Monday, June 21, 2010

Review of Phat Cats Bistro in Amesbury, MA

I'm just a regular dude that loves food. So please take that into consideration when you read my review.











Phat Cats Bistro
Amesbury, MA
www.phatcatsbistro.com

When my wife and I wanted to share a celebratory engagement dinner with our collective new family, we choose Phat Cats Bistro in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Simply put it's one of our favorite restaurants around.

Taken from their website, they "work with local farmers, domestic Seafood, and lots of natural product." This is very important to me. When I eat out, I want to the restaurants to source and choose their ingredients as well as I do at home. The menu is full of items that I don't cook. This avoids the disappointment one may feel when when you think you could make that dish better than the chef.

The dining room is cozy, and the bar has enough room for smaller parties if you forget to make a reservation. Once seated, you're always greeted by extremely friendly staff. They have a great selection of local beers and wines, and well as bunch of signature cocktails. We were served fresh baked bread with a bean spread. We have been served a few different versions. They all have been great.

The appetizers are unique and tasty. My Chicken Littles had a crisp sesame seed crust and were cooked to perfection. The side of spicy homemade ketchup was a great match. We've also had the Baked Blues and Cheese Platter. I would order them all again.

There are a nice range of options for dinner and small portions offered for those with a smaller appetite. They also give the flexibility to add chicken and sausage to some dishes. I think the Fish Tacos have overcome that gnocchi as my favorite dish. The Fisherman's Stew and Risotto also are recommended.

All of the desserts are homemade, and created with local ingredients. Strawberries are in season now, and last night we had a nice Strawberry Rhubarb Tart with homemade ice cream. The crust was my favorite part, with my wife eating most of the filling. I think we had a "Jack Sprat Thing" going on last night.

If you live near Amesbury, make a reservation at Phat Cats Bistro. You will be guaranteed a great meal with local ingredients, and not break your bank doing it.

Life, I guess?

I haven't been posting recipes lately - that's pretty obvious. But I haven't stopped eating, cooking, or all of the other things I do to enjoy life. Maybe the blog can be a way to communicate to people how they can make small changes for the better? I try to eat locally, but sometimes I don't. I try to eat organic, but sometimes I can't. There are lifestyle changes we can embrace that can make a difference, and maybe I've made a couple that could work for you. This will be my forum for sharing.

It's also start of the distributions for everybody's farm shares. I'll try to start posting recipes again.

Maybe I'll write restaurant reviews too.