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A Culinary Triple Threat In Huntington XO Restaurant is a quaint dining hotspot in Huntington that offers something for everyone. Whether you’re looking to enjoy a romantic evening with your special someone or simply a night out with friends, XO is your local destination to do just that. Not only are they a restaurant, but also a wine bar and chocolate lounge.
Although the restaurant is fairly new to the scene, it is already making a name for itself. Chef/owner Jason Kitton transformed the restaurant when he took over. Being he has been in the restaurant business for years, he has much experience in running a successful business. The restaurant is very abstract looking on the outside and upon entering you’ll find the bar area immediately on your left that leads way to the cozy dining room, subtly lit with candles on every table. Upstairs you’ll find an upscale lounge where they have live music on Friday and Saturday evenings. The lounge is also ideal for hosting private parties and can accommodate up to 75 people.
The menu at XO is simple with a wide selection of tasty options including a variety of small plates, salads, pastas, meats and fish. Our server Stephanie was personable, polite and immediately presented our table with some Focaccia Breadsticks with a side of olive oil (below left).
We
began our dining experience with the Slider Trio – a great starter to share
amongst others that features a crab cake slider, pulled pork slider and a kobe beef
slider (above right). The crab cake slider is an original creation. You rarely find
a crab cake in burger form, but we’re sure glad we did. It was crisp and
delicious. The pulled pork slider presents tender pulled pork smothered in a
luscious BBQ sauce. It was very tasty and presented the perfect hint of heat. The
kobe beef slider was equally enjoyable. The beef was cooked to perfection and
overflowing with flavor. The Calamari Bowl consists of crunchy calamari, hot peppers, peanuts, cilantro lime and sweet chili glaze (below left). This Asian influenced appetizer smells delicious and tastes even better! All ingredients unite to create a pleasing combination of flavors and the calamari were ideally prepared. If your palate isn’t fond of spicy heat be sure to avoid the peppers.
Next up was the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake served atop a red pepper and fennel slaw in a red chili crab sauce (above right). The crisp outer coating leads way to lots of crab filling. The slaw was very refreshing and accents the crab cake nicely. The crab sauce can be compared to gazpacho. It was excellent and dipping the crab cake in it is a must. We continued with the Stuffed Rigatoni, stuffed with ricotta cheese and bathed in a scrumptious lamb Bolognese sauce (below left). The pasta was prepared to a perfect al dente and the sauce was simply divine, filled with abundant flavor. This is surely a commendable pasta dish we’d highly recommend. In fact, we enjoyed in so much, we couldn’t bare to see one bite go uneaten – and if you have any leftover breadsticks, be sure to use them to soak up the remainder of the sauce!
Our
final entrée was the Sesame Crusted Big Eye Tuna served with roasted fennel and a
wasabi orange aioli (above right). This nicely plated dish presents a generous
portion of food. The tuna was fresh and the fennel was the ideal complement. XO Restaurant is known for their fondue experience and we couldn’t wait for dessert to arrive. We indulged in their Chocolate Fondue (below left) served with strawberries, bananas, pound cake, rice krispie treats, marshmallows and pretzels for dipping. The chocolate was warm, rich and decadent and is also available in peanut butter chocolate, s'mores, white chocolate raspberry and chocolate cheesecake.
Our
dessert was accompanied by their famous XO Chocolate Martini, which is the ideal
dessert cocktail (above right). Featuring godiva, white crème de cacao, absolut
vodka and half and half, this libation is a dessert in its own – with a kick! XO
Restaurant is a triple threat – a restaurant, wine bar and chocolate lounge. Come
in for a relaxing, delicious meal and stay for dessert or even live music and
cocktails. You won’t be disappointed!
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