Last night we had an out of town friend treat us to dinner as payback for inviting her to Easter dinner! Though it was unnessesary, we never turn down a good free meal!!! Atlantica is one of the harborside restaurants on Bayview Street in Camden...the atmosphere of having boats and schooners float by while we sip our cocktails just cannot be beat. Right away, I give the place an A for location!
We started out with a couple of bottles of Austrailian Shiraz which was just lovely. The wine list is extensive and varies widely with affordable bottles as well as $125 bottles. Our server was very adept at getting the wine around the smallish table and keeping our glasses filled.
Three of us had the Atlantica salad, which was a bed of greens with walnuts, manderin oranges, blueberries, warm goat cheese, and a nice subtle dressing that did not overwhelm the salad. At $6.00 it was probably the best value on the menu. Greg had crab cakes (which turned out to be a single crab cake) He said it was wonderful, but later told me that it certainly wasn't worth getting again.
The chef appears to be a minimalist with a penchant for using his frothing machine....there were interesting sounding dishes that were served with some sort of foam on the side. Our dinner host ordered the salmon fillet with a side of Wasabi foam (wasabi whipped with cream) I think there was also a soy foam on something as well. For dinner there is not much choice for someone who doesn't eat seafood. I had the fillet of beef with carmelized onions and a bernaise butter. The dish arrived with a squirt of mashed potatos and three green beans. The dish was $23.00 and for that I think at least 10 beans should have been placed on the plate! The food was good, but the brown and orange sauces that were swirled together on the plate were pretty tasteless. Our friend Vicky had the Haddock which she said was mouthwatering and Greg had the scallops which he also said was wonderful, if a bit minimalist for the price.
We were lulled into ordering dessert by the dessert tray that kept passing by. My lemon layer cake was totally sublime and just delicious. I need to figure out how to make something with such a light lemon flavor! Vicky had lemon curd with fresh berries which was also wonderful, though I like my lemon curd better (this dessert gives me ideas for my next party though) Greg had a macademia nut torte that he loved and I thought was ok.
I would certainly recommend this wonderful restaurant, just ask for a few more beans with your dinner though.
Atmosphere A
Food A
Wine A
Enjoy,
Seth
