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As you may or may not have heard, a certain Brigham Young University graduate named Kelsey Nixon is no longer in the running to become "The Next Food Network Star" as she was voted off by the show's judges Sunday night.
But forget what the judges have to say -- you can judge the North Ogden native's culinary prowess yourself. During one of the show's mini-contests, Nixon's Macadamia Tilapia with White Chocolate Beurre Blanc was chosen as the best fresh seafood entree and placed on Red Lobster menus nationwide for a limited time. We went to the Orem location to try it out.
A half order (one tilapia filet) is $12.99 and a full order (two filets) is $17.99. On the side is steamed broccoli and your choice of potato plus a garden or Caesar salad. And of course, Red Lobster serves a basket of crumbly biscuits with the meals. Get the full order if you plan to share or want leftovers.
The tilapia filets are seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika and then baked. They are placed in the white chocolate sauce and covered with roasted macadamia nuts and coconut. Ours was cooked perfectly, with tender fish and no fishy flavor.
What makes this dish stand out is the white chocolate sauce. It's not what you'd expect to go with fresh fish -- it's rather sweet. The sweetness is the first thing you'll notice, then the savory butter flavor. There isn't a noticeable chocolate flavor, really, the chocolate just gives the sauce its smooth, sweet flavor.
The nut crust is tasty on its own and goes well with the creamy sauce. It also adds a nice texture to the fish. But the more we ate, the more we thought the dish was rather mild. This allows the simple flavor of the fish to come through, but after several bites we wished there was something more to it.
A manager at the restaurant told us the dish has been flying off the shelves, selling about 30 orders a day. Some people try it because it sounds good, but she said many order the dish because they've heard of Nixon.
We also tried the Tequila-Lime Shrimp and Chicken (excellent and full of bold flavors) and, for the non-seafood-loving types, the Cajun Chicken Linguini Alfredo (rather tasty but a silly thing to order at a seafood place). Our service was excellent.
Red Lobster
Where: 1261 S. 800 East, Orem
Hours: Sun-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday
Prices: $8-$29
Info: 724-3500 |
