110 East Davie Street
Downtown Raleigh, NC
Entrees: $20–30
Fins is a modern, upscale restaurant featuring American dining with a bit of Asian inspiration. The decor was gorgeous, from the wall of water behind the bar to the beautiful gold bars across the ceiling.
I was surprised by just how empty it was on a Saturday night; I hope that's not usually the case. A restaurant this good deserves packed houses nightly.
I ordered a lycheetini to start my meal. It was bright rose in color. Unfortunately, it tasted far too much like a jolly rancher to be good. So I changed my drinking tack and ordered a bottle of unfiltered sake to share with Mr. Gourmez instead. It was very, very good. I didn't realize unfiltered sake was so creamy in taste and texture.
Two types of bread were served before our appetizer. The wheat bread was boring but for a hint of molasses but the sourdough cheese bread was delightful. The scallion-specked butter was nearly impossible to spread, however.
We started with a clam appetizer that was beautifully presented. It was also beautifully prepared. The pommes frites did not get soggy in the broth, the clams were tender, and the grape tomatoes added a lot of flavor. The large hunks of scallion might have been a bit much but I enjoyed munching on a pile of veggies, so I can't complain.
Next up was a scallop, eggplant, and sweet potato dish that melted in my mouth. The eggplant was especially delightful for me and even Mr. Gourmez admitted it was good (He's not an eggplant fan). The parsley added a nice earthiness to the dish that gave some balance to the velvety texture of the rest of the ingredients.
And then there was dessert. It was called the banana rum baba, if my memory serves me well. The rum baba was creamy, dense, and satisfying. They could have tossed in some more rum for added flavor, though.
In case you couldn't tell, but for a disappointing cocktail, I loved Fins. I also, upon reading back the review, I found their offerings to all be quite creamy and melty, a good thing for them but not for my thesaurus skills. I will definitely be back and will order something else off the drink list next time. Or have more sake. Or simply revel in the scrumptious dishes.
Reviewed 9.19.09.
