Tudor House Restaurant

Diners are started with hot spherical puffs of pretzel rolls, the type you can still get on the streets of American cities, but much fresher. A wide array of bar snacks -- olives, Marcona almonds, bruschetta variations, and the like -- can come in handy for munching with predinner drinks. Seafood plates among them -- chilled octopus, West Coast oysters, and a stunning hiramasa (yellowtail kingfish) crudo -- can just as aptly serve as appetizers. Pea soup exemplifies the Tudor cuisine: delicate, full-flavored, and portioned in a more-than-modest manner. The warm, vibrant-green purée is poured into a wide, shallow bowl buoyed with lime marshmallows, crunchy English peas, and crackly coriander seeds. Entrées are no less ethereal: Five fleshy black grouper cheeks intermingle on the plate with baby vegetables; branzino fillets cavort with fava beans and slivers of Cerignola olives; and assertively spiced lamb belly is delicately matched with English peas and miniature infant carrots. Whimsical desserts pay homage to nostalgic American flavors. Homemade Kit Kat bars accompany a brown-butter "popcorn" milkshake; hazelnut milk is matched with a trio of homemade Oreos that tasted as though served to us just after cooling from the Nabisco oven. Some patrons will question portion sizes, but few will gripe about pricing alone -- snacks are $7 to $14, starters $11 to $15, most mains $23 to $29, and sides $8. Those who emphasize quality over quantity will feel right at home in this House.