Angus Jack's Steakhouse

The wife and I dined at Angus Jack's Steakhouse for the first time on Friday night. I had heard from several friends that it good, and I love a good steak. It's located in the old Cane Creek Seafood building, and is a bit off the beaten path located on Lakeview Rd.

Upon arriving the only change to the outside of the building was the sign. Cane Creek had been open for about 20 years and was a good seafood place, but was often kind of forgotten because of the location. The parking lot was quite full when we arrived and I considered that a positive.

We were seated promptly and within a couple of minutes our waitress was at the table. Service was very good and our server was polite and attentive. She offered the specials which included a Ribeye Dinner for two and a seafood platter.

We decided on the Ribeye Dinner for two, which included two 12 oz. ribeye's, two salads, two sides, garlic bread and a dessert to share all for $40.00.

We both ordered our steaks medium, I choose the loaded baked potato and selected the home made blue cheese dressing for my salad.

The presentation of the meal was simple, kind of like a traditional 1970's steakhouse, with the stainless steel warmer platters, the salads in simple bowls the garlic bread was served on mini-cutting boards with honey butter.

The salad was a simple steakhouse staple of iceberg lettuces, red onions, tomatoes, and a mild pepper chino. The blue cheese dressing was surprisingly good with large chunks of blue cheese and good flavor.

My steak was nicely grilled, not over or undercooked. It was trimmed and didn't have enough fat or gristle to really mention. The beef they serve is dry aged and has been aged for at least 21-days. It has that distinct dry-age flavor that I enjoy. They used a Chicago style dry rub on the steaks while cooking, I didn't even think of asking for steak sauce for my cut, because it simply was not needed nor wanted.

My loaded baked potato was a bit over-cooked, but hey when you have a good steak you almost forget you even have a side.

We shared a large slice of turtle cheesecake, I am almost positive it was not home-made, but it was decent and the presentation with drizzled chocolate and caramel sauce was quite nice.

My experience was positive with Angus Jack's, I won't tell you that it's the best steak in town, because you can get better in Hattiesburg, but I am not sure if you can get a better value on a good steak in Hattiesburg.

The Alumni House

Having been to the original Alumni House in Ridgeland, I was pretty excited when the one here in Hattiesburg opened. But, having been there three times now, I have such mixed reviews.

Unrealized potential is how I sum up the Alumni House at this point.

I love the concept, I really like the atmosphere and the building is great, loaded with all sort of sports memorabilia, tons of TV's and it's always really clean.

The food has always better than average, and they have reasonable drink prices. I have pretty much liked every thing I have ordered there from the wings to the shrimp po-boys to the nachos, ect.

They're pricey, not overboard, but they have got to get a handle on their service. I've never been in a place where so many employees seem to be walking around not doing anything, and then it takes forever to get service. If they ever get your order taken, the kitchen gets it out pretty quickly, but you never know when they'll be back to refill your beverage and the like. And while you can hardly waive down a waitress, over eager busboys will snatch a plate, with half your meal on it, before you even realize that they've come by the table.


This afternoon I met a colleague there to watch a little baseball and I honestly agreed to go hoping that I would find improved service from the waitstaff.
I really want to like this place and right now, the food, which is good, is not enough to overcome the sub-par service that I have sadly come to expect.

Hoyt's Hotdog Stand

Being a bit of a rush for lunch today, I found myself working on Broadway Drive. This was the perfect opportunity to try Chef Hoyt Tanner's Hot Dog stand, that's right I said Chef Hoyt Tanner.

Known to many in the Hattiesburg area as simply "the Hot Dog Man", Hoyt Tanner is a classically trained Chef with a background in Classic French and Continental Cusine, before moving to Hattiesburg from New York City, Tanner owned his own restaurant and has more than 25 years experience with much of it being an executive chef. After moving to Hattiesburg he served as the Executive Chef/General Manger of Walnut Circle Grill for about two years.

I said all that to say this, the man is a little over-qualified to be smearing mustard on a dog for folks not to appreciate it. I won't pretend to know how or why such an expert in the culinary arts is slinging Hot Dogs out of a tag-a-long cart on Timothy Lane between West Pine Street and Broadway drive, but the man has hot dogs down to an art.

He has several lunch combos and the like, but having a bottle coke in the car, I ordered one of his regular New York Style Hot Dogs and a Spicy Jumbo Sausage on a bun. The NY style hot dog was just that an all-beef "Sabrett" more than bun length frank that was hot, juicy and had that all important "snap" when you bite into it. But, this spicy jumbo sausage on a bun is one of the best meat on a bun that I've had in a long time.

As you know I am pretty traditional when it comes to hot dogs, some mustard and a few onions are about all I need.

I highly recommend stopping by and seeing Hoyt, great dogs and not to mention that he's quite a character if you get him going.

Happy Eating

Bianchi's Pizzeria

Tonight the wife was in the mood for "something Italian", so we headed downtown and stopped in at Bianchi's Pizzeria. It's been a few months since we've been there but have always had positive experiences.

Bianchi's is located downtown in a very nicely renovated building that is contemporary and simple. Red and white checked table cloths, the brick ovens open to the dining area, a bit warm for us to sit outside, but a number of patrons had chosen to do so.

Tonight, I'll be honest, I was a little disappointed. They were operating with a skeleton crew and were noticeably short-handed. I know what you're thinking, 'Isn't it unfair to review a restaurant under those conditions?'. To a point, but if you're open you have a chance to make a positive or negative impression on a customer that could become a life-long patron. We didn't have service problems despite the small crew.

We decided on calzones which we've had there on other occasions. I ordered the Prosciutto and Gorgonzola Calzone, while my wife ordered the Shrimp and Scallop Calzone.

When they were brought to the table, there was a noticeable difference from the previous times we had eaten calzones there - portion size. The calzones were much smaller than I have ever seen them at Bianchi's. I understand the state of the economy, the price on the menu was unchanged, but I would rather pay a buck more and get a larger calzone.

A positive was the quality of the calzones have not suffered. My Prosciutto and Gorgonzola was very nice. The plating was simple with a cup of a creamy sauce for dipping.

Prosciutto and Gorgonzola are both very strong, distinct flavors and are probably better suited for a more "experienced" pallet. Despite not being as large as I would have liked, it was fresh, hot, creamy with a nice portion of both main ingredients. I have no complaints in the least about taste.

My wife's shrimp and scallop calzone was good, not great. The portion was also noticeably smaller than in the past and the scallops were a bit over-cooked. But, it too was hot, creamy and loaded with shrimp.

Bianchi's is Tom White's second venture in Hattiesburg, and it some times seems to be a stepchild to 206 Front. It's better than any chain, but it could be so much more, and for the price it should be. Now, I am not going to tell you that it's not a good place to eat, but I can't in good conscious tell you that it's a good value with the portion size we were served.

Big Herb's Hotdog Stand

My "regular" job takes me all across the greater Hattiesburg area on almost a daily basis. An interesting trend is emerging across the area - lunch trucks and street vendors. To my knowledge there are now three traveling vendors selling hot dogs in the Hattiesburg area, one just off of Broadway Drive near Timothy Lane, one just off of Lincoln Road near the Hancock Bank. And a third in Petal on Central Ave. on the property where David Dearman Auto has closed. Our friends at myhattiesburg.com have also pointed out that there's a Gyro vendor operating (or soon to be) on Westover Drive.

While working in Petal today, I stopped at "Big Herb's New York Style Hot Dogs". He's the vendor on Central Ave. Very nice man, who hopes to be in business there for a long time. He has a modern vending cart with running water, propane burners and his station was very clean.

He offers a lunch special which included two hotdogs, a bag of Lays chips and a 12oz. canned coke for $5.00 including tax. That's a pretty good deal.

Now the dogs that he is serving are not your run of the mill grocery store franks, these are the real deal that you would get from a vendor in New York, a more than bun length all-beef frank that were fresh, hot and had that all familiar "snap" when you bite into them.

He's got all the condiments on the cart that you care for - chili, onions, relish, sauerkraut, a couple of different kinds mustard, ect. All the condiments looked to be fresh and stored in a sanitary manner.

The dogs were great, the service was fast and friendly. I wish Big Herb well in his endeavor, I know that I'll be stopping in often.

Over the next few weeks I am going to try to make it a point to stop in and try the other vendors that have popped up around Hattisburg.

Jamaican Inspired Pork Roast

If you're looking to spice up a traditional American dish try this dry rub on your next pork loin roast. It's not a true Jamaican Jerk Pork roast, but it contains most of the seasonings that you would find in a traditional dry jerk rub.

This isn't a true jerk seasoning, hence it being Jamaican “inspired”.

First make the a pseudo-jerk dry rub:

Ingredients:

1 – tablespoon dry onion flakes
1 – tablespoon of onion powder
1 – tablespoon of garlic powder
2 – teaspoons of kosher salt
1 – teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper
1 – teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 – teaspoon of all spice
1 – teaspoon of dried thyme
¼ – teaspoon of ground nutmeg
¼ – teaspoon of ground cinnamon


Combine all spices in a mixing bowl and mix.

Open and dry tenderloin (3-4 lbs.) and rub mix onto meat, refrigerate for at least two hours to let the roast absorb the spices.

Wrap tenderloin in aluminum foil, kind of form a bit of a bowl so none of the juices can leak out. Roast in the over at 325 degree. A good rule of thumb, roast about 35 min per pound of pork loin.

In Jamaica sweet potatoes are often paired with pork or other jerked meats. So I would suggest some baked sweet potatoes with real butter and sprinkled lightly with cinnamon and brown sugar.

Rayner's Seafood House

For sometime have heard friends and family rave about Rayner's Seafood on Hwy 49 North of Hattiesburg. Having never tried it the wife and I stopped in a few nights ago. I love catfish and it's been their speciality for more than 40 years.

With that kind of track record, I admit I went in with very high expectations. Plus, lets face it we're in Mississippi, you can get a pretty decent catfish dinner at any Church fund raiser or on just about any corner. Fried catfish has been one of my favorite Southern staples for years.

They've spiffied up the outside of the restaurant in the past couple of years, but the inside was dimly lit, and could use a major over-hall. At the same time, I understand that people don't usually go to a catfish house for the ambiance, they go for heaping mounds of golden fried fillets.

After a brief glimpse at the menu, I ordered the "All you can eat" catfish fillet dinner, my wife ordered the three piece fillet dinner.

It was served with cold-slaw, fries and hush puppies. The sides were all about average with the hush puppies being a little above average.

I have to say I was underwhelmed with the catfish itself, the breading was rather bland and they were not nearly as crispy as I would like, almost as if the fryers were not quite hot enough for cooking.

I went in really wanting to agree with so many others and was wishing I could rave about it on the blog. I love down home, mom and pop, places more than anything. I may give it another try at some point, but with so many really good catfish houses in and around Hattiesburg, it'll probably be in the distant future.