1. I really like the food at Toast on Market. I adore pancakes and I’ve got to say I think they make the best ones in town. The ones at Wild Eggs are fantastic, the ones are the North End Cafe are awesome but the ones at Toast are consistently wonderful and the variety (buttermilk, lemon soufflé, gingerbread) is a real treat. I’m also a serious fan of their banana nut oatmeal. However I hate the coffee they serve at Toast. Really hate it. This is a serious barrier to my breakfast enjoyment. I’d go to Toast a lot more frequently if they’d serve different coffee (I’m suggesting they start serving some very nice Jackson’s Organic Coffee). Seriously, I can only go to Toast when I’m going to be ok with having diet Coke for breakfast instead of coffee.
Like the folks at Toast care if I really want them to serve better coffee so I can give them more of my business. This is my Monday morning rant though and I’m using it to rant about wanting better coffee at Toast.
2.Red Pepper on Brownsboro road is currently a very trendy place to love. I’ve heard raves about it from my neighbors and friends and read glowing reviews of it in both the Courier and Louisville Magazine. I’ve heard just one “meh, it was ok.” We’ve been a couple times and have really enjoyed it both times. The restaurant’s claim to fame is the offering of a green “Americanized Chinese” menu and a red “Authentic Chinese” menu. The green menu offers all the American Chinese restaurant staples like sweet and sour chicken, crab rangoons, hot and sour soup and egg rolls. The red menu has a great many dishes that have the little red pepper symbol beside them indicating extreme spiciness. I’ve yet to order from either menu because I’ve ordered the same special every time: General Tso’s Tofu. I mention this for my other vegetarian and flexitarian friends. You know I’ve always got our collective non-meat eating back. When I ate more meat (and when I ate a way less healthy diet than I do now) I loved General Tso’s chicken. I’ve never encountered General Tso’s tofu anywhere before so the first night I saw it on Red Pepper’s special board I had to order it. My only beef with it (Get it? Beef? I’m talking about tofu! Whew good heavens I’m funny with the puns. Or not.) is that they use soft tofu instead of the extra firm tofu I much prefer. I’m still not in love with the texture of soft tofu but I enjoy the dish as a whole very much. Normally I wouldn’t mention a special dish like this because I don’t want to crush your little vegetarian hearts by describing something that’s not on the regular menu. However since it’s been on the special board both times I’ve been there I’m going out on a limb since it seems like they serve it frequently.
3. Queen of Sheba is moving from that very scary Buechel motel location to the former Mazzoni’s building on Taylorsville Road, directly across the street from Bowman Field. The sign on the door says they open May 12. Um, that would be today. I’m excited. I’ve heard from more than a couple people that Queen of Sheba has great, great Ethiopian food but I could never summon up the urge to go purely because of the old location. Now I can’t wait to go try it. In fact I’ve already got plans to go there this week. Two out of two vegans polled say Queen of Sheba offers some of the best vegan food in town and now it’s actually closer in town. Winners all around.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:12 am
It’s not on the menu, but Cafe Mimosa also makes General Tso’s tofu. You just have to ask for it. Their tofu is great. Firm and crisp like you would expect it for such a dish.
As for Queen of Sheba, I see at least two open restaurant spaces on Frankfort Ave right now that they’d fit into quite nicely (the old Sweet Peas and Danielle’s). I’m only sayin cause they’d be a block away from my house and I could walk there.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Excellent tip about Cafe Mimosa Jason. I haven’t been there in years but General Tso’s tofu that uses firm tofu means it’s time for a visit.
Too bad, so sad for you re: Queen of Sheba coming to this part of town instead of Frankfort Avnenue. Now it’s going to be in relatively easy biking distance from me. We should meet there for lunch sometime soon.
May 12th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Ha, I just had the “Eggroll Machine” (aka Cafe Mimosa) General Tso’s Tofu for the first time yesterday, and it was pretty tasty. It was on the menu (the ERM “dinner” menu, not sure if it’s offered on the limited lunch specials menu). I do have some major issues with this restaurant’s “Vegetarian” menu, where 75% of the dishes are clearly marked as containing chicken, fish, or beef broth (! talk about playing fast-and-loose with definitions; asian restaurants can be really bad about this but this is the most flagrant disregard I’ve ever seen).
The bummer about General Tso’s Tofu is that most places just pop some fried tofu cubes into the G.T. sauce, which is still good, but the real satisfaction of a G.T. dish comes from the meat (analog) being breaded and then deep-fried and THEN sauced, like the chicken version is. Plan-old-fried-tofu isn’t anything like breaded-and-fried tofu. Unfortunately I’ve only encountered a few restaurants in my years as a vegan who “get” this and go that extra mile with the breading.
The good news is that if you’re ever in Lexington and can make it to Asian Wind (somewhere south of downtown on a funny-named belt road, definitely worth the drive), you’ll be treated to the BEST veggie Tso’s I’ve every had, using a vegan “chicken” analog instead of tofu; breaded and fried and sauced to beat the band. I believe they call it General Tso’s Kwachik. My mouth is watering just thinking about it…
May 12th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Queen of Sheba already moved, their last night in “scary Buechel” was the last Sunday in April. They just hadn’t re-opened yet.
(I wouldn’t really consider just past the Watterson to be “Buechel.” Not to mention that “Buechel” isn’t scary, either. The hotel wasn’t great but that location has had restaurants in it for years.)
May 12th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
PJ thanks for the Lexington tip. Next time I go visit my mom I’ll have to check that place out.
Joel: Oh I didn’t mean Buechel was scary, I meant the motel location was scary. I’m sure it wasn’t actually scary or scuzzy inside, it just looked that way from the exterior and that didn’t really inspire me to want to visit.
I’m not up on the borders of Buechel proper but I’m pretty sure there’s a sign right beside Bashford Manor that says “Welcome to Buechel” so I guess you’re right that the old Queen of Sheba location isn’t quite in Buechel. I’m not really sure the area has a name other than “just past the Watterson.”
May 12th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
used to be, you could call it “That Area Over There By The Toy Tiger and Showcase Cinemas,” but those days are over. ;_;
May 13th, 2008 at 8:05 am
The Toy Tiger! That is a blast from the past. I hadn’t heard or thought about that place for years.
May 14th, 2008 at 12:54 am
To beat a dead (Derby) horse, I just ran across another couple of photos of veggie General Tso’s. This one used breaded chunks of a soy-based meat analog that was decidedly stringier and chewier than tofu:
http://www.pjchmiel.com/photo/food/marks-generaltso.jpg
and here’s a more conventional tofu offering, this time from a random Chinese restaurant in Monticello, IN:
http://www.pjchmiel.com/photo/food/tsotofu-overseaschina.jpg
and I’ve just posted the photo of the ERM/Cafe Mimosa Gen’l Tso’s Tofu:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pjchmiel/2490864265/
Enjoy!
PJ
May 14th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Visited Red Pepper last night on this recommendation. WOW! Delicious! Only drawback was the crowd. They had the one chef on duty working behind the glass like a madman. We had to wait awhile for the food, but it was completely worth it. I’ll be back.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Oh that’s good. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Each time I’ve been it’s been quite busy so perhaps they’ll add more cooking staff soon to keep up with the crowds.