Russell's Not That Tasty

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Restaurants

Sunday, 20 December 2009 05:55

By Ricardo Pasccunini

Guarding the main sea entrance to our island is Russell’s Bar and Seafood Restaurant. The historic site, Fort James, has a very distinctive Antiguan heritage. Russell’s has a very authentic feel, and the restaurant is simply beautiful.

The antique style is radiant, and the view of the Caribbean Sea is startling. That’s where the good starts, and unfortunately, that’s also where it ends. The menu was very short, the wine selection very limited, although the bar seemed to have a wide variety of drinks, and the service was not all that.

After arriving at the restaurant, I took my seat outside on the balcony. Immediately, the waitress came and handed me my menu. She never smiled, and she never seemed happy or warm as a host should. She knew her stuff, and could explain what every dish was, but I wouldn’t pass her as a good waitress. Now, for the food!

I ordered several starters, the steamed cockles, conch fritters, smoked salmon capers, and the soup of the day. The conch fritters were very good. They were done the way fritters were meant to be, fried perfectly. The smoked salmon was good, but it tasted a little too ordinary. It seemed like the smoked salmon at a grocery was just as good. The soup of the day was watery, and lacked flavour. The steamed cockles weren’t bad, but they really were nothing special. All in all, the starters were fine, not great, but they were OK.

After a glass of wine, I was ready for the main course. I ordered the garlic shrimp, strip loin steak, and mahi mahi, the catch of the day.

The mahi mahi was on the borderline. I didn’t like it all that much. It was overcooked and hard. To make a long story short, I’m not ecstatic about the mahi mahi. The garlic shrimp were massive! Although they are jumbo, they were exceptionally large. Unfortunately, they were also overcooked. Hard, difficult to bite, and lacking in flavour.

The steak was just a meal gone wrong. Very few times in my entire culinary career have I ever seen a steak with the sauce on top. Not once was the steak a success, and Russell was no exception. While the meat was well cooked and the cut tender, the sauce was too thick, too abundant, and far too overpowering. In fact, the sauce was so overpowering that I resorted to scrapping it off with my fork. That was another glass of wine right there.

For desert, I had the Banana Flambé. Surprisingly, it was very good!  Its presentation was also very cool, with a burning blue flame dancing around the dish. The Flambé was sweet and delicious, and you could say it helped after the main course and starter. The price was $486! That is expensive, and even though I am a big eater, there is no justification for that price tag.

Russell's: click to Russell's website

268-462-5479 or 268-728-1998

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