Water Street Cafe is enduring and endearing
It’s been almost three decades since Stephanie Hayes Houlihan and Walter Houlihan opened their Water Street Cafe in Stonington borough, and the restaurant is more popular than ever these days.
Locals flock there, and visitors and tourists follow to enjoy the masterfully prepared fare, like the Seared Yellowfin Tuna ($38).
It is one of their signature dishes, a generous portion of sliced tuna seared rare and served with jasmine rice, Little River Farm greens, spiraled carrots and cucumbers, pickled ginger, wasabi, soy and wonton crisps.
If you enjoy tuna, this is how it should be prepared. The dish is perfect.
Another popular entrée on the Water Street menu is the Skillet Chicken ($27). It’s a leg with an attached thigh that’s prepared with a rosemary garlic pan jus, and served over mashed potatoes with green beans. The skin is lightly crisped, and the chicken is moist and flavorful. The seasoning is spot on, and the light gravy so tasty you will want to scrape up every bite.
They make a Crispy Tofu Salad at Water Street that will make even an avowed never-eat-tofu person come back for more. It’s $16, and the cubes of lightly fried tofu are deliciously seasoned and served on local greens with spiraled carrots and all dressed with a wasabi-soy vinaigrette with a kick.
This salad is a meal in itself, but if you want something heartier, ask for salmon, shrimp, or something else to be added on top.
The raw bar at the restaurant serves up a selection of oysters, littleneck clams, and shrimp cocktail, and on our recent visit, we got a dozen Ninigret and Moonstone oysters, which sell for $2.50 each. They arrived on an iced tray with cocktail sauce, a mignonette, and sliced lemons, and we ate them all. They were briny good.
They have a great staff at Water Street, including Jamie Fowler, the chef, who is exceptional at his craft, and head bartender Kelly Patt, who will have the usual on the bar before regulars are even settled in to their seat. But it is proprietor Stephanie Houlihan, the face of the restaurant, who makes her regular visits to diners at tables to ensure that everything is good and to offer a warm, personal greeting.
There is other very good staff, too many to mention, but the fact that so many have been there for so long is a testament to what makes Water Street Cafe so enduring and endearing.
Everyone who is a regular has a favorite dish or two at Water Street, maybe the London Broil ($25), with fries and garlic butter, or the Duck & Scallops ($36), with oyster mushrooms, snap peas and mashed potatoes. For lighter fare, they serve up a chicken breast sandwich or a burger, both $16, or their chili, for $15.
We tried the Shrimp & Grits ($30) on a recent visit, and it was a non-traditional rendition of the Low Country dish. Rather than a bed of creamy grits, they were prepared as small block, or cake, more like polenta, that was crunchy on the exterior and buttery smooth inside. Nestled about the grits were five perfectly cooked shrimp and peppers, onions, and kale. The dish was bursting with flavor.
We have been dining at Water Street for decades and are never disappointed. It’s a comfortable oasis in Stonington borough where you are guaranteed a good meal and very good service.