• Sea scallops with bacon, butterscotch, and passion fruit $12
• Gnocchi with bucheron, Niçoise olive, and marinara $16
• Pineapple with almond cake and buttermilk ice cream $8

First, know that you will be judged as you walk into Porter & Fryes. If you are somebody and/or dressed well, you will get one of the tables in the more prominent area of the restaurant. If not, you will get one of the booths in the back. My suggestion would be to dress a bit on the casual side and try for one of the booths which looked pretty comfy. The other option is the round booth at the front of the restaurant with the chandeliers over it...that one I think you have to be somebody to get. Unless perhaps it is a real slow night and then if you are dressed really well maybe, but I am not sure I would take that chance as if you don't succeed you will be sat at one of the tables and miss the booths in the back. Very complicated I know.

It was July 5 when we went and apparently everybody was out of town and nobody actually comes into town for the fourth weekend so it was pretty dead. We were dressed well since we knew it was a nice hotel so we got stuck with the table. Which overall was very comfortable, just not as comfortable as the booths looked. Porter and Fryes also reminded me a bit of Chambers because they are both in a fancy boutique hotels and they are both housed in the basement. This may not be that big of a deal, but if it is a nice night in the middle of summer you may want to go to a restaurant that has outdoor seating or at the very least is not housed in the basement of a hotel.

Now on to the important part food and drink...I did have a splendid meal. First, they had a great drink menu with many of the drinks featuring gin, specifically Hendricks which is my favorite. So I was a happy girl. My appetizer of scallops sounded a bit bizarre with the butterscotch sauce, but it was really quite delightful, the sweet and saltiness all worked together to create a wonderful combination. Did they best the scallops I had a Meritage earlier this year, well no, but they came very close. My entree was one of the simpler things on the menu, but they took the simple, fresh ingredients and didn't mess with them too much and it turned out wonderfully. The dessert was really the same way everything simply prepared to make a wonderful dessert. Now as you will see if you read Steve's side, he did not exactly share my experience. Was it that I picked the better dishes? Was it the gin drink before the meal? We will never know.

For a night on the town, especially if the weather that night is dreadful, I would suggest Porter & Fryes. Request a booth, have a nice drink and enjoy the meal.

• Tuna sliders with madras curry, kaffir lime, and fried shallots $14
• Blue prawns with carrot, pear ravioli, and chervil $21
• Chocolate tart with smoky ice cream and nutmeg whipped cream $8

We had two very different meals at Porter & Frye. I would not order a single thing I had at Porter & Frye again. The tuna sliders were tuna salad sandwiches. If you bought expensive tuna, would you turn it into tuna salad? It was a waste, not particularly good, and overpriced. The blue prawns and pear ravioli tasted good, but they, too were overpriced for what I thought was a basic dish. The smoky ice cream was blech! The chocolate tart was not particularly good and overpriced. The décor was Chambers-esque. I wanted it to be Chambers Kitchen, and by the end of the meal I wished I was at Chambers Kitchen.