Anthony's

Anthony's Homeport Restaurant, Bend Oregon --

Yes, I've been here before. And yes, I've written about it before. Yet, my dear, dear friends... I have NEVER, EVER consumed the main course item that was presented to me on a recent Sunday evening.

Fresh, NEVER, EVER frozen, GIANT Alaskan King Crab Legs.




Now, we all know about the previously frozen crab legs that we buy at the Albertson's One-Day Meat and Seafood Sale. For $7.99 a pound, how can you go wrong?

This, however, was so unlike anything I have ever eaten, so much so that I still can taste the butter lingering on my tongue.

Yours truly was presented with a $100 gift card for Anthony's from the company that I work for... they just want to keep me fat and happy! DH and I chose to go on a Sunday night, planning to take part in the "All-You-Care-To-Eat" crab feast that they do on those evenings. How polite. "Care To Eat" instead of "All You Can Eat". Trust me -- they're both the same. You try to eat enough to feel like you got the most for your money.

Our plans were pleasantly shattered, however, when we were struck by the tiny, clipped note attached to the bottom of the menu:

WHILE SUPPLIES LAST: GIANT, FRESH ALASKAN RED KING CRAB LEGS CAUGHT YESTERDAY, FLOWN IN LAST NIGHT.

3/4 lb. served with sirloin steak, or a full pound for $38.95

Oh My! Oh YES! OH YES! CRABBBBBB! (Food does that to me...)

Enough with the chit chat, we each promptly ordered the crab and were told that there were only about four portions of this miraculous dish left. We picked at our appetizer (Hawaiian Nachos - taro chips topped with fresh, diced, raw ahi that's been marinated in mango and pineapple juices, topped with a wasabi aoli), and barely touched our salads.

Then, there they were. Opera music should have accompanied the arrival of such delectables. They were simply beautiful. Like the limbs of a supermodel, butchered and on my plate.

Glorious legs. Long and yet fat at the same time. Simply stunning.

DH and I were so quiet, and so wide-eyed when the platters were set before us. Not a word was spoken as we ate in marvel at the flavor that these fresh King Crab legs possessed.

I ate it plain.

I tried it in butter.

I dashed one bite with salt.

Whereas one is usually able to pick out bite-sized pieces of meat out of the shell, this crab meat was so thick that we actually needed a knife to saw through it once it was relieved of it's shell.

There is nothing a chef can do to make crab taste better than to leave it alone. But fresh? FRESH CRAB??? Oh, dear God.

We polished off our dinners, and sat back, sighing, the way that really content people do in movies and such. Our server asked us if we cared for dessert, and DH said that he'd love to try the hot apple crisp. I declined, then caught her attention as she turned and said, "You know, maybe I would like something. Do you have a dessert wine? Maybe a port?" She nodded, and proceeded to list off about ten ports that they had by the glass. I randomly chose one and off she went. A few minutes later, DH was presented with an absolutely marvelous HOT apple crisp with a crunchy oat crust and an enormous slab of vanilla bean ice cream melting on the top. I was given a very small dessert wine glass half-filled with a thick, maroon liquid that turned out to be a very flavorful port. We congratulated each other on a meal well done, and waited for the check.

Seeing as how we had the gift card, I didn't feel to guilty about our "Rock Star" dining experience -- until DH said "Wow. You're not a cheap date."

My dessert wine was TWENTY DOLLARS! (feign choking here) WHAT??? I guess a two-top that orders the fourty-dollar entrees without blinking should expect to be served top-shelf dessert wine, right?

I found myself trying to remember how dang GOOD that wine MUST have been for twenty bucks a shot, and we both realized that our server was a darned good salesperson. I believe though, that common courtesy would include a dialogue such as "... and on the higher-end of our dessert wine list, we offer the Late Vintage Warres Port or the Foo-Foo Graham's Label" so that the dining party would understand that these selections would be beaucoup moolah. Oh well. Lesson Learned.

We both still agreed that it was one of the best meals ever presented to us in Bend, and asked the manager while on our way out to please call us if it were ever offered at Anthony's in the future.

As if there were a hotline -- a bright red phone -- that they could pick up and have a direct line to my cell: " BrENDa! ALERT! Crab is in the house! ALERT!"

I am officially a food geek.

Dinner: $99.85
Drinks: $32.00
Tip: $40.00
Total: $171.85
Wallet? OUCH!