Two-Minute Review: Twilight Grille

They seem to really like wasabi.

Twilight Grille may be hidden from view when you look for it from Glenstone Avenue, but this recent addition to Springfield dining has a menu that can hold its own with the best deli-restaurants in the city. That menu is split into lunch and dinner, served any time of day. At lunchtime, Twilight Grille (1717 E. Cherokee St., 417-886-7116) specializes in sandwiches and smaller entrees, but I had the calamari steak, which was stuffed with shrimp and cheese and served with rice and steamed broccoli. The steak was remarkably tasty, better than any calamari appetizer I’ve had in town. The reason: It has less breading than your typical fried food, and it’s topped with a thin slice of wasabi butter. The only drawback I could find was that it was gone too quickly; the lunch menu only offers a half-order for $8.

The tuna steak sandwich my companion had was also excellent. It was soft and moist, and the wasabi and ginger mayonnaise spread on top was a wise, if fattening, choice. Add the deli-soft focaccia bread it was served on and it’s a lunch large enough to split into parts: The part you eat at the restaurant and the part you nibble on at your desk later.

We looked up from our plates just long enough to notice the overhaul the dining room went through in changing from Bombay Bicycle Club to Twilight Grille. Gone is the tropical decor and plant life, replaced with a royal-feeling mix of black, gold, white and purple on almost every surface in the room. It adds a touch of class, but I suspect the full effect will feel better at dinnertime.