We had an early 5:30 PM dinner reservation but we arrived even earlier for a drink at the cozy wine bar upstairs. We decided to split a few pitchers of a white Autumn Sangria.
We had a few glasses of sangria before we settled down to the cozy wine cellar-like dining room downstairs.
I was really excited for our dinner at Black Trumpet Bistro because I had the opportunity to meet Chef Evan Mallet and taste his cooking at the Hood New England Chef's Challenge last year. When I discovered that the restaurant was also offering a Restaurant Week menu, I thought it would give me a good opportunity to try several of the chef's dishes at an affordable price.
Before our meals arrived, we nibbled on slices of black trumpet and ciabatta breads with an addictive sweet butter.
For my first course, I decided to start with the sea cod salad with heirloom squash, pancetta and Brussels sprouts with a sherry-apple vinaigrette.
The sea cod and pancetta added a subtle saltiness to this warm salad, which contrasted nicely with the sweetness of the heirloom squash. I was a big fan of this salad!
For my entree, I selected the truffled squash risotto cake with poached lobster and salsa verde. While the presentation was beautiful, this dish was a bit of a disappointment. The risotto cake was severely under-seasoned and I found bits of lobster shell in my poached lobster.
Luckily, I got to steal bites of Kristen's entree, which was the other entree option on the Restaurant Week menu. The coq au vin with porcini-cocoa pappardelle, cob smoked bacon and mushrooms was a perfect dish for this late autumn dinner. The chicken was incredibly moist and the pappardelle had the most intriguing earthy flavor!
While my entree was a bit of a letdown, my dessert made up for it. The chocolate beet brownie with milk chocolate frosting, beet whip and candied orange peel. I'm normally not a big chocolate dessert fan, especially not something this rich, but the beets added a different kind of sweetness to the dessert.
I shared bites of my dessert with Kristen while I stole bites of her Indian pudding with whipped vanilla custard and golden raisin sauce.
Despite the letdown of my entree, overall, I enjoyed my meal. I had a fun time with the ladies and our dinner was a great way to end a wonderful day in Portsmouth.
Black Trumpet Bistro is located at 29 Ceres Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
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