Post by Deleted on May 9, 2019 10:45:40 GMT -5
Ocean Blue—city club style and substance in Utica (Dining Out review)
Updated 8:00 AM; Today 7:00 AM
By Jane Marmaduke Woodman| jane.woodman@gmail.com
At the top of the Landmarc building in Utica, a restaurant combines pristine subway tile and a pretty copper-topped bar with luxurious booth seating and views of the city to create the atmosphere of a city club.
At Ocean Blue, that atmosphere is matched by the quality and attention to detail in the food we enjoyed at a recent Saturday brunch.
Seating is available on the rooftop patio and we wish the weather had allowed us to experience the vista and comfortable furniture there. Instead, we were seated at a high-backed booth in the black, white and brown dining room and immediately served complimentary sparkling water and a plate of little sweet muffins.
A list of original cocktails and several wines by the glass are available for $9 to $16. We started with a Rude Awakening ($14) made with strong coffee, vanilla vodka and caramel and white chocolate liqueurs, resulting in a refreshingly strong drink that was not overly sweet.
Our Hemingway cocktail ($12) was even stronger, a mixture of Goslings Black Seal rum sharpened by grapefruit and lime juices and sweetened with cherry liqueur and simple syrup. A wine, rum and citrus sangria ($12) later accompanied our main course.
Ocean Blue’s brunch menu offers more seafood than many others we’ve seen, though a bit less than their dinner menu, as it includes brunch standards like omelettes and hash. We made choices to represent the variety as best we could, beginning with short rib nachos ($19) and lobster bisque ($12).
Our nachos were unusually well presented, with tender beef, sweet corn, a cloud of tiny cotija cheese crumbles, cheddar, Mexican crema and salsa, all carefully layered so that each chip carried all the toppings. Pickled jalapeños blended sharpness with heat that matched the salsa. Enough for four as a starter, these nachos were some of the best we’ve had anywhere.
The lobster bisque was beautiful, with tiny seasoned croutons and a generous pile of lobster chunks in the bowl over which our server poured the little pitcher of very hot soup. Over-the-top richness, unmarred by any extra salt, blended with strong lobster flavor and a hint of sherry for a lusciously creamy bisque.
We understood why Ocean Blue names this their “Signature Lobster Bisque” on the menu.
Our mains came after a decent interval and provided the single disappointment of the day. Eggs Benedict is offered with either salmon or ham ($17 either way), and the salmon was beautifully cooked, meltingly tender with a slight crust. The rosemary focaccia that stood in for an English muffin was fresh and delicious. Hollandaise was a sparse drizzle but very good.
The “home fries,” however, were deep-fried chunks of potato, not grilled with the onions and peppers we’d hoped for. And one of the poached eggs was slightly overdone, while the other was hard-cooked all the way through. This dish would have gone back to the kitchen, but we didn’t want our other main to get cold.
The pair of jumbo scallops ($15) we had added on for the Benedict were tender and perfectly cooked, with a lovely dark seared crust on one side.
Our other main—a veggie omelette ($12) with a side of bacon ($7)—was as surprisingly good as the potatoes and eggs had been disappointing.
Vegetable omelettes are commonly watery and rather flat, but this one was high and fluffy, with well-drained spinach, onions, tomato, peppers and a generous layer of creamy Boursin cheese. We had substituted sweet potato fries for the home fries on this plate for $2, and we were glad we did, as the fries were excellent: tender inside and crispy outside.
The six strips in our side order of bacon were plenty to share and the bacon itself was crispy and sweet with maple flavor.
Desserts, as everything else, are made in-house. We were ready to try the key lime pie ($12), crème brûlée ($10), or cheesecake $11), but as one of us had revealed on booking that this was our anniversary, we were given (at no charge) a large slice of very fresh chocolate cake, garnished with fresh whipped cream and a candy “Happy Anniversary” disk. The gesture made a lovely end to our brunch.
While we were there, the room was about half filled, but even with an open kitchen, soft surfaces sufficed to dampen noise to a comfortable level for conversation, especially in the high-backed booths. The atmosphere, excellent service, creative cocktails and good food make Ocean Blue worth the drive for any special occasion.
(A special Mother’s Day brunch buffet will be available on Sunday, May 12 for $55 adults/$19 children.)
Editor’s note: For the month of May, our reviewers will be reviewing weekend brunches at restaurants across Central New York. Check back each Thursday to see where we’re brunching next.
www.syracuse.com/restaurants/2019/05/ocean-bluecity-club-style-and-substance-in-utica-dining-out-review.html
Some nice photo's on web page. Never been there to pricey for me.
Updated 8:00 AM; Today 7:00 AM
By Jane Marmaduke Woodman| jane.woodman@gmail.com
At the top of the Landmarc building in Utica, a restaurant combines pristine subway tile and a pretty copper-topped bar with luxurious booth seating and views of the city to create the atmosphere of a city club.
At Ocean Blue, that atmosphere is matched by the quality and attention to detail in the food we enjoyed at a recent Saturday brunch.
Seating is available on the rooftop patio and we wish the weather had allowed us to experience the vista and comfortable furniture there. Instead, we were seated at a high-backed booth in the black, white and brown dining room and immediately served complimentary sparkling water and a plate of little sweet muffins.
A list of original cocktails and several wines by the glass are available for $9 to $16. We started with a Rude Awakening ($14) made with strong coffee, vanilla vodka and caramel and white chocolate liqueurs, resulting in a refreshingly strong drink that was not overly sweet.
Our Hemingway cocktail ($12) was even stronger, a mixture of Goslings Black Seal rum sharpened by grapefruit and lime juices and sweetened with cherry liqueur and simple syrup. A wine, rum and citrus sangria ($12) later accompanied our main course.
Ocean Blue’s brunch menu offers more seafood than many others we’ve seen, though a bit less than their dinner menu, as it includes brunch standards like omelettes and hash. We made choices to represent the variety as best we could, beginning with short rib nachos ($19) and lobster bisque ($12).
Our nachos were unusually well presented, with tender beef, sweet corn, a cloud of tiny cotija cheese crumbles, cheddar, Mexican crema and salsa, all carefully layered so that each chip carried all the toppings. Pickled jalapeños blended sharpness with heat that matched the salsa. Enough for four as a starter, these nachos were some of the best we’ve had anywhere.
The lobster bisque was beautiful, with tiny seasoned croutons and a generous pile of lobster chunks in the bowl over which our server poured the little pitcher of very hot soup. Over-the-top richness, unmarred by any extra salt, blended with strong lobster flavor and a hint of sherry for a lusciously creamy bisque.
We understood why Ocean Blue names this their “Signature Lobster Bisque” on the menu.
Our mains came after a decent interval and provided the single disappointment of the day. Eggs Benedict is offered with either salmon or ham ($17 either way), and the salmon was beautifully cooked, meltingly tender with a slight crust. The rosemary focaccia that stood in for an English muffin was fresh and delicious. Hollandaise was a sparse drizzle but very good.
The “home fries,” however, were deep-fried chunks of potato, not grilled with the onions and peppers we’d hoped for. And one of the poached eggs was slightly overdone, while the other was hard-cooked all the way through. This dish would have gone back to the kitchen, but we didn’t want our other main to get cold.
The pair of jumbo scallops ($15) we had added on for the Benedict were tender and perfectly cooked, with a lovely dark seared crust on one side.
Our other main—a veggie omelette ($12) with a side of bacon ($7)—was as surprisingly good as the potatoes and eggs had been disappointing.
Vegetable omelettes are commonly watery and rather flat, but this one was high and fluffy, with well-drained spinach, onions, tomato, peppers and a generous layer of creamy Boursin cheese. We had substituted sweet potato fries for the home fries on this plate for $2, and we were glad we did, as the fries were excellent: tender inside and crispy outside.
The six strips in our side order of bacon were plenty to share and the bacon itself was crispy and sweet with maple flavor.
Desserts, as everything else, are made in-house. We were ready to try the key lime pie ($12), crème brûlée ($10), or cheesecake $11), but as one of us had revealed on booking that this was our anniversary, we were given (at no charge) a large slice of very fresh chocolate cake, garnished with fresh whipped cream and a candy “Happy Anniversary” disk. The gesture made a lovely end to our brunch.
While we were there, the room was about half filled, but even with an open kitchen, soft surfaces sufficed to dampen noise to a comfortable level for conversation, especially in the high-backed booths. The atmosphere, excellent service, creative cocktails and good food make Ocean Blue worth the drive for any special occasion.
(A special Mother’s Day brunch buffet will be available on Sunday, May 12 for $55 adults/$19 children.)
Editor’s note: For the month of May, our reviewers will be reviewing weekend brunches at restaurants across Central New York. Check back each Thursday to see where we’re brunching next.
www.syracuse.com/restaurants/2019/05/ocean-bluecity-club-style-and-substance-in-utica-dining-out-review.html
Some nice photo's on web page. Never been there to pricey for me.
