I pride myself on being honest with my reviews - even if it goes against the tide. This is such an instance where my experience fell far short of what one might hope for. Indeed, I might even have to say that the emperor has no clothes...
To start, let me say that I love the idea of an indigenous restaurant lovingly serving cultural food that has been painstakingly passed down for generations. How wonderful. We ate all that up. And a James Beard Award? How could this place not be magnificent? Sounds like it should have a Michelin star. No reservations - we were prepared to wait for such an amazing experience.
So we show up to a small eatery that looks like it is set up in the living room of a house. I'm guessing the family lives here. Cool. It totally fits into the vibe of coming into someone's home. I'll take it. But the decor is rather low budget diner. The tables and chairs could have come from Costco and the kitschy flashing indoor sign with the specials scrawled on it screams images of cheap motels and too much cologne. Well, let's be positive. The bored looking lady looks up and tells us to seat ourselves. Hmm maybe something is amiss in wonderland?
We sit down and get menus and wet plates just out of the dishwasher in a pile to pass out. No bread or anything, which is fine. We order before a bored waitress who kinda mentions some dishes are indigenous and some aren't - would be nice to know which are which. We order in a piecemeal fashion. Drinks first (raspberry lemonade is pretty good), then apps (fish tacos, fig-n-pig minis). I'm all about the food. The fig-n-pig minis are delectable. A remarkable combination of two ingredients that I would have never put together on a bed of bread that is delicious. It's served with no more grandeur than a boiled egg - such is the service - but it was great. A must try. This dish helped cast a positive light on the fish tacos, which had some tasty fried fish wrapped in a thin, hard bread which had the consistency of shoe leather. Well, it's indigenous, let's stay positive. If not a delight, it is a history lesson and an experience into another culture.
Another wait before we order entrees. There are four of us, I get a striped bass special, others get crab cakes, venison, and shepherd's pie. You get two sides with most entrees. When the food comes out, it is again served diner style - sort of like Legal Seafoods - not truly a composed dish but plop here, then there and there. The good: the crab cakes are delicious. Best thing we ordered. Indigenous style (presumably, as the wait staff have no interest in a smile much less an explanation of the history behind each plate). No sauces but the flavor was excellent. Very cool take on a dish we are all familiar with. The shepherd's pie came and a heaping portion - not quite amazing in taste but not disappointing either. The venison came in a dark sauce and was cooked to well done. It was hard, rubbery, with some decent flavor that you hoped to enjoy as your teeth were getting a work out. Bring's up Anthony Bourdain's "save for well done" comment. If you haven't read his New Yorker article, you're missing out. Finally the fish. Small piece of fish. Not bad, not great with some seasoning on it. All in all, underwhelming. A James Beard Award? Shows that even the experts will fall in love with a story and dive down the rabbit hole of confirmation bias.
The sides were interesting. The fry bread was excellent. Sorta like airy funnel cakes without the sugar. The corn cakes were crusty, difficult to cut through and an overall disappointment. We took a pass on desserts.
So, an interesting meal. Amazing? No. Did we enjoy ourselves? Well, we told ourselves that we did. We wanted to. But not really. Such is the truth of life. You win some and then you lose some. read more