sugar520

Colleagues and I had lunch at The King Bar and Bistro a week or so ago and I have to say it is a great place to sit, have a drink with friends maybe have a snack but this is no place to have a meal. The menu stated that it was chef inspired but I can tell you it was not cooked by a chef. I should have been clued in that the food might be less than inspiring when a very nice man that worked in the hotel came by our table a few times telling us how great the food was. The flavors were muddled at best and there was no balance in any of the dishes I had. Our table started off with a charcuterie plate, which was good. The plate consisted of slices of a decent salami, chopped pieces of tasso and mild tasting pate as for the cheese there were cubes of swiss, pepper jack and cheddar and these were of the variety that are pre-cubed and purchased in a bag. Chef inspired is not quite what I would call this fare. I had the shrimp and grits and from the description on the menu it sounded great, sauteed shrimp with spices over creamy Gouda cheese grits topped with tasso jam. Sounds great right? To start with the dish was cold and I had to send it back, once the dish was hot I had high hopes, the shrimp were cooked nicely and were big and plentiful, the Gouda grits were lacking Gouda for one and were oddly watery and separated but what was really the downfall of this dish was the so called tasso jam. There was no tasso that I could discern but it was rather a sweet vinegary chutney type relish. The “jam” would have been good if there was a lot less of it and had the grits been rich and creamy to offset it’s overpowering taste. Overall no one at my table of 5 thought they would come back for an actual meal. This is a great location and the atmosphere is very nice so maybe they could get a chef to do more than inspire but maybe actually taste some of the food that they serve.

I was so happy to see that Thai Pepper had reopened after a very nice make-over. The restaurant looks great and the food was just as good if not better than before. My friend and I shared fried won tons and chicken nam sod as appetizers. Both were delicious and very fresh. The won tons were stuffed with ground chicken and shrimp as well as ginger and a host of other fresh herbs and spices but were a little greasy. My favorite dish at Thai Pepper has always been and remains the medium chicken nam sod with lettuce. This is the freshest and most flavorful dish ever. The ground chicken is topped with peanuts, fresh slivers of ginger and red onion, fish sauce, lime juice and fresh chopped cilantro and is served with lettuce leaves. The combination of ingredients creates an incredible balance of savory heat with just a touch of sweetness and It has to be tried. I also had red curry with chicken which was nice and light and not too spicy, though I would have appreciated a bit more heat as I ordered it medium spice. The chicken was tender and the green beans were crisp and overall the dish was really nice. My friend had the sweet and sour steamed catfish which was tasty but not something I would have again as it missed a lot of spice and flavor that I have Thai food for. The staff was super friendly and I can’t wait to go back and try some of their new menu items.