Do you ever have one of those days when you whisper to the Lord, “if you hear me, I need you now”? That was today for me. It is January fourth… we are ONLY four days into the new year and I am already gasping for air to keep up. But c’est la vie… well at least my life. I love my life even though it is incredibly stressful. It is of my own creation and I have achieved success beyond my wildest dreams. How do you think I am able to have all these wonderful experiences? It is all truly hard work and me merely enjoying the fruits of my labor. So here I was counting down to when I could get to Figure Eight. This restaurant comes from the same family that owns Silver Apricot. I visited Silver Apricot when they first opened and loved it. Honestly, it is Figure Eight that reminded me that I have to go back soon.

Upon entering the space, I find it small, cute and quaint. It is giving me vibes of Pig and Khao but with better lighting and “seaside-ish” decor. I was so hungry that I knew I would order the entire menu just looking at it… everything was just begging for exploration. I settled on the shrimp cocktail to quench my hunger. The Negroni I also ordered would help with the normal and expected hangry. I also ordered the grilled oysters, lobster roll, pork ribs and hot fried skate.

The Negroni came out quickly and sipping it I found it was strong and consequently hit the spot. Hangry began subsiding immediately so therefore, goal achieved! I was told the kitchen sends dishes out as they are ready which I hoped meant they will let me finish a dish before bringing another out but I could not be sure. I figured that I would find out when I started eating!

I had intentionally ordered the shrimp cocktail since I knew it would be quick and in addition, you have to work really hard to mess this dish up. This shrimp cocktail was accompanied with house made cocktail sauce. I love that it was savory and without that harsh bite that you can sometimes get with cocktail sauce. This was an absolutely marvelous start to the meal.

The grilled oysters and lobster roll came out next. The oysters come drenched in XO butter and smell like absolute decadent heaven. On flavor, it is just rich luscious butter on the palate with a finishing touch of oyster brine. I could eat this everyday. Next I dove into the tempura lobster roll. Tempura, lobster and butter… how could you ever go wrong? Well you absolutely cannot… well almost. It hits the spot on flavors but is seriously messy to eat. I am not at home where I will lick all the sauce off my fingers so that slightly took away from my enjoyment of the dish. That said, it is definitely a must order for the flavors! As I waited for the pork ribs, I realized that I very much appreciated the coursing out and pacing of the dishes from the kitchen. They had a perfect rhythm and flow and I definitely had nothing to worry about which was where I was at the start of the meal. I also reflected on the portion sizes which I found to be equally perfect even though the menu is introduced as family style. I was three dishes in – where I ate EVERYTHING – and I was still ready to eat more.

The pork ribs and fried skate came out at the same time and they were both sizable portions. These were definitely shareable plates. I was weary of the pork ribs as they came with a lot of red chili peppers laid atop and you all know by now how I feel about that. The fried skate came with a biscuit and I was encouraged to make open faced sandwiches with it. I decided to start with the latter, just in case. Did I mention that I was instructed to eat both these dishes with my hands. So basically, my whole all black with leather accents look was gone with the wind by me licking my fingers with every bite. The open face sandwich that I made with the fried skate and the creamy herbal dressing was absolutely divine. I will say that I wish it was slightly less brown but ultimately the flavors were there and that is what matters. Next I looked with trepidation at the pork ribs or more accurately the red chili peppers on top of it. I decided to forego instructions to eat these with my hands and go for the fork & knife route. I scraped off as many chili peppers as I could, said a prayer and then dove right in. THANK GAWD!!!! It was not spicy in the least. It was sticky sweet but not in an overbearing way with the tiniest and barely there kick off spice to finish. Pork ribs never tasted so good. Or maybe they did and I just do not remember. In any case, order this!

I was too full for dessert at this point but I ALWAYS have space for another cocktail which is always my kind of dessert. I settled on the terracotta which is jasmine tea, Roku gin and plum wine. I figured it had all the elements of a great cocktail so I might as well try it. It looks dangerous (read: clear and see through) but it is easy drinking. However, it is in fact dangerous as I felt myself getting sleepy half way through so I decided to call it a night.

So that was the end of my visit to Figure Eight. There are sure to be very many more visits to this restaurant to try more dishes. I think I could get through the entire menu in three or four more visits so I am definitely looking forward to it.

Asta pronto!

Fisayo