Jamie's Broadway Grille's Web site
I'll make this short and sweet. I know Jamie's is a Sacramento institution. I am aware it was recently featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. None of that made my maiden dinner experience at Jamie's good. Ray, Lisa and I went for our third dinner club night out. The restaurant is a true, legitimate dive. I loved the relaxed atmosphere and the friendly (some drunk) patrons. I was excited to try their seafood since that is the only meat I eat. I had a choice between an encrusted halibut dish and the mixed seafood special. I opted for the mixed seafood. That was a mistake. It came in a bowl of oily, greasy red sauce poured all over the seafood. I couldn't taste anything but the sauce. It had some sort of crispy herb on top. I don't know why. I have never heard of crisping herbs. I tasted one but I couldn't taste what it was, it just tasted fried. The vegetables and rice on the side were fine if uninspired. To top it off, the dish was expensive. If I recall it was about $28. On a positive note, the bartender was nice and our server was very entertaining. I would NOT recommend the seafood special to anyone though.
For our dinner I made roasted fall vegetables, lentils and mashed sweet potatoes with a hint of banana. Dessert was eggnog pumpkin raisin bread pudding. Our beverage of the evening was hot spiced mulled wine. The vegetables were easy, very colorful and really delicious! I combined a peeled and cubed butternut squash with a peeled and cubed sweet potato and three cubed Yukon gold potatoes in a lightly oiled baking dish. I set aside two seeded and diced red bell peppers and one quartered red onion. I dressed all of the vegetables with a quarter cup of olive oil mixed with 2-3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 3 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme and salt and pepper to taste. I placed the baking dish of root vegetables in a 450 degree oven for about 35 minutes stirring occasionally, then I added the onion and bell pepper in and baked another 10-15 minutes stirring frequently. The mashed sweet potatoes were Rachel Ray's recipe that you can find online. I modified it by substituting stock for
milk and reducing the amount of liquid. It was very good but if I make it again I will cut the amount of butter and banana in half. The mulled wine was made by adding 1 cup of sugar to 3 cups boiling water, add a sliced lemon and or a sliced orange, 6 cinnamon sticks, 6 whole cloves, half a gallon of Carlo Rossi Burgundy wine and nutmeg. Reduce to a simmer once you add the wine and let it simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes before serving. Happy Autumn!
Yes, it did start with a few Mai-Tais, and no, it was not really based on any Hawaiian recipees. We started with bacon wrapped water chestnuts in a sweet soy glaze, fresh fruit and cheese appitizers. For dinner we had a pulled pork sandwich made with a pork roast slow roasted overnight in a slow cooker then shreadded with onions and BBQ sauce. 
Topped with chedar cheese and fresh coleslaw (a squeeze of tangerine juice mixed in with the cole slaw dressing made it taste, well, fruity, like I put a squeeze of tangerine juice in it). The side salad was a chopped salad with papaya & cucumber. Dessert was a pineapple upside down cake with whole macadamia nuts. I forgot the ice cream, so we each got a thimble full. "Less is more". That's what I told everyone.
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