Archive for December 21st, 2006

Over 4 months ago, a friend of a friend suggested a group of us all go out to the Old City Bar in downtown Richmond, which is located adjacent to the train station and Farmer’s Market. I never got to go then, but I did this evening, where I was joined by several friends and colleagues.

The menu had some interesting items for sure, which included lobster bread pudding, fried oysters with Virginia ham, and the duck wellington. In all honesty, none of us had been here before, and we were anxious to go.

Our server (Emily) was nice enough, and did a decent job with service. But it seemed that other aspects of service, including bar service, the speed at which dishes came out of the kitchen, and how a poor entrée presentation was rectified, left us puzzled. “How were they getting away with charging so much?”

The menu, especially in the entrée section, needs inspiration. While several diners reported their entrées were average, one was made up of steak so dry and flavorless it was shameful, and another came as a slab of well-cooked tuna, when “rare” was requested. To be fair, the tuna was replaced, and met with the diner’s satisfaction.

Appetizers were better liked, including salads and the beforementioned lobster “bread pudding.” While long pauses were the norm between courses, luckily the Old Bar hires a singer on Thursday nights who was both engaging and entertaining.

Desserts were mixed, too. The chocolate crepe our server raved about was lackluster. For a dessert, it lacked sweetness, flavor of chocolate, and variety of texture. The ricotta-chocolate cheesecake, on the other hand, was a real winner.

The coffee served to each diner was flavored with hazelnut. Many diners felt this flavored coffee should have been advertised before pouring… as some diners dislike flavored coffees, including your very own Messy Chef.

I was fair, I thought, in asking others of their opinion. “2.5 stars,” one remarked, while another said “around 3, but certainly no more.” No one dish was inspirational, and another diner felt the staff lacked personality and person-ability. My dual petite filet steak dinner was typical of many: uninspired presentation, lackluster quality: entrées that needed help and lesser price tags.

The decor and location both demand better praise. While not all was lost, we can’t honestly recommend ourselves to return. As one in our party told the manager: “I won’t be back… you guys had the chance to impress me and earn my business, but you never did,” perhaps your experience would be different. Luckily for us, a friendly waitress and good company saved the evening. But better food and drink can be found for the price elsewhere, for sure.

This (Christmas) time of year, many think to their favorite things, among them in the food world, chocolate.

In February, 2005, I began exploring different brands of chocolate to discover my personal favorite. I reported elsewhere on this project, but thought I would revisit some interpretations as a short-list guide for those of you choosing your chocolate.

Amedei is a Tuscan, Italian chocolate. The packaging was first-rate. The taste was good, if not a tad too sweet. It didn’t have an ultimate aroma and wasn’t entirely smooth in mouth-melting.

Hachez I don’t care for this brand of chocolate. It reminds me of some Starbucks-brand coffee: too dark, too roasty.

Cluizel makes some nice chocolate, known for melting smooth. The bars never snap really hard. Flavor notes are interesting, but not first-rate for me. Sometimes their lesser percentages can be a bit too sweet.

Chocolove

This was a real treat. I didn’t expect it to, but it had a nice balance of flavor, aroma, and sweetness. A nice snacking chocolate.

Valrhona

This is good chocolate. It’s rich beyond good words, never too sweet, and comes in typically crisp, hard-cracking bars. I prefer a chocolate that melts a bit easier, but this line has flavors rooted in deep cherry and other earthy notes. Well-recommended.

El Rey

The Messy Chef favorite. Inexplicable flavors and depth. The right type of smoothness, melt, and break in the bar. This is the world’s finest chocolate, I might add, from my experiences. Most enthusiastically recommended.

Scharffen Berger

Not a real favorite. I want to like this chocolate, but it lacks great aroma. No doubt you can make excellent desserts with it, but for a snacking chocolate, I like more aroma and depth.

Richmond’s duo of Thai restaurants, Thai Diner 1 and Thai Diner Too (Carytown) are two mainstays for Thai cuisine.

I recently dined at the location on West Broad Street, in the same shopping center as Super King Buffet. This trip epitomized many, where Thai Diner is “hit or miss.” A personal favorite from other restaurants, the so-called Spicy Drunken Noodles was lackluster, too bland rather than good, but served with plenty of crispy tofu.

A squid-based entrée with ginger was better. Two orders of a special called Cashew Chicken was served with medium-sized rice noodles and crunchier fried noodles. It had my salt-fearing mom grabbing for soy sauce. She left 75% without taking it home.

Yet, their appetizers were crispy-fried and tasty. And on other visits, some of their specials have been gustatory pleasures. But inconsistency in visits and across the menu is a concern for the diner looking for good Thai.

Thai Diner can do it, but not always. I hope to return again with better news.

Located in the Centerville area of Goochland County, Red Oak Café offers diners a small dining room and adjoining bar for both lunch and dinner off West Broad Street.

The decor won’t win you over, but the down-to-earth, homemade-style cooking may. I recently dined at the Red Oak for luncheon. We sampled from their prodigious club sandwich served on extra-wide toasted bread, their potato soup, salad, and pulled-pork barbeque sandwich with fries and coleslaw.

The cole slaw is made with typical cabbage and carrot, but with a poppyseed dressing. The pulled-pork was excellent in flavor, but lacked city penache. The red liquid coming from the sandwich dripped all over my hands, and then ran down my arm, deep into the chasm along my arm behind my sweater. I am confident the drip didn’t find its way to my armpit, but it stopped somewhere close. While the mess of the sandwich was controlled after this initial incident, I felt that a thicker, richer sauce would have presented this mishap. I would have been angry, but the sandwich was, after all, tasty.

I have eaten dinner here previously, which I recall presented standards with touches of inspiration. I do not believe there is anything overly fancy or fussy here to be had, just good takes on originals that keep customers coming back.

Approaching Christmas, last night the Messy Chef hosted the first of several holiday dinners. I have decided to share some of the recipes and details regarding this first, and successful, dinner.

Chinese Style Ribs

This recipe was once again a success. It comes from the large tome that came out 2 years ago, The Gourmet Cookbook edited by Ruth Reichl. These pork ribs got marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, garlic, and ginger and sherry for overnight, then were roasted and basted for 1 hour, 45 minutes in the oven.

Now, what should go with that?

Chinese-Style Beans

This was my own recipe. I par-boiled French-style green beans, then later stir-fried them in a neutral oil with garlic and ginger. Added to that was salt, sesame oil, and soy sauce. I didn’t have them, but they could have been garnished with toasted sesame seeds.

Light Potato Balls

These are another Messy invention. I boiled and riced red-skin potatoes, added salt, olive oil, and garlic. I mushed the mixture together with parmesan cheese and sour cream. The mixture was formed into balls, dusted with fresh-cracked pepper, and baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until lightly brown.

The balls deflated, but could have kept their shape with the addition of 2 egg whites, I imagine.

“Whoa, Delicious!” cried one diner.

Bread and Butter

Father of Messy Chef demanded to have bread, and picked up a Richmond-favorite, Billy Bread. It’s got quite a chew, and we enjoyed it slathered with a compound butter of garlic, olive oil, and salt made at Thanksgiving. To wit, the said chew:

Sadly, the dessert course was not photographed. But Mother of MessyChef concocted a key-lime pie in graham-cracker crust, and topped with whipped cream tableside by the MessyChef. Some of the dolloping got so out of hand that diners were splattered and covered in Vanilla Rum-fortified whipping cream. Hey, it’s a messy meal.

I’m guessing we earned 4-5 stars. Recommended wine: Reisling. Seasons Greetings.