If it wasn’t precisely a popular notion, arriving at Venue American Grille before the music starts in order to eat from the long menu stuffed with just what you’d expect at a music club makes perfect sense.
You can talk to a friend and pay attention to the good food before you turn to the musicians. The bands, amplified at high volume, don’t brook much in the way of inattention once they get going.
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Nachos ($7.99) held high on a waiter’s hand fly by, and no doubt on busy nights the other bar heroes such as barbecue chicken wings, mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders are in demand as well.
The calamari ($9.99) arrived with a little cup of marinara and, although it needed salt, the fried squid was nicely cooked, the meaty sliced cephalopods firm but tender.
Onion rings ($5.99) are described as “flour-flipped” on the menu, which led me to imagine a light tender coating with the onion predominating. They turned out to wear a sturdy coat of cornmeal and flour; they were golden and crunchy with equal parts of crunch and onion. If I’d been hankering for something else, they proved to be just as good.
We drank a bottle of El Rioja Coto 2005 ($32) from the Crianza region of Spain, a dry, simple and good red wine. The list of wines by the glass is short and undistinguished, but the list of beers does the place proud and includes Shipyard Prelude, Gritty’s Scottish Ale and Allagash White.
Specialty cocktails might be available in the near future after a revamping of the menu is accomplished. No details were ready for release as this review hit its deadline.
Potato skins with bacon, cheddar and scallions ($6.99) sounds like dinner. Even more ingredients contribute to the beckoning of “Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Bacon Sirloin Burger topped with Cheddar” ($9.99). Bacon and cheddar are the crucial additions to both.
A plain hamburger ($7.99) made the case for good meat, the ground sirloin juicy and delicious. But the french fries were so-so, and the bun was a skinny, soft disappointment.
The fact that the kitchen is making an effort is encouraging — no kind of food business seems immune anymore from the push to improve flavors, and finding good meat is one of the best ways to turn a lowly burger into something delectable.
I learned from the server that the haddock and that good calamari both came from Fisherman’s Net, a seafood market almost next door at 849 Forest Ave.
The plainest dish on the menu, baked haddock ($14.99), tasted clean and fresh. The fish was moist and just translucent, while butter, salt and pepper added a modest flavor boost. I requested the coleslaw side dish and was mesmerized by its goodness — I was grateful someone in the kitchen took coleslaw seriously and made it very much worth eating.
This entree also comes with a house salad and, fortunately for me, the kitchen interpreted my request for feta vinaigrette as both extra feta and feta vinaigrette. That made for an exceptionally creamy and tangy salad of crunchy lettuce and thick cucumber slices.
Fish and chips ($14.99) is made with the same good haddock.
A 14-ounce rib eye ($18.99 or $19.99 made with Montreal seasoning and topped with caramelized onions) sits at the end of the menu after sandwiches and simpler stuff like a BLT on rye or ciabatta and a Blue Mango veggie burger (a product made in Portland).
Eggplant Parmesan ($14.99) and chicken Parmesan ($15.99) are served on linguine.
On a recent Thursday night, the sound check before Line of Force, a band from Rumford, started was less irksome than it might have been — at least, once the reggae was shut off — because the band was so good. Playing slow blues with lots of jazz touches, the band’s sound charmed. The saxophonist played skillfully in his plaid flannel shirt and the lead vocal sang with a rough, low and insinuating voice while we listened and relaxed.
Dessert, which changes regularly and was a choice between cheesecake and ganache chocolate cake ($3.95), both made on site, was the best thing I tasted.
With my companion looking on indifferently, I encountered a tender chocolate cake that was entirely delicious, one layer of slightly salty light chocolate cream in its center and another of heavy, fudge-like dark chocolate. It demanded repeat bites and relentless appreciation.
Big mugs held large servings of hot, freshly made coffee ($2.50), full-bodied and strong.
N.L. English is a Portland freelance writer and the author of “Chow Maine: The Best Restaurants, Cafes, Lobster Shacks and Markets on the Coast.” Visit English’s website, www.chowmaineguide.com.
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