A Night w/ The Harbor House- Milwaukee, WI

From the very first sip of my perfectly crafted martini created by the focused bar tender, I knew it was going to be a great meal.  It was a clear night, the cityscape including the color changing lights in the atrium level of the Milwaukee Art Museum added to the breath taking views.  The reflections of the city, the moon and the stars bounced off the waters tide of the Great Lake.  It was a bustling evening for the restaurant, fully packed with a wait list; luckily my date managed to get reservation for us in advance.  With great company in tote we bellied up to the bar and reviewed the specialty cocktails, drafts and extensive wine list; an Extra Dirty Bombay Martini for him and the Fish House Specialty Martini for me. 

The large square bar is located at the stern of the restaurant which allows for a full view of the hustle in bustle of the diners, staff, and open kitchen.   The dark wide plank wood that lines the eatery’s floors are a sharp contrast to the white marble surfaces, subway tile and lightly painted walls and ceiling.  Splashes of navy blue, black and white photography and polished silver are scattered around; simply put…. it’s nautical done right! While we waited for our table to be ready we indulged in some Wonderful… Wonderful raw bar options.  The market fresh oysters were delectable. We reveled in 6 different varieties, all were delicious but 3 of the 6 I would order again and again.  In fact I could go for some hearty east coasters right now! 

It wasn’t long after we finished our 2^nd cocktail and polished off the last of the dozen oysters when the lovely hostess re-greeted us and showed us to our port side, window table.  WOW, if I weren’t already in love with my date, this would have been the night I fell ;). I’ve ate my way around the country in all sorts of different places some to be considered a few of the top restaurants, from  5-star dining to curbside food trucks;  I say all this to point out the fact I am not wooed by pure ambiance.  Rather it’s a compilation of expected or unanticipated atmosphere, food quality/freshness, front of the house staff distinction and obviously overall experience.  It’s a rarity to find all of these things to be above par while leaving such places without spending half a weeks’ salary there.

Our server’s name was Matt he was a young early 20 something man dressed like his co workers in a freshly dry cleaned black collared shirt, black pants and a black & white stripped apron.  He was good at his job, describing the meal options and wine pairings.  My admirable date and I both decided to start this portion of our meal off with the Harbor House Crustacean Bisque.  How cliché of us I know ;) but this girl loves a GOOD Lobster Bisque.  To be completely honest the bisque had a wonderfully tasty base, it was creamy and had a full bodied lobster taste to it.  On the down side, I prefer my bisque to have actual chunks of lobster in it, this bisque did not.  It was tasty, but next time I will order the New England Clam Chowder instead. 

Next were our highly anticipated entrées; my date, the Filet Mignon & Scallops and I, the Filet Mignon & Cold Water Lobster Tail.  We usually order different items and go halvesies so that we can enjoy different aspects of the menu at one visit.  In addition, when ordering red meat we will ask for different temperatures; this ensures the communication between the front of the house and back of the house is solid.  We were both pleased by the preparation of our filets; both were cooked to the temperatures we asked for.  I thoroughly enjoyed my filet as well as the creaminess of the Yukon Gold Potato Puree that accompanied it.  The lobster was good but was slightly over cooked for my taste which made it a bit rubbery.  I think next time I will steer clear of all things lobster at the Harbor House and stick to just about every other item that is done perfectly.  My date loved the texture and taste of the spinach that adorned his filet and delectable scallops.  Oh, how I LOVED the scallops, you MUST get the scallops, they were seared beautifully and were fresh and flavorful.

We were so incredibly full after the meal that we had not saved room for the dessert, which is fine by me because we’ll simply have to go back again!  By this point the Harbor House was calming down and fewer and fewer patrons were around.  Our polite server was very kind and never pressed as we sat there for another 30 minutes or so, hand in hand enjoying that beautiful view over a glass of Pinot Nior.

The Harbor House Milwaukee receives:

4 out of 5 Knives & Forks

                   This is what we ordered:

·         Extra Dirty Bombay Martini – 11.00

·         Fish House Specialty Martini- 11.00

·         Draft beer- 9.00

·         Frank the Bartenders Special- 11.00

·         Market Oyster Selection - 2.50 each | 12.50 half dozen | 25.00 dozen

·         Harbor House Crustacean Bisque - 6.95 / 8.95

• Filet Mignon & Scallops - Seared Diver-Caught Atlantic Scallops, Potato Puree, Spinach 44.95
• Filet Mignon & Maine Lobster - Steamed Half Lobster, Boiled Red Potatoes 49.95
• Yukon Gold Potato Puree - 4.50
• Pinot Nior (unfortunately I forget the brand, total disappointment, sorry)

http://harborhousemke.com/

The photographs were not taken by me for this particular article; they were borrowed from the establishment’s website.