Hidden gem is just a block from Trinity Rep

By GAIL CIAMPA
Journal Food Editor

• See the menu.

People often wonder how we select restaurants to be reviewed. Top priority goes to new restaurants. We all want to know what they're about. But also high on the list are ones recommended by happy diners and high-profile spots with new chefs in the kitchen.

Sometimes though, a restaurant is reviewed because it's in the right place at the right time.

Such is the case with Blake's Tavern. At 122 Washington St. in Providence, it's just a block away from Trinity Rep, which is performing The Christmas Carol to crowds of Dickens fans.

Where can you take the family for a quick dinner before theater or a leisurely repast after seeing The Christmas Carol? Why, a tavern of course. But appearances can be deceiving, especially at Blake's.

Peek through the big corner windows at Blake's and a bar is what you see: long and dark, with televisions overhead and tables around the perimeter. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But it just doesn't scream family, or apres-theater dining.

The bar is all my friend K saw when she came to meet me at Blake's. I told her to go past the bar to the back to find me in the library dining room. But she only got as far as the ladies' room and decided I'd gone mad.

A pity for her. She missed a satisfying meal in a quaint room with trompe l'oeil wallpaper of bookshelves lined with volume after volume. There are a dozen or so tables and it feels like a pub. With holly tablecloths, the room is festive and welcoming.

So it was there I dined for lunch with J, who had taken her family to Blake's for dinner the night before, prior to attending The Christmas Carol. Years before, I had been in one of the two back dining rooms for a nice lunch. But when J reminded me of the hidden rooms, I knew it was time to go back.

Plenty of choices

The menu is large and varied with sandwiches (grilled Reubens, French dip and Philly Steak), burgers, appetizers including Knucklehead Chili, salads for sides and with meat for a meal, pasta dishes and dinner entrees. The menu is served all day, starting at 11 a.m. and into the wee hours.

We started with a pound of Buffalo wings. A pound isn't all that much when you're talking chicken wings, so the dish of eight was just enough to whet our appetite, and set our tongues ablaze. The wings were nice and meaty, the sauce heavy on spicy Tabasco Sauce and creamy with butter. The required celery sticks and blue cheese dressing serves as a nice cooling complement.

Next, we crunched away on a small Caesar salad with fresh croutons and a light housemade dressing. The small was just enough to share and cool down our palates from the wings.

We could have stopped there and been content. But then we would have missed the expertise of Blake's grill menu. What a deft hand cooked two huge chicken breasts to create those X grill marks signaling perfectly char-broiled poultry!

The breasts were tender and marinated in a blend of tequila and lime for a tart flavor that perked up the chicken beautifully. So much chicken was served that I took home the second piece, which delighted my husband for dinner. It lost none of the moistness or flavor in the reheat.

I enjoyed the seasoned fries, but could have chosen pasta or mashed potatoes. My companion had the mashed potatoes, which were a garlicky delight. The margarita chicken meal is also served with a side salad, a bargain for $10.75.

The steak a la Mama was nicely appointed with garlic herb butter. The 12-ounce sirloin was tender, flavorful, and a big cut above what I would have expected for $14.45. It was a fine cut of meat.

When I spoke to manager Sana Asstafan in a phone call after the visit, she told me Blake's hand-cuts all their meat. This was one of the changes she insisted upon when her mother, Melia Daoud, purchased Blake's nearly a year ago. Asstafan and her sister Sarab Kouki manage the day-to-day operations of the restaurant. The family formerly owned Park Avenue Pizza in Woonsocket.

Asstafan also said she upgraded the ribs from St. Louis to baby backs. She added a children's menu, which comes with crayons for coloring and includes big chicken tenders, almost filets, made with moist breast meat.

Loyal customers

The rest of the Blake's recipes remain from previous owner Carolyn Blake MacAndrew, including the popular Knucklehead Chili, named after the affectionate nickname of her dog, Travis.

Coming soon is a new look for the menu that will include the wine list. Asstafan is also adding sparkling wines because they have been requested by customers.

Blake's has a loyal customer base, it seems. On the day of my visit, two nearby tables were greeted by name by our server, Kristi. A third table was occupied by out-of-town police officers who said they always stop at Blake's when in Providence for court appearances. (The library dining room is cozy and I have big ears.)

Kristi was kept busy but remained pleasant and efficient. Service was fast. She even brought my dessert to go, so I could taste the Oreo pie when I wasn't feeling quite as stuffed. I did enjoy it, but it was not housemade like everything else I enjoyed at Blake's.

Next time, I'll take the extra calories in a glass of sparkling wine and raise a toast to exploring a bar past the ladies' room to find a hidden gem in Providence.

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Blake's Tavern, 122 Washington St., Providence. (401) 274-1230, www.blakestavern.com. Casual. Street parking. Handicapped accessible. Highchairs and boosters. AE, DIS, MC, V. Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Sunday noon to 1 a.m. One menu all day with appetizers costing $3.75 to $9.45; salads $1.95 to $9.95; sandwiches $4.75 to $7.95; entrees $6.95 to $14.95; desserts $4.95. Full bar and wine list.

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Our check for two at Blake's looked like this:

Coke............................. $1.75

Buffalo chicken wings.............$6.75

Small Caesar salad ...............$3.75

Margarita chicken ................$10.75

Steak a la Mama...................$14.45

Slice of Oreo pie ................$4.95

Total food and drink .............$42.40

Tax ..............................$3.39

Tip ..............................$10

Total bill .......................$55.79

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Blake's Tavern