Nemo Restaurant

Nemo has been serving its Asian-influenced, contemporary American fare to popular acclaim since 1995. Some menu items are the same as on opening day, such as an appetizer of garlic-and-ginger-cured salmon wrapped around alfalfa sprout and a grilled Indian-spiced pork chop with sticky black rice and papaya salsa. They still taste good, as do starters of duck confit on French lentils, calamari stir-fry in mildly piquant broth, and a main course of sautéed yellowtail snapper with lobster hash browns. Raw bar selections of caviar, oysters, and shellfish cocktails remain strong choices; the wine list is filled with labels from well-regarded West Coast vintners; and brunch is, as always, the bomb. But appetizers run $13 to $19, most entrées cost $32 to $37, and desserts cost $11. That's expensive in light of Nemo's no longer being ahead of the times in terms of providing cuisine you couldn't get elsewhere.