Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Cafe Lou Lou

Once in a while you have a dinner where even if the food isn’t the greatest, you can find redeeming qualities in the experience.  That would be how I classify my dinner at Café Lou Lou.  Don’t get me wrong, by no means was my meal bad, it just wasn’t the greatest I have ever had.  Let me just state that extra bonus points go to Café Lou Lou for having half price bottles of wine on Wednesdays; score! 





J and I started out with a humus appetizer that we found creamy with the perfect amount of garlic, I thought it could use a touch more lemon, but was still tasty.  For dinner I had the Gyro Roll.  While the yogurt sauce was good, I wished there was a bit more of it, or perhaps a little less lettuce.  The meat in it was flavorful, but a little crisp for my liking.  J had the Shrimp Pesto with Tri-colored Tortellini.  She thought the saltiness of the olives and the tanginess of the tomatoes were perfect with the pesto, but had wished for more shrimp in the meal.  It was, overall, a pleasurable experience and I would definitely return on a Wednesday for a half price bottle of wine, good company, and perhaps a pizza next time.

Cafe Lou Lou (St Matthews) on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Irish Rover

In my mind I have this picture of where I am supposed to be on a chilly fall/winter night with good friends.  It involves a dimly lit bar, some sort of fireplace if possible, and the low hum of chatter as the patron’s converse amongst themselves.  Needless to say I stepped into just that recently in the Irish Rover.  While there is a dinning area we decided to sit in one of the booths in the bar section, a decision which I firmly stand by as it was less family and more our scene.  Being a descendant if Irish immigrants I pride myself in embracing my heritage and loving Irish food. 
My normal go to meal at any such establishment is corn beef and cabbage.  But since going to the Irish Rover was a whim decision I had actually eaten that the night before.  So I did what any good Irish girl did, I had a BLT.  Now before you judge me let me say that this was no normal BLT, it was a BBLT, Benedictine, bacon, lettuce, tomato.  With that being said, at least give me the credit for being Louisville in my choice since Benedictine was created right here in this fine city.  My sandwich was good, the extra B being a solid choice, but I did wish that the sourdough had been toasted to give a little contrast in textures. My friend got the lamb burger and said it was good, but not really too exciting.  The Irish chips were good, a version of steak fries.  The best part of our meal was the Sticky Toffee Pudding.  Sort of a spice cake with caramel sauce on it, just the right amount of sweet and a perfect size to split.  Overall I enjoyed the visit, the ambiance a little more than the food.


Irish Rover on Urbanspoon

Monday, November 21, 2011

Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot

First, let me take a minute to apologize for the hiatus that I have been on.  Work has been ridiculous busy to the point where eating was almost not even an option.  With that let’s dive into Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot.  There is something oh so inviting about a smoker piping out little wisps of succulent smelling smoke on the front patio of a restaurant on a dreary rainy fall day that just makes me smile.  F.A.B.D has two locations, this day we decided to go to the one in the Highlands.  On a Monday at around 1 my friend C and I were the only people in the restaurant, which was totally ok with me.  The bartender/server was quick to get us menus, drinks and take our order.  It took no time to get our appetizers or food.


As you well know by now I will eat most anything at least once and I have no problem with vegetables.  My friend C on the other hand is a self proclaimed picky eater.  So when she ordered fried green beans for her appetizer choice it made sense to me, vegetables are only made better when they come golden brown.  Honestly I was a bit disappointed in them, they tasted like they came straight out of the bag I could have bought in the grocery; C liked them for that reason.  She loved the Texas Petal Sauce that they were served with and has decided it’s her new favorite dipping sauce.  We also had an order of Spicy Cheese Balls.  They were excellent, like a jalapeno popper without the jalapeno.  We then moved on to our lunch.  For me I chose a ½ rack of ribs with green beans and potato salad as my sides.  I always love their fall off the bone ribs and the fact that they don’t come sopping in BBQ sauce so that I can put just the right amount of F.A.B.D’s homemade sauce on it on.  Everyone has their own ideal sauce to rib ratio, F.A.B.D accounts for that.  I did however have to bring my sides home, so much food!  A fault of mine is that I am a potato salad snob; I just personally think no one’s will ever be as good as my mothers.  But both the potato salad and green beans were good.  C ordered the special of the day, white meat chicken sandwich with the potato salad as her side.  She said the bun was excellent, toasted with just the right amount of butter.  The chicken she thought was a little on the dry side but was helped by the BBQ sauce.  One thing I want to make sure to mention is that if you are going to buy a soda they only come in the can and there are no free refills, the food makes up for it though.  For the price of the meal and the portions (we both took boxes home) F.A.B.D is always a good value.


Update: This location has closed, now only the original on Frankfort is open.

F.A.B.D. Smokehouse in the Highlands on Urbanspoon