Insta-blog

Few, if any, occurrences in my life have ever moved me so significantly that one of the first things I did upon returning home was run onto the internet and post a blog entry about it. But, at the risk of boring the hell out of everyone here, tonight's dinner was one such.

Alma and I went on a harbor cruise today so that we could indulge her desire to take at least one trip on a boat while we were in New Orleans. It was a decent little cruise; regrettably, once you leave the downtown New Orleans skyline behind (and it's not much of a skyline, I tell you what, but then again you have to consider that the city is built mostly on illuvial sand) you're stuck looking mostly at barges and various ships, but then it is a harbor cruise (though technically it's all still part of the river). Anyway, it was fun to get a little wind in our hair, and sights like the Crescent City Connection bridge and Jackson Square in the French Quarter were fairly neat from the water.

Anyway, that's not the part that made me rush back. After the cruise we walked through the Riverwalk mall (tacky, overpriced souvenir stores) and then I walked Alma back to the convention center for a presentation she wanted to attend. On my way back to the hotel, I passed by a restaurant located catty-corner from it called Rio Mar. Rio Mar is, as you may be able to guess, a seafood place, and in fact I think only one entree (a steak) was not some sort of seafood dish. Alma had been talking about having some seafood, and though she'd had salmon at the Hilton on Friday, somehow that didn't seem quite the same. And after eating in the hotel restaurant the previous two nights I thought we needed a little bit more adventure for our last night in the Crescent City (even if such adventure did only constitute walking across the street).

To be perfectly honest, my first glance at the menu was a little terrifying. I am not, it must be known, the world's biggest seafood guy. But I will eat it on occasion and was willing to suck it up, since Alma generally likes fish more than I do. Of course, even as far as that went, the menu featured things like squid in its own ink and octopus.

I wasn't quite that adventurous, but we ordered a Peruvian ceviche to start (having looked up ceviche before leaving the hotel when I read that Rio Mar was somewhat known for its ceviche, I thought the Peruvian sounded like the best option), and then I ordered a pan roasted brook trout wrapped in green onions and stuffed with Serrano ham. (Alma ordered a pan seared yellowfin tuna wrapped in the ham.)

When the trout came, it transpired that (a) the skin was still on (though at least the head and tail were absent) and (b) it was served on a bed of asparagus. Something to know about me is that as recently as, I don't know, last night, I would probably have told you that if you were going to pick an entree to serve to me featuring three things that, individually, I really wasn't wild about, an excellent choice would have been something containing fish with the skin on, ham, and asparagus (which I had refused to try ever since the one time I tried it as a kid and immediately ejected it from my mouth due to the taste).

But here's the thing: everything was AMAZING. To avoid getting ahead of myself, the ceviche was great; it's chunks of just-barely-cooked fish in lemon and lime juices with onions, tomatoes, and cilantro, and it was terrific. Much like my first experience with sushi (documented a while back on these pages), I found the fish's texture to be exactly what I was hoping for, and when you add lemon juice and onions... well, name two things I really enjoy as accents to food.

The trout was... well, I don't want to gross everyone out and toss around the word "orgasmic," but I was barely able to contain my giddiness at how good it was. Alma assured me that she didn't mind that every 30 seconds I would take another bite and then tell her, "This is SO GOOD," but I bet it got tired after a while. The trout and ham blended perfectly together (and while usually the taste of pork products is a bit overwhelming for me, the ham never did that), and the sauce that came on the plate, which by itself wasn't anything too spectacular, was a perfect complement, adding just the right amount of additional flavor but allowing both meats to retain their own nuances. Even the skin worked perfectly (the end piece was all crispy, adding yet another layer to the overall experience).

Finally all that was left was the asparagus. I hadn't so much as tried a piece since that day... probably 15 years ago, give or take. I saved it for last assuming that I might not enjoy it... but, as it turned out, it was actually good! I won't go so far as to say I loved it, but combined with the sauce it was very enjoyable, and I don't have plans to push away asparagus untouched in the future.

After all that, anything else might have seemed like a letdown, but the flan was delicious, and I even decided to indulge with a honey-flavored dessert wine (Casta Diva Cosecha Miel was the name, if I remember right) which wasn't bad at all (though I really still don't have the right appreciation for wine, or really alcohol in general). The flan had a caramel drizzle on the plate, and usually when they do that it's just a sweet caramel sauce, but this was the actual burned sugar and as such it hit the tastebuds from about four different angles.

All told, this was the most expensive two-person dinner I think I've ever had - certainly that I've paid for myself - and yet I couldn't feel more satisfied. Talk about being worth every penny (don't worry, it was still in two pre-decimal-point figures even with tip). It made sense to kind of go whole hog on our last night here - I even got relatively dressed up for the occasion - but even in my wildest pre-dinner dreams I wouldn't have predicted that I would enjoy it just that much.

So if you're ever in New Orleans, and you like seafood even a tiny bit - heck, as long as you're just willing to eat it - I don't think I can recommend Rio Mar enough. Probably a pointless recommendation for this blog's audience, but hey, you never know. It was good enough to take the chance, just so long as I could get it out there.