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Serendipity Cafe-May 7, 2012 (CLOSED)

May 8, 2012

***Note: Serendipity Café closed in September 2012 due to the owner’s decision to retire.***

Philip was working out of town this past Friday and Saturday, and Sunday he was tired and in no mood for crowds or anything too energy-consuming, so we didn’t get around to a restaurant review. Instead, we decided to head out to dinner tonight. We started out going to the Rice Boxx in the Lupton Drive area, but got there and realized that they are not open on Monday! So…we headed over toward Red Bank to Serendipity Cafe. Actually, I have thought about Serendipity Cafe on several occasions, but since we generally do our review visits on the weekend-and they are closed on the weekend-it hasn’t worked out to this point. Perfect timing!

Serendipity Cafe is located in the former Captain D’s building on Dayton Boulevard (near Red Bank Middle School). Honestly, this area seems to be an area of town where local businesses go to die…it seems that every restaurant that goes opens in the former Shoney’s building next door quickly closes. Serendipity Cafe has been open in this location for several years (after existing as Serendipity Delights in a smaller space for some time before), so clearly they are doing something right!

Serendipity Cafe has a drive-thru for call-ahead orders. For ordering in, you walk up to the counter to order. There is a case showing available desserts and some of the menu offerings as well as dry erase boards to the right telling the daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner specials and soups of the day. There are daily soup specials and daily dinner specials. The dinner special was spaghetti and the soup was broccoli-cheese. I quickly noticed that the Wednesday soup special is spicy taco…I’ll have to go on a Wednesday! There was a little case by the register with a couple of different types of jumbo cupcakes-red velvet was one, but I don’t remember the other. There was also something called “almond pillow cookies”. Serendipity Cafe has several types of salads (chicken, tuna, broccoli salad, Waldorf, etc.) which are available as sides or as a “scoop plate” that allows you to sample several different types of salads.

Since I am a pimento cheese fanatic, I had to give theirs a try. I decided on a half pimento cheese sandwich on regular wheat bread (their options were white, honey wheat, whole wheat, sourdough, and rye. Normally I would choose sourdough, but pimento cheese goes best with soft breads.), a small broccoli cheese soup, and a corn muffin (crackers were the other option besides cornbread). The soup was very thick and not super-cheesy….it was really more like a cream of broccoli to me-not that that’s a bad thing. It was very tasty, seasoned just right with small bits of broccoli throughout. The sandwich was not overly stuffed with pimento cheese so that the lettuce and tomato would slide all over the place, and you could see the individual shreds of cheese, so it was clearly made in-house. It had a distinctly sweet flavor and tiny green flecks in it, which I am pretty sure was relish. Overall, I liked it. I was afraid that the corn muffin would be sweet, because when I think of corn muffin, I think of Jiffy. It was not, however, and I was relieved. I was raised on non-sweet cornbread and that’s how I like it. This cornbread was yummy and very similar to what my mom makes-score! They also scored big points with me by serving real butter, not “buttery spread” with the corn muffin (and having it on the table…along with half and half instead of nondairy creamer). You know how I feel about buttery spread! There were also chips….Ruffles. Not much to say about Ruffles!

Philip decided on the quiche Lorraine, which the lady described to him as quiche with bacon, cheese, and onions, along with a side of Waldorf salad. The quiche was also served with (undressed) mixed greens and a pack of Club crackers. He commented that there wasn’t a lot of bacon in the quiche (I load mine up, believe that!) but that it tasted very good. The cheese on top looked like cheddar. I took a bite and loved that there was a lot of cheese. The quiche was “done” perfectly…not soggy or watery, as is so easy to do to quiche, and seasoned just right. The crust was flaky and perfectly browned. The Waldorf salad was interesting, unlike any version I’ve ever had or heard of. It had apples, celery, raisins instead of grapes, mini-marshmallows, and some sort of whipped creamy concoction (Cool Whip, I assume). This made it more “dessert-y” than traditional Waldorf salad, which has apples, celery, grapes, and mayo, but it was very good.

While we were ordering, I was eyeing the gigantic red velvet cupcakes next to the register, but Philip was ogling the bread pudding with Irish creme sauce in the case. Since I had a Federal Bake Shop cupcake at work that day (hooray!) I let him choose the dessert without any input from me (I do like bread pudding, though). Here’s a little factoid I’ll never forget….on our first date, we went to Rembrandt’s coffee shop and he ordered a latte with Irish creme flavoring. Mmmm, Irish creme. As I’ve said before, I don’t really drink alcohol (I don’t like the taste) but I do love using liqeurs for flavoring, such as a tablespoon or two of Bailey’s in my hot chocolate. They really nailed the flavor of Bailey’s; I’m assuming it was an Irish creme flavored extract but perhaps it was actual Irish creme..who knows? The bready part was very moist and Philip compared it to a sweet dumpling. It was indeed very sweet, and we each ate one of the three scoops and we were done (but would definitely order it again!).

On the table, they have a list of their daily specials. We’ll definitely have to visit on a Tuesday or Wednesday (which is also spicy taco soup day, remember?). There is also a list of desserts, which are not all available every day.

If you are in the Red Bank area during the week and looking for a tasty and homecooked meal, check out Serendipity Cafe. The food was delicious, the service very friendly, and they make no bones about the fact that quality is more important than speed. Serendipity Cafe is located at 3510 Dayton Boulevard, Chattanooga (Red Bank), TN 37415. You can call them at 423-875-3477. You can check out their website, http://www.serendipitydelights.com. You can also “like” them on Facebook.

Hair of the Dog-April 28, 2012

April 29, 2012

So, I’ve completed the trifecta. Hair of the Dog is owned by the same people who own The Honest Pint and Terminal BrewHouse, two of my very favorite dining spots in Chattanooga. Since Hair of the Dog is a bar….errr, pub (i.e. a smoky environment) we have been waiting for warm weather so that we could dine al fresco (there’s no non-smoking section as there is in The Honest Pint). Yesterday was a beautiful day and it was perfect for sitting on the deck. We’ve been to Hair of the Dog before, a couple of different times, but we’ve only eaten appetizers and both of those visits were long before the Chattavore days.

Since we love the other two spots so much, we were pretty excited about Hair of the Dog, especially since I read on the Main Street Farmers Market website the other day that the bartender was experimenting with locally grown/produced food in the menu specials, and I was actually in line behind her on Wednesday when she was picking up produce at the Fall Creek Farms stall. On the Hair of the Dog website there were several weekly specials listed featuring local food, but we didn’t see this until after our visit (otherwise we would have asked about them) and there was no mention of them from our server or on the chalkboard outside listing the beer specials. Of course, by Saturday afternoon they could have been fresh out of these items….we’ll have to ask next time!

On one of our past visits, we had soft pretzels with beer and cheese soup for dipping; on another, Philip ate some Reuben rolls (just as they sound….eggroll wrappers stuffed with corned beef, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing). This time, we decided to order chips, drowned in beer cheese soup. You can also get them plain, wet (covered in white gravy), or overloaded (wet, drowned, and topped with bacon). We were thinking actual chips, but they turned out to be fries. I guess we should have been thinking in more of an “across the pond” mode, since this is a pub, after all, but we weren’t. If we had known they were fries we would have gotten them wet! Anyway…the beer and cheese soup is interesting, with chunks of carrots and celery in a mild and not super-liquidy cheese soup. Appetizers don’t usually come with chunks of veggies, so these are healthy, right? Anyway, the fries are hand cut and not super-crispy. So drippy and messy….but that’s okay! I really liked them but was secretly wishing for bacon.

I toyed with the idea of getting a burger, but that wasn’t really what I wanted. I looked over the menu about fifteen times and finally decided to try out the fish & chips, an item I rarely order….but it seemed appropriate. The funny part of this is that when I ordered it I knew that the “chips” coming with the fish were fries, but still hadn’t made the connection that the “chips” coming in my appetizer were not potato chips. So anyway…I ended up with double fries! Good thing I adore fries, right? They were really good plain with some malt vinegar sprinkled on top, and also dipped in ketchup. I could eat fries every day, do you understand???? The fish was great too…three pieces of cod in a very crispy but not greasy batter. I love fish & chips because (a) it’s fried; (b) it’s crunchy; and (c) it tastes great with malt vinegar. My college roommate and I used to go to Captain D’s (I’m so ashamed!) on a regular basis to eat pieces of fish completely soaked in malt vinegar (we called it “eating a little food with our fat”). This fish was definitely not Captain D’s….I would definitely order it again! The tartar sauce was pretty much amazing…clearly housemade. It wasn’t goopy and it had big chunks of pickle in it. The fries also tasted great with the tartar sauce. Win!

Philip decided on the Winner, Winner, Chicken-Fried Chicken Dinner, a gigantic butterflied boneless chicken breast, breaded and fried and served with white gravy on top. He ordered hash brown casserole and broccoli with almonds as his sides. The chicken breast, as I mentioned before (and as you can see below) was extremely large and very crispy but extremely juicy and well-seasoned. The gravy was good but according to Philip not as good as mine (he’s a little spoiled, you see…besides, mine’s made with bacon grease-hard to beat!). The hash brown casserole was also good, crispy, cheesy, and creamy, all important hash brown casserole characteristics. The broccoli was fresh and well cooked, but he did feel like it needed a little salt. Overall definitely a blogworthy meal….

Hair of the Dog is nice, casual environment with a tasty pub menu. Remember that it’s a 21 and over establishment, and if you don’t like smoke, go on a warm day so you can sit outside. Support your local farmers and ask about their local specials! Hair of the Dog Pub is located at 334 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-265-4615. Check out their website, http://www.hairofthedogpub.net, “like” them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter. Oh, and tell them Chattavore sent you!

I Love Honest Pint-April 22, 2012

April 24, 2012

Sunday we decided at the last second to have lunch out (don’t ask….more planning issues. Blast!). Philip suggested The Honest Pint, and you know I was game. I’ll never turn down a visit to the Pint. I’m not going to go through all of the details about The Honest Pint…you can read those in my original post…but just thought I’d share about what we tried on this experience.

As I mentioned in my last Honest Pint post, they serve a Saturday and Sunday brunch from 11-3. When we walked up, we were greeted by this sign:

Philip asked our server (darn if I didn’t forget her name-I’m usually so good at remembering!) about the chicken and waffles, which he was very tempted to order….it’s a panko-breaded, boneless fried chicken breast served with a waffle that contains bacon. Um, yeah. He was very tempted to get it until he asked the make-it-or-break-it question: is the syrup real maple syrup? She seemed pretty taken aback by that question and was surprised that pancake syrup would be a dealbreaker. Turns out the syrup was a blend of buffalo sauce and pancake syrup. The buffalo flavor covered the artificial flavor of the syrup a little but it definitely wasn’t enough. Use real maple syrup, people! It’s the only way to go. We of course ordered our usual pommes tots (tots fried in duck fat!) while we decided what entrees to order. You may think that tots fried in duck fat sound bizarre, but they are not, my friends….they are not.

So, Philip ordered the chorizo hash, with housemade chorizo, potatoes, red onion, red pepper, and a fried egg on top. The chorizo was not as spicy as what he has become accustomed to ordering off the menu at Delia’s, but it did have a good, well-seasoned flavor. The eggs were nicely cooked with a little runny yolk….and I appreciated that the eggs were fried, not scrambled (like in their corned beef hash) because you know that’s how I do hash. Still, Philip said that while he liked the chorizo hash, he preferred the corned beef hash.

Actually, the angle behind going to The Pint was so I could try a burger (Philip had tried one before, I had not). I decided on the This Burger is the Jam burger, cooked to medium because I like to live dangerously, and chips. The burger had caramelized onions, blue cheese, and bacon jam (word to your mom!). I loved that the edges of the burger were “irregular” so you knew that it was hand-patted, and it was perfectly cooked and oh so drippy. The blue cheese was very pungent and the bacon jam lent the perfect combination of savory and sweet. I did, however, feel that the onions could have been a little more caramelized (to me, caramelized onions should be caramel-colored, not white) although these were cooked enough that I was able to eat them (raw or barely cooked onions are on my bad list). If I were making this burger at home, I would have paired the bacon jam with cheddar…I felt that the blue cheese overpowered the bacon jam a little. Still, a good burger. And the chips, as always, were to die for.

So, you may have figured out that we love The Honest Pint. The menu is unique while still offering “something for everyone”, and the atmosphere is casual and relaxed. If you haven’t already, you should try it! The Honest Pint is located at 35 Patten Parkway, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-468-4192. Check out their website, http://thehonestpint.com, “like” them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter (@thehonestpint).

Rain Thai Bistro-April 20, 2012

April 22, 2012

Dinner out on a Friday is such a rarity for us….we don’t do crowds or waiting very well, so the only way we will go to a “sit-down” place on a Friday or Saturday evening is usually if we have reservations. I was planning on making one of my farmers market meals Friday night for dinner (roasted chicken, potatoes, and salad) but Philip needed to head over to the Bonny Oaks area to pick up his paycheck so we decided to go to Hamilton Place. We were trying hard to think of somewhere local to eat in that area-there are not many places (I guess the rent’s outta control!). I suggested Sweet Basil Thai, but Brainerd Road is not a fun place to drive on Friday or Saturday night (well, it’s never a fun place to drive, but especially not on a weekend night) so we decided to go to Rain instead.

The atmosphere at Rain is pretty fantastic. It is beautifully decorated. We were seated in the bar area at a table that we felt encouraged people to be that couple (that’s what we call couples who sit on the same side of the booth when dining out together-no offense if you are part of one of “those” couples!) because it was a large booth with a large table, made more for 3 or 4 people than 2. We worked it out, though. They have an area where the tables are sunk down into the floor…you sit on a cushion on the floor around the table but you put your legs down under the table. I’ve sat in that section when I’ve gone to lunch with colleagues but Philip never has….we should have asked to be seated there. There were not a lot of people there when we arrived, but our section filled up very quickly after we got there. Good timing!

Our server, Angelia, took our drink orders (water, duh!) very quickly, and we also decided to order some spring rolls. The funny thing is, I always think of spring rolls as soft (not fried) rolls wrapped in rice paper, but Sweet Basil and Rain both serve fried spring rolls. The wrappers are not as thick as one would find encasing a traditional Chinese eggrolls, but rather thin and very flaky, and they are vegetarian, containing cabbage and carrots. They are skinny and rolled up super tight and served with a slightly sweet and slightly spicy dipping sauce. Very tasty, though I’ll have to try the unfried rice paper version some time.

Here’s the problem I have when I go to Thai restaurants: I love pad Thai. I love it so much that I can’t seem to bring myself to order anything else. I just can’t do it! Well, I think I ordered fried rice at Rain once because I wanted to try Thai fried rice, but then I spent the whole meal wishing I had some pad Thai (even though I liked the fried rice). I looked over the menu about ten times trying to pick out something else to order, but I kept coming back to pad Thai. Of course, it also seemed like every time I found something that sounded interesting it would have the word “spicy” in the description. I know a person as obsessed with food as I am “should” be into spicy food, but I’m not. Weakness, I suppose. So, I broke down and ordered the usual. Interestingly, they ask here if you want the pad Thai “mild, medium, hot, or Thai hot”. I’ve never been asked what heat level I wanted my pad Thai at any other Thai restaurant. I justified my order by saying that “a lot of people order pad Thai….I should review a popular dish, right?????”

Pad Thai is basically medium-wide rice noodles with a sauce that is sweet, salty, and sour all at once. It has chicken, shrimp, tofu (in a very small dice and fried crisp), bean sprouts, scallions, and crushed peanuts. Lime wedges are included on the side for squeezing over the top. This is a huge plate of noodles (as you can see) so I probably only ate about half. Delicious and fresh. (On a side note, I love to make Thai-style rice noodles at home. I’ll have to post that recipe some time.)

Philip usually orders pork Panang curry, which is pork and vegetables in a coconut and curry sauce (too spicy for me) and it took him a while to decide not to order it this time. He decided instead to get the sweet and sour chicken, after our server assured him that it wasn’t just like the usual sweet and sour chicken served at every Chinese hole-in-the-wall in America (not that there’s anything wrong with that). This dish definitely didn’t have the same “Thai” feel as the Panang curry, but it wasn’t the usual suspect either. It was a fried chicken breast, sliced into thin strips and served with onions, peppers, carrots, and pineapple in a red but not Technicolor sauce. The sauce was not the candy-ish sauce usually served alongside or poured over sweet and sour chicken…it was actually a ketchup or chili-sauce based sauce that was spicy but not too much so (I took a bite). Philip said that it didn’t get spicier as he was eating like the curry usually does….he has a pretty high tolerance for spicy but usually has to stop at some point because it just gets too hot to handle. He too got full well before the plate was empty.

Angelia offered us dessert but we were definitely too stuffed for dessert. At some point I’m going to have to do a soup/salad combo so I can fit some sticky mango rice pudding or fried bananas in….we got a good laugh out of the “brownie and ice cream” on the dessert menu. Is that a Thai brownie? Ha. They also have a kid’s menu which includes chicken strips and cheesy noodles, which is always a little odd to see on an ethnic menu, but I guess they have to have something for everyone.

I’m not going to mince words here….Rain is not my favorite Thai restaurant. Sweet Basil is and probably always will be (although there are a couple of places I’ve yet to try). (Funny that I haven’t reviewed Sweet Basil yet, but we actually went there for a blog post almost a year ago and lots of factors resulted in me never writing the post.) Still, the food is tasty and the atmosphere is lovely. I hear their sushi is good as well (the idea of sushi at a Thai restaurant has always made me snicker a little) but I haven’t tried it myself yet. If you are in the area, skip the chain restaurants and give Rain a try!

Rain Thai Bistro is located at 6933 Lee Highway, Chattanooga, TN 37421 (in the Rush complex). You can call them at 423-386-5586. You can also visit their website, rainthaibistro.com.

Eat at Good Dog (Again)!-April 14, 2012

April 19, 2012

Ugh. Lack of planning is going to be the death of me. Sunday we were supposed to have cream of broccoli soup for lunch, and I completely forgot to put the chicken carcass from the freezer to the Crock-pot to make chicken broth. Not wanting to buy broth at the grocery store, we decided to go “out” to eat, something that we rarely do on Sunday afternoons. After wracking our brains for several minutes, it dawned on me: Good Dog. Re-blog!

It was much more crowded on this Sunday afternoon than when we visited on a Saturday evening in November. We waited in line for several minutes, which gave us plenty of time to decide what we were going to order…not that I needed several minutes. The last time that we were here, the BLT dog was not on the menu, so my eyes went straight there and didn’t leave. BLT dog it is (was?). Philip decided on the NY Street Cart dog, and, of course, we got frites.

We waited a little while since there were so many people in the restaurant. Seriously-I was a little nervous we weren’t going to find a table! We decided to sit at the “bar” area in front of the kitchen, and I snapped a few pictures of the restaurant:

Condiment Gallery = Yea! I love frites sauce!

From where we were sitting, we had a great view of the grill area (and the dog dust, honey mustard, and curry, wasabi, and regular ketchup).

The one disadvantage to sitting at the “bar” was the lack of the little hole to set the frites into! Just like last time, the frites were delicious….perfectly fried, not too crispy, not soggy, skin on. There was an employee in the back prepping fries-I could see her putting the potatoes into the fry cutter (I gotta get one of those!). I am assuming that they do a “first fry” back there to get some of the starch and moisture out of the potatoes. She then brought the baskets out and put them in a stacker to wait for the final fry. I know that some of you bristle at the idea of dipping your fries in “frittesaus”, which is a mayo-like condiment…but wow, this stuff is so not weird.

I loved my BLT dog….lovely grilled hot dog, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, crumbled freshly cooked bacon, and frites sauce. Like I mentioned before, I could eat one of these dogs plain (I usually despise hot dogs). I was watching them press the dogs just a little bit on the grill, and they get nice and browned. No boiled dogs here! The bun was soft and the produce very crisp and fresh. The bacon was a perfect finishing touch….but I do think I liked the pimento cheese dog better.

The NY Street Cart dog has Bertman’s Brown mustard, onion sauce, and sauerkraut. Pretty basic dog, again with stinky-foot-smelling sauerkraut. Oh, sauerkraut, I kid, I kid! I tasted it and it really did taste good. If you’ll remember, last time we went to Good Dog Philip got a brat, and he was quite happy with his first “true” Good Dog hot dog.

They had red velvet and vanilla cupcakes. I almost ordered one but talked myself out of it…I’m trying to cut back on the sugar, and I knew there would be dessert at my parents’ house (banana splits with homemade chocolate sauce made by yours truly!)…one of these days I’m going to get one of these gigantic beauties!

So, to sum it up….this is still a great place to get a good (great!) dog. It’s worth the trip downtown. This is no convenience store dog. So, as this sign says…..

Good Dog is located at 34 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at 423-475-6175. You can “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Check out their website, www.eatatgooddog.com.

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