we wanted to take my parents out to eat while we were down there and well, that's always a little harder than most people think. my mom's really picky. i used to be that way. it helps to be able to spread your wings when you live in a place where there's so much *fresh* food! that and matt's always willing to eat what i might not like or he doesn't mind if i want to order something else. hence my willingness to keep trying new tastes.my friend andrea had suggested cat city grill when we were trying to find a place on sunday but Cat City Grill was closed.
we didn't make reservations for the tuesday night but we had planned on getting there early. and a cancellation of students opened up mom's schedule even earlier, which was good. at 6:30 the place was about 1/2 full but by 7:30 every table was filled.
the place reminded me of a bunch of places here in seattle. minimal in a simplistic way. a little industrial even. they have an open kitchen, a bar which i'm sure has full menu service and a 2nd room for private parties. there are maybe 15 tables (?) in the main room.
i had a stella with dinner while matt had a fireman's ale
mom and dad skipped appys but matt and i indulged
bacon-wrapped scallops: 2 large sea scallops bacon-wrapped and grilled, served with lemon-garlic aioli
the scallops themselves were well cooked but there wasn't much flavor to the sauce. in fact i didn't taste much difference between the 2 bites 1 with and 1 without the sauce.
lobster bites: battered and fried lobster pieces served with remoulade sauce for dipping.
the spice on these tasted mostly of salt and pepper. they were well-cooked and the remoulade was better than the aioli served with the scallops.
as it turned out we were waiting quite a while for our mains. in fact at one point our server came over after helping the next table and let us know he was on the way to the kitchen to find out what was taking so long. we didn't get an answer, but i guess about 10 minutes later our server and another helped carry matt, mom and dad's plates out. a few minutes later my plate comes out of the kitchen carried by non other than chef thompson himself.
plum and sesame glazed salmon filet.
mom chose to skip the recommended side of bok choy and opted for whipped potatoes
Chicken-Fried Pork medallions:
tender pork loin lightly breaded and pan-fried. topped with cream gravy and chopped bacon.
dad also chose to not have the recommended side of mac-n-cheese and went with mom's idea of whipped potatoes
lamb rack gremolata:
roasted medium rare (er, well) and topped with gremolata - minced parsley, mint, garlic and lemon zest.
i chose to have the recommended side of rosemary-dijon potatoes
the lamb was exceptional. the potatoes were ok, nothing special. the gremolata was just right - lamb can be heavy and the heat in texas was so oppressive while we were there that it gave it a lightness i wasn't expecting
Cornbread-Tamale Stuffed Game Hen:
roasted game hen stuffed with a mixture of tamales and cornbread dressing and served with a chicken-mushroom jus.
his recommended side was roasted corn and poblano which he ordered but was served the same rosemary-dijon potatoes i ordered. oops. we were a little disappointed but it wasn't so big a deal that he wanted to say anything at the time.
after matt cuts open his hen.
he says it was very good.
newbie chefs and cooks may not know the following rule: *never* put anything on a plate that isn't edible. and by that i don't mean 'you can always eat it once.' i've eaten a number of different flowers in the last 4 years, thanks in part to the Herbfarm, but i never knew orchids were edible.
so here goes. at least if i were to get really sick that night they'd know what it was. no one else at the table was game and hey, this is what it's all about, right? trying new things? so i plucked a petal and popped it in my mouth. it was firm, with a bit of crunch to it. not like a potato chip, but like a thick wafer cookie maybe? anyway, after i started on my 2nd petal mom picked the flower she had put on my plate up and matt grabbed his and they decided they could try it, too. i ate dads though.
then it was time for dessert. mom and dad were sure they didn't want anything. matt and i were looking at sharing 1 of the items but we were really intrigued by another item on the dessert menu. finally we decided to order it, too.
so i got to taste the
Lemon Creme Brulee topped with blueberry compote
and matt and mom shared this while dad and i
shared this. actually mom tried it which surprised and pleased me, and matt had a slice.
PB and J Cristo: texas toast filled with peanut butter and jelly, fried and topped with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar.
ok, yes now you see why we were intrigued. it sounds disgusting. it even looks way sweet and fattening and well, yes, yes it was. but you know what? it works. it was way good.
overall this was a thumb's up. i will def. go back when i'm in town. the owners also have another place a couple blocks down the street which we didn't have time to visit this trip, but i have no reason to doubt it's also very good.
thank you to friend andrea who turned us onto this place. go early or make a reservation, even on a tuesday night.
1 comment:
This sounds like a lot of the restaurants here in Charleston--lots of hype, ok food, lousy service. Except no one stuffs anything with tamales here, more's the pity, because that looked yummy. The PB & J Cristo--I have to laugh, because I had a friend make me something similar recently (and she made me try it) and I was surprised at how good it was. Yes, it does sound disgusting! But anything that tastes that much like a really rich peanut butter cookie can't be all bad :)
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