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Julie Darling Donuts-April 14, 2012

April 17, 2012

Boy, Saturday was a big day for us! After we finished our great lunch at Niko’s, we headed over to the North Shore to get some donuts from Julie Darling. I’m not sure why we hadn’t been yet…I saw an article about them when they opened in 2010 and immediately wanted to go. So….we finally made it.

We went on Saturday afternoon (around three p.m.) and they did not have the red velvet donut, which, according to the brochure we picked up, is their “signature”. I wanted to cry….I’m pretty much obsessed with all things red velvet (strange, I know, for someone who tries to avoid food dyes…but it’s not something I eat on a regular basis) and I knew when I read about it in the aforementioned article that I would be ordering that. So….I was completely thrown off by the fact that it wasn’t available. It took me a few minutes to make a decision…they had glazed (yeast-raised) doughnuts, cake donuts (iced/uniced), and a variety of filled donuts. We each chose two and brought them home (we were far too stuffed to eat them there).

After I dried my tears and pulled myself together, I decided to get a lemon-filled donut and a ‘nana pudding donut. Truth be told, I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for a really good filled donut (cake donuts are my favorite-not a huge fan of glazed). The lemon was lightly glazed and the ‘nana pudding had a little glaze and some powdered sugar icing with crushed vanilla wafers on top. I was concerned that the vanilla wafers would get soggy but needn’t have been concerned-I saved half of each donut until Sunday and the wafers were fine. Anyway, the ‘nana pudding was far and away my favorite from these two. There was no actually banana in the donut, but rather a creamy banana-flavored filled, like pudding or the filling from a cream pie. It was smooth and banana-y but not overly so. Not that the lemon wasn’t good….I just didn’t find it to be head and shoulders above other lemon-filled donuts I’ve had in my lifetime. The lemon flavor of the technicolor filling was very strong and bright….I think I would have liked it better if it had been a little milder, like a homemade lemon curd. Still, the doughnut was extremely fresh and no doubt had better ingredients than what you might find in your standard chain doughnut shop….

Unlike me, Philip is a fool for a glazed donut, and a day-old Krispy Kreme is pretty much his idea of heaven on earth…so, of course, he decided on a plain glazed donut. For his other donut he chose (surprise!) the pancakes and bacon donut, which is a yeast-raised donut with maple glaze and bacon topping. Philip liked both of his donuts, but did say that the bacon on the pancakes and bacon donut seemed a little “dry”…I’m wondering if it was from sitting in the case (according to a post I read on another blog, the bacon is cooked in the shop). There certainly was a lot of it….I’d like to know just how they crush it so finely! He preferred the glazed donut, because, like I said, he’s just a glazed donut kinda guy. He did say that he didn’t like it as much as Krispy Kreme. I would probably disagree with him if I were to compare the two, but he really, really loves Krispy Kreme. I don’t understand, but I guess it’s a nostalgia thing (also, he is not a “hot and fresh” Krispy Kreme guy….he likes them a day old and a little crusty. Weirdo.).

I haven’t been enamored with the national donut chain (that shall remain unnamed) that has recently reemerged in the Chattanooga area. It’s not that I have a problem with them or their donuts…I mean, I’ll eat them if they’re offered (and it’s a flavor I like)….but I guess it just annoys me that everyone makes such a big flipping deal about a huge chain that’s good but not stellar, when we have local gems like this we could support (I feel the same way about a very large coffee chain….sorry to offend anyone!). If we spend a little time rooting out local options, we might (ahem, probably would) realize that those options are the best options in every way. So, get some donuts from Julie Darling!

Julie Darling Donuts is located at 121 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at 423-591-3737. They do not have a website, but you can “like” them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

Blue Ribbon Cafe, Revisited-March 27, 2012

March 29, 2012

Would I totally destroy my credibility as a reviewer if I write a review about Blue Ribbon Cafe every single time I go there? Man, I love that place. I feel like it’s my “hometown restaurant”. I guess it is, really….it has a true smalltown feel and I see someone I know almost every time I go there. I might…in fact probably would….even go so far as to say that it’s my favorite restaurant.

This visit I was with my mom and my cousin, as Philip was working out of town on Tuesday. I met them there around 6:45. There weren’t a ton of people there, but it wasn’t close to empty either. We sat down and Dianne, the owner, quickly took our drink order. It took me forever to decide what to order. The special of the day was chicken and dressing with corn and okra, and they also had chicken carbonara and a few other dishes featured on their blackboard. I also contemplated “Forrest Gump’s Favorite” (shrimp & grits) or chicken or shrimp alfredo.

In the end, though, I decided I wanted some fries and decided to go with “The Hippie”. The Hippie is shaved ribeye with grilled onions and red and green peppers and tzatziki sauce on warm pita bread. I love all of the above, and this is one of my go-to meals at BRC. It’s huge, and I always eat the whole thing. And I never feel bad about it…because it’s worth it. The meat is shaved so thinly, seasoned and cooked perfectly. The tzatziki doesn’t have a really strong garlicky or cucumbery flavor but works really well with the meat and the charred veggies. The pocketless, soft pita bread is one of my favorite things, and if anyone knows where I can purchase some, please let me know. I haven’t found anything comparable and haven’t found a recipe I like. Of course, I can’t get enough of their handcut fries….this is one of my favorite places to eat fries!

My mom and cousin both went for the ribeye wrap, which is, as you might assume from the name, shaved ribeye with cheese, lettuce, and cusabi (cucumber and wasabi) dressing. I think there might have been some onion on there, too. Anyway, it’s all wrapped up in a tortilla and served with a side (I didn’t mention this before, but all of the sandwiches come with fries, sweet potato fries, housemade chips, potato salad, or okra. Maybe slaw, too….I don’t remember. I always order fries!). I tasted my mom’s and it was really delicious, with the perfect meat just like on my sandwich. The dressing had a very faint spicy, wasabi flavor…definitely not overpowering. I should have opened the wrap up to take the picture, but completely forgot!

On the dessert menu that night, they had Coca-Cola cake, carrot cake, and carmalicious brownies. Dianne recommended the carrot cake, but I wanted some Coca-Cola cake to share with Philip (with some of the homemade coffee ice cream I made Saturday!). Dianne slipped a small piece of carrot cake in my bag too, though. Both were delicious. Coca-Cola cake is one of my favorites….so chocolately and sweet. However, if I had to choose between these two desserts, I would choose the carrot cake. It had pineapples and nuts (walnuts or pecans? I couldn’t decide which.) and a perfect cream cheese frosting. Cream cheese frosting makes anything better! Well, almost. Today Blue Ribbon posted a picture of a pink lemonade cake on Facebook. I’m gonna have to try that one out!

Maybe one of these days Pioneer Woman will post her coffee ice cream recipe on her blog and I can link you to it! It's better than store-bought!

If you haven’t been to Blue Ribbon Cafe, I’m not sure what you are waiting for! They are located at 9705 Dayton Pike, Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379. They can be reached at 423-332-5005. You can find them on Facebook. They are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday-Friday. That’s the only thing I don’t like about them-I wish they were open on weekends (or at least Saturdays)!

Taco Roc-March 24, 2012

March 26, 2012

Last week, I asked for suggestions for some places we could go to eat for this review, and, while there were many great suggestions, I ended up going somewhere that wasn’t suggested. We needed to go to a few places in the Hamilton Place area, so we decided to go to Taco Roc…we’d been wanting to go there for a while. We’ve heard many wonderful things about Taco Roc for several years, but after we heard that they were owned by the same people who own Delia’s, we knew we had to go!

When we arrived, there were only a couple of other tables filled…but, hey, it was not even 11:30 in the morning, so no surprise there! Sure enough, the menu was the same menu from both Delia’s locations. Unlike the sit-down Delia’s in Dayton, you don’t place your order at your table…you walk up to the counter and order, then they give you a number and bring the food to your table. There is a drink fountain (we got water, of course) and you can also order beer, a bottled Mexican soda (those things are GOOOOD if you’ve never had one!), and there were a couple of homemade-looking beverages in large beverage dispensers behind the counter. One was white, one was orange, and I wish that I had asked what they were…but I didn’t. There is also a little condiment bar with a few types of salsa (salsa verde, some sort of roasted tomato salsa, and a red, presumably hot sauce), shredded cheese, sliced jalapenos, some sort of whole pepper, cilantro, and a few other things.

I decided to order the flautas. I’ve seen them on the menu at Delia’s and wanted to try them, but since we always have to bring it home and flautas are deep-fried, I wasn’t too sure they would taste great once I got them home. I decided to have mine with steak (the other options were chicken or a mix with steak, chicken, and shrimp). Anyway, flautas are meat and cheese rolled into a flour tortilla and deep fried, then halved and topped with pico de gallo and queso fresco. The flautas were served on a bed of lettuce with a chipotle cream sauce. The steak at Taco Roc is seasoned and grilled perfectly. The cheese fried in the flautas was nice and melty, gooey, and stringy. I love queso fresco, which is very similar to feta. The chipotle cream sauce was quite delish, but a little spicy for my wimpy taste buds, so I didn’t eat a lot of it. I really liked the pico de gallo. It’s interesting, I hate raw onions but they don’t bother me in pico! This was a great dish, and I ate 3 of the 4 pieces of it!

Philip decided to order the tacos platter with Mexican sausage (chorizo). The menu says that the tacos platter comes with ground beef or chicken, but the cashier told Philip that he could choose any meat that he wanted. He has tried the steak and the barbacoa (shredded beef) and liked both of them, but he loves their chorizo. He decided to have them with flour tortillas. The tacos were what I would almost call overstuffed. Philip couldn’t finish them because they were so full of chorizo! He loved the beans, which, as I have mentioned before, are very fresh with no nasty skin on top. The rice was good too, but unlike Delia’s rice it had peas in it. I guess each location has its own approach! Anyway, we were both completely stuffed once we were finished.

The only (sort of) negative thing I can say about Taco Roc is that their chips were not quite as fresh as the ones we’ve had at Delia’s. They definitely weren’t bad, but at Delia’s they always taste like they were just fried. These tasted like they had been fried, I don’t know, maybe the day before or first thing in the morning. Oh well….we still ate them all!

So, we have completed the trifecta. Delia’s Soddy-Daisy, Delia’s Dayton, and Taco Roc. So far, the three best Mexican restaurants we’ve been to! I strongly urge you to try them-all of them!

Taco Roc is located at 6960 Lee Highway, Chattanooga, TN 37421. You can reach them at 423-653-1001. You can find them online at http://eltacoroc.com or on Facebook. They are open from 10-9 Monday through Saturday and 10-8 Sunday.

Tremont Tavern-February 25, 2012

February 25, 2012

Quite some time ago, one of my friends told me that one of his favorite burgers in Chattanooga was at Tremont Tavern. I checked out their menu and discovered that there were quite a few burgers to be had at this tiny haunt in the Riverview section of North Chattanooga. When a Living Social deal to Tremont Tavern popped up in my email…..I jumped on it. It’s a great way to try new places and save a ton of money! $10 for $20 worth of food…couldn’t pass it up.

From the outside, you can tell that Tremont Tavern is a small joint, and my brother had told me that inside it’s even smaller than it looks, so I knew that we needed to pick a time that it wouldn’t be too busy, since we don’t really like to wait (for this reason, we rarely go out to dinner on Friday or Saturday nights!). We went for lunch today, and we were astounded at how popular this tiny place is! There were a ton of people there, and we managed to snag the last available table (it’s a seat-yourself sort of place). There were several seats at the bar. We were amazed at how many families were at this tavern…but I’d be happy to take a child there for one of their fantastic burgers, which I’ll describe for you in a moment. There were specials listed on the board when we walked in-a surf & turf burger, a shrimp po’ boy, a couple of beers, and an extensive list of draught beers available. They also have a couple of shelves of beer mugs engraved with numbers, with a person’s name engraved on a little gold plate on the shelf under each mug. Apparently, once you’ve tried all of the beers on their list, you get your own mug. I thought that was pretty interesting!

It took a few minutes for the one server that was working (another quickly joined her) when we first got there (30 minutes after they opened-and they were already full!) to get to us, so when she got to us we had decided on our order. We decided to order the hummus du jour, which was lemon-garlic and served with toasted pita wedges. It was nicely salted (undersalted hummus = very bad), and I really liked the lemon. I loved the crunch on the toasted pita wedges. Now, here’s the problem with being someone who cooks lots of different things at home…sometimes you find that when you order your standards in restaurants, they don’t quite measure up to your own. That’s not to say this hummus wasn’t good….we ate all of those pita wedges and over half of the hummus. It didn’t have quite as much garlic as I use, and was a little drier than mine (I add yogurt-I’ll post my recipe sometime!)…so anyway. It’s what you’re used to, I guess. , and I loved the idea of a “hummus du jour”. I’d love to go back and try some more hummus varieties!

That’s a cucumber slice in the middle of that hummus, by the way….

It shouldn’t surprise you to know that I ordered the pimento burger (after briefly considering the Chuck “It-Puts-the-Guacamole-on-It” Fisher burger because the name made me laugh). It has homemade pimento cheese (one of my favorite things) and bread and butter pickles on a Niedlov’s bun. I also ordered the homestyle chips (the other sides available were steak fries and Tavern tater tots). The chips, as expected, were pretty much the same as I found at Market Street Tavern, so I loved those. The burger….well, let me begin by saying that the bun bottom was dripping. That’s not a bad thing. This was a super-juicy burger. I was slightly concerned about the bread and butter pickles, because I haven’t really liked sweet pickles in the past. They really, really work here. The sweetness combined with the wonderfully browned meat and the melty pimento cheese was just amazing. There were tiny flecks of fresh jalapeno in the pimento cheese, making it just slightly spicy. I was sold. In fact, they had me at the soggy bun bottom. Wowsers.

Philip decided on the jalapeno jack burger, with fresh jalapeno, bacon, ancho cilantro dressing, pepperjack cheese, green leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, and red onion. He decided on the tots as his side. I really should start tasting his food every time, because when I ask, I rarely get much description….but he loved his burger. His favorite thing was the fresh jalapenos, which really make a burger “pop” more than pickled jalapenos. He said that the main spice to the burger was the jalapeno…the dressing wasn’t extremely spicy. His burger was super-drippy too. He wasn’t crazy about the tots, which he said tasted like they weren’t salted….but, once you’ve had tots fried in duck fat, I’m not sure any tots can satisfy. I tasted one….it tasted…like a tot! That was the only thing bordering on a “problem” that we had with our meal.

This is a great local establishment. I was absolutely blown away by the popularity…by the time we left, all of the tables as well as the bar were completely packed out. Tasting the food, though, I see why. In addition to the burgers, there are also salads, sandwiches, and soups on the menu…but I’m not sure I’ll ever find out how good those are, since I’ll probably be ordering burgers as a rule here (my next try is going to be the Coltrane (One-eye) burger with a fried egg on top). It’s a great atmosphere with a focus on buying as many local ingredients as possible. You should try it-but be prepared to sit elbow-to-elbow with a stranger (it’s worth it)!

Tremont Tavern is located at 1203 Hixson Pike, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can contact them at 423-266-1996. You can find their menu and beer list on their website, http://tremonttavern.com. You can “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. They open at 4 p.m. on Mondays, 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday-Friday, and at noon on Saturday. I am not sure about when they close….their hours are not listed on the website! It is a bar, though….so late.

Brewhaus-February 18, 2012

February 19, 2012

Back in November, when Philip and I went to Good Dog, we noticed a new restaurant on the north shore called Brewhaus. I am sure you won’t be surprised that it didn’t take long for us to figure out that it was a German restaurant-a German gastropub, the website calls it. We were immediately intrigued. When we were trying to decide where to eat with a couple of friends this weekend, Brewhaus came up and we decided to try it out.

We arrived at Brewhaus at 6:30ish. I wasn’t too sure how the seating worked when we walked in; there were no signs asking customers to wait to be seated. When a server walked by, I asked him how it worked and he told me that it was first-come, first-served. We grabbed the one empty table that we saw, out on the back porch, which was covered since it was only in the 50s and beginning to drizzle. When our friends came, one of them asked if the outdoor heater behind our table could be turned on, since the temperature was dropping. I’m not sure why, but it took us asking twice and another person asking as well before it was turned on. I am assuming it was just because they were pretty busy. Anyway, the heater made it nice and toasty….

Covered Porch on a Cool, Drizzly Evening

Our server was also the bartender, and she was very helpful with suggestions. The menu consisted of appetizers, a handful of salads, sandwiches (mostly burgers), a hot-dog style brat, entrees, “side cars” (aka side dishes), a couple of desserts, and drinks (they have a variety of bottled beers-both German and otherwise-as well as an ever-changing selection of draft beers). After considering the fried pickles, Philip and I ordered a honey-bacon deviled egg appetizer. It was a fairly standard deviled egg topped with large pieces of bacon, with honey on the side for dipping. That’s right-honey. It seemed quite strange, as I am sure that it probably does to you….but oddly enough it really worked! Very tasty. I never would have thought of serving honey with deviled eggs!

Deviled Eggs with Bacon & Honey Dipping Sauce

I had pretty much decided before I ever set foot in the restaurant what I was going to order: The Rooster Schnitzel Weiner Art (and you better believe I pronounced it “veener”, not “weiner”. I’m all about authenticity!). This is a pork loin cutlet, pounded thin, breaded, and fried (classic schnitzel) and topped with a fried egg. On the server’s recommendation, I ordered German potato salad and veggie medley. I really liked the schnitzel….the oozy fried egg yolk really made the whole thing. The egg was highly peppered, and if I order this again I will probably ask them to go a little light on the pepper. It just made it a little spicier than I would have liked. The crispy coating on the schnitzel was perfectly fried and the meat was not greasy. The veggies were good…carrots, broccoli, and snow peas, cooked till crisp-tender and lightly seasoned. However, I was not very happy with the German potato salad. German potato salad is served warm, which I like, and has a vinegary dressing, which I also like (I’ll post my potato salad recipe sometime), and it has bacon in it, which I like in theory….but my potato salad was pretty much just bacon. A big pile of limp bacon. I’m not sure what happened….maybe I got the last of the batch and ended up with the majority of the bacon? There were very few potatoes on my plate. I didn’t care too much for the dressing, either. It was just a little weird to me. Philip liked his, though, so don’t make your decision based on my opinion. Your experience might be better than mine. I should have ordered the spaetzle (more on that in a minute).

Rooster Schnitzel Weiner Art with Overly-Baconated German Potato Salad and Veggie Medley

Philip decided on the Jäger Schnitzel Weiner Art-and no, it does not contain Jägermeister. It’s a classic schnitzel, as I described above, served with mushroom gravy on top. Philip decided to get German potato salad and spaetzle as his “side cars”. As I said above, he really liked his potato salad….but then, his was not just a gigantic pile of bacon. He did not care so much for the spaetzle, which is an egg noodle dish with a tiny bit of creamy sauce. I, on the other hand, really liked it and ate several bites of his. He loved the schnitzel and ate the whole thing.

Jager Schnitzel Weiner Art with German Potato Salad and Spaetzle

Our friends both ordered Hamburg Cheeseburgers….one of them topped with pimento cheese. She said that she was a little concerned about ordering the burger since she didn’t know anything about it and had very recently eaten a Terminal burger, which is hard to follow. She liked the burger, but said that it was not as good as a Terminal burger. No surprise there (no offense, Brewhaus! The Terminal burger is one of the best around.). She did say that their pimento cheese was really good and that The Terminal should get the Brewhaus pimento cheese recipe to put on their burgers. You know what that tells me? I need to order something with pimento cheese next time (you know I have a things for pimento cheese)! They also ordered homefries and thought they were really good.

Hamburg Cheeseburger with Pimento Cheese & Home Fries

At the end of the meal, I was a little bit sad that I was so full, because I wanted some of the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (aka black forest cake, aka chocolate cherry cake) from The Hot Chocolatier. No, no German chocolate cake-did you know that German chocolate cake is not actually German? It was named after Baker’s German’s Chocolate. See the useless knowledge you gain when you watch food television all the time? Black forest cake, on the other hand, is authentically German. Next time, I will be saving room for this!

Well, next time I visit Brewhaus, I will be skipping the potato salad…and probably the appetizer, just so I can replace it with dessert. There will be a next time, though. The atmosphere is really cool in this “gastropub”, and I liked most of the food. I encourage you to try it out, and don’t be afraid of the word schnitzel….or spaetzle…or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. This is a great local restaurant.

Brewhaus is located at 224 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can reach them at 423-531-8490 or info@brewhausbar.com. Check out their website: http://brewhausbar.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

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