Just about everyone knows what an omelet is, and the difference between “easy over” and “sunnyside-up” is a mystery to only a few. As Louisville’s dining scene has grown and our restaurant roster become diverse, we’ve learned more and more. Marinara or alfredo? Easy. Corn or flour tortilla? Ditto!
But when it comes to Indian food, most of us are still learning. What’s a korma? A saag? A vindaloo? Want to learn Indian food vocabulary fast? I suggest a visit to the buffet at Taj Palace. Continue reading Learning and liking Indian food at Taj Palace→
Catching up with a bunch of items that have piled up in my critic’s notebook, let’s take a quick trip around the world on a dinner plate, stopping off at a trio of worthy spots for tastes of the Mediterranean, Korea and a Philadelphia treat — a surprisingly fetching “cheeze” “steak” that’s fully vegan.
Even if you don’t have much experience with Korean food, you’ll find it easy to like, especially if you try it at an eatery as amiable as Charim.
For the most part, Korean dishes won’t seem unfamiliar to anyone who enjoys the varied cuisines of Asia. Some of its dishes seem to bear a resemblance to familiar Chinese fare; other items might remind you of Japan. Overall, there’s a robust, hearty and often spicy character that’s all Korean. Continue reading A taste of Korea at Charim→
Ah, the holidays! Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, stockings hung by the chimney, lights and ornaments carefully placed on the tree, jingle bells and endless carols … I swear, if I hear “The Little Drummer Boy” one more time I’m not going to be responsible.
OK, let’s see a show of hands: Talking about the secular commercializing and greedy materialistic excess of the holidays here, is everybody as tired of Christmas as I am?
I thought so. And here’s my plan: Once Christmas Day responsibilities are clear, let’s celebrate with a delicious Vietnamese dinner! Continue reading Annie Café is pho real→
Today let us consider the humble soybean. Those savvy Asians have been chowing down on them for 5,000 years, and making tofu for most of the last millennium. Soybeans became a major U.S. crop after World War II. We feed most of it to animals. Offer most people a bite of tofu, and they’ll go, “Eeuuww.” Continue reading Heart & Soy gets to the heart of soy→
If you’re a vegetarian who’s been pining for a nice local restaurant where you can get fancy meatless fare in an upscale setting, then your dream has come true. If you’re a guilty carnivore who claims you’d go vegetarian if only some place served meatless dishes so good that you wouldn’t even miss meat, look out. This may be put-up or shut-up time for you. And if you’re an unapologetic meat-eater who thinks vegetarian fare can only be bland and prissy, get ready to have your prejudices challenged, if you’re brave enough to try it. Continue reading No animals were harmed for dinner at Roots→
Salmon skin sushi. PHOTO: RON JASINI have never quite understood why Lower Brownsboro Road, an avenue that traverses trendy Clifton and historic Crescent Hill on its way out to classy Mockingbird Valley, is punctuated with so many gritty and downscale shopping strips that confer a distinctly “urban” tone. But it’s a fact: Drive down the strip and count the tiny bottle shops, check-cashing stores, junk shops, gas station-convenience shops, a 24-hour diner and even a supermarket so widely, if unjustly, known as “Dirty” Kroger that even former Louisville mayor Dave Armstrong once uttered the term to me in an on-the-record interview.
It should be no surprise, then, that there’s been a quick series of short-lived eateries in the Lower Brownsboro restaurant space that shares a small parking lot with an advance payday loan shop that guards its parking spaces with dire threats of immediate towing. A Middle Eastern spot, a Jamaican eatery, an excellent soul food shop — some of them have been quite good, but I don’t see how the grim surroundings can help.
The latest tenant, however, is worth checking out. If friendly, smiling service, appealing Japanese-Korean fare and, on the day of our visit, impeccably fresh sushi count for anything, then maybe I ♥ Sushi & Teriyaki can stick.
The dining room is small but shiny and well-kept, with nary a painting or any other decor to adorn the pale beige walls; floor-to-ceiling plate-glass windows afford a view of four tiny commercial huts across the road. An L-shaped bar at the entrance has been converted into a sushi bar with a half-dozen tall stools. Wooden benches and red dinette chairs provide seating for maybe two dozen more at large tables, which are set with paper napkins and wooden chopsticks (Western cutlery is available on request).
The menu is relatively brief, but it offers plenty of choices for everyone, with an abundance of cooked dishes for those who don’t ♥ raw fish. Dinner entrees come with rice, vegetables and salad and range in price from $11 (for “chicken and chicken,” boneless bites in teriyaki glaze) to $21 (for deep-fried lobster meat in honey almond-coconut sauce, or sauteed “scallop and scallop”). As mentioned, Korean flavors turn up amid the Japanese mix, with bulgogi (Korean marinated grilled beef, $15) and kalbi (Korean marinated beef short ribs, $15) among the goodies.
The usual extensive list of sushi rolls, nigiri sushi bites and sashimi is also available, of course, many at $3.50 or $4 for nigiri, and rolls starting at $3, rising to a still reasonable $12 for some specialty rolls.
If you’re on a budget, you can enjoy filling soba or udon noodle dishes for $10 or less, and fried rice for as little as $5 for the vegetarian version. About 18 appetizers are subdivided into vegetable and meat items, and prices in the $3 to $7 range for many items would make the grazing option an easy choice. There’s a short list of beers, wines and Japanese sake, plus Japanese green tea or soft drinks to wash it all down.
We took advantage of the 11 a.m.-3 p.m. lunch menu ($7 to $10) and some sushi and were quite satisfied with food and service.
Mary picked what appeared to be a Korean-Japanese hybrid dish, bulgogi teriyaki ($9), and was happy with her oversize white platter loaded with stir-fried veggies aromatic with wok hai, the characteristic smoky scent of food fresh from a well-handled wok, and thin-sliced, soy-marinated grilled beef. A generous portion of steaming white rice came alongside, and both lunches were accompanied by steaming, “meaty” miso soup and a fresh green salad with a tangy ginger-and-citrus dressing.
I chose Combo B ($10), which consisted of a plate of Yaki Soba (more of those great, sizzling stir-fried veggies and a dash of soy flavor atop a bed of thin, vermicelli-like wheat noodles), and an order of four nigiri sushi — chef’s choice of shrimp, salmon, tuna and snapper — following as a second course. We also summoned two sushi rolls, crispy salmon skin ($6) and sweet mild yellowtail and scallion ($5).
The sushi was very good to excellent — nothing fancy, but extremely fresh fish on a Tuesday, and as everyone who has read my rants about stinky, old fish in sushi will know — I’m a strict judge of this point as being key to a sushi bar’s success.
A filling lunch for two, with some Korean bulgogi beef left over for lunch the next day, came to $33.66, a mighty light toll by sushi-bar standards. I rounded up to $40 for enthusiastic service.
I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. Actually, not to be wimpy about it, I would gladly pay daily for a gourmet-style hamburger at Bluegrass Burgers. And when finished, I wouldn’t at all mind running a few blocks down the street for a daily Vietnamese bánh mì sandwich at NamNam Café. Continue reading Burger or bánh mì? New cheap eats abound at Bluegrass Burgers & NamNam Cafe→
I’ve liked Simply Thai ever since it opened in 2006. Since the beginning I have ranked it high among the city’s Thai eateries for food quality and presentation of standard Thai dishes – plus a short but appealing selection of Japanese delights and sushi.
But I didn’t go to Simply Thai very often, frankly because its popularity swamped its tiny quarters in a one-room hut at Wallace and Wilmington avenues. With maybe eight small tables crammed into a space meant for six, and a line of hungry diners elbowing through the middle of the crowd in search of take-outs, Simply Thai’s ambience fell simply short of simply comfortable.
If you get out to the Pacific Northwest at all, you’re probably familiar with Wild Ginger, the regional restaurant phenomenon that has captured Seattle foodies’ attention with its Southeast Asian fusion cuisine.
And if you do, your eyes may have popped wide open when the signs advertising a new spot called Wild Ginger went up on the former Café Metro’s doors in the autumn of 2010. Could it be?
