Restaurant Review: Black Sheep

Well everyone in town has been to Black Sheep and I haven't seen a bad review yet. I just had to check it out to see if it could live up to the hype.

The space is very inviting. There's tons of art on the walls with lots of dark wood. There are tea lights on each table that illuminate the unique and quirky salt and pepper shakers. The shakers at our table were half each half of a fish. I like the little details. it feels like your in a comfortable place.

The menu is as quirky as the decor. The descriptions are fun and playful and the prices are on the left side of the menu. They have Battleship sandwiches! These sands are on a full baguette!

If you can't tell, I like The Black Sheep. I've been 4 times now. They have very tasty fish tacos ($14). It's a pretty standard grilled mahi mahi on corn tortillas with a fruit salsa with blacks beans and rice, but they do it well. I love fish tacos. I've also had the Chicken and Dumplings ($10). It's a pretty standard dish as well, roasted chicken and handmade dumplings in a creamy sauce. I love that you get to pick a side with your meal. I've tried the deviled eggs and the pickled vegetables. The deviled eggs are good, but not as good as everyone makes them out to be. (I'll have to post my devilish deviled egg recipe sometime. they'll knock your socks off.) I really dig the pickled veggies though... sweet and tangy. The nut and berries salad ($7) is a fun way to start a meal it's a good mix of textures and flavors with lettuce, roasted acorn squash, pecans, fried parsnips and a cranberry vinaigrette.

The only thing I've had that i didn't really like was the USS Monitor sub ($10). It's described as, "Swedish meatballs & sautéed mushrooms in debris gravy baked in a french baguette, topped with Farmer’s cheese, onion, shredded cabbage & tomato." The Swedish meatballs on the sub just lacked flavor. It's just didn't taste good.

Other than that one hiccup, the place is a delight. I've always received great service. Even when the place is full the waitstaff is cool, collected and courteous. They have an awesome beer and wine list, although I've mostly only tried the beers. They are delightful. They also have a fun desert menu, but I'm usually too full after a salad and a meal to indulge. I would recommend the haystacks though. They're just like mom used to make... A sweet mix of crispy chow mein noodles, peanuts and butterscotch.

There's my positive review of The Black Sheep (like they really needed another). I'm sure I'll keep returning for their ever changing menu and those wonderful fish tacos.

The Black Sheep (map it)
901 W. Marshall St
Richmond, VA 23220
http://www.theblacksheeprva.com/

Restaurant Review: Stronghill Dining Company

Last weekend I finally had some time to go to a new restaurant for dinner. Since I live almost within walking distance to Stronghill Dining Company, I thought it was a good time to try it out. The inside of the place is very open. Big chandeliers and artsy things on the wall. It looks nice.

Let's get onto the food. We started with "The Wedge" salad ($5). It's described on the menu as "Iceberg Lettuce, Crispy Bacon Bits and Smoked Onion Ranch". The Smoked Onion Ranch might have been the blandest dressing I've ever tasted. Could I taste a little onion? Yes. Did it taste good? No. I probably should have ordered the Mixed green salad with beets and nuts, but I had just had that same salad the previous night. Beets and nuts are so trendy right now.

The entrees weren't much better. I had the Stronghill Stew, "Andouille Sausage, Shrimp, Mussels, Potatoes, Okra, Tomatoes & Corn over Griddled Grit Cake" ($17). It was ok. The the vegetables and potatoes were a little toothy for a stew. It's basically a $17 soup with 6 medium size shrimp in it. Nothing to write home about.

My lady friend ordered the Pan Seared Seasonal Fish, "Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Asparagus, Oyster Mushrooms topped with Beer Battered Onion Rings" ($26). Wait a second... did that say beer battered onions rings? Yes, yes it did. The dish basically consisted of a bed sweet potatoes and asparagus topped with the "seared" fish and finally topped with two onions rings. Whoever thought of this dish is a a little out there. The dish could have been saved with some properly seared fish or maybe some seasoning, but no. Neither were there. The fish was not seared. It was lightly sauteed.

To properly sear fish or any protein you need a really hot pan with a little bit of oil in it. When the oil just starts to smoke, drop in your protein and don't touch it. Yes it's turning dark... what is that? It's flavor. Caramelization is good. Let it get dark on both sides. Throw it in the oven til it's finished. Maybe even season the food before you throw it in the pan.

Let's just say none of this happened with this fish. It looked like it had just been thrown on the griddle until cooked on both sides. I tasted no seasoning and the griddle was not hot enough to bring out any good flavors in the fish. It was bland. Just like the sweet potatoes and the asparagus. I don't even want to talk about the onion rings.

I've read some good reviews for this place so I don't really know what to say. Maybe I was there on an off night... I might give them another try down the road. Everyone make mistakes at some point.

STRONGHILL DINING COMPANY (map it)
1200 N Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23230
http://www.stronghillrestaurant.com/

Restaurant Update: Gibson's Grill is Open... Kind of.

So there's some reviews of Gibson's popping up... Here's one, Here's another and Here's a third. Someone was even nice enough to post a little review in a comment to one of my posts. It reads:

A few friends and I went to the unofficial opening party of Gibson's grill last weekend. The restaurant is beautiful! Seeing as i'm an artist, the life sized oil paintings covering the walls jumped out at me first.
There are two floors, the bottom being a lounge type bar area where we sat, and the top floor being more of a "restaurant" type seating area. Downstairs, The music was hype and the apps left nothing to be desired. This restaurant is going to go FAR as soon as they open to the public. Go check this place out, you wont be disappointed!!!

They're finally open... almost. Apparently over the last week they've been opening before and after shows at The National with a limited appetizer menu.

The question is when are they really open... It just so happens that I have a friend that recently became employed at Gibson's, so I have the inside scoop. They were open Monday, Wednesday and Friday (Nov 24, 26, 28) of this week before and after shows. They will be closed Saturday to Tuesday in preparation for the grand opening of the restaurant for lunch and dinner on Wednesday, December 3. I'm also told that the full menu will be available.

Do me a favor though, don't all of you rush in on Wednesday. Let them get on their feet a little before we really pack them in. I guarantee you the food and the service will be better a couple weeks from now after they've worked all the kinks out. I'm sure I won't be able to wait that long. Expect a review shortly and maybe I'll even try to talk to the chef if they're not too busy.

Restaurant Update: Gibson's Grill still not open.

With all the Google hits I'm getting from the first post I made about Gibson's... People want to know about this place! Here's what I got: All construction seems to be finished at Gibson's Grill. I even see artwork hanging on the wall. I called and talked to the chef and he said with the next 2 weeks. What are they waiting for? Look for this place to be open within the week! I can't wait!

Restaurant Review: Akida Japanese

I have been to Akida in the fan many times before, most recetly last Saturday night for a friend's birthday dinner.

From the front, the place looks like a whole in the wall (and it kind of is). Walking inside you're transported to a very small authentic feeling Japanese sushi bar. the place is really small, probably 30 people max. The decor seems authentic to Japan, although I've never been there and it makes you feel at home. I've also seen the same people working at this location since I started going to Akida. They continue to provide great service.

This isn't really the place to go if you don't like sushi. The focus is on the raw fish and that's how I like it. Sure there's sure you can get a cooked appetizers and cooked sushi rolls, but don't coming here thinking you're gonna get a noodle bowl.

We started out with the normal "Shumai" (steamed pork and shrimp dumplings) and something new on the menu, "Wasabi Shumai" (the same but with a healthy kick of Wasabi!). Both were excellent. Then came the sushi. I got one of the many combination plates with a little Sashimi, some spicy rolls and some California rolls. All were beautifully presented and tasted delicious. All the fish was as fresh as could be. I have never gotten anything less than the freshest fish here. If you want something less traditional they always have a whiteboard on the wall with something new the sushi chef has cooked up and it's always super tasty.

Akida is definitely my favorite sushi place in town because the service, the food, the ambiance and everything about the place is just consistently great. I would make sure you go on a slower night or get there early because it is so small.

Akida Japanese (map it)
814 N Robinson St
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 359-8036

Restaurant Review: Kitchen 64 Lunch

I've been to Kitchen 64 for lunch a number of times before with mostly positive experiences, but this one was slightly different.

A friend and I arrived at Kitchen 64 towards the end of the lunch hour around 1pm. I'll admit this probably isn't the best time to get a high quality lunch. Those kitchen guys are hoping that the lunch rush in over so they can grab a smoke. In fact I saw a couple of the cooks smoking outside when I walked in. Anyway, We sat outside at the patio and ordered water. There was something floating in my water, so I asked for another. For our food, I ordered the "Gus' burger" (basically burger cooked to temp with a fried egg on top). I had been craving a good medium rare burger for weeks. Most of the time I'd just cook this burger for myself because almost no one ever gets burger temperatures right in this town. I figured I'd try 64though, I'd never really gotten anything bad there. When the waitress took my order, not only did she ask me how I wanted my burger cooked, but she asked me how I wanted the egg on the burger cooked. I took this as a good sign. My friend ordered the "Scott's Addiction" (a prime rib sandwich with shrooms, onions, Swiss and au jus). I have gotten this sandwich before and it is awesome. If I was ordering a sandwich at 64, I would get this one.

When our food arrived to the table, the prime rib sandwich looked awesome and the burger looked like it was overcooked on the grill and then left in the window to overcook even more. First off, the bun was toasted, but cold... a very good sign it had been left to set. Secondly, there was no blood on the bun. If you cook a burger to medium rare there should be blood flowing out of that burger. You never press down on it. You should touch the burger at the most 5 times. Put it on the grill, turn it for some nice diamond grill marks, flip it, maybe turn it again for grill marks on both sides, and put it on the bun.

You should also know about carry over cooking. When you pull any meat off the grill, it continues to cook. If you cook any meat to a perfect temperature, by the time it gets to the table it will be overcooked. If you cook it to temperature and then melt the cheese on it it will be overcooked. If you cook it perfect and then leave it in the window for 10 minutes it will be overcooked. So how do restaurants get that steak or burger to the perfect temperature? Then under cook it just slightly and make sure the server runs it to your table promptly.

So I sent the burger back, it was past medium and on the way to medium well. I told the server my burger was "very overcooked" and she took the plate away with no apology. She did save face a little when she came back from the kitchen and told me another burger would be right up and she was sorry for the inconvenience. While I was waiting I noticed another tables food have to go back to the kitchen because of the wrong sides being on the plates. It looked like the kitchen wasn't exactly batting a thousand that afternoon.

The second burger arrived and it looked better. There was blood on the bun. I picked it up and the bun was hot! I could tell before I put it in my mouth though that it was not the perfect medium rare I was looking for. When I picked it up the juices that were barely dripping out were on the clear side. My first couple bites acknowledged my suspicions. The burger was cooked about medium. I don't really mind a medium burger (I just really wanted a medium rare one) and I was so hungry at this point. I ate the burger.

For most of you that eat your burgers medium well and medium, go to 64 and get a great burger. For those of you that know how good a perfect medium rare burger can be, Kitchen 64 might not be the place for that. I would recommend the "Scott's Addiction" prime rib sandwich though. It's always good.

Kitchen 64 (map it)
3336 North Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23230
(804) 358-0064
http://www.kitchen64.com/

Restaurant Review: Helen's during Restaurant Week

So I waited a little late to make a reservation for Restaurant Week. Firstly because my girlfriend is a little picky and I needed her to read the menus and find something she would eat and secondly, I kind of wanted to see how full the reservation books were at the restaurants. My first choices were not looking good; Six Burner, Zeus Gallery and Juleps were all either full for most of the week or only had really late seatings. I know firsthand after 4 hours of pumping out exceptional food, it's really hard to keep that quality up for a 9pm seating, so I had to find some other options. My girlfriend called the Hard Shell and was told all times were open. This was at 4pm Monday for a reservation on Tuesday. I didn't take this as a good sign. I finally called Helen's, which I had been meaning to try forever, and they said they could fit us in at 6:30pm. Dinner plans were made.

I had never been to Helen's for dinner before, although I had been there for late night drinking a number of times. They really clean the place up a ton for dinner. Late night you can barely see your hand in front of your face with all the smoke, but at dinner they had cleared the smoke out and the place actually looked nice. A gold textured ceiling, lit artwork on the walls and white tablecloths actually made this place look kinda chic.

I liked the menu. It's was simple but nice.

First Course: Fields greens salad or Tuscan white bean soup
Second Course: Braised short ribs, ham and gruyere chicken, lavender grilled salmon or vegetarian beggar's purse
Third Course: Triple chocolate torte or blackberry wontons

For the first course, we got a salad and a soup and shared. The salad was basically some nice salad greens very lightly dressed with a very slivers of cheese and maybe a couple of nuts? The soup on the other hand was very nice with tender white beans in a rich chicken stock base with mirepoix and sun-dried tomatoes. It was very simple, but it had a nice deep chicken taste without being too salty and the sun-dried tomatoes gave it a little depth and sweetness. The soup is definitely the way to go for the first course.

Second course, I got the short ribs and my girlfriend got the chicken. My ribs were plated beautifully. The the bottom was a bed of wilted spinach, followed by a layer of mashed potatoes and on top were the very tender short ribs. All of this was topped with a rich reed wine gravy. Everything worked together. The spinach was wilted, but not killed. The potatoes were nice and creamy, definitely not gluey. and the short ribs were so tender they weren't even on the bone, there was just a bone sitting beside them. The red wine gravy really pulled it all together. Although it was a very safe dish (meat, mashed potatoes, gravy), everything was done well and it was very good.

My girlfriend got the chicken. It was supposed to be "Ham and Gruyere Stuffed Chicken Breast topped with a Sage Aioli." What she got looked to me like a smallish chicken breast stuffed with a small piece of ham topped with some sort of sauce. The small piece that I tried contained no cheese and the sage aioli completed overpowered everything. All I could taste was sage. She said she couldn't see any cheese in it either, but she liked it, so I guess that's all that really matters.

For the Dessert course, I got the Blackberry Wontons with Creme Fraice Ice Cream and she got the Triple Chocolate Torte with Mocha Ice Cream. The wontons were plated very nicely, just like everything else, with 3 wontons around the plate with a scoop of ice cream in the center and chocolate sauce decorating the plate. The wontons were tasty, but really only contained 1 or 2 blackberries each and they felt a little empty. The few blackberries that were there went very nicely with the ice cream. The Triple Chocolate torte was nice, but a little uninspired. It seems to have 2 layers, the bottom consisting of a chocolate brownie and the top consisting a rich chocolate mouse. The mocha ice cream really stole the show here though. One scoop was definitely not enough for my girlfriend.

Now let's talk about the service. The restaurant was completely full. for this 12 or some tables there were 2 waitresses. I can understand this on a normal night when you don't know how many guests you might have and you don't want that extra waitress just standing around. The problem is this is restaurant week. You know you're going to be full all night and that as soon as a table is cleared there will be another waiting at the bar ready to sit down. Bring in another waitress.

Despite having too many tables our waitress was very nice. She couldn't be as quick as she wanted to be because of the number of tables, but she tried her best and I award her for that. The food was a little on the slow side, but that's to be expected when the place is packed.

The only problem I really had with the whole meal was when she brought the check. She had included 20% gratuity to the bill. I do remember reading on the menu that "20% gratuity may be added" blah, blah, blah... but I assumed this would be up to the waitress' discretion. It wasn't even the amount of the tip that I was upset about. It was just the fact that she took the time write in pen on both of my credit card slips the exact 20% gratuity to the penny. Being in the business, I had actually planned on tipping more than she had written in. I just hate the fact that she took that power away from me. Sure, I could have added to that tip, but in all honesty waitresses know what's going to happen when they add gratuity to a bill. Either the customer will just sign the slip and leave, or they will bitch about the amount. Almost never will the customer say, "Thanks for adding the gratuity! I'm so bad at math and I could never do that myself!" and tip the waitress more. She chose the safe route that got her the safe tip.

In conclusion, if you choose Helen's during restaurant week, get the soup, the short ribs and the chocolate torte. Expect a delicious meal with little innovation. Then expect A 20% GRATUTITY TO BE ADDED TO YOUR BILL AUTOMATICALLY.

Helen's Inn (map it)
2527 W Main St
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 358-4370

Blog published to www.86richmond.com

After a few hiccups I got the blog published to www.86richmond.com. Everything from the old address, 86richmond.blogspot.com, should redirect to it's proper place here now. I think everything is working now, except for the feeds. Those should be working once the DNS propagates. Let me know if anything else is broken.

Richmond Restaurant Week

Make sure to check out Richmond Restaurant Week. Get three course meals in many local Richmond restaurants for $25.08 a person. Let's hope at least a few restaurants let their food cost slip a little bit for a good cause and serve up some good food.

Looking at the menus I'm leaning towards Six Burner with:

First Course: celery root soup, duck confit and root vegetable salad or roasted beets, blue cheese, truffle puree with toasted hazelnuts;
Second Course: salmon, skate, duck confit with mascarpone polenta or beef cheeks;
Third Course: hot chocolate panna cotta or foie gras and almond pound cake.

Most of the menus sounds tasty though. Let's see if they can come through. I really need to write a bad restaurant review.

The worst looking menu award goes to Caliente. I've never been impressed with the food there and this menu is not helping:

First Course: soup of the day, chili, New Orleans clam chowder, garden salad or buffalo gator bites;
Second Course: island breeze chicken, shrimp and grits, red beans and rice or pasta poblano;
Third Course: pina colada bread pudding or key lime pie.

Definitely check out the Menus on Richmond.com.

Check out the Restaurant Week site here.

Restaurant Review: The Phoenician

I've been to The Phoenician three times now, most recently on Saturday night. The only real reason I went here in the first place was because I have a waitress friend there, but I'm really glad I did because the place is an experience.

When you walk in you might think you have been transported to some sort of exotic Lebanese palace. Yes, I'm talking about thousands of fake grapes hanging from the ceiling, golden curtain rods and purple fabric for miles! It might be a little over the top, but it works by really make you feel like you're some place different.

After sitting down, you're greeted by your friendly server (who has to wear this ridiculous vest apparently imported directly from Lebanon). You are brought pita and yogurt for dipping (which is quite good). They have a very nice and not very expensive wine list although I've never tried any of their wines with many available by the glass. I've always tried to stay in the Lebanese spirit and gone for the Kilikia Dark beer (which is actually an Armenian beer, but it's in the same region so it feels authentic).

As for the food, I've never made it past the appetizers. With 20 or so starters on the menu I feel like that's where the focus is at The Phoenician. My first visit I was accompanied by 3 of my friends and we tried the "Mezza" ($49). This is the appetizer sampler to end all appetizer samplers. Normally on a sampler you get a little taste of 4 or 5 different starters, but not here. You get full size portions of Hummus, Baba Ghannouge, Falafel, Fatayer, Grape leaves, Kebbe, Tabouli, Shankleesh, Haloumi, Makanek and Loubie Bi-Zeit. This parade of plates filled up our entire table. I can't even attempt to tell you what they all are, but most of them are quite tasty. I would recommend this to a first time group of 4-6 that isn't sure what to order. You will not leave hungry. One of my favorite appetizers is the "Hummus with meat" ($8). It is the best hummus I've ever eaten topped with ground meat, pine nuts and diced tomatoes. I'm not sure why, but it's was better than just the hummus... the meat makes it awesome! I also like the "Soujok" ($6.50) (mildly hot sausages in a spicy tomato sauce) and the "Fettoosh" salad ($7) (a kick in the face lemon vinaigrette explosion with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and toasted pita bread crumbled up). There are also nightly specials, some of which I have tried and they are also tasty.

Maybe next time I go I'll try an entree, but I've been very happy with the low prices and the generous portions of the appetizers and I think you will enjoy them as well.

The Phoenician Restaurant (map it)
4401 West Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23230
(804) 359-5590
http://thephoenicianrestaurant.com/