It occurs to me that upon having made my low-carb resolution in effort to drop a few pounds, going to any particular restaurant is a much altered experience. And so, I figure it is only logical to re-review restaurants—especially my regular haunts—in light of my new dietary experiences.

Last Saturday night was the first time I'd been back to Silky's Crow's Nest for dinner since taking the low-carb vow (you will recall, I have reviewed it before). Ironically enough, the first time Davin and I went to the Crow's Nest, he was doing low-carb and I wasn't—since then it's become more or less our default choice for dinner and drinks. And so, when we sat down at the bar (I have a peculiar affinity for sitting at bars, even for dinner—don't ask me why), Davin was pleased to find bowls of complementary pretzels and potato chips left out for patrons. While I resisted the snacks, I was pleased to discover that we had sat down right in front of a bar menu, which is to say the wine list/beer list/booze list. I usually order a glass of house cabernet at the Crow's Nest—and last Saturday was no exception—but I had never taken the opportunity to check out the bill at the end of the evening to see precisely how much it is. Turns out the house cabernet is $5 a glass—could be better, but could be worse. I would be drinking on the light side that evening anyway because, for once, I was DD. On the not-so-low carb side of things, Davin got a Yuengling.

The Crow's Nest

The menu was particularly interesting that night, given a number of specials offered. I had seen on the neon placard on the way in that Crab Bisque was soup du jour, and I was anxious to try it. I was also anxious to try their steak wrap, a favorite of Davin's from his low-carb days. Upon perusal of the menu, though, I noticed that the steak wrap comes with American cheese, which meant I would have had to negotiate with the bartendress for a different cheese. You must understand that I find American cheese to be an abomination. It looks like cheddar, but it takes like plastic. Why? Why, why, why? When you could just have cheddar? American cheese should be illegal, along with milk chocolate. I saw that they also had a steak salad on the menu, and while it was tempting, unlike the wrap it didn't come with a choice of side, and I really wanted to try that soup. Instead, I went with an intriguing entrée special, the Cranberry Pomegranate Chicken. It came with a choice of soup or salad, a vegetable, and a choice of starch, the options for which included a plethora of potatoes. Baked potato, cheddar twice baked potato, mashed potato, scalloped potato, mashed sweet potato.... Before we ordered, Davin assured me that he would eat my starch, and he picked out scalloped potatoes from the list. For dinner, Davin ordered the steak wrap, despite his lack of low-carb restrictions, just because he likes it so well anyway. We both got the crab bisque. The soup was creamy, an excellent consistency, and not without noticeable pieces of fresh sweet crab. Overall, though, I thought it lacked a tanginess I've come to expect in seafood bisques. My chicken, on the other hand, had a perfect cranberry tang to it. The chicken breast was tender, smothered in sauce and sprinkled liberally with pine nuts and fresh cranberries (important to note—we're not talking Craisins here). The scalloped potatoes looked delicious, and I made Davin get them off my plate and out of my sight promptly. The vegetable selection that came with the chicken was a half a corn cob, a chunk of broccoli florets and a selection of baby carrots. I ate a couple of the carrots, all of the broccoli and left the cob. As much as I love carrots and corn, they're on the higher-carb end as vegetables go. The cranberry pomegranate sauce was so generously portioned onto the chicken breast that there was more than enough for dipping my broccoli florets. I could have used a side of butter for the vegetables, though. I like melted butter on my broccoli and, even though I had no intention to eat my corn, don't most people like to put butter on their corn cobs?

So, as it turns out, The Crow's Nest has many delights to offer the low-carb diner, but you are warned to enter only if you have the strength of your resolve. There is a minefield of starches to tempt the weak-willed dieter, but if you're woman enough to defy temptation, the food at the Crow's Nest is definitely worth the trip.