cheese, Todd and I each elected instead for an order of crabcakes and a salad. He went for the "D'Amato's Salad" with red wine vinaigrette, and I for their Green Bean Salad with toasted walnuts and crumbled gorgonzola. They were okay, but not spectacular, and my salad was not what I was expecting--I thought it would come out similar to the haricot vert salad I'd had at Mia Francesca in Chicago: simply, blanched young green beans, diced tomato, crumbled gorgonzola, and balsamic vinaigrette. The D'Amato's version was heavy on mixed greens, light on the beans.
The crab cakes, served "East Coast style," with mixed greens and a spicy remoulade, were too bready for our tastes. Bread (or breadcrumbs) is necessary to help bind the cakes, but they should be heavy with crabmeat, light on filler. These had just a hint of crab flavor, flecks of red bell pepper, and too much mushiness from the bread. According to Taste author, David Rosengarten, the perfect crab cake should be simply be crab, a little bread crumb, some mayonnaise, and seasoning. Technically, my recipe lifted from the Martha cookbook, with chopped bell pepper and scallions, is overkill. But it's still good.
Overall, not a disaster, but less than stellar. The wine was fruity and rich, and I had a great dessert coffee spiked with Amaretto and a hint of orange. We've had much better meals there, so I'm willing to cut some slack. It's always been an enjoyable experience at this Royal Oak mainstay, so I'll always return. But next time, I'll go for old reliable calamari or a woodfired pizza.
Photo credit damatos.com
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