Knife + Fork, revisited

Well, yet another Friday night spent proving, without a doubt, why “professional” (paid) restaurant critics go to a place multiple times before making a final judgment. 

My first time at Knife + Fork was documented here.  StB, HB and I had enjoyed our experience thoroughly, declaring it worthy of the price and yummy, with each of us having a favorite dish of the night.  We’d also noted that the tables around us each got a different tasting menu, so we wanted to go back and try more things. 

So this past Friday, StB, BB, ShB and I decided to go back for another round of tasting menu, celebrating our own version of Valentine’s Day. 

I was disappointed when our first course was a repeat of/similar to the second course (baby octopus in a coriander and ginger broth) we’d been served last time (but I’d forgotten to take pictures of).  The portion was noticeably smaller this time, and StB and I exchanged glances, myself pretty worried, but shrugged it off and forged ahead.  This was a bit easier for me to take this time, though BB and ShB both didn’t like the broth, finding it too spicy for their tastes. 

Our second course proved to be another imitation of what we’d been served as a first course previously: cured salmon over seaweed salad, wasabi creme fraiche and half a baby pear.  Note that last time we’d gotten the whole pear- just to give you an idea.  The portions were definitely getting smaller, and StB and I both lamented that the salmon was not quite as buttery soft as it had been previously.  Boo.

Our first “new” course was a disappointing cheesy risotto blah blah (our waiter had a really, really thick accent that none of us could decipher; I am generally pretty good with accents, too!).  The top had what I guessed to be fennel; while it was initially alright to the taste, the cheese grew stronger and stronger until my cheese-hating friends simply could not go on.  I finished mine if only because I knew I’d still be hungry were I to leave anything on my plate: the portions continued to remain dreadfully tiny.

(I was having trouble with keeping my hands steady; I’d only had a little wine, sheesh! but the flash shot came out so much better than any of the non-flash shots.  Sorry!)

Skate in a red cherry pepper cream proved alright, but nothing wonderful; nothing innovative like our previous interaction with the skate course.  It fell dreadfully short and StB and I sighed.  I was thinking about the pork belly and escargots course that apparently was not to be ours (I’d miscounted in my head at this point and thought we were on to dessert next).  I believe she was thinking the same.

Hurrah!  What’s this?  Another course and here it is; the beloved pork belly with escargots in a garlic cream sauce!  Unfortunately, oh so unfortunately that both StB and I yet again exchanged dismayed looks, the escargots were completely bland.  To me, they tasted as though they’d been boiled in plain water, not even a dash of salt, and then dropped into this green sauce that tasted of nothing.  Well, cream, but garlic it did not contain.  It was horribly bland and such a waste.  Even worse, the pork belly lied to us.  It said, “Taste me, I will improve the night and make you not regret coming.  I will.  I am Berkshire, hear me melt in your mouth in delicious fat.” 

The cracklin part was chewy, sticky and dense; we all complained of it getting stuck in our teeth.  The fat oozed melty into our mouths and grossly sat, making me feel disgusting and heavy.  Meat?  I couldn’t speak of it- it didn’t seem there was any.  I was sorely, sorely disappointed.

At this point, I was ready to leave, but we’d yet one more course to consume: dessert.  The pot de creme last time hadn’t been a highlight, nor a lowlight, so I shrugged.  Perhaps we’d be served the coffee pannacotta- we know how I adore pannacotta- so I eagerly awaited the arrival of this dish.

“Buttermilk pannacotta” the waiter announced.  Pannacotta, nonetheless, and so I dove in… and landed on a solid cube of butter.  Okay, that’s exaggerating just a wee bit, but I was on a roll there, you know.  The pannacotta was much denser than I am used to and prefer; it was not unlike a firm butter.  It definitely tasted like butter, which, if you like butter, isn’t a bad thing, but as I took each spoonful into my mouth, I began to envision a little girl of about three eating sticks of butter and delighting in its flavor.  I stopped halfway through and wouldn’t, just couldn’t, eat another bite.  (That little girl isn’t me.  If you were at dinner that night, you’d know who the little girl was.)  Another flop.

Yvo says:  I am so disappointed that this isn’t the same restaurant I went to only two months prior.  I rarely go to a restaurant like this twice, and order the same thing (tasting menu or not) twice, especially in such a short span of time, for many reasons (so many other places to try!).  But I am most disappointed that we all did not like the place as much; I feel as though, since I’d been so enthused with it last time, it’s almost a personal failing on my part that it wasn’t quite as delicious as the first time.  Ugh.  I can’t quite bring myself to remove the “highly recommended” rating, however, and so, will leave it at:
middle of the road; inconsistent service and most importantly, inconsistent quality of FOOD
Go at your own risk.