DOME - Lantana Square

The Pike Creek Valley used to be my stomping grounds. That was before the McMansions sprung up from the corn fields. The original two-lane concrete road that was Limestone Road was a border. Fields, farms, and homes to my friends on the south, mushroom houses and the stench that comes along with them to the North. And as I watched Hockessin grow up, I was so glad that I chose not to move there. The familiar haunts like M R Docs, Sav-A-Cent, Pearson's Liquors look nothing like they did in the mid-80's..actually, I don't think any of them are around anymore.

So my buddy in Newark calls and says, "Mom has our kids and Diana needs to go out"...since we are both a mile from I-95, and since 95 is only 14 miles long, we normally pick a place to meet in Wilmington - Mikimotos, Washington Street Ale House, etc. But this time we threw the dice and picked Dome.

I'd call it Bistro-like. Some indeterminant jazz at the bar, a few draft selections, cozmo-type drink menu, servers in black. Guiness on Tap is always a safe bet. One of the TVs was off-kilter...it looked like a living Peter Max picture. The soy snaks were stale, but I think they're shipped from China that way...at least the bartenders were attentive...to the two blonde twenty-somethings that had obviously been there for a while. Drunken giggle girls always crack me up!

So its Saturday night, 7:30pm, and the place is fairly empty...hmmm. This wasn't my first visit, and if I recall, the last time or two the place was mobbed. We sit down and review the menu...again, bistro-like. Nothing is really jumping out at me...until they hand me the wine list...which was good - priced fair, and a decent selection.

We ordered the veggie egg rolls and hummus plate to start...really nice crispyness to the egg rolls and a good flavor and texture to the hummus with a nice selection of veggies and chips for glopping.

My wife ordered a plum sauce salmon special, I ordered the wedge salad - but had them add chicken that was doused in their buffalo sauce. A nice touch, the waitress came back to ask if I wanted the grilled chicken or the fried...I opted for the grilled. My buddy ordered another salad, and added the ahi tuna. His wife ordered...well, I forgot what she ordered - obviously wasn't that memerable. We always pass our plates around when we go out - no fear of cooties here! I'd say that the salmon was good - not like the salmon you'd get from Harry's (from the FV Rose), but better than you would get at Hatfields or ACME. The tuna was awesome - Cooked perfectly and a nice pepper coating. The buffalo sauce was spectacular - a touch of vinegar, butter, and louisiana hot sauce - the way I like it and it went real good with the crumpled blue cheese and bacon on the salad.

All in all, a good experience. The diminished crowd kept the noise level down and for this visit I'd give it 7 out of 10.

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Great review, man.

Is it a pricey place? For some reason I always imagined it was.

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I've spent alot of time at the resturants of Hockessin! Someday maybe I'll learn to cook. The Dome at first was excellent, but like all resturants, eventually they don't keep up the momentum. 6P although not as lavish, for me is consistant. However, I do miss Courtney's and Mark Chew's cooking!

Sounds like a great place i will have to try it out.

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I sure do know the hockessin area very well. I grew up their in the early 70's till middle 90's. isn't like it use to be. As for the restaurants, well some r ok. Im not to impressed. I do enjoy cking out new places to eat though.

Na, wasn't too pricey....we usually over-spend when we go out...If I remember correctly, it was only $170 - and that includes at least 4 beers for me, multiple drinks for everyone else and a bottle of wine...so our liquor bill was probably $100 of that.....