Maybe the title is a little misleading since Pennsylvania doesn't even touch the Atlantic Ocean. Ok, I didn't go to the beach but rather a fantastic restaurant in Easton, PA called Ocean that realizes a foodie's quest for great food at a reasonable price.
This is the perfect date night restaurant. The modern decor and romantically lit interior backdropped with modern lounge music reminded me of some chic hot spot in New York City without both the long travel time and expense. Being that Alan and I have infrequent date nights, I like to make the most of it and get a little dressed up. For the evening, I shed my usual jeans and olive oil stained t-shirt ensemble for sleek black pants, a satiny top and high heels. In many places these days, this attire might get me looks of, "Where does she think she's going?" Ocean's clientel is hip, young and refreshingly eccentric and to my quiet relief, my wardrobe choice was appropriate with this avant-garde environment. Don't get me wrong, this place is not pretentious. The staff is always quick to please and the well-stocked bar has a flat screen tv and on that night, much to Alan's delight, was playing sports games. There is a little something here for everyone's pleasure.
We learned our lesson from an unsuccessful previous attempt to go there with no reservations. They weren't even sure when we could get seated and that was in the dead of winter. Even with our reservations we had to wait for a few minutes in the downstairs lounge, where we ordered drinks and perused the menu. I'm not sure if the delicious pomegranate martini was going to my head or if I was too excited to be at such a cool place. Either way, I'm glad we had that pause before sitting at our table because every choice on the French inspired menu was overwhelmingly tempting. I think they know they have a real good thing going in the kitchen so they offer tapas as well as entrees to help ease through indecision.
Once seated at a table, we were promptly met with a cheerful waitress who told us the specials that evening. Thank you very much! My decision making just became much more difficult. In the end I decided tapas was the planned route to taste bud bliss. I figured I could try more dishes this way and my plan would have paid off if my eyes weren't bigger than my stomach. I started with the Ocean salad which is double portion sized. I could have stopped there but the crab cake BLT seduced me once I saw it on the menu. Seriously, who can refuse a BLT? For me, having the additional crab was the icing on the cake if you will. Before I got down to gormandizing the gorgeous gateau, I ordered fried calamari. It should be noted their tapas portion size is quite large and two was more than enough. I realized this when I just about finished the crab cake BLT and when the calamari showed up. My eyes eagerly desired the beckoning crispy coating that lavishly surrounded each piece. My stomach was completely satisfied six bites ago. Unfortunately when it comes to food, I've got very little self control. I took a reluctant bite and the calamari did not disappoint. The combination of crispiness with salty flavor thoroughly satisfied my palate. My taste buds screamed for more while my stomach warned me if I listened to my mouth there would be digestive trouble in the near future. Fortunately this decision was fairly easy to make. I asked our waitress for a container to take the calamari home and in the comfort of my everyday home environment, it was my lunch the next day.
This whole experience was on a date night and while I will always deeply love my husband, I fell in love with the food and enchanting surroundings at Ocean. Although he may not admit it, I think Alan felt the same way about the evening. We both can agree that the company is truly what made the evening romantic.
Check out Ocean's website at http://www.ocean235.com/
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