Restaurant Week Part VI: Beulah
When you look inside, you see chandeliers and lovely decor. You see the heavenly name, Beulah, and you think, "Hmm. Must be some sort of place Southern Belles go to have high tea. Nope. It's an Italian Restaurant. This was my first time here, so I can't speak to the quality of the restaurant on a non Savor Sarasota day, but my experience was quite pleasant.
For lunch, I took my dear friend, Aubrey, who is in a wheelchair. This is the first time I have had to consider wheelchair accessibility while reviewing a restaurant. The space was not great, but the host went above and beyond making sure that we got where we needed to go without difficulty. He even moved tables and chairs out of our way so we could get by with relative ease. The servers were very attentive and eager to please.
Round 1: Brittani got the Caprese Salad, Aubrey got the Minestrone, and I got the Beulah Salad. Nothing life changing about the first course. My salad was fresh, and Aubrey thoroughly enjoyed her soup, but Brittani was not terribly impressed with the Caprese. The tomatoes were not that beautiful shade of red befitting the freshest produce, and it certainly could have used a balsamic glaze of sorts to dress it up a bit.
Now those of you who read my review of Capital Grille's Savor Sarasota offerings know how horribly disappointed I was with the salmon. The Salmon Piccata I got here at Beulah more than redeemed salmon for me. It was literally everything that the Capital Grille salmon was not. It was cooked to divinity, and the white wine, lemon, caper sauce was impeccable. I think I would love to swim in a pool of that sauce. Brittani, however, was less than thrilled about her Chicken Panini, and after trying a couple bites of it myself, I could see why. The chicken tasted fishy, and the breast meat was soggy as if boiled then tossed on the grill pan for a few seconds. There was perhaps a tablespoon of red sauce that only made it to half the sandwich (which was a huge deal b/c we are big sauce people). I felt terrible that her dining experience seemed the complete opposite of mine that day. I tried to not let the guilt interfere with how much I was enjoying MY meal. I think I succeeded.
TIP: The portion of the Salmon Piccata was only enough to satisfy a dieting cheerleader, so if you are an American male, you might wanna fill your tummy up with free bread and EVOO beforehand.
Lastly, there was dessert. I found my Cinnamon Tiramisu quite delightful and full of all the right kinds of flavors. It was not as light and fluffy as Angelo's, and the cake to mascarpone ratio was not my fave, but all in all was still a lovely treat. The shade Brittani was throwing her chocolate cake told me everything I needed to know about her dessert. She was not pleased. In her words, "It was as if the cake was stale, so they soaked it in milk and dressed it with Hershey's syrup." I'm not sure if that's what really happened, but when I tasted it, I had to say her assessment was pretty accurate.
Ambience: 9/10.
Service: 10/10
Food: 7.5/10 (Just my meal was an 8.8/10)
Good for: Dates, birthdays, girly get-togethers
TIP: Beulah is keeping their Savor Sarasota special going through the summer, so there's still plenty of time for you to go check it out for yourself.
For lunch, I took my dear friend, Aubrey, who is in a wheelchair. This is the first time I have had to consider wheelchair accessibility while reviewing a restaurant. The space was not great, but the host went above and beyond making sure that we got where we needed to go without difficulty. He even moved tables and chairs out of our way so we could get by with relative ease. The servers were very attentive and eager to please.
Round 1: Brittani got the Caprese Salad, Aubrey got the Minestrone, and I got the Beulah Salad. Nothing life changing about the first course. My salad was fresh, and Aubrey thoroughly enjoyed her soup, but Brittani was not terribly impressed with the Caprese. The tomatoes were not that beautiful shade of red befitting the freshest produce, and it certainly could have used a balsamic glaze of sorts to dress it up a bit.
Now those of you who read my review of Capital Grille's Savor Sarasota offerings know how horribly disappointed I was with the salmon. The Salmon Piccata I got here at Beulah more than redeemed salmon for me. It was literally everything that the Capital Grille salmon was not. It was cooked to divinity, and the white wine, lemon, caper sauce was impeccable. I think I would love to swim in a pool of that sauce. Brittani, however, was less than thrilled about her Chicken Panini, and after trying a couple bites of it myself, I could see why. The chicken tasted fishy, and the breast meat was soggy as if boiled then tossed on the grill pan for a few seconds. There was perhaps a tablespoon of red sauce that only made it to half the sandwich (which was a huge deal b/c we are big sauce people). I felt terrible that her dining experience seemed the complete opposite of mine that day. I tried to not let the guilt interfere with how much I was enjoying MY meal. I think I succeeded.
TIP: The portion of the Salmon Piccata was only enough to satisfy a dieting cheerleader, so if you are an American male, you might wanna fill your tummy up with free bread and EVOO beforehand.
Lastly, there was dessert. I found my Cinnamon Tiramisu quite delightful and full of all the right kinds of flavors. It was not as light and fluffy as Angelo's, and the cake to mascarpone ratio was not my fave, but all in all was still a lovely treat. The shade Brittani was throwing her chocolate cake told me everything I needed to know about her dessert. She was not pleased. In her words, "It was as if the cake was stale, so they soaked it in milk and dressed it with Hershey's syrup." I'm not sure if that's what really happened, but when I tasted it, I had to say her assessment was pretty accurate.
Ambience: 9/10.
Service: 10/10
Food: 7.5/10 (Just my meal was an 8.8/10)
Good for: Dates, birthdays, girly get-togethers
TIP: Beulah is keeping their Savor Sarasota special going through the summer, so there's still plenty of time for you to go check it out for yourself.
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