Today I had a fabulous dinner at Howlett's Restaurant & Tavern in Chester, VA. I had picked up the livingsocial.com deal for dinner.

This is not a place I can normally afford, but I always look for the Living Social Deals to give me a chance to eat out at nicer restaurants.

 

So I started with Calamari for the Appetizer. As you can see I dug into it pretty quick. I barely remembered to take this picture before it was gone. They had 2 sauces, the typical Marinara and a Sour Cream sauce that I tasted before realizing it was not tartar sauce, but made with sour cream. I know, a no no for me, but it tasted great. And the Calamari was perfect, very tender. Not at all "Chewy" which we all know happens fast when cooking Calamari, Clams and Gator Tail. Sign of a good restaurant when they get the Calamari right.

 So while waiting for our meal after the Calamari I noticed and read this Table setter with lists of their weekly specials.

 I have to admit to wanting to go in for Monday's Build Your Own Burger night. Sounds fun.We also had some of the best fresh baked bread served soon after we arrived. That went very quickly.

The food arrived. To the left was my Bourbon Salmon with Broccoli and Summer Squash for sides.

On the right is my meal companions Tilapia over Rice. He had a Side Salad with his meal.

My Salmon was so tender it just slid apart with the touch of the fork. The flavor was moist, juicy and had such a nice sweet kick. Really cooked to perfection. The Broccoli was very tender and cut easily with the fork also. And the Squash, wow, seasoned just right with onion and heavenly. A very nice, low calorie and diet friendly meal for me.

His Tilapia was seasoned to perfection and also moist, tender and pulled apart easy with the fork.  His salad was a nice mix of fresh greens, radiccio, carrot and looked very good.

Normally, we would stop there and be good. Tonight, I gave to temptation. My companion had Black Forest Cheesecake. (with my icecream on the side) He said it was terrific and ate the whole thing.

And I indulged in Pecan Pie. It was the perfect finish to a wonderful meal. Loaded with Pecans and sweet. I truly enjoyed that break from the diet.

All in all, we had a terrific meal, great service from a nice young man working his way through college. Jason was attentive, knew the menu and the specials and was quick to refill water and bring more bread when we finished the first small loaf. He checked back often to see if we needed anything.

So my recommendation, go to Howlett's Tavern. Check out http://www.restaurant.com and see if they have any deals to help with the price. Last year they were in the Entertainment.com coupon book too. You will have a great meal, friendly service and a very pleasant time. They have a pretty patio too for those who like the outdoor dining.

This was a definite **** four star meal at a $$ price. (total before http://www.livingsocial.com coupon was $56. the deal was $15 for $30 worth of food.)