Category Archives: BY PRICE FOR TWO

$$ Modest ($30-$50), LEO's Eats, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, underSlideshowEntries, World Food

It’s the rice, but not just the rice, at Taj Palace

Little things mean a lot. Even something as little as a grain of rice can mean a lot. Of course, it takes 7,200 grains of rice to fill a cup, or so sayeth the Google, but that’s not important right now.

Let’s talk about rice, and in particular the spectacular rice at Taj Palace. Trust me on this, folks. I love Indian food, and I’m a fan of Taj, which has survived a journey around three East End locations. I go there fairly often. But the other night, sampling a bite of simple, extra-long-grain basmati rice from a side platter, I suddenly experienced what philosophers call an epiphany, a sudden, almost spiritual insight into the deeper meaning of things. Specifically, rice. And Taj Palace.
Continue reading It’s the rice, but not just the rice, at Taj Palace →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), A RESTAURANT LISTING..., BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Seafood & Water's Edge, underSlideshowEntries, Voice-Tribune review, World Food

Mussel & Burger (& Elotes) Bar

Okay, I have to admit, I was dubious at first about the idea of this new place in J’town bringing together mussels and burgers as its signature dishes.

When I heard that Cristina and Fernando Martinez and his cousin, Yaniel, were going to build a bill of fare around two such disparate edibles, my imagination pushed back: “One of these things is not like the other.”
Continue reading Mussel & Burger (& Elotes) Bar →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, LEO's Eats, Pacific Rim, Southern Indiana, underSlideshowEntries

Pick your avatar at Dragon King’s Daughter

Maybe this is just my wacky imagination talking, but I’ve always thought Dragon King’s Daughter sounded like a good name for a really intense online role-playing game.

It would be a game full of samurai warrior avatars, of course, but it would have to have moustachio’d bandidos too, as DKD (as its fans abbreviate it) manages to fit both Japanese and Mexican flavors — and a lot more, too — into a single menu, and somehow it works.
Continue reading Pick your avatar at Dragon King’s Daughter →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, underSlideshowEntries, Voice-Tribune review, World Food

Whatever you think it means, Mojito does tapas right

Who doesn’t like a table full of tapas? These days, when just about every eatery from diners and dives to classy upscale joints offers small plates to tickle the taste buds, tapas are just about everywhere.

But that word may not mean quite what you think it means. Continue reading Whatever you think it means, Mojito does tapas right →

$ Budget (under $30), LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, QuickBytes, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, underSlideshowEntries

Bazo’s shows off the fine art of the fish taco

Gather ’round, youngsters, and I’ll tell you about a time when fish tacos were unknown in our town.

It wasn’t all that long ago, really — as recently as the ’90s — when the idea of putting fish on a taco pretty much struck everyone as weird and unappetizing. Or so it seemed to everyone who hadn’t tasted the original at taco shacks on Mexico’s Pacific Coast beaches, or at Rubio’s in Old Town San Diego, anyway.

But that was before Bazo’s arrived in town with a more than credible version of Rubio’s original, and suddenly the idea of putting crunchy, golden-brown and delicious nuggets of fried white fish on a soft corn tortilla with shredded cabbage and spicy white crema didn’t seem so strange anymore. Continue reading Bazo’s shows off the fine art of the fish taco →

$ Budget (under $30), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, underSlideshowEntries, Voice-Tribune review

If Manny doesn’t feed your spirit, Merle will

It’s noisy, casual and fun. Located in a historic building in a historic neighborhood, its food and music and liquor celebrate the folk culture of Bakersfield, gritty capital of the south end of California’s agricultural Central Valley, where Chicano and Okie ways met and mingled in a zesty ethnic stew.

You think I’m talking about The Silver Dollar, right? Not so fast, bubbeleh. This is Manny & Merle on Market Street, the latest venture of Tony Palombino, the paterfamilias of Louisville’s popular Boombozz pizza chain and incubator poppa of a dozen restaurant concepts, some of which flew while others fell not far from the nest.
Continue reading If Manny doesn’t feed your spirit, Merle will →

$ Budget (under $30), Breakfast and lunch spots, sandwich spots, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, Pacific Rim, underSlideshowEntries

Vietnamese and American flavors meet and mingle at Four Sisters

I learned in grade school that America was a melting pot, a vast cultural amalgam made up of gifts from national and ethnic groups around the world, molten into sturdy steel to which every group contributed its special strength and character. I thought that was pretty cool back then, and I still do.

But upon more mature reflection, living and dining in a modern Louisville that’s far more diverse than the white-bread city where I grew up, I think maybe it’s even more accurate to describe us as a cooking pot, into which each generation of new immigrants has added appetizing ingredients to build an amazing national stew.
Continue reading Vietnamese and American flavors meet and mingle at Four Sisters →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, underSlideshowEntries

The Game’s afoot, and so is the veggie burger

“Wake up! Wake up! Come on! Come on! The Game is afoot!”

WTF?

There I was, enjoying a restorative after-work power-nap, and here’s Mary shaking me awake with some kind of weird Holmes-and-Watson shtick.

“GAME!” she yelled. “We’ve gotta get over to Game while we can still get a table!”
Continue reading The Game’s afoot, and so is the veggie burger →

$ Budget (under $30), Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, underSlideshowEntries

At Lolita’s, it’s all about the avocado burrito

Lolita’s Tacos, a bright spot in the culinary landscape of Poplar Level Road near the Watterson, is a great place for lunch, but it’s a good idea to show up early. The other day, the tiny eatery’s handful of tables were already filling up by 11:30 a.m. Many of the diners, it seemed, had come on pilgrimage to get Lolita’s trademark favorite, the avocado burrito.
Continue reading At Lolita’s, it’s all about the avocado burrito →

$ Budget (under $30), Bistros, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, underSlideshowEntries

Nine out of nine chaplains say yes to Austin’s

Nine chaplains walked into a bar … which sounds like the lead-in to a really bad joke. It’s a true story, though. I’ve been hanging out with hospital chaplains this summer, and when a bunch of us wanted to find an affordable, decent lunch in relaxing surroundings after a long morning meeting in the East End, Austin’s emerged as a convenient and decent dining option. Continue reading Nine out of nine chaplains say yes to Austin’s →