Maribelle’s, which was for several years right below me on Riverside Drive / Eastern Avenue, was always a pretty nice restaurant, and had a nice patio.? The menu could be uneven, and sometimes so eclectic as to be weird.? But I could always find something to enjoy.
Over the summer, it moved from the East End out to the edge of Oakley, where Hugo’s used to be.? So I was glad to have a chance to have dinner out there last night.? The patio was very nice, surrounded by greenery – and much quieter than the indoor space, which had been totally transformed from its previous incarnation.
The menu was pretty transformed, too.? So I had 3 new dishes I wanted to try.? The main dish was Brussels sprouts, roasted with onions and balsamic vinegar – and topped with a sunny-side-up egg!? I ate most of the sprouts by themselves – terrific – and then ate a few dipped in the egg.? Okay, but odd.
Then an almost-normal dish – roasted sweet potatoes with pecans and goat cheese.? I expected to like it best, but it was pretty bland – nearly tasteless, in fact.? And the last item was dessert:? carrot cake and pound cake, with buttercream icing and a blueberry caramel drizzle – which sounded to strange we had it put on the side.? It turned out to be the best part.
I’ll go back next time for the Brussels sprouts and find some more things to try!