On Monday night, our good friends Carl and Melanie wanted to take us to dinner to celebrate my recent graduation and (what was to be) the upcoming holidays especially since we weren’t able to make their holiday party while we were in Dallas. We tried to choose a restaurant none of us had been to, that was about halfway between our two homes, and came with good recommendations (per their college-aged daughter). So, we headed over to Encore located in the Blakeney shopping center of Ballantyne.
Our friends were already seated when we arrived so we quickly ordered drinks, perused the menu, and began catching up and discussing holiday plans. Our waiter was friendly and gave many welcome suggestions, including recommending the Bad Penny beer which the Husband enjoyed.
The Husband was quite hungry (having eaten very little at work that day) and went with both a soup and salad prior to his entree. First, he tried the tomato bisque (one of our favorite types of soup). He really liked this one.
After the soup, he had a wedge salad, a salad he enjoys (especially since I won’t try having any – I HATE blue cheese!). When it first arrived, we wondered if there were any lettuce underneath (do you see how much dressing there is?!?!) but he enjoyed it.
When the Husband had finished his appetizers, our entrees were served! The Husband ordered the Pasta Encore which included grilled chicken breast, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, mini penne pasta, tomato basil sauce, and crumbled feta cheese. Thanks to his appetizers, he was able to take home leftovers which I ate later in the week 
I ordered the Filet and Crab Cake entree. It included a mini filet mignon, a mini crab cake, garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus and a cajun cream sauce. It was very good! The crab cake was full of crab (not always a guarantee), the filet was cooked to order, and the flavors went well together.
Our friends wanted to make sure their meals made the blog as well! Melanie ordered the Crab Encrusted Salmon. It originally came with jasmine rice, asparagus spears, and a mango buerre blanc sauce. She was able to sub the rice for a second order of asparagus.
Carl, being a meat and potatoes guy, went with the Charred Beef Medallions. This included grilled beef shoulder with garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, Cognac cream, and fried Tobacco onions. He ended up subbing the asparagus for fruit.
All in all, it was an enjoyable meal with good friends! Thanks Carl and Mel! We look forward to doing it again
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