Mike Shannon's Restaurant

For our Valentine's Day dinner, hubby and I went to the new Mike Shannon's downtown, immediately adjacent to the under-construction new Busch stadium. We were seated in the Stan Musial room, which was an intimate area with only a few tables, a fireplace, two glassed-in sections of wall on either side of the fireplace containing autographed baseball bats, and a large flat-panel television (which they turned off, thankfully). The main dining area also contained a big glassed-in column of autographed baseballs that went from floor to ceiling, as well as a number of big beautiful windows through which to see and be seen.

The food itself was very good, as I expected, and the service nicely attentive. Hubby had the beer battered shrimp and I had an off-menu item, which was grouper with a lobster sauce. The grouper was lightly battered and sauteed, with not too much lobster sauce, which was fine, because it was pretty salty. The fish brightened with the addition of a lemon squeeze. I also ordered garlic mashed potatoes for my side item, and there were more than enough for both of us to share. I had a glass of 2004 Rock Rabbit Sauvignon Blanc with dinner; it has a very peachy flavor, was delicious, and not too dry for my taste. Our server, Paul, was attentive and elegant. He reminded me of a younger Chris Noth in his looks, voice, and mannerisms.

For dessert, there was a chocolate turtle cake that looked really good, but since hubby doesn't eat nuts, and the cake was layered with nuts, that wasn't going to work out for us to share. Shannon's also offered a NY style cheesecake served with fresh strawberry sauce, a pound cake, an upside down apple pie, and a white chocolate macadamia nut brownie. They all looked good, but since we were planning to share, none looked good enough to both of us. I wondered to myself why they didn't, considering it was Valentine's Day, offer more chocolate and/or chocolate/raspberry combinations. Maybe the chef thought those types of items too typical? Finding nothing too exciting on the dessert menu, we passed and instead took our sweet tooth to Ted Drewe's.

I definitely will dine at Mike Shannon's again. The prices lend themselves to a special occasion in my budget, but it makes a great treat!