Eats; Back for Seconds

Last weekend we made return visits to a pair of dinner spots: Kamel and Shakahari.

On Friday, without a reservation, we were initially turned away from a packed Kamel but one of the wait staff was nice enough to chase us down the sidewalk when a table opened up. Their dining room is a tight but comfortable collection of maybe ten tables and a bar and the food is served in portions to share, almost tapas style. We started with our two favorite dishes from our last visit. The marinated mushrooms with feta are incredible but I thought the pan-fried muscles, clams, and prawns were a bit bland this time. We also tried an Indian spiced, fried cauliflower, green beans, and tabbouleh. Altogether a nice meal but it wasn’t quite as good as I remembered.

Shakahari, on the other hand, was better this time around. My faith in humanity was restored when I spotted jalepenos in the sweet and spicy Tokyo rice balls; I wasn’t sure they existed on this continent. The baked polenta I ordered was great especially with the medley of root vegetables and mashed peas. I vaguely recall that Pete had quinoa with mushrooms and bok choy but I must have been too enamored with my own meal because I can’t recall what Twyla ordered.

As we left Shakahari we stumbled on Brunetti and spent a good twenty minutes staring wide-eyed at the elaborate desserts and confections. We tend to stay away from sweets but Brunetti overwhelmed the senses and we sampled a flour-less chocolate cake, a cheesecake, and some from fruit for Pete.