Varied menu, good food with a breathtaking view
11 Water Street
Exeter, N.H.
603-773-5930, 11waterstreet.com
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday
All major charge cards accepted
Accessible to the handicapped
You'd never guess by the front of 11 Water Street what awaits you in the back. From the main drag, it looks like an average eatery, but when you step inside and walk through to the seating area, you'll be blown away by the view.
From every spot in the dining room, a high-definition postcard view of the Exeter River and a cascading waterfall is your backdrop. We enjoyed some very decent food during a recent lunch when the trees shone golden in the river's reflection and the warm weather provided a nice opportunity for people watching as well as nature watching.
The decor is blessedly downplayed. Who needs cutesy antique tchotchkes and those bottles of weird pickled vegetables when the earthy tones of the wall, the simple curtain swags, and soft lighting let the breathtaking view speak for itself.
It's a pleasure to drink a cold draft and casually peruse the menu while drinking it all in. We ordered the Mediterranean appetizer platter ($7) - a good helping of hummus, tapanade, feta cheese, Kalamata olives, and a heap of toasted pita chips for dipping.
It was convenient that one member of our party favored the salty, rich, black-olive tapenade while the other preferred the homemade hummus. But there was an all-out disagreement on the pita chips. One of us really liked that they were hard enough to stand up to dipping. The other thought they were too hard - making for tough chewing and an almost stale flavor.
When it came time for entrees, we were impressed by the variety.
The establishment has a host of panini, and we chose two - roast beef, Swiss, tomato, and onion on sourdough bread served with horseradish aioli; and grilled marinated peppers, onions and mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, and brie cheese on homemade wheat bread with herb-infused oil. Both were $6.50 and served with a choice of fries or onion rings.
Both were excellent, but if we had to choose a winner, we'd go with the roast beef, which was hearty, thick, and spicy, once the horseradish mayo was added. This is a meal that sticks to your ribs. The onion rings were - as promised - hand-battered, juicy, and sweet without a hint of greasiness.
The veggie sandwich was good, too, but the vegetables somewhat overpowered the cheese.
We also chose one entrée - homemade meatloaf with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and fall vegetables ($10).
This was a nice take on an old comfort-food standard. We were presented with two large slabs of savory, moist loaf that seemed to be warmed on the grill, which gave it a nice smoky crunch. The gravy was homemade and swimming with huge mushroom slices. We loved the mashed potatoes, made with new potatoes - skins and all. And the vegetables - fresh summer squash, zucchini, and red pepper - were not bland like this side dish so often is in New England, but rather spiced to perfection without drowning out the seasonal freshness.
Another in our party, not to be dissuaded by unusually warm autumn temperatures, sampled the Guinness Beef Stew. This was really exceptional; slow-cooked sirloin tips and vegetables in a beef broth that tingled with the stout ($5).
We took our time with this meal, enabling room for dessert, which turned out to be a good decision. The lemon cream layer cake ($6) was one of the best desserts we have had. Dusted with powdered sugar, it was moist and light with a slight crunch - kind of like a homemade lady finger with a sweet citrusy cream.
The restaurant has a dinner menu, too, with entrées averaging about $18. We can't wait to go back.
TOM LONG
