Serenity

Serenity! Yes, there is a restaurant named for the flying Firefly of the eponymous series and movie. Check out the spacey entrance! I was so excited to eat here, since I love the show.

We were seated very promptly, and offered a great view. I can see this place being very popular around Comic Con, particularly given the name.

The decor was slightly spacey as well, with a nice, quiet opulence. Red enough to satisfy the fans of the show, but not too kitschy as to drive off the non-geek patrons. :)

The domed ceiling is lovely, with the windowed roof letting in plenty of natural light.

To the food! We were puzzling over what we
would like from the menu (everything looked good!), and so we ordered some of their special cocktails. A Thai Pedi-Cab for him, which was a sort of Bourbon martini with a fresh basil leaf (!), and Seasons of Serenity for her, with orange tea-infused rye, and lemon. Yums! Both of the cocktails were quite tasty, with just a hint of spice.

Our first course arrived: an amuse bouche of steamed pork dumplings, sort of a play on dim sum. The dough was fairly firm and not at all doughy (one of the main reasons that I usually don't care for dim sum). The pork filling was quite flavorful, and just a tad sweet. A nice opening.

At our server's recommendation, we ordered a
crabcake. Made from Massachusetts crab, it was plenty fresh and tasty, with lots of great lump meat.

Our next course was a classic Caesar salad, but served with a dressing containing a hint of wasabi. The homemade crouton and super juicy tomatoes made this salad much more than the sum of its simple ingredients.

For our entrees, we decided (finally!) on the roasted quail stuffed with quinoa, and the curried scallops with asparagus.












I've never had quail before, but I've been curious. This one was cooked to a perfect juiciness, and seasoned with a simple thyme and sage. The quinoa stuffing was a nice change from the usual rice reserved for small foul.

The scallops were simply wonderful. Big and tender, the curry sauce was a great compliment to their flavor. I would never have thought of putting curry sauce on scallops, but I'm pretty convinced that curry sauce makes everything better. Yes, even dessert.

On the side we had some crab fried rice, one of Serenity's signature dishes. You can't see it very well from the photo, but there were quite large chunks of lump crabmeat throughout. Simply divine.

The desserts were a great end to the meal. Classic flan and apple pie. Sweet and lovely. The apple pie was full of caramel and served warm. Yummy.

I really enjoyed my meal at Serenity, and the only thing that I would say is lacking would be to amp up the kitsch just a little more for the Whedon fans. Particularly around Comic Con, it would be exciting to eat in the ship Serenity! However, it is still a wonderful place, with a great food and ambiance.