Sainte-George Restaurant, 1 St. George Street, St. Augustine, FL. 904-429-9345
By Irene Merenda
On a recent Friday evening, the Andersons joined Frank and me at Sainte-George Restaurant. We had a 6pm reservation, and Sandy and I got there early from our volunteer jobs at the Woman’s Exchange Pena-Peck House (that’s an unabashed plug) so we waited in the bar for Tim and Frank to arrive.
The young bartender was very friendly and we heard all about her plans to return to school and that she was bartending only because “the money is great!” Sandy’s gin and tonic was perfect and refreshing, but my “dark and stormy” which the bartender said she knew how to make, tasted like a glass of whisky sour mix, which by the way, has no business being in a dark and stormy at all. Dark rum, ginger beer and lime or lemon are the ingredients that are supposed to go into my favorite mixed drink. The gentlemen arrived and so I didn’t bother to discuss the mistake with the bartender.
We were seated at our table for 4 promptly at 6:00. We ordered two appetizers: fried green tomatoes served with pimento cheese, bacon and a buttermilk ranch dressing ($18), and crispy fried Brussels sprouts served with Parmesan cheese, truffle oil and balsamic vinegar. ($16) Both appetizers were excellent and were plenty to share!
Tim had Cobia, the fresh catch of the day. He said it was very fresh and very good. It was pan seared and placed upon creamy orzo with bacon, bell peppers and corn.
Sandy ordered the honey Miso Salmon ($30) which was served on Asian style Farro Pilaf and sauteed Bok Choy. Her fish was cooked nicely but she felt the pilaf lacked interest and was only “so-so.”
Frank’s entree, the roasted pork chop ($40) was a huge, 14 oz bone-in cut with Parmesan butter crust, whipped potatoes, grilled broccolini and black garlic demi-glaze. Although tempting, I didn’t taste it, but Frank said it was excellent. It was cooked medium, (as he requested) and was melt-in-his-mouth tender and moist.
I had the Bucatini and Clams. ($26) consisting of a reasonably sized portion of bucatini pasta, much like thick spaghetti, served with a generous number of little-neck clams in their shells. The clams were fresh and tender, but the broth, composed of garlic, shallots and white wine, was extremely salty. It was accompanied by very buttery, almost drippy, garlic bread. Others thought it was really good, but it was too buttery for me.
Our service was very good, and not rushed, like many restaurants. Our waiter complied with our request to give us time between courses. A singer performed on the other side of the room. Her vocals and choices of music were “fair” in my opinion. I understand that music is a very individual preference, however my main problem was that it could not be considered background music, as it was much too loud for the size of the upstairs room in which we were seated. Additionally, as the other diners joined us in trying to talk above the singing, the decibel level in the room rose higher and higher. Conversation at our table became difficult.
The restaurant accepts reservations, a big plus for downtown restaurants, and is open Tuesday-Friday 11am -10pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am-10pm.
Some things about this restaurant were excellent, others OK, and others not so great. I am awarding 3 Spoonbills for this “mixed” dining experience at Sainte-George.
