Wishing Well

The Wishing Well is in a simple, unassuming house on Saratoga Road, just a couple of minutes from downtown Saratoga. When we walked in the front door though, the restaurant was anything but simple. The Wishing Well has that classic and distinguished feel, definitely a fancy restaurant for a fancy occasion (we were celebrating a birthday that night!) We walked past the bar, through a larger dining room, and were seated at an intimate table next to the fireplace in a smaller room near the back. Even though the restaurant itself is pretty big, each room makes you cozy and welcome.

We started off our meal with a particularly amazing appetizer: Crispy Tempura Asparagus with a spicy aioli.

This was one of the highlights of the meal. The asparagus was tender and the tempura was light and crispy, such a nice combination of textures. Not to mention the aioli which had a great kick to it and  complimented the smoother flavor of the asparagus perfectly. Not only was this appetizer delicious, but there was a LOT of it. When (not if, but when) you get this appetizer you can certainly share it between two people at least, maybe even three or four. 

Both of our meals came with a salad, nothing super exciting, but a nice way to ease into the main course. 

Gotta love the classic glass salad plates.

After the salads came our entrees, mine being the Mediterranean Shrimp Scampi with artichoke hearts, basil, capers, and tomatoes. 

The shrimp were huge and the artichoke hearts and capers were holding this dish up to it's Mediterranean standards. I loved all of the flavors in this meal, you could taste each and every ingredient, yum! What was unusual about this scampi though was it's lack of pasta. Not that I was still hungry at the end of the meal by any means, but I think I would have liked some pasta or rice under the shrimp.

Both meals came with vegetable side dishes, which helped with my starch craving, but I don't really think mashed potatoes really match my dish, do you? 

My date ordered a very impressive meal for his birthday dinner: lobster baked with a cornbread crab stuffing. 

Wow.

This was pretty fantastic. The cornbread crab stuffing was to die for and the lobster was steamed to perfection. You really can't beat lobster dipped in butter, it's just too good. A funny side story - this was his first time ordering a full out lobster and for those of you who have never ordered one before, there is a lot of work involved. Cracking, pulling, teasing...all to get to that delicious lobster meat. Anyways - halfway through eating one of the claws, my date pulled a little too hard and half the claw went flying...straight into the fireplace! It was amazing, straight out of a movie. We decided (with the input of the neighboring table) that the combination of it still being in the claw and the five second rule made it still edible. And it was worth the rescue mission, no lobster left behind! 

At first we weren't going to have any dessert, we were way too full. But then the owner stopped by our table to see how we were doing. I love it when that happens, it really shows how much they care about their restaurant and about their customers' experience. Anyway - we were talking to him and learning about the history of the restaurant and such when I "accidentally" let it slip that it was my date's birthday. Oops. Lucky for us, this showed up a couple minutes later.

So that blue thing sticking out on the left is a birthday candle, but his birthday wish was made before I had time to take a picture. How beautiful is that eclair! Unfortunately I couldn't have any because of my ever-annoying chocolate allergy, but I could live vicariously for a little bit. This is the perfect dessert for anyone who thinks they are too full for something sweet. Eclairs are light and airy with amazing cream filling and fit nicely into that separate stomach that everyone has for dessert. Nicely done Wishing Well.

I would highly recommend the Wishing Well for any celebration or even just a fancy family dinner. It is certainly on the pricier side, but you can always go on one of their specials nights - just check out my page for weekly specials to check out some of the stuff they offer during the week. Their website also talks about a Sunday date night special that looks pretty amazing, I'll have to check that out soon. I feel like the Wishing Well has some great stories behind it, have you celebrated any special occasions there? Have any good stories or memories you want to share? What about your favorite meal there?