Restaurant Review: Kincaid's

Kincaid's - dinner on May 18, 2015

My niece graduated from college last month (college! Where does the time go??) and we held her graduation dinner the night before the ceremony at Kincaid’s at Jack London Square. I’ve never been to Kincaid’s or if I have, it was so long ago that I have no memory of it. And it would have been back in the days when I wasn’t documenting every scrap of food I’ve ever eaten so it’s been at least 5-6 years, probably more.

View from our table

Warm Brie appetizer

She chose Kincaid’s because it was pretty, set on the water, there was parking available (always a big deal) and there was a varied enough menu that both sides of the family would be able to find something pleasing to their palates. Bring a hefty chunk of cash or a high limit credit card because Kincaid’s isn’t cheap. Just kidding…sort of. The average price of an entrée ranged from $40-$60. You can get slightly cheaper options but not by much.

I like the fact that they post their menu online so I can study it at my leisure and make my gustatory decisions ahead of time.  Because really, the few minutes you have with the menu when you’re also supposed to use that time to socialize and make a decision before the waitperson comes by to take your order? I put more thought into my food consumption than that. Because it’s not just about picking your entrée. There are side dish considerations as well. Soup? Salad? Appetizers? And for me, which dessert? You all know I build my entrée decision around what I’m having for dessert, right? Everyone always laughs at me when I say that and they think it’s “cute”. I’m serious here, people. Dessert is not to be taken lightly. It must be planned for and accommodated in that day’s calorie consumption and waistband room. Fail to plan, plan to fail.

Oysters

Calamari

Although Kincaid’s is a surf and turf sort of place, I’d already decided to skip the steak selections. I tend to eat (more than) my share of tri tip for lunch at work when I get a salad which is almost every day. The tri tip has to have something to sit on, after all. So for dinner, I went with the barbecue ribs, partly because it was a different meat but mostly because it came with mac and cheese and sweet potato fries. Carb heaven.

BBQ ribs and sweet potato fries

Mac and Cheese

Which they were. I never (rarely?) make mac and cheese, both because I don’t really cook but also because I know how bad it is for you. But it tastes so good, especially when it’s good mac and cheese which this one was. And you can’t go wrong with sweet potato fries. I had to pace myself because I still had dessert in mind so I ate less than half the ribs, half the mac and cheese and a good portion of the sweet potato fries. Because the fries wouldn’t be as good the next day, you know, so they should be consumed more on the day of.

Stuffed catfish

Half of a surf 'n turf split between two plates

For dessert, I waffled between the Bananas Foster Sundae and the chocolate cake. Chocolate cake is common and vastly overdone at every single restaurant that offers it but still….I mean, it’s chocolate cake. Covered in hot fudge sauce. I was severely tempted by the Bananas Foster Sundae since it’s a less typical dessert and I bet would have made for a lovely picture for my blog. But in the end the chocolate cake won, mostly because I was more full from my entrée than I had wanted to be and the sundae came with waffles which sounded just a mite too heavy to me at that point in time. But the chocolate cake was layered with mousse and frosting and you can pour as much or as little (or as much) chocolate sauce as you wanted over it. It was practically light compared to waffles. It was the right choice because it was good but I have to admit, I couldn’t do it justice as I really was full. So much for planning ahead.  

Key Lime Pie for the new grad

Pouring chocolate sauce on the cake

Service was great and our wait person was very nice. Kincaid's is definitely a good choice for celebrating a graduation, especially when you have a large party. They know how to take care of you.