Haute Quarter Grill was a a fairly large rectangular place where you entered into a good sized bar and the other end was the kitchen. The dining area was divided by a low wall that anchored partitions for booth seating on both sides. A large wine storage area was on one wall and that also accommodated larger tables and was not divided into cubicles. An interesting lighting system brought lights over to each table with some being brighter than others. It felt nicely private at our table but it was a tad strange to not see many of the other customers. Service was friendly but not overly so with pacing of the meal being on the rapid side and explanations of what you had, non-existent.
The meal began with a Maytag Blue Cheese salad that was made with mixed greens, blue cheese dressing, fresh pears, caramelized pecans and blue cheese crumbles. They were nice enough to split the salad for us in the kitchen and brought out a pepper mill after serving. It was nicely dressed and the pear pieces were excellent. The pecans were diced into very small chunks and pretty sweet along with being crisp. It was very nice and one order made a good portion for 2 of us.
They brought out bread which was pre-sliced but I’m not sure what the flavoring in it was. It was quite soft. With it they brought a tomato, garlic and olive oil which seemed to be for dipping.
Next we had Calamari as an appetizer based on the waiters recommendation. It was quick fried rings with roasted garlic aioli. It was only rings, no tentacles and they were nicely tender not at all rubbery. They were served pipping hot with the squid perfectly cooked. The exterior was nicely crisp and light and they had a creamy aioli served with it but I almost liked it better in the tomato sauce. Regardless the flavor and texture were both very good.
Alaskan King Crab Legs were one pound of Premium Alaska Red King Crab legs served with drawn butter. They were plated with asparagus and mashed potatoes. Alongside was extra lemon and a set of crackers which you really didn’t need as the legs were well split for easy extraction of the meat. They were huge and my main knock on this one would be the size of the butter dipping dish. It was too small and should have been a more generous portion in a bigger dish. The mashed potatoes were ordinary but fine and the asparagus good. The legs were perfectly cooked and the meat was sweet and lovely, except in the joints were it tended to get a little strong tasting.
Fresh Alaska Halibut was a featured item for them and it was a seared halibut with sweet currant chili butter, sautéed vegetables and jasmine rice. The vegetables was asparagus, like with the crab. It was topped with some fried leeks that were crispy and really tasty. Parts of the halibut were moist and good but other parts were too dry. The sauce that could have moistened the fish was mostly soaked up by the rice but the sauce was too salty so needed to be buffered with the rice. This plate was a mixed bag.
For dessert we split another waiter recommendation, Bananas Foster. It was bananas sautéed in butter and brown sugar then deglazed with brandy, rum and Grand Marnier and served over vanilla ice cream with caramelized pecans. The pecans were the same bits that were in the salad and added a nice bit of texture. It seemed like the ice cream was scooped earlier and frozen in the bowl as it was stuck to the bottom of the dish and didn’t melt as quickly as you would think. The bananas were nicely cooked to a soft state and drenched with the sweet sauce. It was a good sweet, fruity fix to end the meal.
