I'm sure that you've heard of the three-strikes law that most states have adopted: if you commit three crimes, you're locked up for a long, long time. Well, downtown Hartford had two culinary strikes already (the Civic Cafe and Peppercorns Grill) and if the next attempt at finding a good restaurant downtown was a failure, I was ready to write off the whole downtown district for good.
Luckily, the restaurant that we chose for our pre-theater meal last Friday was Max Downtown. We weren't sure what to expect at Max's, but our sights were set pretty low. Why was I so pessimistic? Well, the downtown area hadn't been very good to us, and on top of that, the restaurant was hyped beyond belief... and my experience with hyped-up restaurants is that they rarely live up to their reputation.
We got in a little after 6pm and asked for a table. The hostess informed us that all of the tables were already reserved, but that we could sit in their tavern area next to the bar. Since they served the same food in the tavern, we decided to give it a go.
We made our way to a comfortable table near the back of the room and observed the goings-on at the bar. The place was alive with conversation and soft jazz... it seems that every junior-executive in town made a bee-line for Max's after work for a end-of-the-week martini... and almost every mahogany and leather seat in the room was occupied by a nattily dressed man or woman.
Our waitress immediately came over with silverware and menus and, after giving us a chance to settle in, asked for our orders. Not only did she rattle off the draught beer list, she even asked if we were going to see Chicago that night so she could keep an eye on the time for us. Before we even opened the menus, we knew that our expectations for service had been surpassed.
We placed an order for two beers and I opened up the menu... and there it was: a bottled beer list that surpassed even the best restaurants in San Francisco. I immediately cancelled my order for a draught beer and requested a bottle of Anderson Valley Hop Ottin IPA.
The meal was sensational. My half-dozen bluepoint oysters were fantastic, as was the Hearts of Iceberg salad... and Janet's crab cakes were to die for. The beef tenderloin was a perfect medium-rare, and Janet's seafood ravioli were better than Peppercorn's interpretation. Somewhere throughout this gastronomic olympics, I ordered a Schneiderweisse (German wheat beer) and a large bottle of San Pelligrino for the table... and when they say large, they mean it. Max's large bottle of Pelligrino is the full liter bottle instead of the 750ml bottle that usually masquerades as a large in most restaurants.
Since the service was so prompt, we even had time for dessert. Janet had the balsamic strawberry sorbet, while I decided to finish my meal with my favorite libation: a bottle of Lindeman's Framboise, the best of the Belgian Raspberry Lambics.
Maybe it was the fact that I had been so disappointed with Hartford restaurants that made my experience at Max's stand out so blatantly, but I can't remember ever having a better continental meal in my life.