Somerset - Rockridge area, Oakland

I got treated to a very nice dinner by doublewong the other night at a new restaurant for both of us. From my research, Somerset is a relatively new restaurant in the Rockridge area (less than a year old I think), with a somewhat standard California cuisine, casual/fine dine atmosphere.

Our dinner consisted of the following:
French Onion Soup
Wild Mushroom Tart
Garlic Lemon Prawns
Braised Beef Short Ribs with chantrelle mushrooms and soft polenta
Broiled Chilean Sea Bass served with savory white rice, roasted vegetables and a shallot parsley sauce
Molten Chocolate Cake with Raspberry sauce and topped with whipped cream

This was a hit and miss kinda meal. While overall it was good, it was very rich but I was disappointed by several things which should've been good considering the price point. I liked the French onion soup, but I only had a few spoonfuls. I could see how it could be too salty after having the whole thing. It was definitely a bit rich, but the soaking toast in the soup still had a nice texture. Plus I actually liked that it didn't have a think layer of melted cheese that most other places serve it with.

The mushroom tart was good. Flaky pastry and lots of mushrooms, I just wished it came out warmer and a bit bigger. I would've been a much bigger fan.

The garlic lemon prawns were a disappointment for me. While the garlic lemon sauce was okay, there wasn't much subtlety to it and it was even enough. Plus the prawns seemed a bit overcooked and somewhat small. Would not order it again.

On to the entrees. I'll start with mine, which was the Chilean Sea Bass...now I know what you're probably saying, and after thinking about it, I was saying it too...how could they be serving Chilean Sea Bass, isn't it supposed to be off limits. Mentally, I knew it wasn't a good thing to be eating a possibly endangered fish, but unfortunately, my mind got pwned by my mouth and stomach and I ordered it anyways before Brain could interfere, all the while hoping that this chef somehow found a source of sustainably farmed sea bass. My ethical guilt aside, oh man, I love Chilean Sea Bass...nicely roasted and sitting on a bed of savory rice. So good. Buttery, white succulent flesh...drool. While I was distracted by just the taste of the Sea Bass itself, the preparation was pretty standard and didn't really stand out in any way. I've definitely had better in more Sea Bass available days, years ago.

Double ordered the Braised Beef Short Ribs and really...how could you go wrong with those words. Fall off the bone tender and a savory seasoning and sauce. This was very rich and I only had a few bites of it, but what I had was thumbs up. Unfortunately the polenta nor the "chantrelle" mushrooms didn't do it for either of us. And in fact, we were pretty sure the so-called Chantrelle mushrooms were actually just regular old button mushrooms you'd find at Safeways dressed up in brown sauce. We were very disappointed by that.

While I was too full to consider dessert, Double had to try the Molten Chocolate Cake. Sounds good right? But boy, I was disappointed. I should figured it wasn't going to be what I expected when we ordered it at the end of the meal and not 20 mins to the end of the meal. There was nothing molten about this cake. In fact, it was flat! like a pancake almost. How sad, here we were expecting a nice little mini tower of chocolate oozing goodness and then all we get is a flat kinda flower shaped cake. It wasn't even warm really! Yeah, definitely ended what was otherwise a nice meal on a somewhat sad note. Don't get me wrong, we finished it though, we always finish it, but it was a disappointment nonetheless.

Service was pretty nice and friendly. Though they sort of messed up our reservation, thinking it was going to be four people. Luckily we were the first diners of the night and that was easily resolved. It was pretty casual, which is the vibe we usually give so I didn't mind that at all, though at times it seems like I was having a hard time communicating what I wanted sometimes with the waiters and waitresses.