Seviche

Seviche is one of those Pittsburgh institutions which has somehow acquired a cult-like following. Personally, I've always considered the place a chick-flick, and I promptly informed all of my happy hour friends of my strong feelings. (Please note that a chick-click generally refers to a movie created especifically for women, in this instance it refers to a restaurant catering to women through small portions, vibrant decor, high prices and the illusion that they ARE Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.)

I tried to ignore my bad attitude as I do love seafood and in particular I enjoy ceviche.(I'm accustomed to the dish being spelled with a "C" as opposed to the restaurant which is spelled with an "S".) I haven't been all that upbeat lately so I decided to treat myself to the seven-course chef's tasting menu. It was worth it. For $40 I received three courses of ceviche, an appetizer course with a tuna-chorizo spring roll, three oysters with a chimichurri sauce, a filet along with potatoes and broccoli rabe and a tres dolces cake.

The ceviche course was my favorite. I really liked the presentation and the play of flavors, the one incorporating cilantro and corn was my favorite. The oysters were decent and the tuna-chorizo spring roll was quite good, but didn't make much sense to me. Chorizo is so powerful that the tuna only seemed to add some texture to the dish. I'm honestly at a loss as to how chorizo and tuna can be comfortably incorporated into a spring roll.

The filet and potatoes were fine, but the broccoli rabe was awful, stringy and bitter! (I know that broccoli rabe is supposed to be bitter, but it was like a sour rubber tire.) Finally, the tres dolces cake was so good that everyone at the table decided to try it. I'd recommend the chef's tasting to anyone who is feeling hungry and adventurous. Word to the wise though, all of those different animals did not play nice in my stomach post chef's tasting!