Review: As a Date, How did Arlington’s Scutra Turn Out?
– Lori Uhland for YourArlington.com
Dear Scutra, thanks for the date. Once again, I had a lovely evening. Maybe we can do it again sometime soon. What with your parking, and refined-yet-relaxed furnishings, and your interesting but not intimidating menu, and your friendly waitstaff, your faux candlelight … oh, how I want to go steady with you.
But I think we’re just going to have to be friends. It’s not you. It’s me.
See, I want to be able to afford to eat there on a regular basis. You are, after all, practically next door. But your prices are just a smidgeon out of my range for a Thursday night.
So I thought it was a genius move to check your website for specials and, lo and behold, Thursdays is your, “Two-Course Special — An appetizer and entrée for $24.99.” Hot damn; that’s like getting an app for free!
Except, our server informed us that the special applied only to a special menu (not the one online). And like a date with dreamy eyes and lousy shoes, all of the aps included in the special were cheesy. Literally. Goat cheese and salmon strudel, arancini (Italian rice balls stuffed with cheese), and one other delicious-sounding, cheesy jalapeno peppers with Boom Boom Sauce.
See? It’s not you and your dreamy cheese.
It’s all me. Lactose-intolerant me.
Top sweet potato fries
But, luckily, you have the world’s best sweet potato fries. By now, many Arlingtonians know that I’m rather a fry connoisseur.
Scutra, your little gems are dusted with rice — yay, not wheat! — flour that lends the lightest, crispiest, barely discernible crust and provides just a whisper of protection for the soufflé-like center.
Not to put too fine a point on it — I want to make out with these sweet potato fries.
I’m told the “regular” french fries are done the same way. So yes, friend, until further notice if I make a date to meet for drinks, I’ll be the redhead at your bar with an elegant cone of fries where the cocktail list is enticing and the bartender obvi creative.
Lighting and music? Check and check. Nuthin’ not to like here. In fact, a table near the bar has just the right ambiance, too.
So I think as far as staying for dinner goes, if I’m in a seafood mood, as I so often am, I might be persuaded. Yours is one of the only places in the immediate area that almost always has a whole fish on the menu. And that, my friend, is truly endearing.
Marvelous strudel
A whole other reason to crush on you is your chef’s gift of strudel. The man has a way with filo and creating a filling and sauce that are a match made in heaven. These strudels are peppered through the dinner, specials and dessert menus. I’ve yet to be stood up by any of them.
This time my guest tried the salmon/chevre/spinach one from the specials list that was declared “a keeper,” with its surprising chipotle-spiked rémoulade. However, the double-cut pork-chop special we chose was bland and dry. It was paired with uninspired potatoes and green beans.
Even with the delicious sauce that it came served in, the dish was a dud. My guess is that the pork just didn’t bathe in brine long enough. Another disappointment was the beef tenderloin. It, too, had a magnificent sauce but not magnificent enough to carry the lackluster cut of beef that was frankly just a little too sinewy to ask $29 without threat of a breakup. The cheddar mashed potatoes were deemed delicious by someone who can digest cheese, and those green beans showed up again, this time bundled and wrapped in a slice of unsexy bacon.
So dear Scutra, we can totes hang out. Maybe even share a burger special ($10.99) on a Monday night. And definitely for a premovie cocktail and appetizer. If I’m feeling pretty or want to show off a new dress, you just might be my dinner dream date. But for now we are going to keep it friendly. Not besties, mind you. But good, good friends.
Scutra
92 Summer St., Arlington
Hours:
Monday through Thursday, 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Friday, Saturday, 5 to 9:30 p.m.
Closed Sunday
Rating 2 out of 5 stars
Pricing $$ (on scale of 1 to 4 dollar signs)