I had been hearing good things about Willy's for
the last few years, so I was quite excited when
the opportunity finally came for me to sample
their fare. Willy's is known primarily for its
high quality not only as a steakhouse, but also as
a sushi bar.
Located at the corner of Main Street and Grafton
Street in Shrewsbury, the restaurant can be found
inside a small, rustic looking historical house -
it can be difficult to get in on busy nights, and
parking can be troublesome, though free valet
parking does make it slightly less annoying. My
party of six made a reservation on 11/24/03, and
we were seated at a tight booth table situated
just behind the bar.
I started with the sashimi appetizer, 7 pieces of
excellent quality fish for 9.99, including tuna and
salmon and yellowtail. The bite sized pieces of
meat were extremely tender and delicious, and were
presented with a great deal of flair - as were the
other sushi dishes ordered by my friends. Cleverly
cut vegetables were shaped into roses and other
interesting shapes.
My entree choice was the roast duck; it came
dressed in a succulent and sweet black raspberry
sauce, accented by slices of orange between each
cut of breast meat. The meal came with garlic
mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley, unlike
nearly all the other entrees - salads and side
dishes can be an unanticipated additional cost, as
they must all be ordered a la carte. Every element
of my meal seemed perfectly prepared; even the
vegetables and potatoes were seasoned expertly.
The menu seemed low on choices, but all the bases
were covered; a variety of steak options were
available, but other types of meat were usually
only represented by one dish or prepartion. Our
two servers moved briskly and kept the table
clean, even though one of them seemed to be a
server in training.
Dessert was a fabulously rich triple chocolate cake
that did not seem to be standard store bought fare
(I didn't find out whether they made their own
desserts). The variety of dessert offerings made
it hard to choose the perfect ending to my
excellent meal. Price ended up being around $50 a
person, but the quality of the meal truly matched
the cost.
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