Black Orchid Grille: YUM

Last night Husband and I celebrated my 30th birthday at the Black Orchid Grille. The Black Orchid has been open for about 3 years now and I’ve wanted to try it for awhile. We eat at a place around the corner pretty frequently, and the smells of sauteed garlic and roasting meats emanating from the Black Orchid are such that I hope to find in heaven someday.

But let’s be honest, The Black Orchid is a wee bit pricey ($7-$11 for appetizers, $16-$31 for entrees, $7-$8 for salads) for our general dining out budget. I guess we could go and skip the appetizers, not order wine, order a modest entree… but this post is about my dinner last night, not the struggles between palate and pocketbook.

There were a few minor annoyances detracting from The Black Orchid. First, parking is a bit difficult. You may only park on the streets at meters. Good luck finding one if you’re dining downtown during the dinner rush. But that’s a minor annoyance that you would run into dining at any of the downtown eateries — park in the Nashua Public Library’s lot (after hours you don’t have to pay) and walk a few blocks to the restaurant. It will burn off one or two pieces of the delicious Black Orchid bread you’ll be stuffing yourself with. Also, while I like drowsy, intimate feel of the Art Nouveau interior with its dark red walls and the ubiquitous prints, little tchotchkes like fake topiaries and painted harlequin masks detract from the simple lines that I usually associate with Nouveau. Too much stuff on the walls and you feel like you’re dining in a TGI Fridays, know what I mean?

Enough with the annoyances, let’s talk about the good stuff. First, the bread. Is fantastic. Fancy pants food people are probably rolling their eyes, but bread is the one common denominator in every diner’s meal. Neglecting one’s bread would be like having dirty silverware. And their stuff is AWESOME. It tasted like a foccacia/sponge bread, but with a sturdier, flakey crust (almost like a pie crust?) than you would usually find. I ate more than was good for me. Yum!

The Black Orchid offers your usual $12 fruity martinis, which I never order because I am not a character on Sex and the City and $12 for half a cup of alcoholic sugar-water is ridiculous, but if you must have them with your dinner you will find them there. The wine list offered wines by the glass (about $8 a glass) and bottles ranging from $28 – $60. They have a nice selection of wines many of which were not familiar to my inexpert, but adventurous, eyes. There was a Spanish bottle of wine whose name escapes me that I was interested in, but in the interest of economy I ended up with a glass of Six Sense Syrah which went very nicely with my lamb. Husband got a glass of Big Fire Pinot Gris. We enjoyed both very much and I would definitely pick up a bottle or two of the Syrah if I run into it when I’m out and about.

Black Orchid just debuted their Fall menu and I was all set to order their Macintosh Crepes with gorgonzola and pecans. Then our server came to the table and ticked off the specials. Among them where escargots with a cream sauce and brioche. True to form, I had to order the escargots, which were delicious though the portion was a bit small for two people to share. It was excellent and very well-prepared.

Husband ordered the Black Orchid Salad (greens, candied pecans, gorgonzola, raspberry vinaigrette, and dried cherries). He liked it very much and noted the cheese was tasty and a mild gorgonzola, not a sharp, bitter one. I had the goat cheese salad which included 3 soft little balls of goat cheese rolled in herbes de provences, salad greens, white balsamic vinaigrette, shallot confit, and duck cracklings (which turn out to be deep fried duck skin — heck yeah!) Tried alone, a duck crackling is a bit greasy and bland; taken with the white balsamic, goat cheese, shallot-y goodness, the duck is perfect.

Husband had the seared Tuna on dandelion greens and carmelized onions (the special of the day). He was not a huge fan of the bitterness of the dandelion greens, but that Tuna was some piece of fish. It was seared perfectly, rare in the middle and is what I would order if they have it on the menu again. It was also a pretty large portion.

I ordered the Wild Mushroom Lamb Loin served atop a pinot demi glaze with a wild mushroom risotto. Risotto can be a tricky dish in some restaurants. Occasionally, I’ll order it with great hopes and receive a gloppy porridge of cheese and rice. Black Orchid’s was a nice, al dente risotto dish with a hearty sauce (sans cheese). To be honest, the texture of the rice was a bit to al dente for my taste, but the flavor of the dish was very good. The lamb was rubbed with mushroom duxelles, which I had to Google when I got home. According to wikipedia, it’s finely-minced mushrooms seasoned with herbs and shallots. The lamb was also good (Husband points out that he wouldn’t know, I didn’t offer him a bite, despite sampling his fish. Such manners!) and everything a meat dish should be — tender, juicy and savory. If you’re not a fish person, or can’t imagine eating fish not completely cooked, the lamb would be a good choice. This portion was also a very good size.

We finished off our meal with cappuccinos. I thought they were good; Husband is the coffee-roasting latte artist in the family so his opinion is more meaningful. He considered the coffee pretty average but found fault with the airiness of the cappuccinos’ foam. He wouldn’t order them again. We also shared a Napoleon for dessert which arrived artfully presented — and with a layer of butter cream frosting on top!! Don’t get me wrong, if I had my druthers I would skip cake and just order a pastry bag full of butter cream frosting to be deposited into my gaping maw, but it made the Napoleon a bit sweet. Husband pronounced himself too full to finish it, so I worried down the lion’s share of the dessert in spite of the sweetness. Such a brave little toaster am I!

So there is our dining experience in excruciating detail. The service was good, the general manager stopped by our table for a friendly chat. He seemed to know a lot of the regulars and that gave the upscale restaurant a pleasant, “sometimes you wanna go/ where everybody knows your naaaaame” feel. They have a customer loyalty program and offer tastings and special events which contributes to the sense of community. There were no kids in the restaurant and no child’s menus or high chairs that I noticed. Most of the diners seemed like they belonged to the tax bracket where people play a lot of golf. For some people this may be a boon, to others, a detraction.

I recommend it. Here’s The Black Orchid Grille’s website.