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Well, back to the review...
The location: The Rox City Grill [http://www.roxcitygrill.com/] in St. Charles, IL.
The time: 10:20 PM (reservations were for 10 PM, but coming in 20 minutes late didn't dissuade them from giving us good food and excellent service.The staff: Our waiter (we had one all to our selves... gee, I wish we knew his name) was more than excellent and was a real 'find'. The wine steward (a.k.a. "The Wine Guy - Marcello) was great too and we will not speak of the Dirty Martini misstep... but it was REALLY BAD!
The ambiance: The restaurant is located within the historic Hotel Baker and it reeks old, classic, posh and upscale. (Note to self, we should make plans to spend a long weekend there... just because! (Rumor has it that the hotel is 'haunted'... well, that is just what Marcello said, that the Irish Bus boy said he saw those couple of times... Man, this gets so confusing.
The meal: For the both of us, we opted for the Lobster Martini. This was the evening star by unanimous choice. Light tempura batter covered chunks of lobster (Big Chunks!) served on a bed of wasabi mashed potatoes with edamame and a killer drizzle of soy cream and a orange-tangerine glaze. The tasty morsel make the whole evening worth it and is worth a return trip all by it self!
The next course was soup. Sheb passed on the offerings but I opted for the Lobster Bisque. Once again I was not disappointed. The dish was creamy, flavorful, with just a hint of delicious butter, chunks of the soups namesake and a glorious dollop of chive creme fraiche. Yum!
For the main course I went the for the Rox City Skewers, shrimp chicken and filet mignon along with veggies, served on a bed of coconut rice and drizzled with a sweet Asian BBQ sauce. This one was a bit of a disappointment. The shrimp was overdone and as a result... a bit rubbery. The beef was fair, bordering on poor (it was almost gamey) but the chicken was tender and flavorful and the rice was KILLER!
Sheb had the Heirloom Pork, panko encrusted pork medallions served on a bed of Ginger-Yams and a balsamic reduction. The dish was garnished with a deep-fried root of unknown type. Sheb scored the overall dish as good (the pork could have been a bit more tender and the balsamic reduction was almost too overpowering) but the ginger-yams was a real 'keeper' and moves the overall dish from fair to good.
I completed the meal with a dessert of Pot de' Creme, a dense chocolate custard with mandarin orange sections and a orange water syrup. It seems to have been missing the promised vanilla bean... well, it was overkill anyway and I sure didn't need the extra calories. It was fair but I would order something else the next time.
The final evaluation: We both agree that we would go back. I would revisit the appetizers and the soup courses but I would go a different direction on the main course and dessert. Sheb would repeat the Lobster Martini (unless they have scallops) but for the main course she would try another of the menu's choices. Rox City Grill is a definite 'Do over'!
- Chez
