Two thumbs up for Darwell's Cafe

This weekend Mrs. Food Blogger and I spend some time on the Gulf Coast and had the opportunity to take in a establishment that we have both been wanting to try for some time – Darwell's Cafe in Long Beach.

I am usually skeptical of joints that I see on the Food Network, with one exception – Dinners, Drive-ins and Dives, and even Guy Fieri's rave review of a certain Gulf Coast BBQ joint that will not be named had me scratching my head.

But, back to the focus of the review – Darwell's.

This is a fun, quirky, eclectic eatery provides a one of a kind dining experience on the Coast. Upon entering the front door you order at a counter. Behind the counter you can see directly into the kitchen where Chef Darwell Yaeger and his staff are hard at work. With the extensive menu on small signs all over the walls. That was my only complaint, I studied the small signs for a good 10 minutes and I still couldn't come close to telling you what all they serve.

They had a dry-erase with some nightly specials, being somewhat confused I just blurted out a special that sounded good.

I ordered the “Blackened Filet Tips with Lump Crab”, Mrs. FB ordered “Blackened Shirmp with Lumb Crab”. We also ordered a crab cake appetizer.

After placing you order you move to the beverage station where you order your drinks, and then decided where you want to sit. Darwell's features both indoor and outdoor dining,. Being it's June with temps pushing into the mid-90's we opted for indoor dinning.

After picking up our Coke Zero's at the beverage station we picked out a table in their back dinning room (it was about 15 degrees cooler than the front dinning area), started looking at the unique folk art and water-colors that adorned the walls. Most of the art is the work of Darwell's father – Papa D.
It wasn't long before our crab cakes arrived.

They served them with a nice hollendaise sauce and a vidalia onion dressing.

Upon cutting into the nicely portioned crab cake it was easy to tell that Chef Darwell's lump crab to bread-crumb ration was off the chart! These crab cakes were some of the best I've had, and I've long been known as someone who loves crabcakes. The hollendaise sauce was the perfect compliment, but if you prefer a sweeter taste the vidalia onion dressing was nice.

I'll be honest here, I probably ordered my blackened filet tips because of the confusing menu display, because as a rule I do not like “blackened dish” weather it be steak, redfish, or whatever. I think my general disdain for “blackened” dishes is because 90% of places don't know how to do it correctly.

Do not include Chef Darwell in that 90%, the blackened filet tips were exceptional! Filet tips grilled to near perfection. The tips were cooked medium with a perfect amount of blankening seasoning. They were served in a large shallow bowl, with slice of french bread in the middle of the bowl. The filet tips were served around and over the toasted slice. Then huge chunks of lump crab meat were played in the middle of the dish.

The crab itself was not blackened, just steamed, lightly seasoned and served atop the steak tips.

Having dinned at a large number of seafood restaurants over the years I think the lump crab was largest chunks of succulent crab I've been served.

Interestingly, the dish wasn't served with any sides, but that was the only complaint anyone could make.

The lump crab took on hints of the seasoning from the blackened filet tips, and the toast was a nice touch.

Mrs. FB was kind enough to exchange a few of her blackened shrimp for a few of my filet tips, and while the blackened shrimp had a touch more spice than the tops, they were also excellent. The shrimp were sauteed to perfection, with a rich full deep water taste. They were plated in the same manner as the tips with lump crab and french bread.

Several times while we were dinning Chef Darwell emerged from the kitchen to talk with patrons and to insure everyone's dinning experience was up to his high standards.

In all this was an outstanding dinning experience, we'll be back in the future to try some of their other Southern Coastal inspired dishes, and that doesn't even take into account huge smoker churning out BBQ with Papa D serving as pit-master.

The low light in the back dinning area wasn't good for photos, and they didn't come out, so sorry for no accompanying photos.

Darwell's Cafe gets two big thumbs up from the Food Blog Family!

Back from walk-about

I'm sure we all remember that cinimatic master piece Crocidile Dundee when lead character Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan) would go walk-about.

Dundee would just basically be gone for extended periods of time and nobody would really know where he's been or why he's been gone or even that he was leaving. That pretty much explains my absense from the blog.

In reality life caught up from me.

I can't pledge that I am going to be back at full strength moving forward but I am going to try to get a couple of reviews up and maybe a new dish to try every month.

So in short, I'm back.....for better or worse.

Rio Grande - The Good and Very The Bad

Took in a late lunch earlier in the week at Rio Grande near Turtle Creek Mall. It's one of the few Tex-Mex places around the area that I have not tried. The decor is pretty much Tijuana meets Pier One, but I found the dining area to be clean and well kept. The clientele was pretty much mall workers and soccer moms with kids in tow.

The chips and salsa were pretty bland honestly. The salsa was runny and not terribly flavorful.

Not wanting an overly heavy lunch I ordered two soft tacos and a tamale.

I asked that they to leave off the iceberg lettuce (which may be the worlds most worthless editable item) and tomato and replace them with pico de gallo.



When they arrived the soft shell tortillas were stuffed full of flavorful ground beef, white cheese and a better than expected pico de gallo. And while these won't compare to traditional tacos they were some of the better Tex-Mex tacos I've had in the area.

In retrospect, I should have stopped right there, but I didn't. I moved on to what may be the single worst tamale I have ever attempted to eat. I am not sure it could really be classified as a tamale as the masa de maíz to meat ratio was about 9/1 and it was almost totally flavorless. I won't even dignify that sorry excuse for a tamale with a photo.

The most disappointing part was when I mentioned to the server how dis-satisfied I was with the tamale he indicated that he really didn't care what I thought.

I won't be back...there are too many other Tex-Mex establishments in the area that want my business and would be interested in trying provide decent service.

Newk's Express impresses

When a business associate invited me to meet him for lunch at Newk's Express Cafe this afternoon I had little to no intention of reviewing the establishment. Frequent readers know that I tend to avoid chain restaurants, and even a home-grown Mississippi based operation like Newk's usually is of little interest to me.

But, since he offered to put it on his expense account, how could I say no?

Newk's is the brainchild of Don Newcomb and his collaborators Debra Bryson and Chris Newcomb. They turned a converted gas station into a small deli in the heart of a college town in to one of the most successful regional chains around - McAllister's. They very well could be headed in that direction with Newk's.

Newk's has a hip, urban feel with a modern design and interior. The concept is visually appealing with a great layout and unique atmosphere.

I ordered the toasted Italian with a side of Tippah County Cavier and a sweet team. My associate ordered the sandwich and soup combo featuring a half toasted club sandwich with Lobster-crab Bisque.



When the server brought out our meal, honestly the portions looked small. A feature that I really like about Newk's is the condiment bar which isn't your standard ketchup, may and mustard. It features anything from premium pickles, capers, pickled garlic cloves, peppers, and a variety of sauces and more traditional condiments.

I helped myself to a small cup of the pickled garlic and capers, thinking they would go well with the "Tippah Co. Cavier".

I started with the Italian sandwich, and I'll say it was good, really good. It features capicola, mortadella, pepperoni, salami, and provolone. And while that would provide more than enough for a solid sandwich experience it was fully dressed with mayo, spicy mustard, tomato, onions, pickled cherry peppers and a signature Italian sauce.

I think you would be hard pressed to find a better sandwich from any chain, on 10 scale this was an 8.5. The bread was good, not great and it was pretty small as far as deli sandwiches go, but it certainly wasn't small on flavor!

The Tippah County Cavier is really just a spicy black-eyed pea salad served cold. It was a pretty good cold side, but when you add a few capers and the pickled garlic it came together nicely.



My associate reported that his club sandwich was good.

The only disappointment in the meal was the Lobster-crab bisque. It just wasn't good, no real way to sugar coat it. He took two bites and set it aside, I didn't believe him and had to at least taste it....I didn't make it to the second bite.

It had an odd orange color and had an over powering fishy taste, apparent that a low quality imitation crab had been used.

In all this was a very positive dining experience, and while I probably won't become a regular at Newk's I certainly have a better understanding of why they've built a loyal following in Hattiesburg.

The Magic Tomato - Round II

A few months ago I reviewed The Magic Tomato. During that review our meal was ravaged by entree envy after seeing Chicago style deep dish pizzas brought to the table next to ours. I vowed that I would return to try them and I have...

Mrs. Food Blogger and I decided that we both wanted to try the deep dish pizza and one of their pasta dishes that seem to be popular with their patrons.

We ordered the Baked Mostaccoilli which is a penne pasta with meat sauce, provolone and parmesan cheeses baked and served in a huge bowl. This is very much like a baked pasta dish Mrs. FB makes at home, it was very nice and if you're looking for a change from a lasagna or spaghetti this would be a solid choice.

But, we were on a mission, at least I was, to get a taste of those amazing pizza pies that I could only covet from afar our last visit.

For our Chicago Style deep dish pizza we ordered "the Sicilian" which is a perfect selection for your carnivorous side. This specialty pizza salami, pepperoni, thick slicked ham, chunks of bacon with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

The 8" round pizza came to the table piping hot and it must have been close to three inches deep. It had to weigh close to 2-pounds.



When I served slices to myself and Mrs. FB, the aroma of the fresh meats, the herbs in the sauce game wafting out of the pizza.

I admittedly came in with very high expectations after thinking about it for nearly five months, and it didn't disappoint. The Chicago Style Deep Dish was excellent, you usually can't find an authentic Chicago Style pizza in the South and especially not in a smaller city, but The Magic Tomato is hitting it out of the park.

They serve a good New York Style Pizza, but the Chicago Style Deep Dish steals the show. Enjoying it on a cold January night may have made it even better.

Lookout 49 - Gulfport

Over the New Year's Holiday the wife and I dined at Lookout 49 in Gulfport. We began enjoying the Lookout while it was still in Long Beach harbor and have continue to drop by on occasion while traveling to the Gulf Coast.

Lookout 49 serves fresh caught Gulf seafood and the menu changes with the season and what's available throughout the year.

While we've enjoyed some visits more than others I can't remember being disappointed on any occasion that we've dined there. This visit the experience was exceptional.



We began our meal with seafood stuffing cakes, pretty much crab cakes with both crab and shrimp. They were prepared nice, fried golden and served with a tangy ramoulade sauce. They were good, could have been fried just a bit longer, but in all they were well received.

Side salads for the entrees were good, they were a fresh mix of spring greens and baby spinach. Fresh house made croutons and dressings highlighted the salads. I enjoyed a very nice bleu cheese and my wife had the ranch dressing, both house made and very nice.

I ordered the "Catch of the Day", on this occasion it was speckled trout filet served on a bed of rice with a creamy Lyonnaise sauce with chopped bacon, shrimp, sun dried tomato and basil. A side of steamed, mixed vegetables were served - green beans, parsnip, and broccoli.



This was the largest speckled trout fillet that I've ever been served in a restaurant, and it was fried to golden brown perfection. You can tell that it was cooked at a high enough temperature that it left the crusting crisp while leaving the fish tender, flaky and moist. The Lyonnaise sauce was creamy with ample amounts of shrimp and large pieces of bacon, the sun dried tomatoes were a nice compliment to the sauce and the basil married all the flavors together. This was one of the better seafood dishes I've had in a very long time, it was simply exceptional.

My wife ordered the Grilled Stuffed Amberjack. A nice Amberjack steak served over a bed of fresh greens. It was topped with a grilled seafood cake much like our appetizer dish. It was served with the same side of steamed vegetables as the catch of the day.



The texture and flavor of the Amberjack was very good and the grilled seafood cake was a nice compliment. Adding a fresh squeeze of lemon to the jack steak and a bit of the ramoulade to the seafood cake accented the dish well.

The service was very good from the polite hostess to the attentive servers, I would be hard pressed to come up with a negative about this dining experience, so I won't even try.

Windham's Restaurant in Magee

Over the years while having conversations about great hamburgers with friends almost always someone will bring up the world famous Zip Burger. Ok, maybe it's not world famous but if you know someone from Simpson County, Mississippi, chances are that they've told you about the Zip Burger.

Served only at Windham's Restaurant in Magee, Miss. I think I first heard about this local legend while in college, and then it's popped up in conversations throughout the years. Recently I made time to stop in Magee to try this much talked about meat and bread.



Each Zip Burger is hand pressed by the kitchen staff so no two patties are exactly alike, but they're nice. I would guestimate about half a pound cooked on a classic flat top grill to medium well. Served on a straight no frills large bun with lettuce, tomato, onions and Zip Sauce.

Now I can't be certain what all is in the zip sauce, and I am sure they're not going to tell anyone, but it's good. A taste similar to thousand island dressing with a smooth creamy texture without any of the relish or onion bits.



This is a good burger, a really good burger. I won't go so far as to say it's the best burger I've had, but it'll rank up there close to the top when discussions of where to get a great burger comes up again.

Another local twist is the hand-cut battered home fries. It's basically just what it sounds, some hand cut home fries dipped in a flour and seasoning batter and deep fried. They do give you a large cup of the Zip Sauce for dipping with your fries, and you could probably eat just about anything with enough Zips Sauce on it.

A pet peeve of mine is some restaurants not having the firers turned up hot enough and the fries turning out a bit too soft, I think Windham's was guilty of that on my visit. I really liked the concept of the battered home fries, but they just missed the mark.

Overall, this was a great experience. A true small, mom and pop type of place that was the norm for having lunch anywhere in Mississippi until the mid-80's and the explosion of chain establishments from the gulf coast to the delta.

If you're driving through Magee between Hattiesburg and Jackson, Windam's is worth a stop, and my guess is you'll probably try it again.

Pericos Mexican Grill in Wiggins

Traveling around South Mississippi you come across all sorts of intersting places to eat. Today I was passing through Wiggins and decided to find somewhere to take in a late lunch. I stopped in at the new location of Perico's Mexican Grill. The lunch crowd was thinning out and they were not terribly busy.

They have an extensive menue of Tex-Mex and a few more traditional Mexican items on the menu. I saw a dish that you don't see too often in establishments around South Mississippi - Huevos con chorizo.

It's traditional dish that is pretty simple and straight forward eggs and chorizo (Mexican/Spanish sausage) scrambled together and served with re-fried beans and Spanish rice.

My server brought out the obligatory chips and salsa, the salsa was about average and the chips were good and fresh.



In addition to the huevos con chorizo, I ordered a tamale. The tamale was better than average and the chili sauce served over it was a nice compliment and quite good.

There was a wait for the main course, but that's fine. Lets me know that weren't just taking it out of a box and putting into a microwave.



The texture and flavor of the Huevos and chorizo was very good, it was a more traditional Spanish (hard) style chorizo than what you find in most grocery stories in the States.

The beans and rice were good, not great. But the heuvos con chorizo was much better than I expected, you never really know what you're going to get at a small town place, but I would recommend Pericos'.

Divine Swine BBQ

There are a number of good barbecue places in Hattiesburg, moreso than you would generally expect for a town this size. Another interesting aspect of barbecue in the Hub City is that there are influences from just about every regional variation.

I could do an entire series of blog posts on how under appreciated Mississippi barbecue really is on a regional and national level.

For lunch I stopped in at one of my favorites Divine Swine BBQ. Located on Hardy Street just off the USM campus, is consider by more than a few to be Hattiesburg's best barbecue. Divine Swine shares it's store front with the Jr. Food Mart and it's easy to miss if you're not paying attention.



I've pretty much sampled everything on their menu and haven't found much of anything that I don't consider to be quality. Today I ordered the large rib plate. It consists of six large smoked pork ribs with two sides, I selected baked beans and mac & cheese. The plate comes with a roll and a side of their signature sauce.

Divine swine blends two different styles of barbecue into a taste that is pretty unique. They begin with a Memphis style dry rub of herbs and spices that crust the outside of the meats when they're being smoked out back on the big smoker that's fed with pecan and hickory. They serve pork ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket and chicken at Divine Swine covering pretty much every regional favorite as far as the meats go...All of them get a nice coating of the dry rub before going into the smoker.



The second part is an Eastern Carolina style dipping sauce with a Southern drawl. I don't believe there is any tomato in the sauce at all. They guard their recipe but it seems to be a vinegar based sauce that starts out sweet and finishes with a spicy kick. It's sweeter than a traditional Eastern Carolina sauce, which is why I say it has a Southern drawl. It's got to have a sweetener like honey blended with spices including an ample amount of red pepper flakes that you can see in the sauce.

The ribs I had today were nice sized pork ribs, fall off the bone tender and the dry rub was crusted perfectly bringing out the flavor of the meat. The dipping sauce was a perfect compliment to the dry rub and they blend together for a unique barbecue experience.

The sides were fresh and hot, the mac & cheese is a house made favorite that will bring back a lot of memories, but you didn't get mac & cheese like this out of a box when you were a kid. The beans are better than average.

The dining area is pretty simple a few gold picnic tables, some USM posters on the walls and one TV usually turned to a ball game. It's simple and clean. They could use more parking but, being land locked as they are I suppose they're doing the best they can with that.

In the end the unique blend of the Memphis dry rub with the Eastern Carolina style sauce is just about barbecue perfection for me. Divine Swine is my pick for the Best Barbecue in Hattiesburg, and that's saying a lot because the Hub City is a Barbecue Town and there's a number of really good barbecue joints here.

Online Coupons for Divine Swine

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Jaybird's Stone Fired Pizza

Over the weekend the wife and I ventured into the commercial sprawl to find a Christmas Tree. We had some luck and found a nice Douglas Fir for a very nice price. On the way home we began a discussion on where to dine. I brought up an establishment that I've not had in some time – Jaybird's Stone Fired Pizza. She agreed and the debate didn't rage into something that would rival the Scopes Monkey Trial.

Just across Hardy Street from the main entrance to the Southern Miss campus and in the same strip mall as an independent coffee shop it's to be expected that they serve an eclectic mix of college students, young professionals, old hippies and families. On our visit all of the above were represented.

Jaybird's offers a traditional hand tossed and a New York style thin crust in personal (7”), medium (12”) and large (14”). They have a number of specialty combination and a large selection of toppings to make your own. You can also have any of the specialty pizzas made into a calzone.

We decided on a large Greek pizza. The pizza is topped with beef sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, red onions, black olives and three cheeses including feta.

The wait for the pie was pretty short and the dining area is simple, clean and well lit with a serve yourself beverage bar.

When they brought out our pizza the aroma was wonderful! The pizza was hot and baked to near perfection.

Upon first taste I could tell the ingredients were high quality, fresh and in good proportions. The beef sausage was flavorful, the texture of the sun dried tomatoes and red onion was the perfect compliment to the creamy cheeses. The black olives and feta tied the entire dish together. My wife is usually not a fan of black olives but, she even agreed that the combination of flavors was very nice.

Regretfully we don't have any photos for this entry either, we had decided on an unplugged weekend and left the cell phones at home. I highly recommend trying that from time to time.

Good pizza has come a long way in Hattiesburg in the last few years and Jaybird's has played a major part in bringing real hand made, stone oven pizza to the Pine Belt.

Eating Big and Spending Small

If you've read this blog for very long you know that I love to save money. When dining out in South Mississippi it's easy to eat big and spend small if you're willing to take a little time and do some research.

By now pretty much everyone knows about WDAM-TV's Half-Off Thursday's, where they feature a local eatery almost every Thursday and provide an avenue for readers of their website to purchase $50 in gift certificates to local restaurants for only $25.

Over the past couple of months they've featured Brownstone's, Dickey's Barbecue, El Taco Loco, Wagon Wheel Steakhouse and more. Each Thursday that they offer a new deal they put up between 75 and 150 certificates and it's a first come, first serve, you can buy up to 5 (five), and they usually go fast. Sometimes they sell out within minutes.

The next offering they have is $50 in certificates for Walnut Circle Grill for $25, those will go on sale on Thursday Dec 3rd at 8:00 AM, expect them to go fast. They currently have $50 in certificates to Miki's in Laurel for $16.50.

I've recently come across a very similar offer made by several local radio stations including 103.7 The Fox. They call their promotion Discount Deals and it's not related solely to restaurant gift certificates. It's pretty much the same deal, you purchase $50 worth of gift certificates for $25, but the number of certificates offered is a lot more limited, between 30 and 50 for each promotion. That's ok, because not nearly as many people seem to know about this promotion and it usually takes a couple of days for them to sell out.

Discount Deals also features a good selection of local eateries with recent offerings from - La Fiesta Brava, The Magic Tomato and Plaid Rhino. They currently have limited certificates left for past offerings - Magic Tomato, Plaid Rhino and La Fiesta Brava (Laurel location). Their next new offering will begin on Wednesday, Dec. 2nd at 8:00 AM.

Links to these two promotions can be found on the left hand side of the blog. I wanted to give links to a couple of deals that I have found around South Mississippi, that are not permanent links.

Coast Cuisine from WLOX - Is basically the same promotion as WDAM's Half off Thursday's.

Dealz on Mealz from Coast Radio Group - Another similar program to those above. Deals starting from $12.50 on $25 certificates.

By taking advantage of these deals you can eat out in South Mississippi on a regular basis, at a variety of restaurants and save a lot of money!

Mediterraneo's in Ocean Springs

Over the weekend my wife and I dined at Mediterraneo's in Ocean Springs. They serve a fusion of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine in a cozy bistro setting on Government Street in the downtown.

This being our first time to dine at Mediterraneo's we decided to take advantage of their tapas menu and order and share several different items. Now the lighting and setting of this small eatery doesn't work well for photography so I am not able to include photos of the items, so I'll do my best to describe them.

We ordered four items from the tapas menu – Hummus, Spanakopita, Seared Scallops and Spanish Shrimp.

While waiting for the tapas plates to arrive we were served a small loaf of artisan style olive bread with an olive oil and balsamic with garlic and spices for dipping. The olive bread was quite good with an excellent texture and was nice and warm when it got to the table.

The hummus was served chilled with pita wedges and a little olive oil. The hummus was good, it was not quite as good as I was expecting but was better than what you can expect from most chain restaurants.

The Spanakopita was exceptional, the phylo crust was near perfect with generous portions of spinach and the feta cheese was very high quality. Served piping hot from the kitchen garnished nicely on the plate the presentation simple and elegant.

The seared scallops were also excellent! Far too often when ordering scallops they come rubbery and almost inedible. These seared scallops were cooked very well and the seasoning complimented the dish without being over powering. They were served on a bed shredded cabbage and avocado with a cilantro infused mayo. The avocado was a perfect compliment to the scallops.

The highlight of the meal may have been the Spanish Shrimp. Fresh white shrimp sauteed in an infusion of garlic, Cointreau (orange liquor), olive oil and lemon with crushed red peppers. The contract of sweet and spicy was a fantastic combination and brought out the clean deep water flavor of the white shrimp. Slices of toasted baguette were served with the shrimp for dipping in the saute.

We finished the meal by sharing a baklava dessert. Again the phylo crust was well made and the filling was very nice. Unlike some places they didn't try to drown the baklava with honey and it was served with a caramel sauce that complimented the desert very well.

In all this was one of the more enjoyable dining experiences that we've had in quite some time. Mediterraneos is an elegant but not pretentious bistro where you won't feel out of place in jeans and a polo. The service was good and our server was attentive. The presentation of each dish was well received. A classical guitarist playing and it set the mood for a romantic dinner.

One of the best parts of the entire evening is that because of the tapas menu we were able to sample a variety of items and have desert for about $40.00 including tip.

The Depot Deli

Work takes me all over South Mississippi and recently I was in Beaumont. There's not many choices when you find yourself in Beaumont for lunch, so I headed to The Depot Deli. I've been before and the first time it was a pleasant surprise.

With the weather turning a little cooler I wanted a hot meal and they had just the ticket. A hot, open-faced roast beef sandwich with a cup of house made vegetable soup.
The soup was hot and the veggies were fresh, it had that home made taste with the carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, ect.

About the time I was finishing up the soup my sandwich arrived, steaming from the hot gravy. The sandwich was served on a toasted baguette, with two cheese, the a generous portion of thick sliced roast beef, brown gravy and chopped green onions.

Yeah it was just as messy as it looks, no chance of picking this thing up it was a knife and fork all the way. This was down home sloppy, delicious goodness on a plate. The gravy complimented the beef, the melted cheeses added to the creamy texture and the onions contrasted that with a crispy crunch.

It was served with a side of potato salad, which was average, probably a Sysco product, but not bad.

Next time, I find myself in Beaumont for lunch, I'll be back at the Depot Deli. Well, it's not like I have much choice, but I certainly won't be there begrudgingly.

The Wagon Wheel Steakhouse

For some time I had been wanting to try the Wagon Wheel Steakhouse just east of Petal on Hwy 42. Over the weekend the wife and I went there for dinner. I had fairly high expectations going in because of some good reviews that I have read and from talking with friends that have been there.

When we arrived the parking lot was pretty full, but we didn't have to wait long to be seated. Our hostess and server were polite even if they were a bit over-worked that night.

The decor was kind of what you would expect from a steakhouse, western motif, but they may be trying a little two hard. But, it was clean, well kept and inviting.

We began our meal with an order of onion rings, they were pretty much run of the mill pre-cut, pre-battered rings and were honestly over cooked.

For the entrees we both decided on the 12 oz. New York Strip cooked medium, house salads and loaded baked potatoes.

The salads were pretty standard steakhouse fair, my bleu cheese dressing was good, I am sure not house made, but good quality. They do seem to house make their curtons which is a nice touch. The yeast rolls were nothing to write home about, but they were not bad.

When the steaks arrived, I was impressed, my strip certainly looked to be larger than the advertised 12 oz. They were still sizzling when they got to the table. My steak was a bit on the rare side of medium, but the flavor was great, no steak sauce wanted or needed. They were seared with a Chicago style dry seasoning, a perfect compliment to the steaks. My cut was very good, my wife's cut was not the same quality as the one I was served, but it was still a nice cut.

The loaded baked potatoes were good, nice portion and not over baked.

The Wagon Wheel has not been in business that long, and I am sure they will only get better in time. The Wagon Wheel is a good value and very good steaks, if they can improve their sides to a quality anywhere close to their steaks they will hit a home run every time.

Lunch at Oishi Japanese

Earlier this week I received a call from a friend inviting me to lunch. Seems he had a few bucks left on his monthly expense account, usually when I meet up with someone for lunch I'm the one paying so this was refreshing. He suggested Oishi Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi, having never dined there, I was looking forward. When I arrived the parking lot was absolutely packed.

The decor of Oishi was nicer than I had expected with a large sushi bar, nice sized dining areas with hibachi grills and lots of seating. He had decided on a booth which was fine with me, not being in the mood for a hibachi show.




He had ordered fresh steamed edamame. I must say they were quite good - fresh, flavorful and very crisp.

Browsing the lunch menu, I decided on the Teriyaki Chicken lunch, in addition to the chicken and fried rice the lunch also had two nigirl-zushi (one shirmp and one crab) rolls and a four piece maki-zushi California roll. Fresh oranges, ginger and wasabi garnished the lunch.



This lunch was good, it wasn't spectacular, but I don't have a single negative to say about the plate. The texture of the fried rice was good, the sushi was fresh and the chicken was good.

We also decided to order some of their specialty rolls. We ordered a crawfish roll, a super crunch roll and and spicy tuna roll.



These rolls were good, better than average, they were good enough that I'll take Mrs. Food Blogger back sometimes soon.

They were fresh, the ingredients we quality. They were served at appropriate temperature, meaning that the hot rolls were just that hot and the cold rolls were that cold.

I honestly didn't come in with high expectations, but even if I had I don't think I would have come away disappointed. I would recommend Oishi for lunch and look forward to going back to try their dinner menu.

Lots of Plaid, good burgers

Today a business associate suggested that we meet for a late lunch at the Plaid Rhino. Despite having heard some good things about this establishment I had not been before and honestly had some reservations. I kept having flashes of a traumatic experience with a Chucky Cheese's a few years ago...But, I reluctantly agreed.

I'll be honest the decor and dining area was much nicer than I thought that it would be. They do have a gaming area with arcade games, but it's pretty well separated from the main dining area. Nothing like a Chucky Cheese experience, that's a big positive!

We started with an order of chips and salsa, nothing special about the chips, but the salsa was good. It was a chunky house made salsa with fresh tomatoes, onions, chilies, cilantro and lime juice.



This place is known for their burgers, so there's no way I was getting anything else. They have a number of specialty burgers, but one thing I like is that they offer a standard hamburger bun, a wheat bun or a sourdough roll.



The Plaid Rhino is one of the few places in town that grinds their own hamburger meat daily. I decided on one of the signature burgers the Savannah Sunset Burger on a the sourdough roll. It's a half pound patty cooked to order (med-well), with lettuce, tomato, pickles, pepper jack cheese and the kicker - a sunny side up fried egg tops everything off. I asked them to hold the tomato and put a couple of slices of bacon on my burger. I had skipped breakfast so it was lunch and breakfast all rolled into one artery clogging goodness.

This burger isn't all for show, it's a really good burger... It's just as messy as it looks and isn't that pretty much how a good burger should be?

It was served with a side of seasoned fries, nothing special, but they were crispy.

Over all I was really impressed with the Plaid Rhino, it may be partly because I didn't have any expectations before arriving.

I think we may have a new contender for the 'Burg's Best Burger.

Low and Slow Pork Tenderloin in Herbs

With apologies to my blogging friends at the Cynical Cook and Eat Twin Forks. I am far to messy in the kitchen to photo document my culinary misadventures. But, every once in a while I get something right and that's what happen with this evenings experiment.

Low and Slow Pork Tenderloin in Herbs:

INGREDIENTS:

3/4c - red wine vinegar

1/4 - stick of butter

2 - teaspoons of seasoned salt

1 1/2 - teaspoons of dried thyme

1 1/2 - teaspoons of dried oregano

1 1/2 - teaspoons of garlic powder

1/4 - teaspoon of black or white pepper

2 - boneless pork tenderloins

DIRECTIONS:

1 - In a medium sauce pan combine the red wine vinegar, butter, and herbs. Bring to a rolling boil and simmer for 3 minutes.

2 - Light brush the bottom of a slow cooker (Crock Pot) with olive oil. Place tenderloins in crock pot on high. Pour simmering herb mixture over the tenderloins and allow to cook for two hours or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.

3 - Remove pork loins from crock pot wrapping in alumium foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

4 - Unwrap and lightly seer on a grill for about 5 min per side.

This produces a tender, flavorful pork loin that is far from the run of the mill. Slow cooking in the vinegar and herbs infuse the loins with the flavor of the herbs and naturally lock in moisture. Despite what you may think, the loin will not have a strong vinegar flavor, but will take on the flavor of the herbs.

Pockets Diner - Lucedale

There's something comforting about the familiar sizzle of a flat-top grill. At Pockets Diner in Lucedale that put the old flat-top to good use.

My "real" job takes me all across the state and on Monday I was in Lucedale for business. After my appointments it was getting pretty late so I stopped in at this little road-side eatery. Pretty simple looking from the road, no fancy signs just a cedar and white siding building with a with sign that said - Pockets Diner.

It was about 2:00 PM and and I was the only customer in the place, I was instructed to "sit anywhere" when I walked in. I picked out a table pretty close to the door, you never know when you'll need to make a fast exit in unfamiliar surroundings.


The server was very nice. After scanning the menu, which included breakfast served all day, I settled on a diner favorite. I ordered the chili cheese burger and a side order of hash browns. I asked that some of the chili be served over my order of hash browns.

There wasn't really much deconstructing of this burger, because it was a messy one. The entire meal was cooked on the flat top from the slight browner than I would have liked hash browns to the hand pressed hamburger patty to warming of the bun itself which has soaked up a little of the clarified butter that keeps the flat top sizzling.


The burger was a diner classic - hot, juicy and full of flavor. From the butter soaked into the bun to the fresh beef to the meaty chili. I can't be sure that the chili was house made, it was good chili not great chili.

The has browns were good with the chili as well.

When I got up from the table I was feeling pretty good about my meal and Pockets and was considering putting them on my list of semi-regular stops.

When I got the register things went down hill. The waitress gave me the total and I gave her my debit card to swipe.

When I got the key pad to enter my PIN, I noticed that the total was $2 higher than what I had been told. That was when I was shown a very small sign by the register that can easily be over looked that there is a $2 per transaction sur-charger on using a credit/debit card. I seldom carry any cash so I was pretty much out of luck at this point. I was assertive but not rude when I expressed my disbelief and displeasure on having to pay the fee.

The food is pretty good at Pockets and the people are nice enough but I can't advise anyone to go there unless you have cash.

McElroy's On the Bayou

On Sunday afternoon Mrs. Food Blogger and I made one of our semi-frequent excursions to the Gulf Coast. I had taken the time to pick out three Ocean Springs eateries that I have been wanting to try. Sadly when we arrived we found that all three close around 3:00 PM on Sundays. Mrs. Food Blogger suggested McElroy's on the Bayou.

I grew up eating at McElroy's in Biloxi, and had not tried the post Katrina McElroy's on the Bayou. After I was forced to accept the fact that we were not going to be eating Mediterranean/Middle Eastern because all three places that serve that cusine in town were closed, I sort of began to want a good po-boy.

Upon entering we were greeted by a very nice receptionist who handed us off to a seating hostess who took us to the table and introduced our server. We were given menus immediately and our drink orders were taken. After a few minutes she returned to ask if we were interested in an appetizer.



We ordered fried crab claws. They were out and served in a reasonable amount of time. They crab claws were lightly breaded and seasoned. They could have used a little more seasoning, but they were not overly salty like you find at some places. They were served with tarter sauce and cocktail sauce. We thought that they would have been complimented well by a nice remoulade sauce.

By this time we had both decided on po-boys. The wife ordered her standard the fried shrimp po-boy, while I fought back an initial urge to order the soft shell crab and ordered a half/half on shrimp and oyster (pictured).



The po-boys were served with fries, they were not hand cut, they were standard processed fries. The positive was that they seem to fry all their seafood and fries in very hot oil and the food has very good texture.



As I deconstructed my po-boy I found ample amounts of seafood on both halves. The shirmp could have been fried a couple minutes more and could have used a bit more seasoning in the breading. They were good, a bit above average but not great. The oysters were well above average, good flavor (fresh), good texture and a good amount.

The food overall was respectable, but not outstanding. The atmosphere was a bit unusual, nothing like the McElroy's in Biloxi that I grew up with, but the people were to notch. Kind of felt oddly Shoney's-ish. Kind of just cookie cutter in the tables, chairs, drab wall art. The view out the back deck over Bayou Fort is beautiful, but they didn't have table service set up outside.

The service we received was top notch. Everyone we talked with was a cut well above average from the receptionist, to the servers to the chef, they made it into a very nice dining experience.