Immediately upon entering Russell's Blue Water Grill, we were greeted by Russell and his cordial hospitality. The restaurant is quite a large space, but is unobtrusively inviting. It is divided into a large dining area on the right and an equally large area with a bar and booths on the left. Both offer a view of the trendy open kitchen so you can see and feel that energy. You should feel comfortable whether you are dressed to the nines or wearing jeans.
On our most recent visit we again had Alex as our waitperson. He has a great sense of humor (which one needs once our group starts the ordering process!) He's very efficient, asks all the right questions to have the best shot at "getting it right", and he is prompt! Blue cheese stuffed olives came out with my husband's martini and Alex remarked that they were stuffed with love! In addition to the aforementioned olives, a plate of cocktail accompaniments arrived with the drinks: a fresh summer salsa, truly fresh ingredients (not preserved), and crispy, crunchy, salty "thingies". No one could identify them but they were yummy. Maybe they were fried pastry????
With our appetizers we were served a nice variety of warm freshly baked rolls. Laura and I shared a roasted beet salad with watercress, Belgian endive, tomatoes, goat cheese, candied pecans in citrus-honey balsamic vinaigrette. It was well balanced, not "over the top" with any one particular ingredient. Eddy had a chopped wedge salad that he loved. Rodney had Cognac lobster bisque which I tasted. It was a tad salty, but sublime! Maybe the saltiness was the salinity of the ocean, the lobster's home.
On to the entrees. Both Eddy and Laura ordered sesame seared tuna, sushi grade, very rare, served on a bed of soba noodles, wasabi aioli and sweet soy on the side. Of course I tasted that and went to heaven on the spot. Rodney had pan seared duck breast, served medium-rare with a sour current glaze and asparagus on the side. He gave it 8 out of 10. I would have taken the sweet potato hash that was offered with it too! I had one of the specials that night, grouper francese, but I had it my way, more simply prepared. It was excellent...very fresh, moist and tender. I asked for 2 of their green veggies and got haricot vert and asparagus, both again very fresh and cooked al dente.
We shared one dessert for the 4 of us (more than enough, I might add). It was one of their well-known desserts: chocolate peanut butter pie. Since I'm not a fan of chocolate and peanut butter in my mouth at the same time, I let Laura be the judge of that one. She proclaimed it very good, smooth but fluffy, and not cloyingly sweet nor overly dense...just right and an 8.5 out of 10!
Russell's Blue Water Grill features live music on weekends, special events such as wine tastings, and very hospitable service from beginning to end. Even the partner/executive chef, Charles Coe, came out and chatted with us for quite a while. As the business card says at the bottom..."Great food, innovative prepared, affordably priced, efficiently served". It's all true! This place is very busy in season, and rightfully so. Try it soon!
