sugar520

Once again I had a great experience at Beausoleil. Colleagues and I decided to go for a late lunch on Friday and the atmosphere was great, everything you could want on a Friday afternoon, if I hadn’t been driving one of our party to the airport later I would have loved to have stayed for a few drinks. The food was really good as well. The table shared two orders of the fried eggplant, which is sliced paper thin and super crispy and was served with some of the best red gravy I’ve had this side of my Italian ex’s father’s Sunday gravy. I also had the duck confit salad which was very fresh but could have used a little more goat cheese and for the roasted pecans to be bigger than the tiny pieces that eventually made their way to edge of plate as they were too small to be picked up by the fork. The salad had a light balsamic dressing and plenty of mostly ripe strawberries. I do have to say that I think calling the ample amount of duck that graced the salad “confit” might have been a stretch as it resemble more of yielding from a technique more akin to roasting or broiling. This duck was moist and tender but lacked flavor. All in all a good salad and great lunch.

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.

This is an Irish pub worth trying in downtown KC. Besides being beautifully decorated and furnishes with what I told by our waiter with all original furnishings shipped in from the mother country, this place has some really good elevated pub fare. We had a wonderful appetizer of smoked fish in cheesy stew with potatoes and baked til bubbly with thin slices of toasted bread called Smokie City it was delicious. It was super rich and worth a try even if you don’t care that much for fish I also had the fish and chips which was a generous piece of hot and crispy cod and more than ample amount of chips or fries if you will. Both were smoking hot and crispy and fresh. The tartar sauce was great and the dish also came with a thimble of crushed peas and mint which was tasty but not something I would want more of. I also added a side of colcannon, which is a yummy concoction of mashed potatoes, braised cabbage and Irish bacon. This was good but could have been great if it had a bit more cabbage and the addition of some parsley for that added bit of green and fresh taste. My fiancé had the Raglan risotto with grilled chicken and it was nice. The risotto was perfectly cooked with the addition of mushrooms and the grilled chicken was hot, juicy and had a slight char flavor that was nice, but with all the good Irish fare to try I’d leave risotto to your next outing at an Italian spot. Overall, really good place for dinner or just to have a drink and enjoy the surroundings.

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.

Today I was being generous and decided to give Counter Culture another try. My friend raves about the yogurt and having had a so-so experience prior I gave in and tried it again today. Previously I had gotten the yogurt and found it well, crunchy. This time it was just awful. I got the marshmallow and chocolate. Both were creamy so at least that was an improvement from last time but the taste I can’t describe it really. The marshmallow had this awful chemical sweet taste that I had to rinse my mouth out just to get the taste to subside. The chocolate though not as scary as the marshmallow was also very fake tasting. After a spoonful of each I had to throw it away in disgust. The other thing is that they have no good toppings that could even sort of saved this nasty mess. Again this was the worst yogurt ever!!!! Don’t waste your time or money.

Last January I spent my birthday in New York with my best friend, it was all my favorite things at one time snow, my best friend and a week in New York at the Empire Hotel. Things were all lining up for a fabulous foodie excursion as we shared a flight from New Orleans to New York with Rocco DiSpirito who was dropped off at the airport by John Besh. That’s were things started going completely down hill and I became deathly ill and after a few days of not being able to leave the hotel and relying only on what my best friend could carry up from the Duane Reade next to the hotel and local delivery options I found the strength to make it to the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle and Bouchon. One word or three letters TKO. The best cookie ever. I can’t even describe after 2 days of ginger ale and saltines how good these cookies were. These are oreos refined and perfected. Honestly I thought maybe it was just because it was the first real thing I had eaten in days but the next I went back had another TKO and a few chocolate bouchons which are these tiny little brownies. Bouchon became our breakfast spot for the rest of the week and not once was I disappointed. The pain au raisin was flaky and had this incredible vanilla custard in the middle and was full of rum infused raisins. You have to try this place. I’m convinced it saved my life !

Coworkers and I stopped in for lunch on Tuesday(4/13/10) and I was really impressed with this restaurant. The decor was very inviting with walls covered in local art and by covered I mean everywhere including the restrooms, which had some great photography and primitive paintings. The only thing better than the ambiance was the food and the service and both were excellent. If there is any downside to this restaurant I’d have to say its the price, there was no lunch menu and the selections were around 14.95. The menu had salads, local Louisiana dishes, soups and pastas. A lunch special was offered and that’s what I chose and it was a very good choice both for the price(11.95) and the quality. The special was eggplant parmigiana with two boneless chicken breast and green beans. The chicken was nicely seasoned and had a light flavorful sauce, the green beans were also nicely seasoned with a bit bacon but the real star was the eggplant. The eggplant was prepared more like a casserole than traditional style you might get in an Italian restaurant, but the flavors were all there. The eggplant was fried crispy, the sauce was rich and tangy and there was a generous amount of Parmesan cheese. Grapevine was a really nice experience and the service was extremely attentive. I must admit to a bit of food envy though as my coworker had the crawfish bisque and while I didn’t get to taste it she said it was good and I believer her. It was a large bowl of rich looking gravy and about 10 stuffed crawfish heads. So I’ll make the trek back to Grapevine soon.

Last week I had the best Friday ever. My office went to Acme for lunch to send off a colleague back to the mid west and my boyfriend was just in from the mid west for spring break and wanted chargrilled oysters so it was Acme for dinner as well. The chargrilled oysters were great both at lunch and later that night at dinner. They were fresh and fat and salty and everything a chargrilled oyster should be. With such a big party for lunch we had one of every appetizer and everything from the Boo fries (which I could only hope to refine with the addition of jalapeños) to the fried crab claws was delicious. All were fresh and hot really good food. Acme does fried very well. That night my boyfriend and I had the Captain Mike’s platter for 2. It was all really really good from the fried catfish to the coleslaw and everything in between. The wait staff is attentive but not bothersome and the service is quick even though the place is usually crazy busy.

I saw this restaurant on Diners, Drive inns and Dives and put it on my list so on a recent trip to Chicago a few months ago my boyfriend and I tried Smoque for my birthday. As soon as I saw the line that snaked out of and around the rather nondescript building I knew I was in for some really good BBQ and I was right. Oh and did I mention it was snowing and about 24 degrees, which I know is no great indication for people use to standing in line while it snows it was however a real show of faith for a southern girl. We both had brisket and it was so tender and juicy with a nice vinegary sweet sauce and completely cooked to perfection. Oh and don’t forget the sides, the mac and cheese was awesome, it was creamy and perfect after spending some time out in the snow, it was warm and gooey and just the right compliment to the tangy bbq sauce. The coleslaw was very fresh and a crispy addition to all the richness of the brisket and mac and cheese. Smoque has great atmosphere. The staff while friendly are a well oiled machine that made that time out in snow as short as possible. But trust me it’s worth the wait in any weather.

I haven’t eaten at Himalaya’s in several years and was really disappointed when my boyfriend and went there on Saturday evening. We started off with drinks, iced tea and lemonade. Both were the very weak and watery and things just went downhill from there. I had a chicken dish from the Nepal side of the menu and my boyfriend had a similar dish but made with lamb. After about 30 minutes our food arrived and was cold. We had both ordered our dishes medium in spice and both were also tasteless. My dish consisted of diced onion, bell pepper and sautéed chicken(if I had to guess I’d say it was a mix of thighs and breast tenderloin) and one sprig of cilantro and absolutely no seasoning to speak of. My boyfriend’s lamb dish was exactly the same with the addition of tomato, The lamb was a bit above warm and was tender but for about 13.00 per entrée I’d expect at least the dishes to be hot with some seasoning. The naan was hot was really really good but overall I was really disappointed especially in light of such great experiences at The Himalayas prior to this one.