Last night, Alex and I went to The Belvedere Inn. We haven’t been there in a while and it is one of the few places to go on a Monday night in Lancaster.
I’ve been to the Belvedere quite a few times, both for lunch and for dinner. My only quibble with dinner is just how dark the restaurant's interior is. Thank goodness for the tiny lamps on each table that you can hold over the menu to see what is on there!
Our server was pleasant but distracted. I told Alex I was fairly certain the server was trying to puzzle out our relationship. A young, attractive man with a not-so-young and not-so-attractive woman can be confusing!
We started with the mushroom arancini and the mussels. I didn’t really taste the lemon-Cajun aioli, but the pistachio pesto was very good. The arancini themselves were crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, cooked just right. We’d ordered the half serving of mussels and I’m glad we did. A full serving would have been way too much for the two of us. A very generous portion of mussels was served in a lovely white wine sauce, with bread for dipping.
I hemmed and hawed and couldn’t decide between the Grilled Berkshire Pork Chop or the Sea Scallops. After asking the server for a recommendation, we both ordered the scallops. I’m getting more comfortable with sending food back and not just wasting a dish. The scallops on my plate were mushy. Not the pleasant texture of scallops crudo, but just unpleasantly mushy. I let the server know and he told me the scallops were cooked to medium. These weren’t medium. He did take them back and the kitchen gave them a little more time on the heat and re-did the accompaniments. When they came back, they were perfect and they were delicious. The scallops were served with charred corn and chorizo succotash, stone ground grits, chorizo romesco, and shrimp escabeche.
To finish the night, I ordered the Vanilla Bean Crème Brulèe. It had a nicely done crust on top and, when tapped with a spoon, gave a satisfying crack. It was good. Still not as good as the one we had at One if By Land, Two if By Sea years ago, but it was good. Alex had the Flourless Chocolate Cake. He said it was also very good, but the popcorn on top was unnecessary.
With dessert, we each ordered a chocolate martini. I’m not big on vodka martinis, but this one was good. It was like drinking an adult version of Nestlé’s Nesquick!
We’ll definitely return. The Belvedere Inn serves consistently good food and drinks and is a solid option if you’re looking for an evening out.
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