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In This Issue
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The Even Keel -
Morning, Noon, and Night
In the morning, it’s the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafting out onto Main Street that draws you through the door. Midday, it’s the promise of a quick and tasty lunch before you head off to the beach or back to work. Come evening, what draws so many to Even Keel Café on Main Street is the delicious bistro fare and refreshing cocktails on their relaxing and secluded back patio or in their comfy dining room.
 From 7 am till 8 or 9 in the evening, Even Keel Café is bustling with activity. Breakfast can take the form of a bagel, croissant, or danish to go with a cup of special blend Carrabassett coffee (hot or iced), a flavored latté, or a cappuccino. Or you can grab a stool at their long counter or a table in the café and break your fast with a plate of Lobster Benedict with home fries or grits. Their Huevos Rancheros (listed on the menu as “Liz’s Huevos”) is practically legendary, and their Steak and Eggs will start your day right!
Their more than 20 breakfast dishes are served till noon (till 3 pm on Sundays), so when lunch begins at 11 am, you can still enjoy a plate of Buttermilk Pancakes or a Breakfast Burrito as your companions dig into a Cobb Salad or Grilled Wild Salmon Salad. The lunch menu includes hot and cold sandwiches, soups, salads, and thin crust pizza. The Keel has lunchtime classics such as a Corned Beef Reuben, a hefty Angus Burger, and a variation on a BLT they call a Keel Wrap. And they offer lunchtime specialties appropriate to a seaside café, including a Grilled Sea Bass Sandwich, a Lobster Roll, a Lobster BLT, and a Shrimp, Scallop, and Crab Cake Sandwich.
These sandwiches and other lunch offerings, along with tempting assortment of starters and finger foods are served throughout the day, making Even Keel the perfect place to come for a late lunch or and afternoon pick-me-up. And at 5 pm, more than a dozen dinner entrees — every one a winner — are added to the selection.
On balmy summer evenings, the back patio at Even Keel is one of our favorite spots. It’s a relaxing garden setting with tall trees, plenty of ivy, pots of colorful impatiens, and brass sculptures. It’s a beautiful place to gather with friends for cocktails before a movie or show or after the Friday gallery openings. We also like the ambiance of the indoor café, art by local painters adorns the walls and it’s a great for people-watching, especially if you score a seat in one of the bay window alcoves overlooking Main Street. Service is prompt inside and out, and the waitstaff is cheery and helpful.
We like to share one of Even Keel’s Thin Crust Pizzas when we stop in for cocktails with friends. The Margarita Pizza is topped simply with mozzarella cheese and marinara; the Keel Pizza has spinach, roasted tomato, goat cheese, and mozzarella. Their “Restless Dragon, “Nantucket Sunset,” or a Dark & Stormy pair well with either. Or you can order a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, or a Domaine Poujol Rosé.
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Also great for sharing is their Crispy Fried Calamari. Served on a platter in heaping portion, the tender rings and tentacles are tasty on their own and even better dipped into the slightly spicy sweet chili dipping sauce. |
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We particularly like their Lobster Nachos. The pile of warm, crisp, tortilla chips is topped with diced tomato, sweet kernels of corn, cheddar cheese, goat cheese, and plenty of lobster meat — a tasty New England version of a southwestern dish. Sides of chilled sour cream, fresh guacamole, and salsa are served with the nachos so that you can customize your platter. |
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As evenings become cooler, you may want to start your meal with a cup or bowl of the Vegetarian Chili. This warmly flavored chili has great depth of flavor. It has some background heat but is not overly spicy, so you can taste the carrot, beans, corn, tomato, zucchini, and red pepper. |
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We also highly recommend the Grilled Steak Caesar Salad, which is big enough to be a meal in itself. Piled atop the crisp romaine in this satisfying salad are a pair of impressively tender and perfectly seasoned grilled tenderloin medallions. There’s just enough dressing to add a nice pucker, and plenty of parmesan cheese is shaved overtop. All you you need to complete this meal is a tall, chilled Cisco Whale’s Tale Pale Ale or Sankaty Light from Nantucket’s Cisco Brewery, and the Keel has both, along with half a dozen other beers. |
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You can’t go wrong with any of the dinner entrees on the Even Keel summer menu. For a light and summery entree that is still flavorful and filling, try the Lemon Chicken Primavera. Tossed with linguini are succulent slices of sauteed chicken breast, carrot, zucchini, squash, artichoke hearts, broccoli, onion, and wonderfully sweet roasted tomatoes. Lemon cream sauce sounds rich, but Even Keel manages to offer the flavor without all the heaviness. |
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One bite of the Cornflake Crusted Cod, and you’ll know why this popular whitefish is a New England staple. The moist and meaty codfish is rolled in finely crushed cornflakes to give it a crunchy coating. A colorful chilled relish of diced bits of cucumber, red onion, tomato, and juicy mango garnishes the cod. Even Keel serves this patron favorite with buttery mashed potatoes and a perfectly cooked tender-crisp assortment of carrot, squash, broccoli, and asparagus. |
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One of our table favorites is the Grilled Center Cut Pork Chop. The generously sized chop is delightfully tender (hard to achieve with a pork chop), with a tasty char on the edges and pink and moist inside. The white wine, lemon, and sage demi that is poured over the pork brightens the flavor and is delicious mopped up with the baked sweet potato served alongside. This, like the codfish, comes with mixed vegetables. |
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We could not get enough of the Ginger and Soy Glazed Salmon! Clearly the chef at Even Keel has a talent for fish: the salmon arrived at our table cooked through, but still moist and flaky. The marinade of ginger, soy sauce, sherry, and a touch of honey imparted the salmon with hints of sweetness and whispers of tang and heat. The fish was perched on sauteed spinach and organic brown jasmine rice that had a lovely nutty flavor. More of the delectable marinade is reduced and poured over the fish. |
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On the hot summer nights we’ve been having this summer, the assortment of frozen drinks offered at Even Keel are very appealing ways to end a meal: Frozen Mudslide, Frozen Lemonade as well as a Frozen Margarita or Daiquiri (strawberry or mango).
Even Keel does offer a selection of sweet desserts. We watched as a family at a nearby table ordered the Brownie Supreme, much to the delight of their children, who pounced upon it and devoured it. Grown ups may prefer the housemade Bread Pudding... |
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...or the tart creaminess of the Key Lime Pie. |
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Appealing to all ages is the Mini Boston Cream Bomb, an individually-sized cake with custard filling enrobed in a dark chocolate and drizzled with chocolate sauce. |
Morning, noon, night, or in between, come to the Even Keel Café on Main Street—it’s a great place to kick back, relax, and enjoy very good bistro fare and refreshing libations.
Even Keel Café
www.evenkeelcafe.com
40 Main Street • 508-228-1979 • open year-round
Breakfast daily 7 a.m. to 12 noon Sunday Brunch to 3 p.m.
Lunch daily 11 a.m. to closing
Dinner nightly from 5 p.m.
most Dinner entrees $16.50 to $22.00
(lighter fare also served at dinner priced from $9.25 to $17.50)
Indoor & Outdoor Dining • Full Bar
Children Welcome • Casual Dress • Take-out Available
Amex, Visa, and MC accepted
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