Bud & Alley’s: Cooking Like Cats and Dogs
2236 CR30A, Seaside, 231-5900
Hours: Open daily for lunch 11:30 am to 3 p.m. Dinner @ 5:30 p.m.


By Bruce Collier September 6, 2007 Issue

If you’ve lived here awhile, or have seen Bud & Alley’s sign, you know the place is named for a dog and a cat. I’m not sure if either Bud and Alley are still among the living, but their restaurant certainly is. My friend and I ate there on a weeknight just before Labor Day weekend. We both expected a bigger parking problem at Seaside than we encountered. Bud & Alley’s was quiet when we arrived, but by the time we left, tables in both dining rooms were filling up.

The restaurant is unobtrusive from the outside, a blue and white wood structure, with a steep staircase up to the rooftop bar, which stays open late. Inside is a small bar, and two near-identical dining rooms set in an L-shape. We were taken to the one on the right. The floors are wood, there are plenty of windows for a view onto a patio — this place gets mobbed in summer — and every table is equally good. On the walls are framed posters, photos and paintings, and a blackboard bearing the night’s by the glass wines. Our server, Chris, brought us menus, a wine list, water, and a basket of bread. The menu bore a date. Chris explained that the kitchen varies the menu daily.

We ordered cocktails, both of which were well made, and started on the bread. On each table is a bottle of olive oil and grinders of sea salt and black pepper for seasoning. The bread was almost too hot to touch, and was an addictive whole wheat with a crunchy crust and soft interior. Over the course of the evening we made off with two baskets. So sue us.

The one-page dinner menu is simple — starters and entrees. Desserts are listed on a separate menu. On offer that night were 10 starters and eight main courses. My friend was hankering for a salad, so she chose one with arugula, Gruyere, apples, walnuts and blood orange vinaigrette. Greens sounded good to me, too, but I wanted a bird on top of mine. I ordered quail roasted with blueberry “BBQ,” on arugula with fried parsnips and a parmesan-and-grits cake. Sound like a main dish? One more quail and it would have been.

Both came out after a reasonable time — to allow us to eat all the bread — and both delivered the goods. My friend got a mound of arugula full of thin-sliced cheese and tart apples, and just the right amount of tart dressing. The tender quail was boned — except for the little legs — its crisp skin sweetened with a rich blueberry barbecue glaze. A more fanciful man might have called it “too pretty to eat,” but I’m not given to fancy.

Other starters that night were grilled chicken soup with wild rice and sweet pepper, shellfish stew, sauteed soft shell crab, roasted beet salad, asparagus gratin, seared tuna, crabmeat and summer tomato, and a bibb lettuce and endive salad.

Chris had recommended the seared swordfish as a main course, so I went with that. My friend ordered a grilled New York strip. More bread was also requested — demanded, more like — and my friend tried one of the house specialty drinks, a Caribbean “lemonade” that was just sweet enough for a grown-up.

The entrees arrived, again after a decent interval. I like swordfish any old way, but this was a real achievement — the fish rested on a hill of roasted fennel, pitted kalamata olives, sweet peppers and a luxurious herb pesto and lemon oil. It reminded me a little of bagna cauda, the Italian “hot bath” dip that can make anybody eat his vegetables. That extra bread we ordered came in handy for soaking it all up.

My friend’s steak — large in size, cooked as ordered — came with king-sized portions of wilted spinach and garlic mashed potatoes, and a bearnaise sauce she got on the side. She took half of it home.

Other entrees were tuna steak, grilled salmon and grouper, pork tenderloin, pan-roasted snapper, and roasted chicken breast. All came with imaginative vegetables and starches, including grilled onions, sweet peppers, olives, dill cucumbers, sugar snap peas, broccoli, wild mushrooms, and fingerling potatoes.

Desserts that night were chocolate torte, tiramisu, vanilla bean sundae, key lime pie, cheesecake, vanilla bean creme brulee, and a single scoop of ice cream for kids. We got the torte and the creme brulee. The torte was dark and rich, hovering at just the point between cool and room temperature for maximum chocolate flavor. The raspberries on the smooth/crunchy creme brulee were perfectly ripe, and what more do you want?

Bud & Alley’s has been at Seaside since I’ve been visiting there, which in itself is remarkable. The menu has changed over time, and still does. Whatever they’re serving, they do their pup and kitty namesakes proud.

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