embargo - hyannis ma
going to this restaurant was actually a bit of an accident. originally, the fiancé and i were about to head to a place called the naked oyster…which is actually down the street from the naked oyster and the seaside pub (our first cape cod restaurant).
while walking around hyannis, we passed embargo and noticed their happy hour sign - showing that they had $1 oysters and half price tapas starting at 4pm.
well. considering the special pricing, we figured the place looked nice enough…yelp had some alright reviews…we figured this sounded like a better deal. which is something i should have just stuck to my guns on, and kept walking towards the naked oyster.
oysters - sucked. the bellies were popped, there were shards of shell and sand in them…they tasted fine but anyone who knows oysters could tell you that this is just NOT how to serve them. i even kind of cut the corner of my mouth on them. i’m not the type to send food back, so i dealt with it. and overall, as long as they didn’t get sick (which i didn’t) i was gonna be happy to eat them. there’s worse things in the world than a poorly shucked oyster.
dates stuffed with brie and wrapped with serrano ham - awesome flavor. it’s actually something i plan on making for myself every once in a while. the salty pork and sweet, creamy mix of brie and date was such an interesting snack. a little pricey at 7 bucks for 3 dates, but half off made it worth the money.
seared scallops with bacon and farofa - very nice flavor…scallops and bacon? match made in heaven. however, overcooked scallops made for a less than pleasing rubbery texture. the farofa was pretty interesting…although it just tasted like mashed potatoes.
kobe sliders - probably the best dish of the night. the flavor of kobe beef really can’t be beat. it was pretty basic…and there was an up charge for cheese which was pretty lame, but overall very tasty.
fish tostadas - quite nice, although the goat cheese brought a bit of a funkiness that you wouldn’t normally expect to be pleasant with fish. i liked it, but i can totally see most people mistaking this pungency for a not-so-fresh piece of fish. also, the fish was fried…i probably would have preferred it to be grilled.
lobster mac n cheese - probably made with frozen lobster. at first, i was convinced it was crab that they tried to pass off as lobster…but at the end of the day, i didn’t really matter to me. i was very off-put by the flavor of whatever crustacean was in that dish. the mac n cheese tasted fine…but i didn’t enjoy the fish so much. considering all items with lobster were NOT discounted during happy hour, i was damn sure to eat it anyway.
overall…not so impressed. however, i can’t say it was the worst dining experience i’ve ever had. maybe i was overly critical after being disappointed with my oysters, but hey…i was really looking forward to them.
also, the waiter was a bit of a spazz. he told me the chef wasn’t feeling so great today, and that he apologizes for the wait on the lobster mac…which is always good to hear after sucking down subpar raw oysters.
i like to be optimistic, so maybe this was just an off day. but either way, i ate…i was full…i didn’t puke. good day in my book.
