Martha's Vineyard Eats 2009

Clams & ussels in a spicy sauce - my favorite!

Every year I try to make it to the island of Martha's Vineyard for at least a long weekend. The laid back culture, beautiful scenery and fresh seafood make for a relaxing and fun vacation - this is why President Obama decided to vacation here! My aunt and uncle own a very nice house with a great location on the island and graciously invite us to stay every year. For rental information, click here.

This year Cal and I went over a long weekend in October - great weather and a fun time had by all (as usual). We ate out several times during our stay and enjoyed my aunt's wonderful cooking as well.

Near the beginning of our stay we dined at il tesoro in Edgartown at the Charlotte Inn. Overall I was pleased with the experience, especially the spicy mussel and clam appetizer my dad ordered (above), the pesto gnocci (below) and the dessert.

Swordfish.



Sole.



Tuna steak - very good.



Seafood pasta special - not as flavorful as I would have liked. Next time I'll stick with the tomato version. Also, it was supposed to have lobster in it but I don't remember tasting any.



Veal Marsala.



Pesto Gnocci - light and deliciously garlicky. Highly recommended by my cousin Amanda!



Dessert selection - we tasted several of these. My favorite was the berry tart.



Had to go for a lobster roll - following a long bike ride, this was tasty and I enjoyed the sweet potato fries, too.

One day for lunch we went to Fishbone's in Oak Bluffs (not sure why their address on urbanspoon is listed as Vineyard Haven). Our lunch was fine and it was nice to sit near the boats docked nearby.

Cal tried the Fish & Chips. He liked this dish, although I think we were so hungry we would have enjoyed anything!

Our last night on the Vineyard we dined at The Mediterranean in Oak Bluffs. While some of the dishes were noteworthy and tasty, the entire experience was dampened by the extremely slow service and bloopers made throughout the evening including raw eggplant being served under a fried eggplant sandwich, cold food and bad coffee. The restaurant was practically empty so there was no reason for our meal to take 3 hours.

Tapas portions of calamari and carmelized sea scallop with fig sauce - good.



One of the Greek pasta dishes - I can't remember which one - not listed on the online menu. I do remember it was tasty.



Pizza.



Mussel tangine - the best savory dish of the meal; interesting spices used to enhance the fresh seafood.



Lamejun - an interesting melange of flavors but this version turned out dry.



Falafel with rice.



"The Stack" - for some reason this fried eggplant sandwich was served atop raw eggplant this evening - very strange indeed.



The best part of the meal with the burnt sugar ice cream that accompanied this giant and dense chocolate cake.



Mocha creme brulee was also tasty.

Martha's Vineyard Revisited!

Over Memorial Day weekend I spent time with family on Martha's Vineyard. Lucky for me, my aunt and uncle have a house there. We had a fabulous time, the weather was great and the food was yum yum yum!

My Aunt and Uncle's House on the Vineyard. Available for rental here.

View on the way to the beach - about a five minute walk from the house.

The gorgeous beach.

The water was pretty cold, but it warms up nicely later in the summer.

We had a lovely lunch at Art Cliff, a small cafe with delicious food. They serve a wide variety of crepes, breakfast foods, sandwiches and salads.

One meat sandwich and one veggie!

Curried chicken salad - the orange stuff on top was either fried carrot or fried sweet potato!

Plain crepe with sugar and lemon juice - I had to indulge myself for dessert as this was too good to pass up!

OK so we had to eat a lot of smoked shrimp and crab dip... just like this... with crackers!

Lynn made a delicious chicken with peanut and veggie pasta.

Plum TV, Amanda's place of employment.

We hiked down to another beach one day. The weather was perfect and yours truly really enjoyed it.

Picturesque bench on our hike.

View from Edgartown Harbor.

Front of Chesca's, the fancy place we went in Edgartown. It was delicious.

Wonderful bread and cracker assortment with butter and white bean spread.

They had bento box specials, including this one with salmon.

Frutti di Mare Pasta.

Lobster ravioli with huge scallops.

The desserts were out of this world! We had a brownie sundae and a wonderfully creamy custard with raspberries. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Our whole crew at lunch on the Vineyard.

Mad Martha's. Some fine ice cream.

Amanda enjoys her cone.

The famous Black Dog chain - this is the Cafe.

Pastries and cakes at The Black Dog. The apple fritter is awesome and worth every last calorie!

I'm Crazy about Martha's Vineyard!

I was lucky enough to be invited to Martha's Vineyard last month to stay with my Uncle Phil, Aunt Lynn and cousin Amanda. They own this gorgeous house located in Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts. While I was there I was treated to many culinary delights - in fact it seemed as though we never stopped eating!! Highlights include the wonderful smoked shrimp and crab dip available at John's Fish Market where they also fry up some some delectable fish and chips, a wonderful dinner at Lambert's Cove Inn where I got to sample sea bass and lamb, fabulous pies sold in front of Eileen the pie lady's house by her husband, and several tasty meals cooked up right at the house by the talented Lynn Hallen.

John's Fish Market and Takeout Look at that lobster!!! We went through about 5 containers of the smoked crab and shrimp dip before it was all over and it was worth every penny. I wonder if they deliver!?















Lambert's Cove Inn was a delightful place for dinner and the lamb was really out of this world!

Eileen Blake bakes up some scrumptuous pies - we had Cherry Crumb and Triple Berry.








My cousin Amanda and I enjoyed some delicious ice cream in Vineyard Haven.


And, no trip to the Vineyard is complete without THE BIG CHEESE! This wheel is pure Vermont White Cheddar.