Situated in O'Donnell Park, Coast, 931 E. Wisconsin Ave., has a dining room that is quite literally a room with a view. It's actually one of the best views -- the lake and the surrounding green spaces that make O'Donnell Park so very stunning -- at any Milwaukee restaurants. The menu is thus appropriately predicated upon various coastal influences: Atlantic, California, Northwest, Great Lakes, Southwest, Gulf; and seafood is prevalent.
Coast, owned and operated by the Zilli Restaurant Group, of Ellen's Prestige Catering and Zilli's Grandview Inn, offers a nice variety of simple starters and entrees interspersed with some more adventurous items, and is one of Milwaukee's most highly-advertised venues.
Diners here can choose from beginnings, small greens, large greens, sandwiches, entrees, surf and turf. From the beginnings menu, a trio soup sampler ($9) offered Coast's signature clam chowder paired with a chef selection cream of asparagus and beef vegetable. The soups were well-seasoned and charmingly served in cup sized bowls with giant oyster crackers.
Another beginnings selection of lobster spring roll ($12) was surprisingly spicy, and mixed the interesting combination of lobster meat with carrots and a sweet and sour Thai-style dipping sauce in a crunchy light wonton coating.
Surf and turf selections at Coast were excellent, both for lunch and dinner visits, although a menu snafu left me with couscous accompanying a delightfully light and flaky halibut rather than the truffle risotto I thought I would receive (older menus had not been entirely replaced with the updated versions).
Regardless, the halibut (California, $32) paired very well with the herb and truffle couscous, and was delivered in a champagne sauce that bordered on exquisite.
Herb chicken (New England, $23), too, was rich with an herb boursin cheese, and served with spinach linguine, tomato beurre blanc and a unique take on ratatouille which showcased olives and only a small amount of eggplant for good results. Chicken is arguably one of the hardest meats to properly prepare in a restaurant environment, where it is often overcooked and dry. At Coast, the chicken breast was expertly prepared, and made it a dish worth re-ordering.
Sandwiches include a mushroom gruyere burger (Great Lakes, $12), which was juicy and pleasantly plump with sautéed mushrooms and garnished with onion strings within the bun.
A gourmet grilled cheese (Pacific, $11) sang with avocado, tomato and bacon layered beneath melted sage derby, a mild cheese similar in texture to cheddar and slightly marbled with sage. The sandwich was delivered panini-style and came with a side salad, which unfortunately contained some badly wilted greens within the spring medley and should have been better picked through before leaving the kitchen.
Service is practiced and professional, and the food, save the greens, was consistently excellent. And then there's that view, which on its own, is well worth a visit.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
