Ambiance: Beautiful decor all over the restaurant with what looked like a incredible patio area. When we were walking from the parking lot (city lot right next door!) to the entrance, we ooo'ed and ahhh'ed over the patio. We ended up getting a "kitchen booth" that overlooked the kitchen. I always love seeing kitchen staff work on dishes and get a lot of ordering inspiration from seats like this! Volume of the restaurant was moderate-loud because of our proximity to the kitchen, but we had no trouble conversing as a group and hearing each other at normal volume.
How we ordered: The three of us decided to order items together and do shared plates. We didn't have any major food restrictions, but I noted that there are plenty of vegetarian options throughout. Shared plates was super doable and ended up being a great choice so that we could each try as many things as possible. The menu is divided into several sections: salad, apps, soup, vegetables, pastas, flatbread and meals. Don't be fooled by the pictures that show half filled plates. Serving sizes are not small, their plates are just truly oversized.
Drinks:
We ordered 3 cocktails from their beverage program: The Robin, The Summer Tanager, and The Regal Eagle. I had The Robin (2/5), because I was intrigued by the jalapeño cilantro syrup. This drink is quite sweet, and I would not order if you don't like cilantro for sure. I thought it would be refreshing with the Pilsner as a topper, but it ended up being pretty heavy. I took a quick taste of the Summer Tanager, and it was super refreshing.
Food:
Tuscan Kale Salad (5/5), I'll be thinking about this kale salad for a long time. It's inexplicably savory, the macadamia butter makes it nutty, and it has the perfect balance of acid. I'm usually hesitant to order salads at restaurants because they can be pretty basic, and I feel like I could make most of them at home. I can't begin to guess how this salad is made, and it's truly unique. Definitely a must order.
Korean chicken wings (4.5/5), the chicken wings are super popular here. I thought they were great--definitely more of a sweet, gingery, soy flavor. Not for ginger-adverse folks. If you've had wings at Crisp in LP or any Korean Fried Chicken (KFC) at a KFC-dedicated, you're not going to be impressed. But KFC chicken is always a hot.
Shrimp Fusilli (5/5), shrimp, creamy pasta sounded like a pretty basic choice, but this thing slapped aka it was scrumptious for the boomers. The shrimp was the perfectly cooked juiciness that I can never seem to accomplish at home, and the cream sauce was garlicky but not heavy. This is the opposite of your big plate partially curdled shrimp Alfredo. The sauce was smooth, flavorful, with some acid to balance out the creaminess. True chef's kiss on this one.
Mac and cheese (3.5/5), if you love Mac and Cheese you'll like this. If you think Mac and cheese is ok, you'll probably still like this. Nothing to write home about, but a solid sized Mac and cheese served in a cast iron skillet.
Veggie flatbread (4/5), veggie flatbread was good, I'd eat this fast as soon as it comes out because you want to take advantage of the fresh out the oven pizza. This is a veggie lover's paradise with a heap of vegetables that are perfectly roasted. It didn't have much cheese for those that don't care for cheese overload on pizza. I'm not sure if I'd order again, but certainly a good vegetarian option.
Glazed carrots (5/5), the carrots are not just carrots, there's celery root purée, thiccc onion rings, and other components that make this dish so so good. This is the best carrot dish I've ever had, which for most people probably isn't saying much, but the fact that the chef put in the time to make carrots this good means I'm getting every vegetable plate next time.
Carrot Cake (5/5), the best carrot cake I've ever had. Probably the best "a la mode" dessert I've ever had. I love carrot cake, and I've been dreaming about this for days. It isn't too sweet because they forgo the cream cheese frosting for a light homemade praline ice cream. It's served warm with roasted peanuts, and every bite was incredible. We were sad when we finished and it was the star of the show. My friend texted me the next day saying she wanted to go back just to pick up some carrot cake.
I'm bad at taking pictures so I missed a few. read more