This is one of those reviews that really breaks my heart because I really wanted to like Saint Austere but it just didn't do it for me in the end. I was originally supposed to go to The Lighthouse but when I discovered that it was closed on Monday I had to change plans at the last minute. I remembered walking past this place a few weeks ago and seeing a sign that said $1 oysters from 6-8pm, so Dan and I were in.
I got there at 7:30 and immediately ordered a dozen oysters before the happy hour ended. But then after we placed our order things started to go down hill from there. We waited forever before anyone paid any attention to us to place our real order. What irritated me the most was that a table of 4 who came in after us got serviced before we did. That to me is poor service. When the host/waitress finally came over, we ordered the broccoli rabe ($9), creamy polenta ($10), citrus cured swordfish ($15) and the meatballs ($12). Everything on the menu is tapas style and meant to be shared. The waitress told us that she recommended between 2-3 dishes per person, but honestly I was plenty full with the 4 dishes we had and depending on what you order, I think you can get away with 1.5 dishes per person.
The oysters came out and they mentioned something about them being from Virginia but I don't know exactly what kind they were. They were pretty big and plump but as Dan mentioned to me later, they were kind of soaking in lots of salt water which was a bit of a turn off, but overall they were fine for $1. It's definitely no Maison Premiere but they were fine way to start a meal. Next they brought out the meatballs, creamy polenta and broccoli rabe. My initial impression was that the meatballs were a bit cold. It felt like they had been sitting out for a while and they were lacking in salt or some other kind of seasoning. Next I tried the polenta. Good lord, it was super heavy on butter. It almost felt like I was drinking heavy cream with hints of really spicy sausage scattered in between sips. As for the broccoli rabe, the waitress mentioned that it was one of their signature dishes, so we figured we had to order it. I'm normally not a huge broccoli rabe fan and this dish didn't really do much to change my opinion on it. It was served with crushed anchovies, parmigiano and lots of chopped hard boiled eggs. For a green, it was a pretty heavy dish. Normally when I order a side of a vegetable its because I want to eat something healthy, but this felt like of the opposite. Lastly came the swordfish. For some reason I thought it would be warm but the menu clearly said citrus cured, so that was my bad for setting erroneous expectations. This version was more of a carpaccio style fish - cold raw slices of swordfish. But to be honest, swordfish just isn't the kind of fish that tastes good in this kind of setting. It doesn't really have a strong flavor or taste to it normally and adding bits of citrus doesn't really help it. I just found it to be pretty bland and disappointing.
In the end, I was super bummed about my experience here because I really wanted to like it. I like the concept of American style small plates, its cute space and the fact that it's walking distance from my place. But in the end I was left feeling just underwhelmed. We should have stuck with The Lighthouse instead. Total bill: $55/pp with tax, tip and drinks.
Photo Credit: Yelp
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