Featured
Restaurants

Volume 37 Issue Four • May 17-23, 2007 now in our 37th season

	In This Issue
	Features • Nantucket: for the Birds • Man Behind the Music • Banking Under the Stars • Limerick Challenge Events • Tour of Historic House • What's New & Happening Island Cooking • The Holidays Island Essay • Island in Winter Featured Restaurant Island Science

AK Diamond's - "If You Leave Hungry, It's Your Fault"

A.K. Diamonds is the perfect local watering hole.  The ambiance is casual and comfy, pub-style with lots of burnished wood and a background of happy chatter.  If you’re in the mood for company, grab one of the tall stools at the wrap-around bar.  The tables in the bar area are ideal for groups of friends, and the long, cushioned booths upstairs are great for families.  Outside, their secluded patio is a quieter spot for savoring the warm days and evenings of September on Nantucket.

Owners Richard and Jeanne Diamond set the tone for affable and welcoming service, and Doug, Brian, Nancy, Mike, Dave, Evelyn, and the rest of the staff follow through.  Go to AK’s once and you’ll be warmly greeted; after another visit or two, they’ll know your name and your favorite drink.

You can stop in at AK’s any time for a tall draft beer and a plate of bacon-cheddar skins, a burger, or fish-n-chips, but the menu also offers creative selections such as Applewood Smoked Bacon Salmon Filet and Zebra Striped Lobster Ravioli.  The food here is unpretentious, but it’s very good, the portions are huge, and you can’t beat the value:  most of the entrees are under $25, all are under $30.  A.K.’s Blue Plate Specials offer a different choice each night of the week for $9.95.  From 3 to 5 p.m. appetizers are half price, and if you order before 6 p.m., full dinner entrees are 25% off. 

A dozen different pub food selections such as succulent Chicken Satay with crunchy sesame seed and panko coating and tangy hoisin dipping sauce, plump BBQ Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, and the crispy Vegetable Spring Rolls are reason enough to meet your friends at AK’s to watch the game on one of their strategically placed televisions. 

	The cheesy Artichoke and Spinach Dip with tri-color tortilla chips and the basket full of bite-size Killer Onion Straws, their crunchy coating over soft, sweet onions, are great for sharing round the table.  Even better is the plate piled high with Buffalo Popcorn Chicken.  These mouthfuls of tender chicken doused with spicy buffalo sauce come with blue cheese dressing for dipping and chilled celery sticks to dial down the heat.
	You won’t want to share the hard-to-resist Zing Wings, a peppery and extra crispy alternative to spicy Buffalo Chicken Wings (which they also offer).  The Quesadilla Rolls are tasty tightly rolled flour tortillas filled with spiced chicken.  These crunchy fried rolls are served piping hot, so be sure to dip them into the chilled ranch dressing served alongside and take the first bite gingerly.
	Another patron favorite at A.K. Diamond’s is their Salad Bar that includes everything you could want to make a fresh and satisfying salad.  Start with a chilled plate, pile on the mixed greens, and top it with marinated mushrooms, pickled beets, hard-boiled eggs, grape tomatoes, pepperoni, olives, baby corn, sprouts, cheeses, a variety of crisp raw veggies, peppers, pasta salad, wheatberry salad, hummus, nuts, dried fruit, and more.  Top it off with slices you cut from loaves of warm crusty bread.  The salad bar comes with all dinner entrees.  You can pair it with an appetizer or sandwich for just $5.95.  Or it can be your meal—unlimited trips to the salad bar can be had for $10.95.
	A.K.’s menu devotes an entire page to their specialty salads.  Their Apple, Cranberry, and Walnut Salad is full of autumn flavors with fresh apples, dried cranberries, glazed nuts, and plenty of gorgonzola cheese tossed in a maple cider dressing.  Add chicken or shrimp to make it a full meal.  Six different varieties of Caesar Salad are served, and after trying it last week, the Cheeseburger Caesar has become our newest A.K. Diamond’s favorite!  The thick and juicy burger with melted Swiss, cheddar, gorgonzola, or American and topped with plenty of sauteed mushrooms and onions is placed on a huge traditional caesar salad garnished with slices of ripe, red tomato.  It’s the perfect cheeseburger for anyone watching their carbs:  this has everything but the bun.
	Because they serve most of their menu items from 11:30 a.m. to closing (dinner entrees are available after 5 p.m.), there’s a terrific selection of hot and cold sandwiches and lighter entrees that can be ordered at any time.  In addition to pub classics—French Dip, Philly Cheesesteak, BBQ Chicken, and Lobster Roll—their sandwich selection includes a tasty Reuben Burrito and a hearty Chicken Cordon Blue sandwich.  Best of all are A.K.’s paninis, filled with either chicken salad, grilled chicken and pesto, or portobello and provolone.  Each one is built on a fresh ciabatta roll that becomes deliciously crispy when pressed and grilled.  The Portobello Panini is so full of provolone cheese, onions, tomatoes, and artichoke spread along with the meaty mushroom that it oozes lusciously out the edges when you bite into it.
	Though they tend to describe their All Day Entrees as “light,” we find them to be the size you get served at most other restaurants when you order full entrees.  These eight choices range from casual Fish & Chips or BBQ Babyback Ribs to a more upscale Baked Stuffed Sole or Pasta Purse Alfredo with Chicken or with Shrimp.  We recommend the Thai Noodle and Pepper Saute.  Chef Matt Sullivan makes this with just the right amount of heat and hints of sweetness in the Thai curry sauce that is tossed with the noodles and a delicious and colorful mix of onions and red, yellow, orange, and green bell peppers sauteed tender-crisp.  This dish can be vegetarian or you can add sauteed shrimp or chicken for just a few dollars more.
	Only the heartiest eaters can finish an entire full entree at A.K. Diamond’s without a little help (or a doggy bag).  The Grilled 12-ounce Sirloin is a handsome cut that Sullivan cooks perfectly to temperature.  The tender, juicy steak is served with the top encrusted with crumbled gorgonzola.  There’s just enough of the pungent cheese to accent the big beefy flavor of the steak (which you should order medium-rare).  Baked potato, green beans, and spaghetti squash round out this entree.
	Though beef gets top billing on the two-page selection of dinner entrees, seafood is always a good choice at A.K.’s.  Sullivan’s Halibut and Goat Cheese Ravioli is a definite winner.   The thick halibut steak is coated with a mix of panko crumbs and herbs that browns beautifully and adds a delicious crunchiness to the moist, flaky fish.  It’s served in a pool of superb roasted tomato and cream sauce with large raviolis stuffed full of goat cheese, herbs, and ricotta.
	We also enjoyed a sensational Swordfish Oscar that was one of three evening specials.  The firm swordfish steak, so easy to dry out, was moist and meaty and tender, the sweet crabmeat and thin spears of grilled asparagus on top slathered with a rich hollandaise.  Even the rice underneath was perfectly cooked and just the ticket to catch the drippings.  We’d love to see this fantastic special added to the regular menu.
	Chef Sullivan is justifiably proud of his Shrimp Scampi Florentine—it’s hard to get any better than shimp and wine and garlic — and we have to say that this version is one of the best we’ve ever had. The plump shrimp are cooked just till pink and curled and tossed in a highly flavorful yet surprisingly light white wine, herb, and garlic sauce with fresh tomatoes, tender artichoke hearts, and spinach.  There’s tender pasta underneath this fragrant and savory mix of fresh ingredients, but it’s just a base.  Liberal shavings of parmesan cheese add the finishing touch.
	Everyone knows that if you sit up straight, you’ll have room for dessert.  So, sit up and order one of the tempting choices—if not for yourself, then to share.  We did just that and were very pleased with the Brownie Cheesecake with it’s scrumptious chunks of chocolate brownie suspended in rich cheesecake topped with fudge sauce and walnuts.