A Farewell to Fine Dining.....For Now.

On Saturday night, Mark and I went to Oceanaire to celebrate our engagement...and to say good-bye to fine dining for quite some time. With the engagement comes the need to save money like nobody's business in order to have the wedding we've always pictured. So, we decided to cut fine dining out of the mix for a while, and decided to go out with a bang by celebrating at Oceanaire.

We arrived quite early for our 8:00pm reservations and so decided to go over to Manny's first for a drink. Mark opted for a Sam Adams, while I ordered a glass of cabernet. I don't remember the name of the cab right now, but it was delicious! We sat and chatted with the bartender a bit before heading over to the restaurant to satisfy our seafood cravings.

We were seated in the back of the restaurant in a large booth. Mark and I sat on the same side of booth and cozied up all romantic like. We were celebrating our engagement; it's allowed. The waiter soon came over with fresh bread and a relish tray for us to start with. He also presented us with a bottle of Block 13 Pinot Noir, a gift sent over from Mark's dad in celebratory fashion. It was a fantastic bottle of wine, and a most appreciated gift!

After no deliberation at all, we each placed an order for a crab cake appetizer. The crab cakes at this restaurant are out of this world. Seriously. You have never had a better crab cake than the one at this restaurant. Perfectly delicious lump crab meat with just a touch of sauce. Many crab cakes are about half crab, half filling. Not with this crab cake - at least 80% of the cake is pure crab meat. I have dreams about these crab cakes. We ate them very, very slowly, savoring every bite.

After the delight of our crab cakes, Mark selected the Ahi Tuna with red wine reduction and exotic mushrooms and I selected a magnificant salmon stuffed with baby bay shrimp, blue crab and brie cheese. We also got a side of hash browns to share. Mark's entree looked delicious, but because I am not really a fan of ahi tuna, I decided not to taste the dish. My entree was one of - if not the - most succulent things I have ever tasted in my life. I can't even explain how the medley of flavors complimented one another so amazingly. Words can't express how each beautiful bite was an explosion of rich, deep from the sea flavors. I urge you to run - not walk - to Oceanaire adn taste this dish as soon as is humanly possible. I truly can't describe the wonderful flavors that came out of that dish.

After a very filling dinner, my Dessert Spot was still empty and itching for a little something sweet. We ordered a piece of New York style cheesecake (and a glass of champagne for me) to top off the night. The cheesecake was served plain with just some fresh strawberries adorning the plate. It was very light and refreshing after such a rich entree. We sat back and enjoyed the last few bites of our fine dining experience.

We truly had a wonderful celebration of our engagement and a grand good-bye to our affair with fine dining for quite some time. It was a great way to go out.

Note: I tried about four times to put up some really great pictures of this night out, but they didn't work!