All week, we have been planning to go to dinner at a little
place called CQ’s. And
tonight was the night.
We went there last year on our trip to HHI and it was, at
that point, the best meal I had ever eaten. Hands down. In the year since that
time, I have had nothing that comes remotely close. True…I am a pretty rockin’
cook (ok, not really, but it sounds good, right?) but my culinary skills are
grossly below CQ’s.
This restaurant has to be the loveliest place in the world.
And when I say “loveliest,” I don’t simply mean the ambiance, though it was quite
nice. In fact, the PBA seemed impressed that the candles on the tables were
real (not the fake kind like we have at church…if we attend church together,
you probably know about that of which I speak. My boys have helped “turn the
candles off” on Sundays as the building is being locked up.)
What I mean about this place being lovely is the food. Tonight’s
was my Best.Meal.Ever. Tops last year. I cannot begin to describe it for you,
because it would not do it justice. So I won’t ever try. What I will do for
you, instead, is describe how the evening went.
When we walked in, they had a plate of their signature
German Chocolate cookies, for guests as they LEAVE…in case they might have a
penchant for a little taste of something sweet (at least I assume that’s what
it’s for; if that’s not the reason, then I have no idea why but I do know they
are “free”). Or as my 9yo said, “Hey! They have samples!" (I have taught him well but not well enough.) I did grab his hand back
from the plate as we were directed toward our table, to ensure he didn’t take
one prematurely. I’m still not entirely convinced that he didn’t.
We sat down at the table and were extended all the niceties
one would expect from a high class restaurant. Nice linens on the table, wine
glasses and water glasses at each seat, REAL candles (as previously mentioned)…all
that jazz. I’m so high-brow, aren’t I? We had a very attentive and friendly
waitress who kept glasses filled and continually checked in.
My 9yo was still content to order from the “Young Adult’s
Menu”…he had Char Grilled Sirloin, Red Skin Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans as his
“Seasonal Vegetable” with Demi Glace. And Sprite to drink. Having soda at a
meal is big stuff for the PBA, and vacation is always the crème de la crème: soda
every day. He ate it all except his
potatoes, which is surprising considering how much he loves starches, but for
some reason they were not quite his thing. Frankly I think he was saving room
for dessert.
And he did share a dessert with me…and he even ordered it in the manner
in which I instructed him. He pointed toward me and said, “The lady and I will
be sharing the Chocolate Bites.” And it would have been perfect too, until he
did a little improv. Gesturing to me with his thumb, he added, “Yeah, she told
me to say that.” Perfect…you sounded like a little gentleman until you went
off-script. Will you never learn to just do what I say and nothing else? I’m
going to guess not.
The rest of us ate from the regular menu, except for the
11yo had the Special for the evening: it was a New York strip with herbed
butter, Brussel Sprouts in a Cheese and Bacon sauce, and some sort of potato
that was liken to au gratin. Yes, I don’t have the full description available
to me because it’s not listed on the website (it was a special, remember?), so
no, it doesn’t sound as fancy as the 9yo’s meal. But believe me, it was. And the
11yo ate all the steak, and about half the veggies and potatoes. But he also
had dessert. Carmel Pecan Cheesecake. He did let everyone have a little bite
(except his brother, who didn’t want one…not a fan of nuts. The 9yo did not
partake of all those samples at The Nut Shop when we visited Savannah, BTW.), but otherwise polished off the
entire dessert by himself. As of yet, he
is not sick, but the night is still young…
I’m not going to tell you what the rest of us ate; feel free
to peruse the CQ’s menu and try to guess, if you’d like. But I will tell you that we ate until we were
stuffed. We are not ones to typically do that, but my husband’s comment, as we
sat at the table awaiting the check, summed it up best, “I just want to put on
my pajamas, because they have an elastic waistband.”
A sign of a fantastic meal…the need to put on something with
elastic at the waist. We ARE high class, aren’t we?
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| This is my 11yo's meal. You can just tell it's fancy because of how it's plated: meat on top of the sides. I don't exactly know WHY you would do that, but it did look nice. The picture doesn't really do it justice. And in case you needed one more way to tell we are high-class...we took a picture of the food before we ate. |
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