Erato; A Review

So, for a while now I have been wanting to write and post some reviews of restaurants the wife and I have hit up. And what better one to start off with, than one of the best in the area, Erato. What a great place. Located in Edwardsville, IL, next to Roxy’s, this place is the jewel of the east side. Kevin and his staff work tirelessly to make your evening as enjoyable as possible.

I actually wrote this a while back and posted it on Bill Burge’s Bites Blog

Well, I headed back to the east side again this weekend for another visit to Erato.

This time we had a group of 7 of us. Five first timers, and 2 soon to be regulars.

We were lucky enough to have Zach serve us again. He is a great server and a certified foodie. Nice to have someone who’s attentive, intelligent and easy going taking care of you. He has a great knowledge of food and spirits, and has yet to disappoint in 2 visits. Kudos to him for putting up with our scattered method of ordering food that night. Literally, one thing after another, for about 2.5 hours.

On to the food.

The wife and I, and my brother paired up to sample a multitude of the small plates. Eight in all. In total, I think our table actually ordered all but two of the small plates. None of the larger plates were ordered by us.

Broccoli Cream Soup with Prairie Grass Farms egg and Oregon White Truffles

When I first saw the color (bright mint green), I’ll admit I wasn’t sure. But after tasting, it turned out to be my favorite dish of the night, besides the fried Trigger Fish, which is a personal favorite of mine. Smooth and creamy, dotted with truffles and the hard boiled? PGF egg. Heavenly.

Local Oyster Mushroom and Shitake Salad with shaved shallots, house made bacon, goat cheese and toasted pecans

My wife ate most of this before I could get a bite. And the bites I had were missing the cheese AND the bacon. But still a good salad. Not groundbreaking, but very fresh and good.

Local Pear and Duck Prosciutto on goat cheese crostini

My least favorite dish of the night, but not because of the taste. The texture/consistency of the duck made it impossible to bite through cleanly. That, coupled with the crunchy crostini made each one basically fall apart when you bit into it, forcing me to take each one in one bite. The flavor combo was really nice though, it was just a bit of an effort to eat.

Sweet Potato Nachos

I believe we have covered this one. Delish as always.

Seared Scallops with Truffle Whipped Cream with ancho chili oil

Absolutely delicious. The scallops were cooked perfectly. The heat from the ancho chili combined with the sweet and earthy from the truffle whipped cream was spot on. I bet I could eat a dozen of these.

Blackened Gulf Trigger Fish and spoonbread, seared andouille sausage, local pepper jelly and preserved lemon

Ha. I’d been waiting to see some Trigger Fish on the menu here, and finally got it. Trigger is one of my favorite Gulf caught fish. And really, I had never had it any way other than fried. but this combo, especially with the sausage and jelly really went well together. Not sure what kind of andouille sausage but it was outstanding. I should say the spoonbread at Erato is great by itself. But when combined with the spices, heats, and sweets of this dish, the texture and taste really complimented the dish well.

Gulf Oyster and Crawfish Spoonbread with roasted local oyster mushrooms and lamb Tasso cream

I didn’t get but a bite or two of this, but what I had was delectable. Seafood, shrooms, spoonbread and cream. Perfect.

Creole Meat Pie

Maybe the most underrated dish of the night. Ground filet and many spices ?, served up in a flaky, crossiant type pocket. I didn’t order it, but had several bites of my brothers. It was fantastic.

Carrot Sorbet with Florida Rock Crab claw meat and balsamic

Got this nice little palate cleanser, complimentary of the chef, after our first round of grub. Really, how do you come up with this shit Kevin? And wow, how do you know it’s gonna work so well? Perfect fit to take us into the next round.

Cranberry Sorbet with House Made bacon

You want to make people happy? Well, this made me happy. First time I have ever had bacon with desert, and now it won’t be the last. Tangy/Tartness of the cranberries side by side with the saltiness of the bacon made for a delightful end to a big east side culinary adventure.

Fried Trigger Fish Throats

The treat of the night, at least for me. Having mentioned to Kevin, that I absolutely love Trigger Fish, he surprised us with some fresh fried throats and cheeks. Really my personal favorite of the night. I can’t tell you how delicious trigger fish is, especially just straight up fried, the way the Flying Spaghetti Monster intended. White, flaky but firm, trigger fish just begs to be fried up and eaten in bulk with your favorite lager or IPA. Believe it. It’s that good. Kind of reminds me of my days of catching bluegill and frying up hand sized fillets in beer batter, all day and night.

For spirits this time around, I had Victory Brewing Co. “Golden Monkey”, (Triple), Pennsylvania, Avery “Red Point” Ale, Colorado, Avery “Collaboration not Litigation” Belgian Style Strong Ale draft, and the locally brewed O’Fallon Cocoa Creme Stout draft. I’m not much (yet) on pairing beer with anything, and this list should be pretty indicative of that. Pretty much just want to try stuff I’ve never had, in styles that I like. And really, I like a lot of options. The more the better.

Overall, another incredibly successful evening at Erato. Everyone at our table thoroughly enjoyed their meals, and said they would come back for sure. I can’t say it enough, that this place should not be passed up by anyone who loves good food in an upscale but still relaxed environment.

Erato is the real deal. For real.

The kicker of this whole evening (aside from the incredible generosity of Kevin) was that our bill for the 3 of us (9-10 small plates and 4 beers) before a tip was a paltry $105. Are you fucking kidding me? That is far and away the most bang for your buck you will find in the metro area.

Color me pleased!