Does any of my friends like Port Wine Cheese spread? I know that most people tend to think of it around the Christmas season mainly because of Hickory Farms stores (a fading memory) and mall kiosks. Often people think of it with bright orange and purple colors swirled in a cheese ball or log and a pretty sharp unfamiliar taste for those of us more used to thinking of cheese being more like Kraft's Singles!
Let me tell you that real port wine cheese spread is available in the Tri-Cities, TN. Hickory Farms has nothing to do with it and it's not just for Christmas anymore. The best I've ever had anywhere, anytime: Di Bruno Bros. Originally a small family owned company in Philadelphia's 9th St. Italian market, this family produces amazing things Italian. We're lucky that Food City is carrying a couple of their products, their port wine cheese spread among them. I bought a little tub of it the other day and it's simply amazing, even on a saltine cracker. Spread it on, let it warm up to room temperature and your mouth is in for a real treat. I've had samples of so many truly bad port wine cheese spreads over the years that I really wasn't expecting too much from this. I will admit it, I was very, very wrong about this one. Real cheddar cheese, real port wine, no fluorescent colors, it was nothing short of amazing.
I'm going back there in the next day or two and buying several tubs of this to put in the freezer. It's that good. Get ye to Food City while it's still available and stock up on it. It's well deserving of being served year around, not just for winter holidays! http://www.dibruno.com/
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Bacon-Bomb Burgers
I just got through polishing off an experiment in cooking hamburgers this evening. The wife was wanting hamburger steaks for dinner so I thought I'd try something a little different and came up with an entree we thought was pretty tasty. I call it the Bacon-Bomb Burger for several reasons you'll soon see:
Bacon-Bomb Burgers
8 strips bacon, fried in skillet (keep this skillet with grease hot after bacon is finished)
1 lb. ground beef chuck (80/20%)
1-2 Tbsp. L&P Worchestershire thick sauce
1 scant Tbsp. Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
Blend the Worchestershire sauce and Tony's thoroughly into the ground beef, by hand preferable. I divided the meat into three 1/3 lb. patties flattened out fairly wide as they draw up a lot while cooking.
After finishing frying your bacon strips, set them aside to drain but keep the heat on in the skillet. Place the patties into the skillet. You're in effect frying the hamburgers in bacon grease. It took a little over five minutes per side to get only clear juices running and they were browned nicely on the outside.
I served these with the bacon strips and with some Ridgewood Barbecue's Bleu Cheese Dressing on the side. Ridgewood's bleu cheese dressing is a wonderful tasty complement to any hamburger. Fear No Food!
Bacon-Bomb Burgers
8 strips bacon, fried in skillet (keep this skillet with grease hot after bacon is finished)
1 lb. ground beef chuck (80/20%)
1-2 Tbsp. L&P Worchestershire thick sauce
1 scant Tbsp. Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
Blend the Worchestershire sauce and Tony's thoroughly into the ground beef, by hand preferable. I divided the meat into three 1/3 lb. patties flattened out fairly wide as they draw up a lot while cooking.
After finishing frying your bacon strips, set them aside to drain but keep the heat on in the skillet. Place the patties into the skillet. You're in effect frying the hamburgers in bacon grease. It took a little over five minutes per side to get only clear juices running and they were browned nicely on the outside.
I served these with the bacon strips and with some Ridgewood Barbecue's Bleu Cheese Dressing on the side. Ridgewood's bleu cheese dressing is a wonderful tasty complement to any hamburger. Fear No Food!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Birthday Thai Chicken Curries
For my wife's 40-something birthday on July 31st, I decided to try two new Thai curries I've not prepared previously. I've been enjoying Thai curries for twenty years and have been making red Thai curries for the family for over ten years. Last night, as we've lately been enjoying both the Green and Massaman Thai curries from Thai Noodle Town that recently opened in west Kingsport, I decided to try to replicate them.
Last week I paid a visit to The Stockpot in north Johnson City where I procured one 14 oz. tub each of Pantainorasingh Green and Massaman curry pastes. These curries come in small plastic tubs and are packed in plastic bags for restaurant use and at prices a small fraction of what you'd pay at places like Food City for inferior products in small containers. While I think Mae Ploy curry pastes might be better than the brand I bought, they weren't currently available. I do think the Pantainorasingh brand products are quite sufficient for creating great curries.
My wife and daughter aren't quite the fans of hot, spicy Thai curries as are my son, his girlfriend, my daughter's fiancee and me. If it was up to the majority, I'd have made a full-on green curry that would melt paint, which is how we like it. I made the Massaman curry as a conciliation as it's nowhere as spicy hot as a green curry, which is considered the hottest of Thai curries.
Thai green curries get there name for a reason: they're comprised of a large part of crushed green Thai chilis along with several other ingredients such as lemongrass, garlic, Kaffir lime leave, fish sauce, coriander leaves and seeds, cumin, galangal root, just all kinds of tasty things. Thai green curries aren't for the faint of heart: the last one I had at Thai Noodle Town required not one but two paper towels to blot the sweat from my entire head and I enjoyed every bite of it!
Massaman/Massamun curries are a bit different as even the name is a derivation of the old Thai word for Muslim. Pantainorasingh's Massaman curry paste consists of lemongrass, shallots, red chilis, salt, garlic, galangal root, coriander seed, cumin, Kaffir lime peel, cinnamon and citric acid. The flavor profile is very different than a green curry and is somewhat closer to a red curry. While it's loaded with the red chilis, it's not nearly as hot as a green curry.
Thai curries are pretty simple to prepare. It all hinges on the additional ingredients that are required and the preparation technique. I decided to make both of these curries based upon chicken. The basic technique is to heat a large skillet and add some vegetable oil. I use my trusty stainless steel 14" Belgique skillet with vented cover lid that we bought with leftover wedding money over twenty-five years ago. It's an amazing skillet that has an aluminum laminated bottom for even heat distribution and would easily cost well over $100 if bought at a kitchen store today. There's a number of manufacturers/marketers producing some pretty good stuff lately at reasonable prices that you can even buy at Walmart. Wearever and Revere Ware make decent quality and it's only a fraction of the price of brands like Cordon Bleu and the like. The biggest requirement is that is has the laminated bottom with an aluminum or aluminum/copper core, is quite deep and has a lid. If you have a gas stove and have a good carbon steel wok with a decently fitting lid, you're also in high cotton!
The first step in preparing Thai curries is assembling the ingredients and prepping them to go into the pot. Almost all Thai curries involve two key ingredients: coconut milk and Thai fish sauce which is known as nam pla. These are critical and no real substitutes work very well. Coconut milk is to Thai cooking what chicken broth is to the Chinese. Same for Thai fish sauce: this is what is used for a salty flavor that the Chinese would employ soy sauce for. While most brands of Thai coconut milk are quite similar, there's a big difference between Thai fish sauce. I recommend only Golden Boy or Squid Brand due to their very high quality but you'll only find them in Asian groceries like in The Stock Pot. Food City and Kroger carry Thai fish sauce in ther Asian foods section but they are of inferior quality and very expensive compared to what The Stock Pot and most other Asian grocers carry in the big quart bottles.
Thai curries, like Indian curries depend upon properly prepared steamed/cooked rice as the foundation. Thai Hom Mali also known as Jasmine rice is among the best tasting in the world. It is a very long grain rice with a scent of popcorn as it cooks. It's somewhat similar to the Indian Basmati rice but is not aged and the individual grains are quite separate if prepared properly. If you've been used to Uncle Ben's or Mahatma, you don't know what you been missing. The differences are considerable in both taste and texture. Regardless of what rice you have on hand, you need to prepare your rice at a 3:1 ratio with the rice being the majority ingredient. Just think of biscuits and gravy.
Thai curries are a fairly simple proposition as they are somewhat like creating a stew. The devil is in the details and you must pay careful consideration as to when ingredients are added as well as the cooking temperature. You heat up your skillet, add some oil and basically stir fry your chicken or other meat. Most curries are very tasty whether your preference is chicken, beef or pork and even shrimp is amazing if sufficient care is taken in it's preparation that it's the final ingredient rather than the first as with the other meat choices.
When your meat (other than shrimp) is about half done, add a large onion that's been peeled, halved and sliced into wedges that's been broken apart and stir fry away. When the onion appears to be translucent and the meat is no longer pink, you need move the meat aside to make a well in the center of your skillet or wok in order to add 1/4 can of Coconut milk. Be advised that coconut milk isn't the same thing as coconut cream which is a super-sweetened coconut milk used for making drinks like a Pina Colada. Coconut milk is not sweet and has an unmistakable taste and is made by basically squeezing the liquid under pressure out of freshly grated coconut meat. It is a critical ingredient and can be bought quite reasonably even at Walmart in the Asian food section for less than $2 per can. Into this well you need to add your curry paste and let it cook into the coconut milk for a minute or two. The amount of curry paste you need to use can vary wildly. For the green curry I made, I added about three tablespoons of green curry paste and even that wasn't enough according to my diehards. For the Massaman curry, I added a couple of tablespoons as it was going to be a smaller curry for only two people. The Massaman curry paste is very, very thick and requires quite a bit of effort to blend it into the coconut milk. I take a fork to do the initial blending of the curry pastes in the center of the vessel until somewhat mixed. A stick blender would probably do a great job as well but I didn't think about breaking mine out until later. Once the curry paste has been blended into the coconut milk, thoroughly mix this with the meat and veggies at are already in the skillet. At this point add the rest of the can of coconut milk along with at least one half can of water so that all veggies and meat are completely covered. Continue thinking of a curry as a stew to find the right consistency. With the green curry, I let it ride as I was also preparing cubed and boiled red potatoes to go into it when the curry was finished and used a total of two cans of coconut milk. With the Massaman curry, I then added cubed eggplant, finely sliced orange bell pepper strips and green onion segments along with the balance of the can of coconut milk and half a can of water.
Thai curries typically take about twenty to thirty minutes to mature after the meat has initially cooked. They need to be stirred often and the stove's heat level needs to be only a simmer when the vessel is covered. Whether green or Massaman, the curry will need to be tasted and seasoning adjusted well prior to serving. To adjust the saltiness, Thai fish sauce is critical. You can buy a quart of Squid Brand at The Stock Pot for less than a 6 oz. bottle costs at Food City. Sugar is a critical ingredient with most curries with the Massaman being the sweetest of the lot. Palm or brown sugar is preferred although regular white sugar is better than nothing if the others aren't available. A good green curry shouldn't be but slightly sweet when finished whereas a Massaman curry has a definite sweetness to complement it's spicy flavor.
My recommendations for anyone attempting to create Thai curries in their own kitchen is to first taste it as a master chef would prepare it. The older lady that is the chef at Thai Noodle Town in Kingsport should be your benchmark. She puts all others in the Tri-Cities, TN away with her skills that I'm sure were learned over many years. When you get to her level, you've really accomplished something. I'll never get to her level but I'm quite happy with what I've prepared at home as everyone seems to like it. Another thing about Thai curries: unlike most Chinese dishes, Thai curries are wonderful the next day as left overs. Fear No Food!
Last week I paid a visit to The Stockpot in north Johnson City where I procured one 14 oz. tub each of Pantainorasingh Green and Massaman curry pastes. These curries come in small plastic tubs and are packed in plastic bags for restaurant use and at prices a small fraction of what you'd pay at places like Food City for inferior products in small containers. While I think Mae Ploy curry pastes might be better than the brand I bought, they weren't currently available. I do think the Pantainorasingh brand products are quite sufficient for creating great curries.
My wife and daughter aren't quite the fans of hot, spicy Thai curries as are my son, his girlfriend, my daughter's fiancee and me. If it was up to the majority, I'd have made a full-on green curry that would melt paint, which is how we like it. I made the Massaman curry as a conciliation as it's nowhere as spicy hot as a green curry, which is considered the hottest of Thai curries.
Thai green curries get there name for a reason: they're comprised of a large part of crushed green Thai chilis along with several other ingredients such as lemongrass, garlic, Kaffir lime leave, fish sauce, coriander leaves and seeds, cumin, galangal root, just all kinds of tasty things. Thai green curries aren't for the faint of heart: the last one I had at Thai Noodle Town required not one but two paper towels to blot the sweat from my entire head and I enjoyed every bite of it!
Massaman/Massamun curries are a bit different as even the name is a derivation of the old Thai word for Muslim. Pantainorasingh's Massaman curry paste consists of lemongrass, shallots, red chilis, salt, garlic, galangal root, coriander seed, cumin, Kaffir lime peel, cinnamon and citric acid. The flavor profile is very different than a green curry and is somewhat closer to a red curry. While it's loaded with the red chilis, it's not nearly as hot as a green curry.
Thai curries are pretty simple to prepare. It all hinges on the additional ingredients that are required and the preparation technique. I decided to make both of these curries based upon chicken. The basic technique is to heat a large skillet and add some vegetable oil. I use my trusty stainless steel 14" Belgique skillet with vented cover lid that we bought with leftover wedding money over twenty-five years ago. It's an amazing skillet that has an aluminum laminated bottom for even heat distribution and would easily cost well over $100 if bought at a kitchen store today. There's a number of manufacturers/marketers producing some pretty good stuff lately at reasonable prices that you can even buy at Walmart. Wearever and Revere Ware make decent quality and it's only a fraction of the price of brands like Cordon Bleu and the like. The biggest requirement is that is has the laminated bottom with an aluminum or aluminum/copper core, is quite deep and has a lid. If you have a gas stove and have a good carbon steel wok with a decently fitting lid, you're also in high cotton!
The first step in preparing Thai curries is assembling the ingredients and prepping them to go into the pot. Almost all Thai curries involve two key ingredients: coconut milk and Thai fish sauce which is known as nam pla. These are critical and no real substitutes work very well. Coconut milk is to Thai cooking what chicken broth is to the Chinese. Same for Thai fish sauce: this is what is used for a salty flavor that the Chinese would employ soy sauce for. While most brands of Thai coconut milk are quite similar, there's a big difference between Thai fish sauce. I recommend only Golden Boy or Squid Brand due to their very high quality but you'll only find them in Asian groceries like in The Stock Pot. Food City and Kroger carry Thai fish sauce in ther Asian foods section but they are of inferior quality and very expensive compared to what The Stock Pot and most other Asian grocers carry in the big quart bottles.
Thai curries, like Indian curries depend upon properly prepared steamed/cooked rice as the foundation. Thai Hom Mali also known as Jasmine rice is among the best tasting in the world. It is a very long grain rice with a scent of popcorn as it cooks. It's somewhat similar to the Indian Basmati rice but is not aged and the individual grains are quite separate if prepared properly. If you've been used to Uncle Ben's or Mahatma, you don't know what you been missing. The differences are considerable in both taste and texture. Regardless of what rice you have on hand, you need to prepare your rice at a 3:1 ratio with the rice being the majority ingredient. Just think of biscuits and gravy.
Thai curries are a fairly simple proposition as they are somewhat like creating a stew. The devil is in the details and you must pay careful consideration as to when ingredients are added as well as the cooking temperature. You heat up your skillet, add some oil and basically stir fry your chicken or other meat. Most curries are very tasty whether your preference is chicken, beef or pork and even shrimp is amazing if sufficient care is taken in it's preparation that it's the final ingredient rather than the first as with the other meat choices.
When your meat (other than shrimp) is about half done, add a large onion that's been peeled, halved and sliced into wedges that's been broken apart and stir fry away. When the onion appears to be translucent and the meat is no longer pink, you need move the meat aside to make a well in the center of your skillet or wok in order to add 1/4 can of Coconut milk. Be advised that coconut milk isn't the same thing as coconut cream which is a super-sweetened coconut milk used for making drinks like a Pina Colada. Coconut milk is not sweet and has an unmistakable taste and is made by basically squeezing the liquid under pressure out of freshly grated coconut meat. It is a critical ingredient and can be bought quite reasonably even at Walmart in the Asian food section for less than $2 per can. Into this well you need to add your curry paste and let it cook into the coconut milk for a minute or two. The amount of curry paste you need to use can vary wildly. For the green curry I made, I added about three tablespoons of green curry paste and even that wasn't enough according to my diehards. For the Massaman curry, I added a couple of tablespoons as it was going to be a smaller curry for only two people. The Massaman curry paste is very, very thick and requires quite a bit of effort to blend it into the coconut milk. I take a fork to do the initial blending of the curry pastes in the center of the vessel until somewhat mixed. A stick blender would probably do a great job as well but I didn't think about breaking mine out until later. Once the curry paste has been blended into the coconut milk, thoroughly mix this with the meat and veggies at are already in the skillet. At this point add the rest of the can of coconut milk along with at least one half can of water so that all veggies and meat are completely covered. Continue thinking of a curry as a stew to find the right consistency. With the green curry, I let it ride as I was also preparing cubed and boiled red potatoes to go into it when the curry was finished and used a total of two cans of coconut milk. With the Massaman curry, I then added cubed eggplant, finely sliced orange bell pepper strips and green onion segments along with the balance of the can of coconut milk and half a can of water.
Thai curries typically take about twenty to thirty minutes to mature after the meat has initially cooked. They need to be stirred often and the stove's heat level needs to be only a simmer when the vessel is covered. Whether green or Massaman, the curry will need to be tasted and seasoning adjusted well prior to serving. To adjust the saltiness, Thai fish sauce is critical. You can buy a quart of Squid Brand at The Stock Pot for less than a 6 oz. bottle costs at Food City. Sugar is a critical ingredient with most curries with the Massaman being the sweetest of the lot. Palm or brown sugar is preferred although regular white sugar is better than nothing if the others aren't available. A good green curry shouldn't be but slightly sweet when finished whereas a Massaman curry has a definite sweetness to complement it's spicy flavor.
My recommendations for anyone attempting to create Thai curries in their own kitchen is to first taste it as a master chef would prepare it. The older lady that is the chef at Thai Noodle Town in Kingsport should be your benchmark. She puts all others in the Tri-Cities, TN away with her skills that I'm sure were learned over many years. When you get to her level, you've really accomplished something. I'll never get to her level but I'm quite happy with what I've prepared at home as everyone seems to like it. Another thing about Thai curries: unlike most Chinese dishes, Thai curries are wonderful the next day as left overs. Fear No Food!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Leo's Oriental Market is now really a part of The Stock Pot!
For any of my fellow Asian food enthusiasts, Leo's Oriental Market inside of The Stock Pot, 3215 Hanover Road, Johnson City, TN, 423-283-4751 (up at the top of the big hill just past Cheddar's), has been one of the only sources of Asian food products in the Tri-Cities for several years besides Edo's in Kingsport. While Edo's seems to have taken a recent renewed interest in carrying traditional Chinese products inside of their restaurant in their China Market, they have funky operating hours. One can't go there for a bottle of soy sauce at 3 PM because they open at 11 AM till 2:30PM and then from 4:30 PM till close during the week and are also closed on Sundays.
Leo's has been inside of The Stock Pot for a number of years and seemed to have a definite tilt toward products from the Philippines while covering the basics for many other Asian culinary products. I've been shopping for primarily Chinese cooking items for almost thirty years until recent years and normally went to either Knoxville, Asheville or Atlanta to purchase them as especially Knoxville and Atlanta have multiple stores that specialize in these products and also at amazing prices compared to regular grocery stores. Leo's was most convenient being so close by in Johnson City but I almost always developed a case of sticker shock on many basic items after having purchased them elsewhere cheaper for so many years.
Finally, for whatever reason, the folks behind Leo's have recently decided to sell out to the owners of The Stock Pot. Yay!! What this means most to customers immediately is that the prices of almost all of the former Leo's items are now reduced by half and they're bringing in new stock all the time! Finally, their prices are in line with Knoxville and beyond and the management is taking a real interest in providing what the customers want to buy. I took in quite a haul on Thursday buying tubs of Thai curry pastes, Calbee shrimp chips, Jamaican Cock soup mix, Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce, Seto Fumi Furikake, Hot Saki Ika dried squid (that I'm eating while I write this), and many other wonderful things at 1/4 the price or less that you can buy them at places like Kroger, Food City, even Walmart. Most groceries stores only carry a few of these items but charge very premium prices for what they do have. If you like to cook Chinese, Japanese or Thai, you need to give this place a visit. The Stockpot itself carries an amazing amount of restaurant supplies and staples, even new and used restaurant equipment. This is the kind of economic stimulus I've been needing!
Leo's has been inside of The Stock Pot for a number of years and seemed to have a definite tilt toward products from the Philippines while covering the basics for many other Asian culinary products. I've been shopping for primarily Chinese cooking items for almost thirty years until recent years and normally went to either Knoxville, Asheville or Atlanta to purchase them as especially Knoxville and Atlanta have multiple stores that specialize in these products and also at amazing prices compared to regular grocery stores. Leo's was most convenient being so close by in Johnson City but I almost always developed a case of sticker shock on many basic items after having purchased them elsewhere cheaper for so many years.
Finally, for whatever reason, the folks behind Leo's have recently decided to sell out to the owners of The Stock Pot. Yay!! What this means most to customers immediately is that the prices of almost all of the former Leo's items are now reduced by half and they're bringing in new stock all the time! Finally, their prices are in line with Knoxville and beyond and the management is taking a real interest in providing what the customers want to buy. I took in quite a haul on Thursday buying tubs of Thai curry pastes, Calbee shrimp chips, Jamaican Cock soup mix, Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Oyster Sauce, Seto Fumi Furikake, Hot Saki Ika dried squid (that I'm eating while I write this), and many other wonderful things at 1/4 the price or less that you can buy them at places like Kroger, Food City, even Walmart. Most groceries stores only carry a few of these items but charge very premium prices for what they do have. If you like to cook Chinese, Japanese or Thai, you need to give this place a visit. The Stockpot itself carries an amazing amount of restaurant supplies and staples, even new and used restaurant equipment. This is the kind of economic stimulus I've been needing!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Red Clam Sauce Recipe for Pasta
I'm a big fan of clam sauces, both red and white. If you're not familiar with clam sauce, it's a sauce that's either butter/cream based or tomato based with clams and is served over pasta. It's a pretty common item in the Northeast and almost any Italian restaurant serves their version of it. Like a lot of sauces, everyone makes a variation to suit themselves or their customers. I've had great clam sauce and I've had very mediocre clam sauce in restaurants that otherwise have good food. I've made several variations of it over the years and I think I've honed my recipe down to an acceptable product that I served for dinner tonight with fettuccine.
Ingredients:
3 ea. Cape May Chopped Clams, 6.5 oz. can, drained but reserve liquid (from Dollar Tree!)
1 ea. Hunt's Diced Tomatoes, 14.5 oz. can, drained
1 stick Butter, salted or margarine
1 tsp. olive oil
3-4 ea. garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup dry Sherry or Chinese rice Wine
1 tsp. sweet basil, dried
1/4 tsp. oregano, dried
1/2 tsp. Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper, fresh ground if possible
Method:
In a sauce pan or non-stick skillet, gently melt butter or margarine and then add the garlic. Simmer for about five minutes or so until the garlic starts to get clear. Then add the diced tomatoes, sweet basil, oregano, Tony Chachere's, salt, black pepper and all of the reserved clam juice you saved from when you drained the clams. Simmer for about fifteen minutes, stirring often. Then add the rice wine and the olive oil and simmer an additional two to three minutes. Next add all of the clams to the sauce, stirring in well. Let simmer for about five minutes as you're only heating the already cooked clams and then serve over freshly prepared pasta. Enjoy!
Notes: I decided to try the Cape May clams this time after noticing they were made in the USA. I'm afraid to use most canned clams as they are almost always from Southeast Asia and who knows what kind of water conditions they were harvested from. Cape May's are also cheaper than many of the canned clams you'll find in the grocery. I'm sure if you live in an area where live, fresh clams are available, they would be very superior to the canned varieties. I also always use Hunt's Diced Tomatoes as they are about the best you can buy and were the favorite among several major brands recently tested by a well-respected food testing institute.
Ingredients:
3 ea. Cape May Chopped Clams, 6.5 oz. can, drained but reserve liquid (from Dollar Tree!)
1 ea. Hunt's Diced Tomatoes, 14.5 oz. can, drained
1 stick Butter, salted or margarine
1 tsp. olive oil
3-4 ea. garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup dry Sherry or Chinese rice Wine
1 tsp. sweet basil, dried
1/4 tsp. oregano, dried
1/2 tsp. Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper, fresh ground if possible
Method:
In a sauce pan or non-stick skillet, gently melt butter or margarine and then add the garlic. Simmer for about five minutes or so until the garlic starts to get clear. Then add the diced tomatoes, sweet basil, oregano, Tony Chachere's, salt, black pepper and all of the reserved clam juice you saved from when you drained the clams. Simmer for about fifteen minutes, stirring often. Then add the rice wine and the olive oil and simmer an additional two to three minutes. Next add all of the clams to the sauce, stirring in well. Let simmer for about five minutes as you're only heating the already cooked clams and then serve over freshly prepared pasta. Enjoy!
Notes: I decided to try the Cape May clams this time after noticing they were made in the USA. I'm afraid to use most canned clams as they are almost always from Southeast Asia and who knows what kind of water conditions they were harvested from. Cape May's are also cheaper than many of the canned clams you'll find in the grocery. I'm sure if you live in an area where live, fresh clams are available, they would be very superior to the canned varieties. I also always use Hunt's Diced Tomatoes as they are about the best you can buy and were the favorite among several major brands recently tested by a well-respected food testing institute.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Restaurant Review: Huck Finn's
Huck Finn's Catfish, Chicken & Steaks
3330 Parkway
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
Phone: 865-429-3353
http://www.huckfinnsrestaurant.com/
We had a delightful dinner at this rustic-looking restaurant over the weekend. It's interior looks straight out of a old farmhouse rather than a Cracker Barrel. Seating is at tables with gingham tablecloths and straight back chairs that were reasonably comfortable.
Our server was a 'mature' lady who was very cordial and accommodating and explained their dining process. The food is brought out in a family-style sort of way (think Farmer's Daughter or Shirley's). The first bring you out bowls of white beans, tasty coleslaw, real hushpuppies, dill pickles with sweet onions and your choice of skin-on mashed potatoes & gravy or fries. One thing I must warn you about is not to overindulge in the 'Vittles' as they call these offerings before your fish or chicken comes out or you'll not have room for them! I'm sure the restaurant brings out these temptations first so that you won't have too many second or third helpings of the fish and chicken.
They specialize in all you can eat dinners of fried catfish, fried chicken or a combo of both. Individual dinners are available with quite a choice of other items including clams, shrimp, steaks, trout, even gator tail and frog legs. I'm sure most people opt for the catfish and/or chicken as an all you can eat dinner is only about $2 more. Prices aren't too bad considering the quality of their food which is quite good. Their all you can eat catfish, chicken or combo dinners are $14.95.
The catfish is boneless, grain-fed fillets rolled in a seasoned meal mixture that they bring in from Superior Fish of Macon, MS. If you like catfish, they are really good. I must say also that their fried chicken is some the best I've eaten anywhere. They use fresh chicken that's been deep fried and is amazingly moist even on the breasts and our server assured us that it's not pressure fried.
Our daughter ordered the Shrimp Calabash ($10.95), which was a half-pound serving and were quite tasty. The rest of our party ordered the catfish/chicken combos. A second helping of the catfish and chicken was all I could handle without being miserable. All of us came away with the feeling that we made a great food discovery in Pigeon Forge. My daughter and her boyfriend had eaten a few months ago at a newer similar establishment in PF called Bullfish Grill and came away very disappointed over the food quality, high prices and poor service. They said there was no comparison to Huck Finn's as it was superior in every way.
Take this from me as I'm picky about food: give Huck Finn's a try. With so many dismal restaurants in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area along with the usual chain restaurants, why would you go out of town to eat at the same places you could eat at home or pay resort prices for bad food? That's something we try to avoid whenever possible.
3330 Parkway
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
Phone: 865-429-3353
http://www.huckfinnsrestaurant.com/
We had a delightful dinner at this rustic-looking restaurant over the weekend. It's interior looks straight out of a old farmhouse rather than a Cracker Barrel. Seating is at tables with gingham tablecloths and straight back chairs that were reasonably comfortable.
Our server was a 'mature' lady who was very cordial and accommodating and explained their dining process. The food is brought out in a family-style sort of way (think Farmer's Daughter or Shirley's). The first bring you out bowls of white beans, tasty coleslaw, real hushpuppies, dill pickles with sweet onions and your choice of skin-on mashed potatoes & gravy or fries. One thing I must warn you about is not to overindulge in the 'Vittles' as they call these offerings before your fish or chicken comes out or you'll not have room for them! I'm sure the restaurant brings out these temptations first so that you won't have too many second or third helpings of the fish and chicken.
They specialize in all you can eat dinners of fried catfish, fried chicken or a combo of both. Individual dinners are available with quite a choice of other items including clams, shrimp, steaks, trout, even gator tail and frog legs. I'm sure most people opt for the catfish and/or chicken as an all you can eat dinner is only about $2 more. Prices aren't too bad considering the quality of their food which is quite good. Their all you can eat catfish, chicken or combo dinners are $14.95.
The catfish is boneless, grain-fed fillets rolled in a seasoned meal mixture that they bring in from Superior Fish of Macon, MS. If you like catfish, they are really good. I must say also that their fried chicken is some the best I've eaten anywhere. They use fresh chicken that's been deep fried and is amazingly moist even on the breasts and our server assured us that it's not pressure fried.
Our daughter ordered the Shrimp Calabash ($10.95), which was a half-pound serving and were quite tasty. The rest of our party ordered the catfish/chicken combos. A second helping of the catfish and chicken was all I could handle without being miserable. All of us came away with the feeling that we made a great food discovery in Pigeon Forge. My daughter and her boyfriend had eaten a few months ago at a newer similar establishment in PF called Bullfish Grill and came away very disappointed over the food quality, high prices and poor service. They said there was no comparison to Huck Finn's as it was superior in every way.
Take this from me as I'm picky about food: give Huck Finn's a try. With so many dismal restaurants in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area along with the usual chain restaurants, why would you go out of town to eat at the same places you could eat at home or pay resort prices for bad food? That's something we try to avoid whenever possible.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Restaurant Review: Ozzy's Gyros
Ozzy's Gyros (Greek and Mediterranean Cuisine)
Kingsport Town Center (Ft. Henry Mall)
Kingsport, TN 37664
Phone 423-392-1170
Online Menu - http://www.kingsporttowncenter.com/pages/main/documents/OzzysMenuonly_000.pdf
Ah, the Ft. Henry Mall on a Saturday night. I've not been there for at least a year and still mostly tweens and teens in clusters everywhere. Still, it was worth visiting to experience Ozzy's. Ozzy's Gyros is a Greek and Mediterranean restaurant that opened in the Kingsport Town Center, which to everyone but it's owners' is the old Ft. Henry Mall in the split of the old Roller Woods between Memorial Blvd. and Ft. Henry Drive. The restaurant originally opened in the Johnson City Mall a few years ago in their food court area where I had my first encounter with them. From what I recall several years ago from a newspaper write up when they first opened in JC, the owner is an Israeli that somehow ended up in Northeast Tennessee. They had a pretty good product, as I love Greek-style gyros and about the only other place in the Tri-Cities that has them that I know of is the Mad Greek in Bristol not very far from BIR.
This restaurant is the second Ozzy's Gyros in the Tri-Cities. They have moved out of the JC Mall and very recently moved into a new location at 2203 Mckinley Rd. in JC which is just off State of Franklin Rd. near ETSU and the JC Medical Center. From what I overheard from one employee telling a customer, they moved out of the JC Mall because the rent had been bumped up to $5K a month! Considering they had just a typical mall's fairly narrow food court walk-up counter, I was amazed at that kind of rent money. Of course the JC Mall has probably four times the traffic at any given time compared to KTC, it would still require selling a huge amount of food just to cover the rent not counting the other overhead such as food costs, payroll, insurance & etc. No wonder they moved out of there. Johnson City Mall's loss is our gain. They moved last September into the old Chick fil-A location near Charlie's Steakery and Auntie Annes on the lower level and they also have inside seating which they didn't have in the JC Mall.
Greek as well as other Mediterranean cuisine is something that most in our area aren't familiar with unless they've either been to that region or bravely tried new foods in bigger cities. It's nothing like Italian and for the most part, it's a much healthier selection of foods compared to what we're used to. Ozzy's claim to fame is the Gyro, which is NOT pronounced "Gy-ro/Ji-Ro" nor "He-ro". It's pronounced "Ee-Ro". This is the original sandwich wrap that's common throughout Greece and the entire eastern Mediterranean area including the Middle East. In the UK it's known as a Doner Kebab and is a popular late night meal after pub crawling. It basically consists of a sizeable pita flatbread filled with a beef/lamb combination that in Ozzy's case has been vertically rotisseried on a real Kronos broiler and shaved off the loaf at the time you order. It usually has accompaniments of lettuce, tomato, onion and a wonderful dressing called Tzatziki sauce. Everything's wrapped up nicely in paper so that you can eat it without ruining your clothing. Tzatziki sauce is something that's a bit hard to describe but wonderful to savor. It's something like ranch dressing and yet so much more. It's made with garlic, diced cucumbers, yogurt and sour cream, olive oil, black pepper and a few other seasonings and is absolutely delicious. It also makes a wonderful salad dressing and there are many recipes on the internet if you'd like to try making it yourself. Greeks like to make it really heavy on the garlic, which I very much like but Ozzy's doesn't make it that intense so that you don't have to worry about offending your co-workers after lunching there!
Unlike many places (not around here) that serve gyros, Ozzy's puts a whole lot more meat on theirs than veg. I've had it other places where the veg was probably 75% and 25% meat. Not Ozzy's, they reverse it to about 75% (maybe more) kebab meat and 25% or less of veg. The way the meat is seasoned before it's rotisseried, the larger percentage of meat makes it wonderful. All of the small amount of grease/fat is drained off the meat during the cooking process so that it ends up being a quite lean meat product. The pita flatbread that they use is nothing like local grocers sell: it's thicker and of much better consistency and they have a panini-like press that lightly grills them before they assemble it. These are excellent gyros people!
Their prices are quite reasonable for what they serve. A beef/lamb or chicken gyro with fries and a large drink is only $6.24. The same choice of gyro with two sides and a large drink is only $6.74. They don't put the fries in to cook until you order, so they are about as fresh as you can get. My son ordered the lamb/beef gyro with the single side of fries and that was a lot of fries on his plate. The fries they serve are on the thin side, maybe slightly thinner than McDonald's. Sides are such diverse offerings as roasted garlic or roasted red pepper hummus with pita bread triangles, falafel, baba ganoush, dolma, fries and tzatziki sauce with pita bread triangles, tabouleh and Greek salad. Before I saw the chilled table that contained their cold sides, I had ordered the tabouleh but quickly changed it to the falafel. Their tabouleh looked to be at least 90% flat-leaf parsley with just a smidgen of bulgur wheat, which just isn't right. It should be at least half bulgur with parsley, onions, garlic, olive oil, mint & etc. The dolma looked good but were pretty small (finger-sized) and what can you say about hummus? You have to taste it to determine if it's good or not. My wife initially ordered the baba ganoush as one of her sides but they were out of it. Done right, baba ganoush is a wonderful seasoned eggplant spread. I was pleased to see that like the french fries, they also didn't put the falafel into the fryer until after I ordered and this side was of two pieces approximately two inches round, sort of like big hushpuppies. They had a noticeable amount of cumin in them, along with the foundation of fava and garbanzo beans and were quite tasty, if not tasting a bit more Indian than I expected. Even drinks are a bargain considering: $1.49 for a large drink, although they do charge for refills. Even their baklava was in a pan looking as if it was homemade instead something frozen, shipped in, thawed and put on a fancy plate as most places offer.
Overall, I'm quite happy with Ozzy's and so glad they are now a lot closer than JC or Bristol so that I can get a gyro fix satisfied without having to drive so far! The restaurant needs to spend some $$ to improve the ambiance of the place as it is a bit dreary with grey walls and bare concrete floors. It needs some posters, photos, paintings or something on the walls and some nice Greek or Middle Eastern music at a reasonable volume being played would also help out a lot. I have no complaints about the employees we encountered. They were quite friendly and even asked how our meal was as we left. All things considered, I'd give Ozzy's Gyros a strong 8 out of 10 rating based upon just the food. It wouldn't take much for them to bring it up to a solid nine if they made the investment. They're also on Facebook: just search for "Ozzy's Gyros" and give them a 'like'. I definitely liked them!
Kingsport Town Center (Ft. Henry Mall)
Kingsport, TN 37664
Phone 423-392-1170
Online Menu - http://www.kingsporttowncenter.com/pages/main/documents/OzzysMenuonly_000.pdf
Ah, the Ft. Henry Mall on a Saturday night. I've not been there for at least a year and still mostly tweens and teens in clusters everywhere. Still, it was worth visiting to experience Ozzy's. Ozzy's Gyros is a Greek and Mediterranean restaurant that opened in the Kingsport Town Center, which to everyone but it's owners' is the old Ft. Henry Mall in the split of the old Roller Woods between Memorial Blvd. and Ft. Henry Drive. The restaurant originally opened in the Johnson City Mall a few years ago in their food court area where I had my first encounter with them. From what I recall several years ago from a newspaper write up when they first opened in JC, the owner is an Israeli that somehow ended up in Northeast Tennessee. They had a pretty good product, as I love Greek-style gyros and about the only other place in the Tri-Cities that has them that I know of is the Mad Greek in Bristol not very far from BIR.
This restaurant is the second Ozzy's Gyros in the Tri-Cities. They have moved out of the JC Mall and very recently moved into a new location at 2203 Mckinley Rd. in JC which is just off State of Franklin Rd. near ETSU and the JC Medical Center. From what I overheard from one employee telling a customer, they moved out of the JC Mall because the rent had been bumped up to $5K a month! Considering they had just a typical mall's fairly narrow food court walk-up counter, I was amazed at that kind of rent money. Of course the JC Mall has probably four times the traffic at any given time compared to KTC, it would still require selling a huge amount of food just to cover the rent not counting the other overhead such as food costs, payroll, insurance & etc. No wonder they moved out of there. Johnson City Mall's loss is our gain. They moved last September into the old Chick fil-A location near Charlie's Steakery and Auntie Annes on the lower level and they also have inside seating which they didn't have in the JC Mall.
Greek as well as other Mediterranean cuisine is something that most in our area aren't familiar with unless they've either been to that region or bravely tried new foods in bigger cities. It's nothing like Italian and for the most part, it's a much healthier selection of foods compared to what we're used to. Ozzy's claim to fame is the Gyro, which is NOT pronounced "Gy-ro/Ji-Ro" nor "He-ro". It's pronounced "Ee-Ro". This is the original sandwich wrap that's common throughout Greece and the entire eastern Mediterranean area including the Middle East. In the UK it's known as a Doner Kebab and is a popular late night meal after pub crawling. It basically consists of a sizeable pita flatbread filled with a beef/lamb combination that in Ozzy's case has been vertically rotisseried on a real Kronos broiler and shaved off the loaf at the time you order. It usually has accompaniments of lettuce, tomato, onion and a wonderful dressing called Tzatziki sauce. Everything's wrapped up nicely in paper so that you can eat it without ruining your clothing. Tzatziki sauce is something that's a bit hard to describe but wonderful to savor. It's something like ranch dressing and yet so much more. It's made with garlic, diced cucumbers, yogurt and sour cream, olive oil, black pepper and a few other seasonings and is absolutely delicious. It also makes a wonderful salad dressing and there are many recipes on the internet if you'd like to try making it yourself. Greeks like to make it really heavy on the garlic, which I very much like but Ozzy's doesn't make it that intense so that you don't have to worry about offending your co-workers after lunching there!
Unlike many places (not around here) that serve gyros, Ozzy's puts a whole lot more meat on theirs than veg. I've had it other places where the veg was probably 75% and 25% meat. Not Ozzy's, they reverse it to about 75% (maybe more) kebab meat and 25% or less of veg. The way the meat is seasoned before it's rotisseried, the larger percentage of meat makes it wonderful. All of the small amount of grease/fat is drained off the meat during the cooking process so that it ends up being a quite lean meat product. The pita flatbread that they use is nothing like local grocers sell: it's thicker and of much better consistency and they have a panini-like press that lightly grills them before they assemble it. These are excellent gyros people!
Their prices are quite reasonable for what they serve. A beef/lamb or chicken gyro with fries and a large drink is only $6.24. The same choice of gyro with two sides and a large drink is only $6.74. They don't put the fries in to cook until you order, so they are about as fresh as you can get. My son ordered the lamb/beef gyro with the single side of fries and that was a lot of fries on his plate. The fries they serve are on the thin side, maybe slightly thinner than McDonald's. Sides are such diverse offerings as roasted garlic or roasted red pepper hummus with pita bread triangles, falafel, baba ganoush, dolma, fries and tzatziki sauce with pita bread triangles, tabouleh and Greek salad. Before I saw the chilled table that contained their cold sides, I had ordered the tabouleh but quickly changed it to the falafel. Their tabouleh looked to be at least 90% flat-leaf parsley with just a smidgen of bulgur wheat, which just isn't right. It should be at least half bulgur with parsley, onions, garlic, olive oil, mint & etc. The dolma looked good but were pretty small (finger-sized) and what can you say about hummus? You have to taste it to determine if it's good or not. My wife initially ordered the baba ganoush as one of her sides but they were out of it. Done right, baba ganoush is a wonderful seasoned eggplant spread. I was pleased to see that like the french fries, they also didn't put the falafel into the fryer until after I ordered and this side was of two pieces approximately two inches round, sort of like big hushpuppies. They had a noticeable amount of cumin in them, along with the foundation of fava and garbanzo beans and were quite tasty, if not tasting a bit more Indian than I expected. Even drinks are a bargain considering: $1.49 for a large drink, although they do charge for refills. Even their baklava was in a pan looking as if it was homemade instead something frozen, shipped in, thawed and put on a fancy plate as most places offer.
Overall, I'm quite happy with Ozzy's and so glad they are now a lot closer than JC or Bristol so that I can get a gyro fix satisfied without having to drive so far! The restaurant needs to spend some $$ to improve the ambiance of the place as it is a bit dreary with grey walls and bare concrete floors. It needs some posters, photos, paintings or something on the walls and some nice Greek or Middle Eastern music at a reasonable volume being played would also help out a lot. I have no complaints about the employees we encountered. They were quite friendly and even asked how our meal was as we left. All things considered, I'd give Ozzy's Gyros a strong 8 out of 10 rating based upon just the food. It wouldn't take much for them to bring it up to a solid nine if they made the investment. They're also on Facebook: just search for "Ozzy's Gyros" and give them a 'like'. I definitely liked them!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Restaurant Review: Saltwater Willy's Bayou Cafe
Saltwater Willy's Bayou Cafe
121 Jack White Drive
Kingsport, TN 37664
phone 423-765-1665
http://www.saltwaterwillysbayoucafe.com
Tonight my wife and I decided to get something out for dinner outside of the usual burger or pizza as she had worked quite late at her medical office. After picking her up, knowing that the usual wouldn't be very well received, I suggested we try Salt Water Willy's Bayou Cafe. It's located in the old Amato's building at the end of Jack White drive, which is directly behind Grand Furniture's building on E. Stone Drive.
This restaurant is owned by Wayne Michelli, who also owns Riverfront Seafood and is known to his fans as well as detractors as, "The Fish Nazi". He's a picky guy when it comes to seafood and you will pay for that quality.
When we arrived at the restaurant this evening at about 7:30PM, we had to search the parking lot over for a parking place, which we did find pretty fast. I thought this was a good sign as a busy place is normally doing something right as we're not in a tourist area. It also can mean that meat and seafood get a rapid turnover so you're less likely to get something less than reasonably fresh.
We entered the restaurant with some pleasant Zydeco music playing both outside near the door and inside the restaurant. The variety of Lousiana-flavored music at a reasonable volume level played throughout our meal was very pleasant and enjoyable. Our friendly hostess seated us quickly and didn't give me any crap for requesting a table. As some of you may know, I have mobility issues that causes me to avoid booths if possible. Unlike a previous trip to another nearby restaurant that was recently reviewed, she was quite accommodating. Surprisingly, there was almost no one in the restaurant that we could see. We found out that a local business was having a party in a private room and that explained most of the cars outside. We only
noticed one other couple in the main dining room with another that came in not long before we finished our meal.
Our cordial server, Brandy, quickly arrived at the table with our menus, took our drink order and asked us if we'd seen the appetizer listing posted on the board in the lobby. We had noticed one of them: fish tacos on special for $1. Being a fish taco lover, I asked her about them. She explained that they were pieces of fried tilapia with lettuce and pico de gallo on a soft taco and of a reasonable size. That sounded good to me and considering what some of the local Mexican places around here pass off as fish tacos, I was interested and later ordered one. I had a question about how the prices were listed on the menu. In the entrees, it would show something like: 9/13. She explained that the lower number was for a smaller portion and the larger price was for a serving that was twice the size. Fair enough.
http://www.saltwaterwillysbayoucafe.com/Menu.html
They've lately had an advertised special in the Thursday dining section of the Kingsport Times-News of "Two Can Dine For $20", and she explained it to us and gave us the special menu for it separate from the main one. Basically, you get an appetizer off the list, two house salads with choice of dressings and two entrees for $20. The selections of appetizers and entrees were reasonable compared to the regular menu offering. She neglected to tell us that the appetizer and entree portion size were on the modest size compared to the full price version.
They also had posted on the entry door another special running Monday-Thursday 5-8PM where if you bought two non-alcoholic drinks and an entree off the menu, the second entree would be free if equal or lesser in price to the first entree. A difficult choice between these two. After studying all this for a bit, we decided on the "2/$20" deal. We'd already ordered ice tea for drinks and selected the Calamari with Cajun Sauce for the appetizer. I went with bleu cheese for my salad and my wife chose the ranch dressing. I selected the Shrimp, Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya for my entree, which was supposed to come with a baguette. Sherri selected the Grilled Tilapia on Wild Rice with Broccoli. She chose the Cajun seasoning for the fish from a selection of plain, lemon & herb, cajun or you could have it blackened for $1 more.
The appetizer of calamari came out in a few minutes and I was quite impressed with the quality and taste of it, although not the portion size. It was barely enough for even what one person would normally expect for an appetizer and when I quizzed our server, she said the specials reduced the portion size. I told her I would've been quite upset to have been served such a small portion for $8, which was the price quoted on the menu. I wish I'd known about the reduced portion sizes of everything in advance of ordering. Still, the squid was cooked just right, not too done nor rubber band-like as most places manage to ruin it. Nicely breaded and quite tasty by itself, although a slice of lemon to go over it would've been a nice complement. The Cajun sauce served with it was a small ramekin of what looked and tasted like diced tomatoes with diced bell pepper that had been simmered together. Not what I was expecting at all for Cajun. It was okay in taste but not something I'd consider serving with a squid dish, mackerel maybe. Plain old cocktail sauce would probably have been a better choice, at least in my opinion.
The salads came in smaller salad bowls heaped up with the dressing on the side in little cups. The mixture of ingredients in the salads was nice but because of the small bowl sizes, it was difficult to mix the dressing in without flipping out salad onto the table. They would've been better to serve the same amount but in somewhat larger bowls. The bleu cheese dressing was very "bleu", which was a good thing as so many places bleu cheese dressing tastes mostly of ranch with a few crumbles of bleu cheese thrown in. The ranch dressing was deemed acceptable to my wife.
The entrees came out in a few minutes. My wife's Grilled Tilapia consisted of a good-sized and thick fillet of seasoned tilapia on a bed of mixed mostly white and a bit of wild rice barely bigger than the fillet. There was a number of good-sized florets of steamed broccoli accompanying it. My Shrimp, Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya came out on a plate layered only to the depth of the few small shrimp that were on it. I never did really notice the pieces of chicken that were supposed to be in it and can only assume they were there. The few pieces of Andouille sausage were thin slices that had been quartered. Possibly six small shrimp, neglible chicken and maybe three thin slices of andouille with rice, tomatoes and bell peppers. I guessed the actual serving size to be about two cups, maybe. It was pretty tasty though. The so-called baguette didn't arrive with the entree and I was almost finished with it before catching the server's attention to request it along with some butter. It wasn't a baguette at all that was brought out but a split-top hard roll with a chewy interior along with a small cup of margarine. Hmm.
Our server did come by with tea refills a couple of times without having to be asked which was nice. After finishing our entrees, she did tell us about the desserts and we chose the "Jimmy Lee Pie with Ice Cream", which was something one of the owners of the original Salt Water Willy's on New Beason Well Road of many years ago came up with. It was something like a chess bar in a 4" pie shell, drizzled with chocolate sauce and with a side dish of quality vanilla ice cream. While it was obvious that the pie had been microwaved (it was very hot inside), it was a nice dessert and the perfect size for us to split.
There was an abundance of staff on hand, along with the owner who did stop by to ask us about our meal and wishing to avoid a possible confrontation, I just said it was tasty. Considering the amount of customers, I'm sure most of the staff were on hand to deal with the private party. Our server was most congenial and among the best we've encountered lately. I guess I shouldn't have expected too much for our meal considering iced tea was like $2.29 per glass and if we'd ordered off the menu, we'd have spent close to $50 but had larger servings. As it was, our bill was $33.49 before adding a $6 tip. I would give this restaurant a 7/10 rating based upon my experience this evening.
I know that the owner has made it pretty clear to several I've spoken to over the years concerning Riverfront Seafood, that he doesn't really want, nor is looking to bring in the more budget-conscious customers that places like the new Fisherman's Dock in Colonial Heights, readily serves. I assume the same mindset also goes for Salt Water Willy's. However, I do know that every time I've been in Fisherman's Dock lately, the place has been full almost to capacity with customers lined up out the door for Sunday lunch. Several nearby restaurants employees, including a family member have told me that they've really taken a lot of their business since they've opened. I guess time will tell who has the better business concept.
121 Jack White Drive
Kingsport, TN 37664
phone 423-765-1665
http://www.saltwaterwillysbayoucafe.com
Tonight my wife and I decided to get something out for dinner outside of the usual burger or pizza as she had worked quite late at her medical office. After picking her up, knowing that the usual wouldn't be very well received, I suggested we try Salt Water Willy's Bayou Cafe. It's located in the old Amato's building at the end of Jack White drive, which is directly behind Grand Furniture's building on E. Stone Drive.
This restaurant is owned by Wayne Michelli, who also owns Riverfront Seafood and is known to his fans as well as detractors as, "The Fish Nazi". He's a picky guy when it comes to seafood and you will pay for that quality.
When we arrived at the restaurant this evening at about 7:30PM, we had to search the parking lot over for a parking place, which we did find pretty fast. I thought this was a good sign as a busy place is normally doing something right as we're not in a tourist area. It also can mean that meat and seafood get a rapid turnover so you're less likely to get something less than reasonably fresh.
We entered the restaurant with some pleasant Zydeco music playing both outside near the door and inside the restaurant. The variety of Lousiana-flavored music at a reasonable volume level played throughout our meal was very pleasant and enjoyable. Our friendly hostess seated us quickly and didn't give me any crap for requesting a table. As some of you may know, I have mobility issues that causes me to avoid booths if possible. Unlike a previous trip to another nearby restaurant that was recently reviewed, she was quite accommodating. Surprisingly, there was almost no one in the restaurant that we could see. We found out that a local business was having a party in a private room and that explained most of the cars outside. We only
noticed one other couple in the main dining room with another that came in not long before we finished our meal.
Our cordial server, Brandy, quickly arrived at the table with our menus, took our drink order and asked us if we'd seen the appetizer listing posted on the board in the lobby. We had noticed one of them: fish tacos on special for $1. Being a fish taco lover, I asked her about them. She explained that they were pieces of fried tilapia with lettuce and pico de gallo on a soft taco and of a reasonable size. That sounded good to me and considering what some of the local Mexican places around here pass off as fish tacos, I was interested and later ordered one. I had a question about how the prices were listed on the menu. In the entrees, it would show something like: 9/13. She explained that the lower number was for a smaller portion and the larger price was for a serving that was twice the size. Fair enough.
http://www.saltwaterwillysbayoucafe.com/Menu.html
They've lately had an advertised special in the Thursday dining section of the Kingsport Times-News of "Two Can Dine For $20", and she explained it to us and gave us the special menu for it separate from the main one. Basically, you get an appetizer off the list, two house salads with choice of dressings and two entrees for $20. The selections of appetizers and entrees were reasonable compared to the regular menu offering. She neglected to tell us that the appetizer and entree portion size were on the modest size compared to the full price version.
They also had posted on the entry door another special running Monday-Thursday 5-8PM where if you bought two non-alcoholic drinks and an entree off the menu, the second entree would be free if equal or lesser in price to the first entree. A difficult choice between these two. After studying all this for a bit, we decided on the "2/$20" deal. We'd already ordered ice tea for drinks and selected the Calamari with Cajun Sauce for the appetizer. I went with bleu cheese for my salad and my wife chose the ranch dressing. I selected the Shrimp, Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya for my entree, which was supposed to come with a baguette. Sherri selected the Grilled Tilapia on Wild Rice with Broccoli. She chose the Cajun seasoning for the fish from a selection of plain, lemon & herb, cajun or you could have it blackened for $1 more.
The appetizer of calamari came out in a few minutes and I was quite impressed with the quality and taste of it, although not the portion size. It was barely enough for even what one person would normally expect for an appetizer and when I quizzed our server, she said the specials reduced the portion size. I told her I would've been quite upset to have been served such a small portion for $8, which was the price quoted on the menu. I wish I'd known about the reduced portion sizes of everything in advance of ordering. Still, the squid was cooked just right, not too done nor rubber band-like as most places manage to ruin it. Nicely breaded and quite tasty by itself, although a slice of lemon to go over it would've been a nice complement. The Cajun sauce served with it was a small ramekin of what looked and tasted like diced tomatoes with diced bell pepper that had been simmered together. Not what I was expecting at all for Cajun. It was okay in taste but not something I'd consider serving with a squid dish, mackerel maybe. Plain old cocktail sauce would probably have been a better choice, at least in my opinion.
The salads came in smaller salad bowls heaped up with the dressing on the side in little cups. The mixture of ingredients in the salads was nice but because of the small bowl sizes, it was difficult to mix the dressing in without flipping out salad onto the table. They would've been better to serve the same amount but in somewhat larger bowls. The bleu cheese dressing was very "bleu", which was a good thing as so many places bleu cheese dressing tastes mostly of ranch with a few crumbles of bleu cheese thrown in. The ranch dressing was deemed acceptable to my wife.
The entrees came out in a few minutes. My wife's Grilled Tilapia consisted of a good-sized and thick fillet of seasoned tilapia on a bed of mixed mostly white and a bit of wild rice barely bigger than the fillet. There was a number of good-sized florets of steamed broccoli accompanying it. My Shrimp, Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya came out on a plate layered only to the depth of the few small shrimp that were on it. I never did really notice the pieces of chicken that were supposed to be in it and can only assume they were there. The few pieces of Andouille sausage were thin slices that had been quartered. Possibly six small shrimp, neglible chicken and maybe three thin slices of andouille with rice, tomatoes and bell peppers. I guessed the actual serving size to be about two cups, maybe. It was pretty tasty though. The so-called baguette didn't arrive with the entree and I was almost finished with it before catching the server's attention to request it along with some butter. It wasn't a baguette at all that was brought out but a split-top hard roll with a chewy interior along with a small cup of margarine. Hmm.
Our server did come by with tea refills a couple of times without having to be asked which was nice. After finishing our entrees, she did tell us about the desserts and we chose the "Jimmy Lee Pie with Ice Cream", which was something one of the owners of the original Salt Water Willy's on New Beason Well Road of many years ago came up with. It was something like a chess bar in a 4" pie shell, drizzled with chocolate sauce and with a side dish of quality vanilla ice cream. While it was obvious that the pie had been microwaved (it was very hot inside), it was a nice dessert and the perfect size for us to split.
There was an abundance of staff on hand, along with the owner who did stop by to ask us about our meal and wishing to avoid a possible confrontation, I just said it was tasty. Considering the amount of customers, I'm sure most of the staff were on hand to deal with the private party. Our server was most congenial and among the best we've encountered lately. I guess I shouldn't have expected too much for our meal considering iced tea was like $2.29 per glass and if we'd ordered off the menu, we'd have spent close to $50 but had larger servings. As it was, our bill was $33.49 before adding a $6 tip. I would give this restaurant a 7/10 rating based upon my experience this evening.
I know that the owner has made it pretty clear to several I've spoken to over the years concerning Riverfront Seafood, that he doesn't really want, nor is looking to bring in the more budget-conscious customers that places like the new Fisherman's Dock in Colonial Heights, readily serves. I assume the same mindset also goes for Salt Water Willy's. However, I do know that every time I've been in Fisherman's Dock lately, the place has been full almost to capacity with customers lined up out the door for Sunday lunch. Several nearby restaurants employees, including a family member have told me that they've really taken a lot of their business since they've opened. I guess time will tell who has the better business concept.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
O'Charley's, Oh My
O'Charley's
1920 North Eastman Road
Kingsport, TN 37664
(423) 246-8868
I got a $10 discount card in the mail today for O'Charley's restaurants. The way it worked was $10 discount on any dine in or take out bill over $25 not including their "2 can dine for $15.99" special. I hadn't eaten there in probably two years as none of us cared for the food or the attitude of the staff the last time. Unfortunately, not a lot has changed after our visit this evening.
We were met inside by the hostess who seemed to get pretty upset when we asked for a table instead of a booth. It was about 5:30PM and the place wasn't 1/4 full outside of a private birthday party in one of the side rooms. She took us to the tables section of which none were occupied and proceeded to look around for a bit to decide where to seat us, which seemed strange. She finally chose a table, plunked down our menus and walked away to get a dish cloth to clean the table off which already looked okay. She wiped the table and just walked off. No, "your server will be so and so", no, "have a good meal", nothing. In a few minutes our server arrived and seemed pleasant enough but all through the meal continued to address me as "Buddy". I was plenty old enough to be his dad and I wouldn't have been offended with "sir" or anything slightly more respectful than "Buddy". To me that's almost as bad as some of these younger servers calling everyone at the table "you guys", especially if there are older females in the party.
We looked the menu over and after placing our order, we had to ask him for silverware while we waited after he brought out a basket of some large puffy rolls and sweet butter. We all ordered water with lemon as our beverage and he brought out the glasses of water and a small bowl of lemon wedges. That was the last time he mentioned our drinks and never once offered refills even when we were all empty by the end of the meal. Hmm.
We ordered a spinach and artichoke dip appetizer, which came out in a few minutes. Compared to Cheddar's, it was a lot smaller serving at the same price and my wife got a surprise in the second bite: a long, very wavy brown hair was hanging from her tortilla chip with dip! The server was alerted and he called the manager and they offered to give us another serving, which we accepted. At the time, the older lady manager was hardly cordial or apologetic until after the replacement arrived. After our entrees arrived, she did come back and said they would remove it from the bill, which was okay by me as it wasn't that appetizing anyway.
Our daughter had her wisdom teeth out a couple of days ago, so she ordered a chicken noodle soup and a side order of "smashed" potatoes. I ordered a "Grande Sirloin", which was a smaller than expected seasoned steak which came on a bed of the smashed potatoes with some tiny fried onion rings. The plate, which wasn't large, looked pretty empty. I had inquired about getting a side order of cole slaw with it and to my amazement, they don't offer coleslaw as a side even though they have fish and chips and burgers. My wife ordered a chicken bleu cheese and bacon sandwich. My steak was pretty good although I and my daughter couldn't help but notice that the smashed potatoes had chunks of potato in it that weren't quite done. My daughter did like the chicken noodle soup but wasn't feeling well and had it packaged to go. I tried a bite of my wife's chicken sandwich and while it tasted okay, the chicken was noticeably dry and overcooked. The manager came back out and said we could have a dessert on the house and we decided to try a mini order of their apple cobbler ($1.99), which was quite tasty. Still with empty glasses and no offer of a refill the server brought out the check and after laying the discount card along with my credit card on the bill, it took over ten minutes for him to come back with the ticket. He did come by once during that time and said they were still trying to figure out the bill. Hmm, I wonder what they'll do when they get buried with these discount cards over the weekend.
All and all, I'll have give them a 'C' grade on this visit. If I'd had to pay full price for everything and they hadn't comped the spinach dip, I'd be more than a little unhappy with the general service, quality and quantity of their food. They need to have Gordon Ramsay come through or something as they intentionally or not violate many of the things a good restaurant, chain or otherwise, should be about. I guess I'll be going to Cheddar's next time I feel the urge to eat at a casual dining establishment. They've rarely disappointed me over the years.
1920 North Eastman Road
Kingsport, TN 37664
(423) 246-8868
I got a $10 discount card in the mail today for O'Charley's restaurants. The way it worked was $10 discount on any dine in or take out bill over $25 not including their "2 can dine for $15.99" special. I hadn't eaten there in probably two years as none of us cared for the food or the attitude of the staff the last time. Unfortunately, not a lot has changed after our visit this evening.
We were met inside by the hostess who seemed to get pretty upset when we asked for a table instead of a booth. It was about 5:30PM and the place wasn't 1/4 full outside of a private birthday party in one of the side rooms. She took us to the tables section of which none were occupied and proceeded to look around for a bit to decide where to seat us, which seemed strange. She finally chose a table, plunked down our menus and walked away to get a dish cloth to clean the table off which already looked okay. She wiped the table and just walked off. No, "your server will be so and so", no, "have a good meal", nothing. In a few minutes our server arrived and seemed pleasant enough but all through the meal continued to address me as "Buddy". I was plenty old enough to be his dad and I wouldn't have been offended with "sir" or anything slightly more respectful than "Buddy". To me that's almost as bad as some of these younger servers calling everyone at the table "you guys", especially if there are older females in the party.
We looked the menu over and after placing our order, we had to ask him for silverware while we waited after he brought out a basket of some large puffy rolls and sweet butter. We all ordered water with lemon as our beverage and he brought out the glasses of water and a small bowl of lemon wedges. That was the last time he mentioned our drinks and never once offered refills even when we were all empty by the end of the meal. Hmm.
We ordered a spinach and artichoke dip appetizer, which came out in a few minutes. Compared to Cheddar's, it was a lot smaller serving at the same price and my wife got a surprise in the second bite: a long, very wavy brown hair was hanging from her tortilla chip with dip! The server was alerted and he called the manager and they offered to give us another serving, which we accepted. At the time, the older lady manager was hardly cordial or apologetic until after the replacement arrived. After our entrees arrived, she did come back and said they would remove it from the bill, which was okay by me as it wasn't that appetizing anyway.
Our daughter had her wisdom teeth out a couple of days ago, so she ordered a chicken noodle soup and a side order of "smashed" potatoes. I ordered a "Grande Sirloin", which was a smaller than expected seasoned steak which came on a bed of the smashed potatoes with some tiny fried onion rings. The plate, which wasn't large, looked pretty empty. I had inquired about getting a side order of cole slaw with it and to my amazement, they don't offer coleslaw as a side even though they have fish and chips and burgers. My wife ordered a chicken bleu cheese and bacon sandwich. My steak was pretty good although I and my daughter couldn't help but notice that the smashed potatoes had chunks of potato in it that weren't quite done. My daughter did like the chicken noodle soup but wasn't feeling well and had it packaged to go. I tried a bite of my wife's chicken sandwich and while it tasted okay, the chicken was noticeably dry and overcooked. The manager came back out and said we could have a dessert on the house and we decided to try a mini order of their apple cobbler ($1.99), which was quite tasty. Still with empty glasses and no offer of a refill the server brought out the check and after laying the discount card along with my credit card on the bill, it took over ten minutes for him to come back with the ticket. He did come by once during that time and said they were still trying to figure out the bill. Hmm, I wonder what they'll do when they get buried with these discount cards over the weekend.
All and all, I'll have give them a 'C' grade on this visit. If I'd had to pay full price for everything and they hadn't comped the spinach dip, I'd be more than a little unhappy with the general service, quality and quantity of their food. They need to have Gordon Ramsay come through or something as they intentionally or not violate many of the things a good restaurant, chain or otherwise, should be about. I guess I'll be going to Cheddar's next time I feel the urge to eat at a casual dining establishment. They've rarely disappointed me over the years.
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