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Market Street Tavern-February 11, 2012 CLOSED

February 12, 2012

Market Street Tavern closed at the beginning of December 2012.

You know what my favorite type of meal in a restaurant is? The kind I don’t have to pay for. Okay, technically we paid $3.01 in tax + the tip….but that’s all. Philip’s sister gave us a gift certificate to Market Street Tavern for Christmas. I’m not sure why we just now got around to using it, but the coldest day so far this year seemed like a perfect time to park a mile away and walk in the wind tunnels between the buildings in downtown Chattanooga. I mean, doesn’t it make sense to you? Anyway….

We got there at 12:15; they open at noon on Saturdays and we were the first customers. I think that happened to us the last time we went there a couple of years ago. I guess a “tavern” is probably more crowded in the evenings. Obviously, we were seated immediately. The first thing that I noticed (as with the last time that we went there) was the one problem I have with Market Street Tavern-the decor. The space used to be an Italian restaurant (Cibo, I think) and they just kept the decor. The walls don’t bother me, and part of the restaurant has nice-looking hardwood floors, but the carpet, tables, and chairs could use an update. Still, I don’t go to restaurants for the decor, so it’s definitely not going to affect my decision to go back or not.

We ordered our waters and some fried pickles. I puffy-heart love fried pickles so I was very happy to see them on the appetizer menu. Link 41 sausage was also available but we had already ordered the fried pickles when we realized that. They took about 10 minutes and they were hooooootttttt. The fried pickles here are pickle spears, not chips….I think I’ve decided I like spears better, although they hold the heat in more so they are definitely more risky to eat. I definitely burned my mouth! Oh well-my fault! They were battered, not breaded, which I loved, and served with ranch dressing for dipping. There were 6 spears….and we ate them all. Mmmmm.

I couldn’t decide between the Tavern pizza (herbed flatbread with artichokes and sundried tomatoes) or the Sequatchie Cove burger, so I asked our server, Kate, which she would recommend. She recommended the burger, so I ordered it, medium, with sauteed mushrooms and Swiss cheese. For my side, I chose chips; they are housemade. If they had been packaged chips, I would have opted for fries. In case you don’t know, Sequatchie Cove is a local farm that sells grass-fed beef; yea for local! The burger is served on a Niedlov’s bun. I definitely was not disappointed by this burger. It was so juicy that the bottom of the bun was drenched, but the bread was sturdy enough that it still held together. As you see in the photo, the burgers are served with lettuce, tomato, and onion. I left the onion on for the pic, but removed it immediately after, of course. The burger was perfectly cooked, and since it was local, grassfed beef from a source that I know and trust, I was fine with eating it pink. Delicious! The handcut chips were great too, and if I hadn’t eaten 3 fried pickle spears, I would have cleaned my plate.

Philip decided to order shrimp and grits. Ever since the first time we ate at Food Works, he has been on a mission to find a restaurant that serves shrimp and grits as good as theirs. Up to this point, he has been unsuccessful….but he actually liked Market Street Tavern’s shrimp and grits better. I was beside myself. The shrimp and grits here consisted of three fried grit cakes (he felt they could have served two and it would have been plenty of food), country ham, sauteed shrimp, brown butter sauce, and scallions. The country ham and the brown butter sauce give a deep, smoky, rich flavor, and the grit cake (as opposed to just a big bowl of grits) lends structure and texture. Amazing. We considered dessert, but we were way too stuffed for one of their gigantic cupcakes made by Belle’s Cupcakes, and since I was planning to bake a cake to blog, it seemed like overkill to get one to go. Next time!

I didn’t know this, but I guess Market Street Tavern and Tremont Tavern are owned by the same person or people. I guess that makes sense…..especially since the burger was so good. I haven’t tried Tremont yet, but I actually have a Living Social deal for there, so it will be coming soon. I have heard that their burgers are among the best in town….but that’s another post.

This was definitely a great dining experience for us. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend Market Street Tavern. They are located at 850 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-634-0260. Their website is http://marketstreettavern.com; you can follow them on Twitter or “like” them on Facebook. I am including photos of their menu; not great photos but they’ll give you an idea of the offerings.

9/16/12: Over the summer, Market Street Tavern moved across the street to 809 Market Street. Of course, the restaurant has a more updated look, and the menu has gotten an update as well. I hope to write an updated post about them soon!

Delia’s Dayton-February 8, 2012

February 8, 2012

You may have read my glowing review of Delia’s Taqueria right here in good ol’ S-D back in December. I pretty much declared that Delia’s is the best Mexican food I have ever eaten, and I pretty much swore off all other Mexican restaurants at which I have eaten to date. Remember that? Well, I found out that Delia’s has a sit-down location in Dayton, TN, and I knew I had to go ASAP. A much-needed personal day from work provided the opportunity to go with Philip, my mom, and my sister for lunch. I was not disappointed!

Delia’s in Dayton is just past the “town” part of Dayton…you might think you’ve gone too far, until you see the bright orange double wide on the left. It’s a dine-in/take-out, with a window outside for those who are taking out. There were not many people dining in when we got there, so we were seated immediately, and baskets of free and unlimited chips and salsa were quickly delivered to our table. That’s one of the advantages to dining in, obviously! The chips were the delicious homemade chips that are served at Delia’s in Soddy-Daisy, but Philip thought that the salsa seemed a little different-less chunky, but still delicious. I liked that the salsa was served in these little mini-carafes with an individual bowl for each person. Double-dip away! (By the way, what do you think of the pics? I got a new phone and the camera is vastly better than the camera in my ipod.)

The menu at Delia’s Dayton is identical to the menu at Delia’s Soddy-Daisy, with the obvious difference in address and phone number. It took me ages to decide what to eat because so many menu items sounded so appealing, but I finally decided on the quesadilla Taco Roc (have you heard of Taco Roc? It’s on Lee Highway. Yep, apparently they own that too. It’s on the list!). Pretty much just meat and cheese on a flour tortilla with guacamole, lettuce, pico de gallo, and sour cream. I ordered mine with steak. Everything about it was delicious, and I ate the whole gigantic thing. The steak had a great grilled flavor and was very tender and sliced very thin. I’ve only recently started eating guacamole, and I thought that theirs was great-not super-chunky, which I appreciated. I also greatly appreciated that the pico did not have huge chunks of onion in it-they were small enough for me to tolerate (I have issues with raw onions, in case you didn’t know). It was also slightly spicy but not overly so. Thank goodness. I’m a huge wuss. I would definitely order this again!

My mom decided on the tacos platter with ground beef on flour tortillas. I’ve had this twice, except on corn tortillas, which I prefer for tacos. As has been my experience in the past, everything was pretty much perfect with this meal-perfectly seasoned meat, great rice, and skin-less refried beans. She really enjoyed it (also, I might mention that the day after Philip and I first tried Delia’s my parents tried it, and they’ve gone there about 100 times since. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But not much of one.).

My sister decided to just have the chicken with cheese sauce, which she ate with chips. As you see below, it was basically just a bowl of chicken, chopped up into tiny bits and sauteed, then mixed with cheese sauce (which, interestingly, is absent from the menu as an “appetizer”-come to think of it, there is no appetizer menu). The chicken was nice and brown and very fresh-tasting, and the cheese sauce tasted great and was very thin, which is how I like it.

Philip had been chomping at the bit to go to the sit-down location so that he could try the chimichanga, which is generally his go-to menu item at a Mexican restaurant. He hadn’t tried the chimichanga at the Soddy-Daisy location because he was afraid that it would get soggy by the time he got it home. He kept it simple and ordered ground beef as his meat. He was not disappointed. He loved that this chimichanga contained sauteed vegetables (green and red peppers and onions) and not just meat like the chimichangas at most Mexican restaurants. He was truly raving about this meal. I tasted it as well and found it to be delicious. Another win for Delia’s!

Delia’s in Dayton is a bit of a drive if you live in Chattanooga or even Soddy-Daisy, but if you happen to be in the Dayton area and you are looking for fantastic, fresh food, go there. It’s fantastic!

Delia’s is located at 8795 Rhea County Highway, Dayton, TN 37321. You can reach them at 423-570-1813. I am including the menu for Delia’s Soddy-Daisy below for reference; prices may differ somewhat.

China King Hixson-February 4, 2012 (CLOSED)

February 5, 2012

Note: China King Hixson closed sometime in the later half of 2013. Somehow I totally missed this until a reader pointed it out to me! There’s now a Workout 24/7 there. Shows you how much attention I pay, since I grocery shop in the Publix plaza at least once a week!

All right, I railed against going to this place for quite some time. Call me a snob, I don’t care. I just have this “thing” about hole-in-the-wall Chinese places….I’m suspicious. I can’t help it. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised, and sometimes I’m not. There’s one very close to my house that we went to once and my eggroll had some sort of mysterious fluorescent pink meat in it. Never again.

Anyway, Philip went to a different hole-in-the-wall Chinese place in East Brainerd with a friend last week and loved it, so he wanted to try this one. One of my friends and her husband really like it and go there frequently, so I figured it was worth a shot. When we were racking our brains trying to think of something to eat on Saturday night, Philip suggested we go. So we did.

It was around 7:30 when we got there. There was one couple that was actually eating in the restaurant, and 4 or 5 people waiting for orders (2 more came in to pick up while we were there). The decoration was sparse, as you would probably expect, and they did have the required slightly creepy looking photos of different meals that are available hanging about the counter, like a menu. The menu is huge, but that’s generally pretty standard at a Chinese restaurant…..122 menu items plus “Chef’s Specialties”, “Special Combination Plates”, and lunch specials. Since we are partial to fried rice, we went for the special combination plates, which included the meat, pork fried rice, and an eggroll for $6.95. Philip got sweet and sour chicken, and I got sesame chicken. I won’t go into too much detail about what is available…it’s again pretty much the standard Chinese restaurant menu…plus you can check out the menu at the bottom of the post.

Philip took the first bite of the eggrolls….he’s a little bit braver than I am. Okay, he’s a lot braver than I am. Anyway, there was no pink mystery meat in the center of the eggrolls, just cabbage. We were in business. Since we had about 15 minutes from the time we got our food to the time we were actually eating it, it wasn’t overwhelmingly hot….just perfect. I’d be willing to be you’d burn your mouth eating one in the restaurant, though!

Interestingly, the sesame chicken smelled super-garlicky. It didn’t taste super-garlicky, though, so that was good. It was sweet, not overly sticky, and not spicy like you occasionally find (General Tso’s would be considered the spicy version of sesame chicken). I had two random pieces of broccoli, which I got a good laugh from. Philip’s sweet & sour was pretty much the average sweet & sour….not too much breading and not too greasy; that was a plus. The rice was fine, maybe not as sticky as I really like my fried rice to be. That’s the problem with making things at home…you end up liking what you make more than what you get at restaurants. I guess that’s why so many restaurants are terribly disappointing to me. Still, I didn’t have to cook this, and it’s nice to have the night off from time to time. There were not a ton of veggies in the rice…a few carrots, onions, and peas-but interestingly there was actually a fair amount of diced pork, which tasted pretty good. Can someone explain to me why the rice at some Chinese restaurants is yellow? Some, not all. I would love to know.

In the end, we had enough left over to have it for lunch today as well. Again, that’s always nice, and it makes me feel less guilty about the amount that I spend when I go to a restaurant. Of course, there were the requisite fortune cookies at the end of the meal, and our fortunes were so boring that I don’t remotely remember what mine said. I think Philip’s said something about going fishing. I was more intrigued by the one that Philip picked up off of the table where we were waiting….it said something about modifying your plans. But I digress.

Okay, in the end….China King is not the ultimate be all and end all of Chinese restaurants. It was decent food, though, and inexpensive, at least when you consider that we got two meals from it. I doubt will eat there often, but I am sure we will eat there again. Perfectly acceptable for a no-cook Saturday night.

China King is located at 5922 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343 (in the Publix complex, between El Metate and BiBa’s). You can reach them at 423-842-0666.

Old Saigon Vietnamese-January 6, 2012

January 8, 2012

Have you ever eaten at Old Saigon Vietnamese restaurant? Were you even aware that there was a Vietnamese restaurant in Red Bank? If you said no, you’re probably part of the majority. Old Saigon is at the corner of Dayton Boulevard and Martin Road….it’s at a traffic light, in a building that used to be Esquire Cleaners. We had actually eaten at Old Saigon once before, several years ago, when it was in the Rush complex in Hixson. Oh, you didn’t know that there used to be a Vietnamese restaurant there? I didn’t think so. In fact, it was so, um, well-hidden that we ate there once and even though we really liked it, we never went back. Yesterday we were out looking for somewhere to eat, somewhere to blog about, and we passed Old Saigon…then promptly turned around and went back.

There was no one else in the restaurant when we went in at about 3:10 on a Saturday afternoon. Granted, that’s not really a busy time anywhere, but that was one tip that this is one of Chattanooga’s best-kept secrets. Anyway, we walked in and were quickly greeted by one of the owners, one of the sweetest and most friendly people I have encountered dining in a restaurant. The restaurant is clean and very simply decorated, unlike many local Asian restaurants that almost seem too ornately decorated, like they’re trying too hard. We ordered potstickers and water while we perused the menu. It took me forever to decide what I wanted to order. I started to order sesame chicken, but I kind of had a feeling that sesame chicken is not really a traditional Vietnamese dish, so instead I ordered bánh xèo, described as “a special crispy pancake filled with chicken, shrimp, cabbage, carrot, broccoli, and bean sprouts”. I wanted to order pho, a traditional Vietnamese soup, but I was pretty hungry and a little concerned that it may not be filling enough…Philip decide to have mi xao, described as “shrimp, chicken, beef, and steamed vegetables in a special sauce served on a bed of crispy fried egg noodles”.

The potstickers arrived very quickly. As you can see below, they didn’t look like much…but they were delicious. If you’ve never had a potsticker, they are wonton wrappers filled with ground pork, sliced scallions, and seasonings. They are seared on the bottom and them steamed to cook the whole thing. These were served with soy sauce. They were fantastic!

Philip’s mi xao was a huge plate of fried egg noodles dripping in sauce, vegetables, and meat. The owner suggested that he try it with sriracha, telling him that it was delicious on the mi xao. He did try a bite, because usually he loves very spicy foods, but was unable to put it on the whole dish…he’s had a sore throat and just couldn’t go there. The noodles were very crunchy around the edges of the plate but soft where the sauce was. I tasted it, and it was delicious. I can’t even describe it. Honestly, it’s different from anything I’ve had at a Chinese or Thai restaurant, so I wouldn’t even know how to begin to compare it to anything….so you need to try it! Philip finished the whole thing. It was just too good to stop!

All right, I feel bad even saying this…but I wasn’t crazy about my bánh xèo. It was very crunchy, and everything was obviously very fresh and well-cooked. It was fairly bland, but it did have a sauce that I was a little scared to use because it had something that looked like chili flakes floating in it. It wasn’t spicy, though, so I poured some over my bánh xèo. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me! It was huge, and I could only eat about half of it. I found myself wishing that I had gone ahead and ordered the pho (pronounced “fuh” if I’m not mistaken) or the fried rice, which I had the last time that we went there and loved. In fact, I would go so far as to say that, aside from Ichiban, it was the best fried rice I’ve ever eaten in a restaurant. I recall that it was delicious!

We were far too full when we were finished with our meal to order dessert, but their desserts sounded delicious. Fried banana-fresh banana wrapped in egg roll skin and fried, sprinkled with powdered sugar? Mango sticky rice-sticky rice topped with fresh mango, coconut milk, and peanuts? Yes, please! We’ll just have to eat the pho when we go back so we’re not so full and order one of these treat! We’ll definitely be back, and it won’t be another five years this time.

Old Saigon is located at 2601 Dayton Boulevard, Red Bank, TN 37415. You can reach them at 423-876-0322. They are open Wednesday-Saturday, 11:30-8, and Sunday, 11:30-2:30.

Delia’s Taqueria-December 26, 2011

December 29, 2011

I have a confession to make. I know that being a food blogger, I should be adventurous and be willing to try new places sight unseen….but that’s not my style. I don’t usually try new eateries until someone I know has recommended them. Example: Kioto. My assistant ate there before me (Thanks Melissa!) and recommended it….so I knew it was safe. Another example: we recently tried to “have an adventure” and try a brand-spanking-new local place without hearing anything (positive or negative) about it….and it was a complete disaster.

That being said, when I saw Delia’s Taqueria while driving through Soddy-Daisy a month or so ago, I knew I had to give it a try, the sooner, the better. There’s just something about hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints; they are always, ALWAYS the best. Not that you could really call Delia’s a “hole-in-the-wall”, since it’s free-standing. Really, it’s more like a stationary taco truck. There’s not really any seating to speak of…a couple of picnic tables out front is all. So, get it and go….and that’s okay with me, because food this good….well, you really don’t want just anybody seeing you eat it. Oh, and another plus for me: I love being the person to tell Urbanspoon about a new restaurant! That’s just plain fun. But, I digress.

Delia’s is a little red food truck, cart, trailer, whatever. I guess you just have to see it to get the visual. It’s connected to a trailer that used to be the office of a used car lot, which I am assuming has been transformed into a storage facility or office of sorts. They have a little covered porch where you walk up to the window to order, and their menu is a huge board of pictures and descriptions of dishes (think of the menus in Mom & Pop Chinese joints). We took a few minutes to peruse before ordering. The man who took our order was very friendly. Philip asked him if they had been doing good business and he told him that they had been. He also told us that they make all of their food fresh, right down to the tortillas and the chips. Okay, I’m sold. We ordered and were on our way within 10 minutes, and that is with the guy in front of us ordering for himself and his 5 children. I’m not kidding! That’s what I call speedy service. The worst part of this was having to smell the intoxicating bouquet (ha!) of the food while we made the 10-minute drive home….but somehow I made it and even managed to photograph the food before ripping into it.

Of course, I have a gene that does not allow me to eat food from a Mexican restaurant without having chips and salsa. I cannot physically do it. These (fresh and homemade) chips and salsa did not disappoint. Oh, do you need me to repeat that for you? THEY MAKE THEIR OWN TORTILLAS. The chips were fantastic, and the salsa was very fresh-tasting and tomato-ey, just slightly spicy but safe for lightweights like myself. They did include tiny cups of “hot sauce”, one red (just a little spicy) and one green (medium to hot…I only took one bite) that each had fantastic flavor.

Chips & Salsa-Hot, Fresh, and Homemade for $2.00!

There were many items on the menu that were extremely tempting for me, but I decided that I would go simple on this first trip since I feel like you can really judge a restaurant based on their most simple, basic items. I chose the taco platter, which included two chicken or beef tacos (I chose beef), rice, and beans. You can choose the type of tortilla that you want (corn or flour), and of course I chose flour. The tacos also had lettuce, tomato, and white cheese (queso blanco? I’m not sure what kind of cheese it was!). The menu states that they are made with pico de gallo but there wasn’t any on my taco, and honestly I was happy with that. I prefer my tacos without salsa or pico. The tortillas were not fried, which I love. You don’t find a lot of Mexican restaurants that offer tacos in corn tortillas that are not fried (although I’m sure most of them would do it if asked). It’s more authentic this way. The tacos are served in two tortillas each, which helps with the “breakage issue”. The meat was incredible. It was perfectly spiced but not greasy at all and was not in a thick sauce as you typically find in more Americanized Mexican eateries. The produce was fresh and tasty. The beans were perfect-not too thick, not too thin….and there was NO SKIN on them, which is so important! I really loved the rice, too. It was not overly flavored and didn’t have a lot of weird chunks like Mexican rice sometimes does. I ate every bite of my meal. And I didn’t regret it.

Two Beef Tacos, Rice, & Beans-$4.99

Philip decided on the Fiesta Burrito, which is available in ground beef, steak, chicken, a mix of steak and chicken, shrimp, pork, a combo of steak, chicken, and pork, barbacoa (the best description I could find for barbacoa was “Mexican barbecue.” Traditionally sheep meat is used for barbacoa, but this is Soddy-Daisy, so I am assuming they used beef…), al pastor (which to me sounds like it would be lamb but apparently is pork with a chili sauce), Mexican sausage (chorizo, I presume-are there other varieties of Mexican sausage? I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know!), or vegetables. The Fiesta Burrito is prepared with rice, beans, pico de gallo, and sour cream. Philip chose Mexcian sausage. When he took a bite, his eyes rolled back in his head and he proclaimed the meat “incredible”. He insisted that I needed to try it, so I did. I typically don’t like sausage because I don’t care for the spice combinations, but this stuff truly was incredible. Of course, Philip finished his burrito as well, and then stated that, “Now there’s no need to ever go to Q’doba.” I won’t argue with that!

Mexican Sausage Burrito ($4.99), before....

Mexican Sausage Burrito, After-I had to show you the inside!

All of this incredible food, my friends, was had for around $13. They also serve fountain beverages and the traditional bottled drinks that you see in the “international foods” aisle at the grocery store, which always look so tempting and yummy, and Mexican Coke, which is made with cane sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. They also served flavored fresh waters in flavors like mango and tamarind. I must try these at some point. Also, I recommended Delia’s to my mom, who went and got take-out that same night….and then again the next night-so clearly it made an impression on my parents, too.

I love promoting truly local businesses, especially these tiny operations that don’t generate a lot of publicity in the traditional ways. This place is amazing. Please eat there, all of you, so they will stay in business and we can eat there whenever we want! You will not regret it!

Delia’s is located at 105 Porter Street, Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379 (near Wal-Mart). You can reach them at 423-521-7145. They are open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. At this time, they do not have a website or Facebook page. I have sent the menu to Urbanspoon to be uploaded onto their Urbanspoon page, but here it is for you!

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