When a writer works this hard to entertain, to give an elegant and titillating party for his readers, it seems churlish to complain about the overcooked shrimp.

But bouillabaisse was a disappointment, marred by seriously overcooked shrimp.

And the seafood burrito was mediocre, with overcooked, over-the-hill shrimp muscling the other ingredients into the background.

Skip the penne alla vodka harboring overcooked shrimp, and the lobster tail weighed down by a gummy crab-meat stuffing.

Ceviche was simply awful, a muddle of overcooked shrimp (why were they cooked at all?)

Except for a risotto that mated slightly overcooked shrimp with slightly undercooked rice, other seafood dishes were equally well turned out.

Another visit yielded overcooked shrimp and a muddle of jasmine rice with no discernible coconut flavor or any other flavor, either.

It included overcooked shrimp and scallops.

Those same overcooked shrimp made an appearance in a ho-hum entree of pappardelle with eggplant and shrimp.

The only appetizer strikeout was the seafood salad, a dull assemblage of calamari and tiny overcooked shrimp.