The tender pan-seared Berkshire pork chop and the juicy pan-roasted half chicken made a good showing.
Then there were tender, pan-fried Maryland-style crab cakes with little filler, and sassy, succulent curried shrimp wrapped, burrito-style, in roti.
Tender, pan-fried pork with ginger sauce ($15.50) is a little-seen main course worth noting, but an unremarkable breaded deep-fried tonkatsu ($15.50) pork cutlet isn't.
Then came the appetizers we had ordered: tender pan-fried Korean meat dumplings, a seafood pancake stuffed mostly with slightly overcooked calamari, and fried battered chicken (kan-poon-gi) that lost all crunch (and appeal) under its spicy sauce.
A roasted beet, arugula and Gorgonzola salad with pomegranate vinaigrette fits the bill, as does the pistachio-crusted salmon, a tender, pan-roasted slab of organic fish paved with a crunchy layer of ground pistachios and chopped herbs.
Her evolved-Italian approach is typified by a surprising but excellent appetizer of tender pan-roasted clams, served with cubes of chorizo, cranberry beans and sawed-off tubetti pasta in a broth of tomatoes and chipotle chilies.
I relished the faint smokiness of my tender pan-roasted applewood-smoked duck breast, but regretted the finger-thick slabs that were served, mostly because they contained so much fatty skin.
Then, perhaps, sarson ka saag ($8), a soft and creamy mass of mustard greens, touched with ginger and rich with ghee, followed by aloo pakoras ($7), crisp potato fritters elevated by a spicy mint and coconut chutney, and tender pan-roasted calamari ($10), stuffed with a savory blend of cilantro, garlic, ginger and onions.
I highly recommend the tender pan-seared Spanish octopus and the Hawaiian prawns, which are soaked in a zesty sauce of brandy, garlic, shallots and shrimp butter, and served over Ciabatta.
Cook until broccoli is tender, shaking pan and stirring once, 4 minutes.
Cook until cauliflower is tender, shaking pan and stirring once, 5 minutes.
