Cuisine Royale
Katharine Kelly
The name itself, Palace Café Nouveau American Cuisine, is an apt description of what diners will find when entering this intimate establishment on the corner of 15th and Peoria. The food and the atmosphere reflect what proprietors Brooke Vanderboom and chef James Shrader had in mind in creating this place.

My friends dining with me this particular Saturday evening found the atmosphere at the Palace Café “playful,” yet “funky,”; “electric,” but “cute.” All the while we agreed that it has a hint of pretentiousness to it, and most predictable for a new establishment (i.e., light fixtures, wall hangings.) The very-popular orange-red hue blanket the walls; flat black paint seals the ceiling, but is interrupted with a huge cylindrical aluminum pipe running the length of the ceiling. Tables line the walls while individual booths afford privacy for some–we particularly enjoyed this while dining.

The “Winter Dinner Menu” is currently available. We three were most impressed with the menu, beginning with the “Bentos” (which are “a tasty bite”, just a spoonful portion of an appetizer for $2). The bentos included such savory items as Shrimp and Shitake Potsticker, Seared Jumbo Scallop, Chicken Sate, Asian Cured Lox, and Mushroom Ravioli.

There are also “Starters” such as Butternut Squash-Potato Leek Yin-Yang; Chef’s Winter soup-a seasonal creation “inspired daily”; Dungeoness Crab Cakes; Chef’s Bento Selection (a sampler plate); and Fried Goat Cheese Galette.

We each decided upon the Bento Selection ($8) to sample a little bite of many things. We found this was the best approach to take. We received bite-sized portions of the shrimp and shitake potsticker with ponzu dippings sauce; seared jumbo scallop in brandy cream over Bourbon onions; chicken sate served with spicy peanut sauce; Asian cured lox stuffed with herbed goat cheese; and a mushroom ravioli drizzled with porcini mushroom sauce.

“This is art for the tongue,” said one of my companions. And it was. Each item was an excellent piece by itself; each possessed its own blended flavors and mouth-enticing textures. My favorite was the mushroom ravioli-it was great alone, but the richly-flavored porcini sauce was an incredible accent. Also on this plate was pickled garlic-wow, that was something!

The dinner selections are just as varied; there is something for almost every diner’s taste, from the Palace Burger ($8) to the 1/2 Pound American Kobe Strip ($35). A nice mixture of fish, pasta, lamb, and beef round out this menu.

I chose the Spinach and Tomato Risotto ($15). As with all risotto, this is a creamy pasta was slow cooked, sometimes with oven dried tomatoes and chopped spinach.

It was topped with toasted nuts and Roquefort cheese. I found this dish merely good; the cheese dominated the flavor to the point of being too much of a good thing.

One of my companions had the Seared Sea Scallops ($16).  These tasty morsels were tossed with linguini in Madeira cream, oven-dried tomato, mushroom, and grilled onion. It was finished with a frizzling of lobster oil and topped playfully with frizzled leeks. My friend said this dish was very well done; in fact, the scallops were the best he has had. He said the accompanying ingredients handle the seafood well.

Another friend ordered the Char Broiled 8-oz. Tenderloin ($24). This “perfectly cooked” piece of beef, says my friend, was served beside bourbon onions, wild mushroom ragout, and a pinot demi glace. A side of stacked bleu scallop potatoes and grilled vegetables finished this dish.

This was an excellent choice; my friend said it was the best piece of beef he ever had. Other notes about Palace Café: fine selection of desserts (I tried the Crème Brulee for two; the Napoleon is also recommended); the wine list is somewhat restricted in price and type, with bottles ranging from $26 to a $325 bottle.

Palace Café: good location, very good service, and very good food.

Palace Café
1301 E. 15th Street
582-4321

Hours:
Lunch: Tues.-Fri. 11am-2:30pm
Dinner: Thurs.-Sat. 5-10pm
Brunch: Sun. 9am-2pm

Rating:
Atmosphere: ***
Food: ****1/2
Service:  ****

From UrbanTulsa.com
Originally published by Urban Tulsa Weekly Thursday, March 06, 2003
©2003 Urban Tulsa Weekly.
http://www.urbantulsa.com/article.asp?id=1307