The first time I went to Boil & Barrel, we ate neither the boil nor the barrel. I am not a drinker so that part of their offerings is lost on me. But I do eat boiled seafood, though I stick to the local varieties. The main reason we ate from the other part of the menu not represented in the name (most of the menu) is that there were plenty of things cooked that we wanted to try. (That report on that first visit was posted in a recent newsletter.) I had to come back for the boiled items. This time I got boiled shrimp, choosing the regular white local shrimp over Ruby Reds. I love Ruby Reds, and I often wonder why I never order them. Maybe I just prefer the ones I grew up eating.
I also ordered fish and chips, which is not on the menu on their website, but appears on the lunch menu. They weren't doing lunch when we went on that first visit. It occurred to me not long ago that I really only love the idea of fish and chips rather than fish and chips. Tempura batter is not at all appealing to me, yet I get fish and chips knowing it will be Tempura batter every time I see it on a menu. (And maybe Tempura batter is a later bastardization of the real thing, which is essentially fried fish and fries. A few years ago I got fish and chips from Harry Ramsden in Brighton England, a British institution since the early 20th century. Their fish was battered like ours.)
Inside the Tempura batter is usually Cod or Haddock, two fish with large white flakes. I feel guilty eating these fish because the population was decimated and is edging its way out of that now. The waiter inadvertently soothed my conscience by announcing that the fish would be local Drum. This fish and chips at Boil & Barrel was a Tempura-battered Drum, two large pieces set on top of a large mound of ordinary frozen shoestring fries.
Tempura batter, in addition to its other “charms,” tends to hold grease. This wasn’t too bad. I really enjoyed the generous portion of fish. It was too hot to eat at first, an anomaly now that I love. The platter came with some tartar sauce and coleslaw, and the traditional peas and malt vinegar. These peas were not mashed, and were tossed in a garlic butter. Sort of a bridging of two cultures on a plate. I ate the peas and left the coleslaw, ate every trace of the tartar sauce and left the malt vinegar. And I relished this plate of food.
The boil that came as a first course was presented so nicely I really took notice. It came in a small stainless steel barrel (so I guess I have had some “barrel” here) and was flanked by two sauces: drawn butter, and a spicy cocktail sauce. It was a nice portion of large shrimp, with some red potatoes and a piece of corn.
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These were also too hot to eat at first. I don’t understand drawn butter served with seafood here in this land of Remoulade sauce. But if it’s going to be hot I guess drawn butter works? It just seems too New England to me. The butter came in handy with the potatoes. I wasn’t crazy about the flavor of these shrimp, because there was a hint of cloves in them. As a fierce traditionalist, I like my choices of boiled seafood flavors to be spicy or spicier. Cloves seemed odd.
I like this place and I think it’s a great new addition to Lakeview. There are several more trips in store to even feel that I have sampled the menu properly. I look forward to that.
