upstairs at upstairs

for a few weeks, carrie and i have been trying to partake of either the bpl's courtyard tea, or the special lobster-and-corn-themed menu at upstairs on the square. as luck would have it, the menu got extended a few days past its stated last day, so we took it as a sign and made a reservation.

i will say, just in passing, that it was much easier than i had expected to get a reservation - we called the night before and were able to get a table for four. then, the following day, when we couldn't find another deuce, we were able to change the reservation from four to two.

in all honesty, for years i've been pretty ambivalent about upstairs on the square - usually the menu is seasonal classics done well with respect to technique. it's one of those places where you would take a look at the menu, and be satisfied, but not particularly excited - a feeling that's a bit strange when considering the whimsical decor. that said, i haven't stayed away just for that reason - you won't find a better butterscotch pudding anywhere, nor can you find a more perfect burger with the right balance of euro (mayo with your fries) and american (...beef, and perfectly crisp bacon).

following this past visit, i can't help but feel that things are on an upswing. we started with an amuse bouche that was a sort of gougere, its interior not unpleasantly on the wet side, with a red wine reduction and a couple shards of parmesan. technically perfect, and the ho-hum nature of the gougere, popularized as an amuse bouche by thomas keller, was definitely upgraded by the red wine reduction. bread was ok, on the salty side, but thankfully no sign of sourdough, and the butter was the consistency of a thick mayo - ie, eminently spreadable.

for starters, i had the wellfleet oysters with asian pear slivers and yuzu ice; carrie had the "native corn three ways" (corn chowder, crispy polenta with a greek salad, sweet corn flan with candied bacon). i've had a bit of a thing for raw oysters ever since i had them for the first time at pearl oyster bar; these oysters were, as far as my slightly insensitive palate goes, quite good. i think they would have been a bit better had they been a little colder, but they tasted fabulous, and the asian pear was a great counterpart. i've never really been able to taste yuzu, but presumably it added some sort of exotic, elusive flavor. carrie's corn trio was quite good as well - the corn chowder could have been called "bacon chowder" instead, so strongly and deliciously did it taste of bacon, despite its complete textural absence. the crispy polenta outdoes pigalle's deep-fried poached egg for perfect crisping, but the centerpiece of this trio is really the flan. the corn sweetens the flan enough, but not too much, and really, as carrie commented, it tastes like a perfect quiche custard, made with the richest ingredients possible, and without any additives - broccoli, etc. and somebody in the kitchen must really love bacon, because the candied bacon was clearly handled with love - perfectly crisp-chewy, with just the right note of sweetness. overall, starters were maybe a 7.5/10?

i would say that entrees trumped starters, no contest. i had grilled lobster (a tail and a claw) with bok choy tempura, spiced butter, and coconut rice. the first time i realized that i liked lobster, as it happens, was also at pearl oyster bar, the same time as the oysters. my memory is like a sieve these days, so i only have the vaguest of memories: that the lobster roll i had was delicious, refreshing, cold, tender, and sweet. you know, all of those things that really good lobster is stereotypically supposed to be. i remember that lobster roll much more fondly than the lobster tail i had at per se; my also-vague memories of the lobster at per se recall concerns over the discernible toughness of the lobster, despite it being poached in butter.

but this is just a long-winded setup to tell you that this lobster dish is possibly the best lobster i've ever had. the lobster was tender without being mushy, and that is saying something. the ample amounts of lobster concealed rice that was savory and strongly imbued, somehow, with coconut flavor and subtle spicing. even the bok choy was better than i had expected - the really leafy bits tasted a bit like kale chips, and the body of the leaves contrasted nicely with the tempura batter. speaking of the batter, it had quite a bit of chew to it, in comparison to most tempura batters, which are soaked with frying oil and almost ephemeral flavor-wise. the crunchy bits of tempura that broke off the bok choy were delicious with the rice and lobster, providing a welcome bit of textural contrast. i'm not sure if that was the intent, but i like to think that it was - that whoever designed this dish thought about what would happen, physically, to the food as it was cut up and consumed.

in other news, carrie had a lobster salad - peppercress (from eva sommaripa's garden!), avocado, citrusy dressing with chunks of lobster. i tried just a bit, and the peppercress was really fabulous, and well taken care of - still crispy and springy. the salad was really the complete opposite of the grilled lobster - the crunchy birkenstock-wearing californian, as opposed to the cold-weather, comfort-food-craving new englander. all in all, quite delicious.

i was disappointed not to see the butterscotch pudding on the dessert menu; we settled on sharing the special dessert - corn ice cream atop a blueberry cobbler. the corn ice cream was really good - again, not too sweet, and it didn't taste of corn, per se. it tasted like somebody made corn sugar out of the corn, in some way that tasted of corn that happened to be sweet
(as opposed to the straight-out sugar sweetness of refined corn syrup). what it reminded me of most was this dessert i had at alinea that had tonka beans in it, really. the ice cream topped a shallow ramekin of blueberry cobbler, which appeared to have equal amounts of topping (with only a smack of oats) and blueberry. somehow this wasn't a problem, because of the shape and size of the serving dish. the shallowness of the dish ensures that there isn't too much blueberry for a given amount of topping, which was in larger crumbly bits than in a normal cobbler.

so, a delicious, relaxing dinner upstairs at upstairs on the square. i hadn't had dinner in the soiree room before, but it proved to be a relaxed respite to the bustle of the larger dining room downstairs. seemed like the downstairs also has more harder surfaces than the upstairs, because the sound echoes there a lot more. just checked the restaurant week menu, and it looks promising.