For many years, I have wanted to create a blog or website to chronicle my experiences doing one of my favorite things--eating! I have ignored those thoughts until tonight, when I ate at a restaurant that convinced me to stop ignoring my desire to tell you about my restaurant experiences – good or bad. I don’t offer compliments readily – just ask any of my students. I have high expectations of the places where I eat (and my students, of course), and so it’s not often that I am completely satisfied from a restaurant experience. In fact, it’s very rare.
The restaurant where we ate tonight was ToscaFino in Brownsville, TX. The atmosphere is welcoming, attractive, and relaxing; who cares about that, though, since the food and service were fabulous. The whole ToscaFino restaurant experience was so good, in fact, that we notified the manager of our complete satisfaction with his restaurant.
We began our dinner by ordering the Trinity appetizer (Fresh Hummus, Olive Tapenade, and Babaganoush served with grilled homemade flatbread). This mouthwatering delight forced us to order a second appetizer - just to taste.
We ordered Ceviche, a mixture of fish, shrimp, and pico de gallo marinated in fresh lime juice and served with homemade tortilla chips. The Ceviche was amazing. The fish was fresh and light and melted in my mouth. The ceviche was so good that we ordered a third appetizer.
Next, we ordered Beef Carpaccio, thin slices of raw filet mignon marinated in lemon juice and olive oil, served with capers, parmesan cheese, diced red onions, and pepper. The Beef Carpaccio was fabulous.
You might say there’s no way we ordered another appetizer… but we did! The Caprese Salad (sliced tomatoes with fresh mozzarella, basil, extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar). It was gone in a flash.
For the entrées, two of us ordered the Chilean Sea Bass stuffed with lump crabmeat, one had the Veal Marsala, and I had the Walnut Salad. The entrées were shared so that each person tried everything on the table. Every entrée was great.
Finally each of us had dessert and a cappuccino. Three of us had the apple tart and one had the cheesecake. I didn’t try the cheesecake, but I was told that it was great. The apple tart was amazing. The best dish of the night – and that’s saying something! Our waitress had recommended the crepes, but we didn’t try them. I told the waitress that the apple tart was better than the crepes. She laughed at me because I had already told her this was my first time to the ToscaFino. Those crepes must be damned good. I’ll try them next time.
Number of Guests: 4
Price: Very reasonable – a bargain considering the quality of the food.
Location: Brownsville, TX
Atmosphere: Welcoming, Attractive, Relaxing
