Finally, on a rainy Tuesday, I made it work. And before my meal was even finished I had plans to go back again.
The Good Table is definitely worth making a special trip out to CE. The quaint restaurant looks like a neighborhood summer home from the outside, with a large, open front deck for good weather. Step inside and you’re greeted immediately by a host or hostess and you can take your pick of tables in the dining room or the enclosed back patio.
We were surprised to see the place nearly filled on a Tuesday evening, but when our food arrived we understood why.
The first impressive thing was the service. Our server was busy with another large party so the hostess hustled over to tell us about the specials and take our drink and appetizer order. We each had a glass of the Firefly Shiraz, the cheapest on the menu at $5.25 a glass, but light, fruity and delish. Stacy started with a cup of clam chowder ($3.50) and I had the fish chowder ($3.25).
The fish chowder was so packed with fish I could barely fit any crackers in. Unfortunately, it was slightly bland. Though she’s a fan of thick and creamy chowder, Stacy declared her thin, flavorful cup of clam chowder to be the best she’s had. High praise already and we’d barely started.
Other apps are posted on the chalk board and on this night there were two kinds of mussels, Irish (made the traditional way with white wine and lemon) and Greek (with feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes and olives). You could get a half order for $5, full order for $9 or mix the two kinds.
For our meals we went with the Cambridge steak tips (billed as the restaurant’s best seller, $16) and the baked scallops ($16), and planned to share. We both chose the tasty rice pilaf as a side and had house salads.
The Good Table offers three very original salad dressings. I went with the creamy garlic and dill, which was light enough that it didn’t overpower the veggies, and Stacy had the Greek vinaigrette, which was sweet and so good she soaked up the remains with her bread.
And then our incredible meals arrived. The steak tips were cooked perfectly (medium), flame grilled and marinated in “Lisa’s best BBQ sauce.” They were so good Stacy wanted to keep them all. But then she got a taste of the scallops and a couple of pieces of beef ended up on my plate. The scallops were so tender and covered in herb-crumb topping. But they weren’t soaking in butter the way many places do them. Absolutely terrific.
Other dinner options include fried shrimp ($13), baked haddock ($14), a lobster roll (market price), chicken prunella ($16), mixed grill ($15) and a hot turkey dinner ($12). There are also several Greek options, including spanakopita, a gyros platter and psari plaki (haddock baked in a tomato, sweet bell pepper, onion, olive oil and herb sauce).
The lunch menu includes several salads and more than a dozen sandwiches. Breakfast is served from 8 am-noon on weekends and Sunday brunch runs from 8 am-2 pm.
We decided to split a dessert. We went with the peanut butter mousse pie with chocolate ganache topping ($5.50). Another winner. It was so light it didn’t make us uncomfortably full and the graham cracker crust was sweet and crunchy.
I left wishing I hadn’t waited so long to try this Cape favorite, which immediately soared to the top of my list of dining choices.
— Karen Beaudoin