XL Food & Drink: The Main Course

The Belmont

Good cooking isn't enough - new restaurant also needs to deliver on design and description

It takes more than good cooking to produce a special meal. The conceptualization and presentation of the dishes are just as critical. And it helps to have a menu that accurately reflects the items.

Jay Janner
AMERICAN-STATESMAN

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The Belmont opened in September and generated a lot of buzz. The interior decor is reminiscent of '60s Palm Springs.

Jay Janner
AMERICAN-STATESMAN

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The molten chocolate cake is served with Amy's Mexican vanilla ice cream.

Jay Janner
AMERICAN-STATESMAN

(enlarge photo)

The spit-roasted chicken at the Belmont is moist and tasty, but the mashed potatoes it's served upon turn into a soggy mess and coat every bite of chicken.

The Belmont

305 W. Sixth St., 457-0300

Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 5 to 10 p.m. Sundays-Wednesdays, 5 to 11 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays

Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diners

Wheelchair access: Yes

Wine: 22 by the glass ($7-$12), 36 by the bottle ($28-$95)

Rating:

The Belmont, the new West Sixth Street restaurant with the 1960s Palm Springs decor that created a lot of buzz when it opened, scored on the cooking side. In fact, the poultry, pork and fish all exhibited deft skills at the stove.

But the restaurant stumbled when it came to developing and designing many of the dishes, leaving flaws that easily can be eliminated with relatively minor adjustments. Plus, a little rewriting of the menu wouldn't hurt.

One of the appetizers, the fried calamari ($8), demonstrated all of the problems. The chunks of cornmeal-crusted squid were wonderfully tender and were served with two tasty accompaniments, tomato-basil sauce and lemon-herb aioli.

However, there were as many fried garlic cloves and jalapeño slices as pieces of calamari, which created a completely different dish from what was expected, especially because the menu made no mention of the garlic or the jalapeño. That turned a normally mellow dish into a hot surprise, not the best way to win all diners' affection.

The spinach and artichoke dip ($7), served with tortilla chips and small sides of salsa and sour cream, also didn't live up to its name. Neither of my companions nor I could detect even a hint of artichoke in the dish. Consequently, it was like eating creamed spinach on chips.

The entrees continued with a single conceptual problem: Each was served over a pile of mashed potatoes, which absorbed the accompanying sauces and became a soupy mess on the plate (as well as coating every bite of the meat with mealy texture).

Otherwise, the spit-roasted half-chicken ($14) was tasty and moist. In addition to the mashed potatoes, it was served with a lemon sage brown butter sauce and sprigs of raw watercress stuck into the potatoes.

The cedar plank salmon ($16) came with grilled asparagus and an inviting green tomato salsa, while the honey chipotle glazed pork chop ($16) — one of the most tender pork chops I've sampled in an Austin restaurant in quite a while — was served with a maple sweet potato mash and green beans.

Service at the Belmont joined the classy interior as two strong points that contributed significantly to the evening. The staff was enthusiastic and attentive, even on a busy night that included several large parties in the same room where we were seated.

Dessert, too, was right up there with service and decor.

The key lime pie ($5) was a classic version of the confection with a tart citrus filling in a graham cracker crust. The strawberry-peach tart ($5) enveloped peaches in a flaky pastry that was surrounded by strawberry sauce and topped with Amy's Mexican vanilla ice cream. The molten chocolate cake ($5), with its warm, almost-liquid center, stood in a pool of caramel sauce with scoops of ice cream to the side.

With those sweets, dinner at the Belmont closed on a high note. The restaurant and the kitchen have a lot going for them, but adjustments are needed to improve the design and description of the fare.

drice@statesman.com; 445-3859