Serenade Cooks Some Dishes to Perfection; Others Disappoint

I have known of Restaurant Serenade, a beautiful restaurant in Chatham, for over 10 years now. When I worked in Summit, a colleague who lived in Chatham at the time would talk about it fondly. It has been on my list and I was excited to go.

I looked at its Web site and determined it to be a special occasion establishment with an extensive lunch and dinner menu. The dinner includes two tastings and a 'Page Three' menu, which can be had during lunch ($27) or dinner ($39). That consists of a three-course meal that includes an appetizer, entrée and dessert. I decided to try that menu and met a friend there for lunch.

The restaurant is set in an old, quaint home. As we walked in, the bright, inviting orange chairs stood out. We were seated in a sunny room with lots of windows. We looked at the extensive menu and decided against the 'Page Three' option, as the choices were quite limited.

Our appetizers arrived at the table as we enjoyed some water and freshly brewed coffee. The grilled octopus with potatoes, preserved lemon, Nicoise olives and olive oil was outstanding. The octopus was grilled to perfection and almost melted in our mouths. I loved the saltiness of the olives and the sourness of the little preserved lemon jewels.

Next came the Maine oysters. They were fried with a soy ginger mignonette (which is a classic condiment for raw oysters served on the half shell that typically contains vinegar and shallots; it may also include oyster liquor, seasonings, and herbs) and served on top of Japanese seaweed salad.  The plate was picture perfect and the golden yellow fried oysters sat on a bright green bed of seaweed.

The oysters were tender, but the breading was a bit bland, as was the seaweed salad. I like my dishes super flavorful. This particular dish was good—but not outstanding.

I had a hard time choosing my entrée. The taco chicken salad looked tempting and slightly different for a restaurant with mostly Italian or French inspired dishes. I ordered the tacos envisioning bright and bold flavors coming my way, and my friend ordered the calf's liver with the bacon-onion tartlet, haricots verts and casis sauce.

The liver was okay—a bit overdone, although the casis sauce gave it a nice blackberry tang. The bacon-onion tart was flaky on the outside and tender on the inside, and the haricots verts were perfectly cooked and a pleasure to eat.

But as my dish arrived, my heart sank immediately. The chicken filling in my soft, warm tortilla tacos looked like it was simply poached in some liquid and without any flavor. It was topped with sliced avocado and pickled onions.

Although the chicken was soft, it did not have an ounce of flavor—I had to sprinkle a large amount of salt on it to be able to eat the two tacos. The avocado slices were not seasoned either. The only thing that had some flavor were the pickled onions, and unfortunately, they did not have enough to make up for the shortcomings. The mixed green salad on the side, though, was delicious and very flavorful.

I was extremely disappointed and thought of replicating this dish. When I think of a taco chicken salad, lime and cilantro come to mind, and so does a lot of seasoning.

The dessert made up for my not-so-appealing entrée. My friend and I shared the fresh fruit pie with a flaky pastry, caramel ice cream and toffee sauce. Ours was an apple pie and it was out of this world. A great combination of sweet and tart apples with the delicious, not too sweet caramel ice cream was very satisfying. I was very happy.

But I am now not sure how I feel about my subpar entrée. A few days after my meal, a friend described the wonderful experience she had there as "the best meal I have had in a long time."

I will have to go back for dinner to give the restaurant another try. In the meantime, I will be busy in my kitchen, replicating the chicken taco salad.

Stay tuned.