Ocean M, revisited

Sometimes you look at a person and conclude that there is nothing to know about the person. He or she might be dressed neatly, but in the unassuming chinos and buttoned-down shirt manner. The person will probably also have a nondescript hair style to go along with the average height and weight. In a party this person wouldn't stand in any way.

Ocean M reminds of this kind of ordinary person. The restaurant just sits there on the corner of the second floor of a small 2-story building where the first story is the parking garage. I looked through the window before stepping into the place with my son just to see how busy it was. It wasn't. Almost empty, in fact. The maitre d' asked for my drink order after seating us, and I think he was trying to bribe me into coming back, as he graciously informed me before fetching my drink that my double Johnny Walker Black on the rocks would be on the house. The waiter seemed grateful for having something to do and thanked us for sitting in his station, explaining that most people ask for seats by the window. My response to him, lightheartedly, was that there was no view to look at, so we were happy to sit where we were.

I read somewhere once that international spies are often the ordinary-looking type so as not to attract any attention. Underneath that bland exterior lies a quick mind, a heightened awareness and perhaps some suppressed excitement. Ocean M strikes me as being the same. When I get beyond the uninteresting atmosphere and get to the food, I become intrigued. Each time I go to that restaurant I look forward to the next time to see if my next new dish I will try will be as good as the one I just finished. Now, don't get me wrong -- I am not saying that Ocean M is the mother of all French-style restaurants. But it is wholly satisfying, somewhere I want to return to from time to time. I wish more people would go, just to make sure the restaurant stays in business so that I can try out more of their dishes in the future.

My son had his usual raw oysters for his appetizer. Mine was a softshell crab presented on a plate with a swirl of yellow-and-black sauce. I later learned that the yellow was saffron-based and the black was from soy and balsamic vinegar. This could have been my favorite softshell crab dish of all time.

For his entree, my son had a lobster and rockfish combination. The original called for a pairing of chicken with the lobster, but he asked for -- and received without hesitation -- the rockfish instead. I had a taste. It was good enough to try at least once.

I ordered a lambchop and crabcake duo. They were not other-wordly, but still solidly good. I think the highlight of this night's entrees was the carrot and zucchini that was served as an accompaniment. I think they could make a vegetarian meal out of it and put it on their menu if they wanted to.

Keep Ocean M in business. Go and eat there.

Ocean M, McLean, VA

I don't know if its the slow economy or if people are away for the summer, but restaurants have been empty lately. Ocean M last night was no exception. Too bad, because I think that this restaurant deserves more customers.

For appetizers, my family of three had snails with garlic butter and merlot glaze (that would be escargot for you French snobs), risotto with asparagus and oysters on the half shell (that would be my son's choice). The snails and risotto were good, and it is difficult to ruin a raw oyster as long as it is fresh.

I ordered the pan seared rockfish with fennel & beurre blanc sauce for my entree, my wife went for another appetizer that I can't seem to remember for now and my son got the linguini with crabmeat and pernod cream sauce. I'm not a fan of western-style fish dishes, but my rockfish was probably the best fish I've had in a non-Asian restaurant. The flesh was moist, the fennel not overcooked and the sauce didn't overpower. I'd order it again. I tasted a bit of the linguini, and it was good, but not quite perfect -- the pernod sauce added an interesting and quite good accent to the dish, but the sauce was overall a bit too salty for my taste. My son finished all of it, though, and he doesn't usually order pasta.

I believe that the "M" in Ocean M stand for Mediterranean. The food certainly reflected French/Italian influences. This blog probably has zero readers so far, but just in case somebody out there lives near McLean and hasn't tried this restaurant yet, I suggest you give it a try.