Here's the Meat and Degustation Menu which Gabe ordered:
Each of us got a complimentary amuse bouche. This was a smoke salmon wrapped quail egg topped with some kind of caviar and dizzled with basil oil. This was a surprisingly subtle amuse which definitely got our palates going!
To the right is the Grilled California Squab Breast with a Tart of Spinach, and Mushrooms with a Natural Au Jus. Gabe said this was his favorite dish from the Degustation. I tried it, and squab was very tasty.
This was the Pan Seared Duck and Duck Confit with Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Baby Carrots and a Grape Reduction. I finally tried foie gras for the first time. For those of you who don't know, foie gras is actually banned in Chicago, so since Carlos is in Highland Park, it's one of the few places in the greaterland area that can legally serve foie gras. Next time I come back to this restaurant, I must get the foie gras appetizer if I go a la carte.
This was the Grilled Lamb Chop with Ox-Tail Ravioli, Baby Spinach and a Caramelized Shallot and Sherry Gastrique.
This was the Cocoa Crusted New Zealand Venison with Caramelized Fennel, Root Vegetables and a Cherry Reduction. Gabe really liked this dish and said he could taste the subtlties of the cocoa.
This was the last meat/game course. It was Grilled Ribeye with Butter Poached Fingerling Potatoes, Roasted Cauliflower and a Cabernet-Rosemary Reduction. Unfortunately, this may have been his least favorite. Of course, it was still good, but perhaps less inspiring than all the other meat dishes.
I went with the Fish and Shellfish Degustation Menu:
We both received the same amuse, so I won't bother to post another photo of that.
This was my first course which was Scottish Smoked Salmon and Butter Poached Fingerling Potato Terrine with a Caviar and Vodka Cream Reduction. This was my least favorite dish. It was a tad bland for my taste. It honestly seemed more of a potato dish than a salmon dish. It was definitely not bad, and perhaps it was good to start light, but this is probably the one dish that stood out the least in my mind.
This was the Jumbo Lump Crab Meat with Kiwi, Mango and a Sunchoke Puree and BY FAR my favorite dish of the evening. I've never been much of a crab person, but the taste of this dish was surprisingly subtle. The puree was perfect as well, as it gave the crab a subtle sweet taste.
This was the Chervil and Black Truffle Crusted Ahi Tuna with Roasted Kobacha Squash and a Truffle-Thyme Reduction. This dish was on the larger side, especially for a degustation. I would've been happy with just one piece, but instead they gave two. I couldn't really taste much of the black truffle, but I really liked the reduction. The tuna itself was cooked perfectly for me.
This was the Pan Seared Jumbo Prawn with Parsnip Custard and a Caramelized Popcorn Reduction, which was another dish that I wasn't expecting much from and ended up being one of my favorites. The prawn was tender, and the reduction was perfect.
My final fish dish was Red Snapper with Braised Kale, Salsify Puree and a Stone Ground Mustard Beurre Blanc, which was incredible and a wonderful last dish. The fish was incredibly fresh, tender, and cooked to perfection. Unfortunately, I was so stuffed by the time I got this dish that I only managed a few bites from it. Gabe was nice enough to finish it off for me, and he, too, agreed it was one of the best dishes out of everything.
We each received a Symphony of Desserts. As other reviewers have mentioned, dessert at Carlos' Restaurant is nothing to write home about, but I always love dessert, so I can't complain too much. I really liked the 4 sauces it came with, which were painted on the plate. My favorite out of the trio was the banana-chocolate cake in the middle. The almond tuille with the pistachio ice cream was really good too.
So that ends our meal at Carlos' Restaurant. One flaw was that the waiter seemed to have forgotten to give us the Petit Fours. We did not realize this until we got home and looked at the menu again. Since it's the most insignificant part of the meal and is a complimentary thing that comes with the check, we didn't really care that our waiter forgot. Other than this, service was wonderful and perhaps the best I've experienced. There were hardly any customers, as it was a weeknight in the suburbs, so a lot of attention was paid to us. However, Carlos' Restaurant is famed for its incredible service, no matter how busy it gets. Carlos himself even greeted us a couple of times throughout our meal and made sure we were enjoying ourselves. I was also charmed by the fact that every hot dish came with a, "1, 2, 3 ta-da." Perhaps a bit dramatic, but it was cute, and the presentation of each dish was really good, so it sort of made sense. The waiter was also nice enough to explain each dish as it came out, so that we wouldn't forget what we were eating.
Overall, this is a really wonderful restaurant. I'd still like to know why it got a 29 in Zagat, but there's no doubt that it should be rated well as everything about this restaurant was of high quality.
Carlos' Restaurant
429 Temple
Highland Park, IL 60035
Phone: 847 432 0770
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