Linger Revisited

Things have now come full circle: after passing on our booked-a-month-out Linger reservations several months ago to try the rare craft brews at Hops & Pie, we cancelled 5280 Restaurant Week reservations at Trillium to join a couple of friends at Linger last weekend.

The friends who we joined are Linger regulars, and they know many of the employees very well. This was our second visit to Linger; you can read all about my first visit from my initial review.  I'll keep this post brief, since my December 2011 review of Linger was so wordy, and just sum up a few of my thoughts from the weekend.

We decided on four small plates to share among the four of us. I really felt this was a perfect amount of food, and Linger's suggestion of two plates per person is entirely too much.

Linger had scaled back their menu for 5280 Restaurant Week, and they also no longer offered the Crispy Risotto Arancini - one of my "Best Things I Ate in 2011" - since they consider it a fall or winter dish. Bummer.

We started off with the Devils on Horseback (not pictured, $10), which I had at my last visit, and which I've also had a couple times at Root Down. As with the last visit, I felt the bacon-wrapped dates were entirely too sweet, and I much prefer Root Down's version with Peppadew peppers.

Our second dish was their daily special, Mee Krab (not pictured, $10), which is a Thai crispy noodle dish. The dish was very well prepared and we certainly preferred it over the oily Pad Thai we had at our previous visit.

Up next was the Tamarind Braised Short Rib ($18). This plate was significantly more expensive than most of the small plates at Linger, but it was worth it. The meat was extremely tender and well seasoned. The bottom of the dish was filled with rice noodles that had absorbed the flavors of a broth-like beef sauce. Atop the concoction were baby bok choy and jalapenos.

Tamarind Braised Short Rib

Our final small plate of the evening was Yucatan Huarache con Mahi a la Plancha ($15). This is a newer addition to the menu, and was basically a flat fish taco. It was well prepared, but it didn't stand out like the short rib or mee krab.

Yucatan Huarache con Mahi a la Plancha

Since we weren't very impressed with Linger's desserts based on previous visits, we opted for a cheese plate ($15) as our final dish. It arrived with three cheeses, fudge pieces, a fig spread, and a caramel square.

Cheese Plate

It was a lovely sweet and savory pairing, and we all enjoyed it over any of the restarant's standard desserts.

We really enjoyed the food and atmosphere on this particular night. I'm even starting to forgive Linger's intense trendiness, as the hype does seem to be backed up by some great food, attentive service, and a lively ambiance.


Website:
http://www.lingerdenver.com/

Linger

Well, we finally made it to Linger. About six weeks ago, we had made two different dinner reservations at the restaurant: one for Saturday, November 27, and one for Saturday, December 17. Yes, getting into Linger on a weekend currently requires booking about four weeks out. That means the restaurant and I at least have one thing in common: we both have very busy schedules.

We ended up cancelling our first reservations at the last minute due to the irresistible appeal of craft beer at Hops & Pie. We stuck to our December reservations though, and met up with another couple for dinner last weekend to figure out why everyone's so excited about Linger.

Linger occupies the space of the former Olinger Mortuary, and plays on that history throughout the dining experience. In fact, the restaurant's name derives from Olinger with a simple subtraction of the "O". As a genius advertising maneuver, the "O" on the giant sign atop the restaurant that bears the former mortuary's name has been unplugged, leaving the brightly lit letters "linger" looming over downtown Denver.

Besides its influence on the restaurant's name, the "dead people" theme pervades Linger, from the decor to the menu to the beer options.

As the sister restaurant to Root Down a few blocks away, I had high expectations. Root Down is one of my absolute favorite dinner spots in Denver. Both restaurants advertise a commitment to environmental responsibility and good food, but Linger certainly seems to be the trendier, hottest-place-in-town restaurant of the two.

Linger specializes in a dizzying array of international street food, divided into world regions on the menu. They claim to be a "tapas-style" restaurant and they mean it. The menu offers only small plates, with each dish costing roughly $6 to $16.

The restaurant makes a point to cater certain dishes to food allergies, vegetarians, and vegans, although no one in our group had any dietary aversions.

The waitstaff recommends two small plates per person, a suggestion I completely disagree with. We ordered six plates between the four of us, and that was maybe one plate too many. Keep in mind that much of Linger's food is fried or at least very greasy, so it's hard to eat large portions.

Our meal started with complimentary togarashi-flavored popcorn. While I like the idea of popcorn as a light meal starter, I thought Linger's popcorn tasted stale and flavorless.

Our six small plates consisted of one "Asia" dish: Pad Thai with Wagyu Beef; three "Americas" dishes: Scallop Ceviche, Strongbow Cider Mussels, and Maple Leaf Duck Wings; and two "Europe" dishes: Devils on Horseback and Crispy Risotto Arancini. Though we hadn't necessarily intended them to be so, our selections were some of the most pedestrian offerings on the menu.

The dishes were served in two rounds of three plates each.

First up were the Devils on Horseback ($10):

Devils on Horseback

Linger's Devils on Horseback were comprised of goat cheese stuffed Medjool dates wrapped in bacon. These packed quite a sweet-and-savory punch, with an intense sugary taste from the dates.

While I enjoyed the little devils, Root Down offers a different interpretation of the dish - made with sweet-and-spicy peppadew peppers - that I prefer over Linger's.

Next was the Scallop Ceviche ($11), served with avocado and chips:

Scallop Ceviche

The scallops were fresh, light and citrusy, and were balanced with the creamy avocado and salty corn chips. The dish was apparently prepared with habanero peppers, but I tasted no spiciness whatsoever. This was good ceviche, but many other restaurants in town offer something comparable. For $11, I prefer the scallop ceviche at Vesta Dipping Grill or LoLa (just a block away).

Finishing up that round of small plates were the Strongbow Cider Mussels ($13):

Strongbow Cider Mussels

Besides the obvious Strongbow Cider component, the sauce included garlic, thyme, celery, and grain mustard. The shellfish were accompanied by grilled spicy cheddar bread. The mussels were tasty, but like the ceviche above, they were not terribly memorable.

It was time for our second round of tapas, starting with the Pad Thai with Wagyu Beef ($10 + $5 for Wagyu beef).

Pad Thai with Wagyu Beef

The pad thai tasted a little oily for my taste but was authentically prepared. It wasn't very spicy on its own and needed more heat from the chili sauce served on the side. The Wagyu beef was perfectly cooked, but it had simply been thrown on the side of the dish, with no attempt made at meshing flavors.

We also couldn't resist trying the Maple Leaf Duck Wings ($11):

Maple Leaf Duck Wings

I've had a million chicken wings in my life, but never duck wings. I was concerned that they might be too tough and chewy, but the meat was actually impressively tender. The wings were drenched in a sweet and tangy blood orange hot sauce, which made them extremely messy. I realize wings are supposed to be messy, but Linger felt a little too upscale for me to drench my face in wing sauce.

And finally, Linger's menu held one of the high points of my many 2011 dining experiences, the Crispy Risotto Arancini ($11 for three, we added a fourth for an additional $3):

Crispy Risotto Arancini

Arancini are apparently a traditional Sicilian food, comprising of fried rice balls filled with meat sauce. I'm afraid the above "as-served" photo makes them look more like the world's most confused donut holes and does not do justice to the their delicious innards. Let's take a closer look at a severed arancini:

Crispy Risotto Arancini

There it is: a creamy risotto exterior with a crisp, fried shell, filled with a delicious bolognese sauce. The meaty bolognese sauce was particularly rich and well-seasoned. Every bite of the arancini was outstanding, and they were one the few things I ate at Linger that didn't bring to mind a similar-but-better dish somewhere else in town.

Timing of our various small plates was a bit too fast; we were rushed into relocating food to different dishes and juggling too many items on the table. Also, our individual plates quickly became covered in sauces and straggling bits from various dishes. With the extreme array of foods served at Linger, these turned into a flavor hodgepodge that blended unfavorably with whatever subsequent item we tried to throw on the plate.

We finished off the meal with the dessert trio ($10), which included mini versions of the Peanut Butter & Jelly Cup, the Ovaltine & Oreos, and the Mississippi Mud Pie.

Dessert Trio. Left to Right: Peanut Butter & Jelly Cup, Ovaltine & Oreos, and Mississippi Mud Pie

Linger offers a couple more exotic dessert options, but they stuck to close to home with their dessert trio selections (so much for international street food!). The Peanut Butter & Jelly Cup tasted overwhelmingly of peanut butter. Similarly, the Mississippi mud pie was basically a very one-dimensional chocolate cake. The Ovaltine & Oreos dessert was a little more exciting, comprising of a very strongly Ovaltine-flavored Bavarian cream atop an "Oreo" made of chocolate cookies and mascarpone.

I'm disappointed and puzzled that Linger veered sharply away from their international street food theme and instead offers these very tame, all-American desserts. The world flavors that influenced their small plates menu could have easily produced a half dozen interesting and delicious sweet treats, but instead Linger serves boring mud pies.

Other than being underwhelmed by their desserts, Linger basically delivered on an ambitiously diverse menu. All the small plates were tried were well-executed, though only the arancini stands out as a superlative dish. I commend Linger for their commitment to environmentally responsible, quality food, but some of that backbone of substance gets diluted with distractions of the restaurant's trendy feel and the pervasive dead body motif.

Linger felt reasonably priced considering the quality and quantity of food served. As I mentioned earlier, one to one-and-a-half small plates per person is probably the ideal ratio. Visiting Linger with a large group will give you the best opportunity to sample multiple dishes.

As a side note, 5280 Magazine recently published an excellent Linger review in their December 2011 issue. The article discusses Linger's background in depth and reviews many of their small plates. It's well worth reading for more information about the restaurant, and I found myself in complete agreement with the author regarding Linger's food and service.

There are still a dozen or so dishes on the menu that I'm curious to try, and I need to check out the amazing patio views that everyone raves about. Linger is certainly worth another visit, but it may be another couple of months before our busy schedules can align.


Casual Dining

(7 of 10)

Pros: Good food and service, reasonably priced
Cons: Dessert was boring, hard to get reservations


Website:
http://lingerdenver.com/

ChoLon

Well, that didn't take long: after opening only a year ago, ChoLon impressively debuted on 5280 Magazine's Top 25 Restaurants List at number 5 this year. Operated by chef Lon Symensma, the Asian fusion restaurant has received praise from both critics and just about everyone we've known who's eaten there.

Oh, and ChoLon is a participating restaurant on Savored.com, meaning my husband and our friends we dined with enjoyed 30% off our tab.

Our reservations were at 6:30 last Thursday evening, during an eerily quiet downtown evening due to a Broncos game on the other side of I-25. ChoLon lies at 15th and Blake Street, between H Burger and the Rio Grande. Like many downtown restaurants, diners can look out the restaurant through floor-to-ceiling windows, although the surrounding street view isn't particularly interesting. I was surprised that the restaurant was only about two-thirds full that night, but maybe everyone was too caught up in Tebowmania to be eating out that evening.

ChoLon feels modern and trendy, with high ceilings, simple decorations, and dark lighting.

We started with drinks and this very impressive complimentary starter, a rice "cake" with black sesame seeds and salsa.

Rice crisp with black sesame seeds

The rice crisp was beautiful but really had no flavor.

Most of the small bites consisted of upgraded twists on traditional Asian street food and dim sum.  We ordered the following:

Pork Belly Pot Stickers with Ginger Mustard ($8)

Pork Belly Pot Stickers

Curried Duck Spring Rolls with Cilantro Yogurt ($9)

Curried Duck Spring Rolls

Rib Eye Satay with Hong Kong Steak Sauce  ($11)

Rib Eye Satay

Soup Dumplings ($8)

Soup Dumplings

While the meat-heavy dumplings, spring rolls, and satay were all excellent, the standout among the small bites was definitely the soup dumplings.

Inside each dumpling was actually a small helping of French Onion soup. The dumplings had to be handled delicately; I learned that the hard way when I ignored our waitress's request to use our hands and squashed mine with chopsticks. They were incredibly unique and had a delicious pop of savory, salty soup in each bite. 

We split the Pork Tenderloin large plate ($25), which came with butternut squash puree, Chinese bacon sauce, and Chinese broccoli.

Pork Tenderloin

The pork was absolutely perfect; it was incredibly tender and balanced with the flavor of the sweet-and-savory Chinese bacon sauce. The butternut squash puree was sweet, creamy, and rich. Overall an outstanding  dish.

We also ordered, from their "Wok" selections, the Stir Fried Brussel Sprouts ($9).

Stir Fried Brussel Sprouts

Unfortunately our picture turned out blurry and it certainly doesn't do justice to how good the brussel sprouts were. They were chopped into small pieces, cooked to the point of slightly caramelized, and served in a rich sauce with pork and mint.

And finally, for dessert we enjoyed the "S'mores" Tart ($8).

"S'mores" Tart

The tart comprised of a flat, chocolaty cylinder with a runny vanilla-marshmallow goo inside.  It was topped with toasted bananas, and sat alongside cinnamon-spiced chocolate ice cream on a bed of crushed graham cracker. I'm not sure that there was much Asian influence in this dessert, but it was perfect anyway. Mr. Oyster and I agreed this has been our favorite dessert in Denver so far.

I'm sure you can tell by the pictures, but presentation is taken very seriously at ChoLon. All the dishes were served beautifully, particularly the pork tenderloin and dessert.

Service at ChoLon was outstanding, with excellent timing between the various courses.

ChoLon was the best dinner we've had in Denver yet. The food, service, and presentation is on par with any of Denver's fine dining establishments, but with lower prices and a more casual atmosphere. Add on a 30% savored.com discount, and it feels like a tremendous bargain. It was nearly perfect, and easily earned our first 10-star review.

Casual Dining

(10 of 10)


Pros: Food nearly perfect. Outstanding presentation. Very good service.
Cons: A little bit loud and dark inside (I'm being picky)

Website:
http://www.cholon.com/denver/

Nescafe Dolce Gusto Event @ Root Down

There's a huge part of my life that I can't believe I've actually never mentioned on the Rocky Mountain Oyster.

I am a major, major coffee addict.

From the time I wake up until the time my body has absorbed a significant quantity of caffeine, everything around me is an irritating, blurry, unbearably complicated and exhausting trainwreck. Coffee is the backbone of my existence, and I'm very happy with that.

So I couldn't pass up a recent invitation to combine coffee with incredible food from Root Down, which is one of my favorite restaurants in Denver. See my review of Root Down (9 of 10 stars) from April.

The event was a "Foodie Feed Up" organized to promote Nescafe's Dolce Gusto line of single-serve coffee makers.

Prior to this event, the only other blogger I'd met was Ms. Sizzling Cupcake, so it was great to meet a bunch of fellow bloggers and not feel like a self-conscious dorkface when I took pictures of all the food.

We started out with wine and five of Root Down's standard appetizers.

Seared Colombian Arepas:

Seared Colombian Arepas

These arepas, made from corn flour, were filled with mozzarella and topped with poblano-pistachio pesto, something they call achiote crema, and pico de gallo. In other words, its a corn-based grilled cheese. They were good but nothing special.

Sweet Potato "Falafel":

Sweet Potato "Falafel"

I guess they put "falafel" in quotes because it's a falafel in looks alone. The sweet potato base is mixed with a variety of spices and vegetables, fried to perfection, and topped with lemon-tahini Yogurt, Israeli salad, sesame seeds and chile oil. I've had these at Root Down before and they're very tasty.

Lamb Sliders:

Lamb Sliders

The mini burgers were topped with aged cheddar, harissa aioli, and arugula. They were outstanding, with a much simpler and more delectable flavor profile than the Buffalo Sliders that I've had before at Root Down. The lamb was incredibly rich and well seasoned. The giant helping of organic sweet potato fries and mint-garlic yogurt dipping sauce disappeared fast. 

Organic Butternut-Ricotta Gnocchi:

Organic Butternut-Ricotta Gnocchi

Besides the gnocchi, this plate contained mushrooms, spinach, black currants, shallots, chile flake, brown butter, sage pesto and pecorino. While the gnocchi itself had a lovely creamy-sweet flavor and perfect texture, I really didn't care for the appetizer as a whole. Everything was a bit greasy and there were too many flavors and textures on the plate.

Devils on Horseback:

Devils on Horseback

The name "Devils on Horseback" isn't very descriptive; the small bites are comprised of date and goat cheese stuffed peppadews, wrapped in serrano ham, and served with smoked paprika-sherry gastrique. Peppadews, by the way, are a variety of small, sweet-and-spicy peppers native to South Africa.

I wrote about my love of the Devils on Horseback on my previous Root Down review, and they were just as insanely good at my second taste. Hands down my favorite appetizer at Root Down, and certainly one of the best in Denver overall.

While we were enjoying the appetizers, Root Down's Kitchen Manager, Daniel Asher, spoke to our group about Root Down's philosophy and practices in sourcing the restaurant's ingredients.  He encouraged us to understand where our food comes from, and to make informed choices about sustainable and local produce and meats.

It was then time for dessert:

Almond Fluffernutter. Flourless Chocolate Cake, Cashew Caramel Creme Almond Corn Flake,
Bruleed Fluff, and Candied Citrus

Banana "Creme Brulee" Pie. Peanut butter-chocolate crispy crust
and sweet whipped sour cream

Croissant Bread Pudding. Whiskey Butter Sauce
& Sour Cream Ice Cream

Apple & Butternut Squash Cheesecake. Ginger Anglaise,
Black Tea Reduction, and  Walnut Ice Cream

I only tried a very small bite of each; the decadent banana "creme brulee" pie was my favorite.

We then had a coffee demonstration for the Dolce Gusto:

Dolce Gusto Coffee Presentation

Nescafe's Dolce Gusto machines are a line of single-serve coffee makers that appear to have more versatility and a much wider range of beverage options than many other single-serve coffee makers. I had no idea, but most coffee-house espresso machines operate at around 150 to 215 psi; the Dolce Gusto operates at 215 psi (for reference, that's about seven times the pressure in a car tire). The machine makes both hot and cold beverages, including espressos, cappuccinos, chai lattes and iced teas.

I tried the Cappuccino Skinny, which had a smooth and mild flavor, a nice froth, and came in at only 50 calories per serving. My husband tried the Mocha, which he enjoyed, and the Nestea Peach Iced Tea, which was very sweet (though Nestea is normally very sweet in all forms its sold in). Also keep in mind that the Nestea Peach Iced Tea is sweetened with sugar and aspartame, and contains artificial flavors and vegetable oils. All the coffee-based flavors had a much simpler ingredient base.

Nescafe also sent each of us a Piccolo, which is one of five of the Dolce Gusto machine varieties.

For more information:

Nescafe Dolce Gusto: http://www.dolce-gusto.us

Root Down: http://www.rootdowndenver.com/


Disclaimer: The event described above, including the complimentary coffee maker, was fully paid for by Nescafe to promote their Dolce Gusto coffee makers. All opinions are my own. 

Vesta Dipping Grill

Vesta has been a LoDo staple for an extraordinary 14 years, debuting when LoDo was just beginning to carve itself out of an industrial section of downtown Denver, and withstanding constant growth and turnover in the busy area since then. Vesta has long been considered one of Denver's best restaurants, and 5280 Magazine recently put it at the tail end of their 2011 Top 25 Restaurants list.

We made our way through the bar-hopping Lodo crowd to Vesta's location at 18th and Blake last Saturday night. The interior feels very urban and hip, with brick walls, high ceilings, and dark lighting.

My husband and I met up with a couple of friends (ok yes the same bunch we keep eating out with). We started off with drinks and complimentary bread served with roasted garlic; the garlic was an unexpected and unique touch.

If you're wondering about the restaurant's name, Vesta refers to itself as a "dipping grill" because all entrees come with three of Vesta's signature sauces.

But before jumping into entrees, the four of us started with several appetizers and small bites.

First up was the Vesta Roll ($12):

Vesta Roll

The menu claims the tuna is "sesame seared", but it tasted completely raw to me (which was fine). I enjoyed the large chunks of tuna in each bite and the crunchy exterior.

Their appetizer special of the day, Scallop Ceviche ($10):

Scallop Ceviche

The scallops were served with heirloom cherry tomatoes and saltines for serving. I wasn't totally impressed with the saltines, but apparently it is a traditional ceviche accompaniment. Otherwise, the scallops had a wonderful firm texture and citrus bite.

Next up were the Superior Farms Lamb Ribs ($10):

Superior Farms Lamb Ribs

The ribs were coated in a tangy yogurt sauce and a pistachio-mint rub that I absolutely loved.

We also had the Chinese BBQ Pork Belly (each $2):

Chinese BBQ Pork Belly

The belly pieces were topped with orange slices, yuzu mayonnaise, and sisho. The small portion made for a very tasty small bite, which was balanced out by the tangy citrus flavors.

As an entree, I ordered the Sofrito Braised Short Rib ($26):

Sofrito Braised Short Rib

The Southern-inspired dish included garlic rainbow chard, manchego polenta (in layman's terms, cheesy grits), and a bath of smoked paprika jus. The ribs were perfectly cooked to fork-tender.

The suggested sauces, which I had with the dish (not pictured), were green chili gastrique, bacon aioli, and Steuben's chimichurri. The aioli had all the creamy, smoky goodness you would expected from something called "bacon aioli"; the chimichurri was traditional and my favorite accompaniment to the meat. The gastrique had an unusual sweet-and-spicy flavor profile, but I felt it was just too sweet.

My husband ordered the Boneless Berkshire Pork Chop ($24):

Boneless Berkshire Pork Chop

This Southwest-style plate contained adobada pork chop served with pulled pork chilaquiles and jalapeno cabbage slaw. Every bite was just as good as it looks.

The chilaquiles had a very different flavor and texture profile than my chilaquiles at Salt a few weeks back, but it tasted even better. It included a base of soft corn tortillas instead of crispy corn chips. Like my short ribs, the pulled pork was incredibly tender.

The pork chop was very well cooked, and seasoned to allow the natural pork flavor to come through. The colorful accompanying sauces were the suggested salsa verde, mango poblano salsa, and roasted corn.

To finish off all that protein, we ordered the French Toast ($7) and the Dark Chocolate Boca Negra ($8) for desserts.

French Toast

The French Toast came with cinnamon ice cream, whipped cream, and fresh raspberries. The accompanying sauces were strawberry cointreau, hot fudge, and creme anglaise.  It was a disappointing dessert. The French Toast was soggy and bland, made with a plain white bread. The ice cream had an icy texture.

Dark Chocolate Boca Negra

The intimidating-sounding Dark Chocolate Boca Negra - a rich, dense dark chocolate cake - was outstanding. Every bite was decadent hyperglycemic bliss. The cake came with the same dipping sauces as the French Toast, which were all very good but not necessary with the cake.

The only problem with the sauces for all our entrees and desserts? The dishes were already so well seasoned that they didn't need a lot of extra punch; I felt a little overwhelmed with the flavors of so many sauces.

With all the dishes we tried, every bite of meat or seafood at Vesta was high quality, perfectly cooked and expertly seasoned. Keep in mind, however, that between all the food we ordered and the various drinks we washed it down with, our meal at Vesta ended up being fairly expensive.

Vesta seems to suffer from a perception of becoming outmoded among a burgeoning Denver restaurant scene, but their fantastic food should withstand the test of time.


Casual Dining

 (8 of 10)

Pros: Overall great food
Cons: Didn't care for one of the desserts, expensive


Website:
http://www.vestagrill.com

Row 14

Row 14 has only been open for a few short months, and has already become a sufficiently big deal that my husband and I dragged ourselves up there on a Tuesday night for a fancy dinner with some wonderful friends.

The restaurant is located in downtown Denver at 14th and Champa just next to the convention center. We valeted our vehicle for $8 and headed inside.

Row 14 describes itself as "sophisticated yet approachable" on their website, which I suppose accurately sums up the swanky interior filled with nicely dressed happy hour business types.

The four of us were seated at a large table next to floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out onto their patio seating and 14th Street.

After getting situated and ordering a round of drinks, we proceeded to order literally almost half the menu. We were fortunate that our friends included Ms. Sizzling Cupcake; we finally had a dining companion who understood our annoying habit of photographing everything we ate.

We shared five different starters, many of which seemed designed for our four-person party.

First off were the Row 14 Sliders ($10), which came with bacon, garlic aioli, and togarashi parmesan fries.

Row 14 Sliders

Fantastic. I loved the rich bacon slice on my slider, and the fries were wonderfully spiced.

Next were the Ahi & Salmon Rangoons ($6):

Ahi & Salmon Rangoons. After we ate the first 3. The original presentation was
much more beautiful and I'm sorry we destroyed it before snapping a picture.

Well, we really screwed up the food blogging thing right out of the gate by inhaling three of the four rangoons before remembering we needed a picture. But they were perfect. Each one was generously stuffed with a mixture of tuna, salmon, and cream cheese.

Row 14 seems to have an unusual fascination with duck confit, so I decided to try the Duck Confit Pancakes ($8):

Duck Confit Pancakes

Let's get one thing straight: these are not pancakes. They are crackers topped with duck confit and cabbage. Despite the misnomer, I loved every bite. The confit was balanced by the crisp cracker base and fresh cabbage slaw.

Next was Ahi Tartare ($10):

Ahi Tartare

The tuna was fresh, high quality and perfectly seasoned. However, I wish it had been accompanied with a more interesting scooping food; the wonton chips were boring and greasy and bland.

And the Sweet Corn Soup ($7):

Sweet Corn Soup

This was our least favorite of the many starters. The soup had a wonderful sweet corn flavor, but it was way too watery and thin. One redeeming factor was that the soup came with crispy duck cracklings that we all loved.

As if that wasn't enough food, we ordered the following entrees:

Wild Florida Ono ($24):

Wild Florida Ono

This came with, quoting from the menu: black beans, olathe corn, avocado, pickled papaya, espelette chile oil.  All of the Row 14 entrees were outstanding, and this was no exception. The Ono was perfectly cooked and complimented by the accompanying flavors.

I didn't try the following entrees, but some very reliable sources told me they were fantastic:

Alamosa Striped Bass

Wagyu Flank Steak Frites

And for dessert:

Tiramisu:

Tiramisu

Strawberry Cream Cheese Gyoza:

Strawberry Cream Cheese Gyoza

I consider myself pretty easy to please when it comes to desserts, but I didn't care for either of these. The Strawberry Cream Cheese Gyoza was definitely the better of the two, containing wonton-type wrappers filled with a rich strawberry cream cheese filling. Everyone at the table enjoyed the dessert, except me, because my wonton was apparently filled with far less filling than everyone else's, and I mostly just tasted the wonton wrapper.

And the tiramisu was just disappointing. It had a bottom layer of cake-like stuff which maybe was supposed to be equivalent to ladyfingers, topped by a thick "cream" layer. The cream was almost like ice cream but with a very icy texture, and had a very strong coffee flavor. The dessert wasn't what I was expecting, and it certainly wasn't a traditional tiramisu.

We loved the atmosphere at Row 14 and the service was very good. The entrees were outstanding, the small plates were decent, and the desserts...have some room for improvement (at least the two we tried). Worth a second visit.


Casual Dining

(7 of 10)



Pros: Great decor, seating and atmosphere. Outstanding entree plates.
Cons: Didn't care for either of the desserts we had. Typical downtown parking headaches.

Website:
http://www.row14denver.com/