Tag: Caesar

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Cast Iron Swordfish From The Fireplace Room at The International

Cast Iron Swordfish From The Fireplace Room at The International

Cast Iron Swordfish From The Fireplace Room at The International

The International in Bolton, Mass. is a world class golf destination with its own signature restaurant tucked away in the middle of nowhere. I knew about the location, but I never knew the restaurant was open to the public. When I arrived, I walked into the rich-looking dining area called The Fireplace Room. I immediately noticed the comfy and spacious restaurant’s spectacular view of its immaculate grounds.

I began my dinner with the Classic Caesar Salad without the optional anchovies. This Caesar, my favorite type of salad, did not disappoint. The portion was large for a pre-dinner salad. Fresh romaine lettuce, crunchy croutons, large shavings of Parmesan, and a delicious dressing came together to make an excellent starter.

For dinner, I chose the Cast Iron Swordfish. This blackened swordfish steak with white cheddar polenta, roasted garlic spinach, San Marzano tomato, and sun-dried corn was cooked to perfection. It pretty much melted in my mouth. The char and smokiness didn’t taste overpowering either. The crunch of the sun-dried corn provided a nice texture to the dish too. I’m not a polenta fan, but the white cheddar polenta was fantastic. The slightly cheesy flavor and creamy consistency of complemented the swordfish perfectly. The garlic spinach also provided a flavorful punch. I will certainly return to have this amazing dish again.

I found the service to be very attentive and knowledgeable, but I don’t think they were ready to handle our group of 18. We also arrived around the same time as another large party so our food took quite a while to arrive. While waiting, the waitstaff was very quick to refill water, snag drink orders, and keep us updated. Even though the service was slow, I understood why and still thought the servers were outstanding.

The Fireplace Room combines quality food, attentive service, and a beautiful location to create a wonderful overall dining experience. Despite the distance, it’s a trek I plan to take again and again.

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Chicken Isabella

Having never been to Lago Ristorante before and not being familiar with this area of Worcester, we drove right by this place; it is tucked back a little ways from the road and wasn’t immediately seen by us until we were on top of it. The location is great—right on the water, however all the windows in the place were small and disappointingly didn’t give any real view of the lake that is a mere step away. Even knowing the lake was just steps away and knowing I couldn’t enjoy the view I still liked the place, the dark gray walls gave this place a warm feel. I loved the ceiling with the exposed pipes and industrial type metal beams all painted the same dark gray.

Once we were seated, our waitress was prompt and came right over to attend us. I had been craving my favorite drink all day and was happy to hear that they could make me a glass of red sangria. It was fantastic and I will be having it again when I return at a future date.

We started our meal with an appetizer of deep fried calamari with a marinara dipping sauce. Excellently cooked, was not tough or chewy and the batter was very light. It was the perfect size quantity to split with a friend.

The bread they brought to the table was similar to a foccasia in density, We inquired about it and were told rosemary and oregano among other herbs were in the bread and they make the bread daily in house. This was served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dipping sauce.

Following our appetizer were our salads that came with any of the regular meals from the menu. I opted for the caesar and was happy to hear that they could put anchovies on mine, so often I am told they cannot put anchovies on my caesar. The caesar came on a glass chilled plate, nice touch and was a great size for a starter salad.

My meal was selected from the specials list, which our waitress explained to us in detail, I was able to get a visual as she went on in detail about the dish I chose. She had me at “Asiago Cream Sauce!” My dish was called Chicken Isabella. Two chicken breasts pounded flat with seasonings atop my choice of pasta, I went with the Penne, I was disappointed when I asked if they made their own pasta and was told no. The pasta although not homemade was cooked perfectly for my taste, just a bit past Al Dente’. The asiago cream sauce was creamy and rich, however I would have liked to taste a bit more of the asiago cheese which gave this sauce its name, as light as it was in cheese it made up for this fact with the richness of the cream and the freshness of the herbs in the sauce they used. I was very satisfied with my meal. I would go back and I would recommend this place to my friends. –RL