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"I get into this food thing."
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Review votes:
5 Useful, 1 Funny, and 1 Cool
Louisville, KY
Yelping SinceFebruary 2008
Find Me Inthe Highlands in Louisville
My Blog Or Website Why You Should Read My ReviewsI get that restaurants have "off nights; I'm not cavalier about my judgments.
Date
1 Previous Review: Hide »
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10/4/2009
Excellent coffee made by a core group of baristas who obviously care about coffee. Baristas who care about coffee - still a rare thing in Louisville - but maybe coffee's Third Wave will make its way here, too.
I'm an iconoclast about cafés, so please indulge me:
1. Pastries are what you'll find elsewhere, including at Java Brewing, and they manage to look totally unappetizing while tasting only slightly better.
2. Cookies are good.
3. Muffins oily, in that "Starbucks kind of way"
4. Very nice tea service. They care about tea, too.
5. Excellent Cellar Door chocolates made, and sold, on the premises.
6. Great atmosphere, electrical outlets galore, with the expected positive and negative results.
7. Exceptionally good service.
I go to a café for two reasons: to enjoy a relaxing atmosphere alone among strangers, and to drink good coffee. They make good coffee. I'm so glad Quills is back, the new location is better than ever, and I've gone nearly every day since it re-opened.
The wine selection is quite nice and there's a good selection of sake, too.
There are more hits than misses here, and half the fun is trying something that looks unusual and discovering you like it a lot.
1 Previous Review: Hide »
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10/4/2009
I usually go several times before reviewing, but my experience was good and not unlike the previous reviewers, so this is my stake in the ground, and I'll update after 3-4 more visits.
Two things I like about this place - an eclecticism and adventurous attitude toward Asian cooking, and a thoughtful wine list.
I've not seen a lot of sushi incorporating citrus, but my roll with tuna and salmon had a paper thin wedge of lime added at the last moment, and i was delicious. There's all that umami goodness of soy, etc, but sushi with a bite of acidity is a nice pick-me-up. (In terms of flavor, think 80% sushi, 20% seviche) If I remember, there's only one roll with this citrus kick; the others are more conventional; some as done up as a club sandwich.
I had an Unagi flatbread pizza with scrambled egg and Unagi sauce, and, great taste combination aside, I was impressed with the egg: it was soft, supple, perfectly scrambled. How often does that happen in a restaurant? What are the chances that will happen again?
The wine list isn't over-long, but it's thoughtful. Kung Fu Girl riesling, with it's touch of acidity and hint of sugar, is a nice foil for the mix of flavors on the plate. Nice to see it on the menu.
One food disappointment: I had the soba noodle salad and the daikon salad. Both were too heavily sauced, in my opinion. Everything drooped under that onslaught. Less gloppiness still means enough to enjoy the flavors. A touch more salt would help here, too.
I didn't order the tacos, but after checking out nearby plates, this will be something to try.
I had similar service issues as noted in the other reviews... but 1) not to the degree experienced by others, and 2) the place was slammed about 30 minutes after I arrived. The only mess-ups happened under the barrage of customers, which leads me to believe they've heard the message about service.
I'll go back a few more times to get a better view of things, but that won't be a chore. I like what's happening here.
Montréal, QC H2Y 2A6
Canada
(514) 303-0370
Stew Stop
Categories: French, Gluten-Free
I've not tried the takeout, but it's been an enjoyable place to have drinks before dinner.
Montreal, QC H2Y 2A7
Canada
(514) 350-1083
Olive et Gourmando
Category: Restaurants
The sandwich breads are still made in-house, but OeG says it wasn't doing enough volume in breads to justify the effort. The rest of the menu is unchanged and still as good as ever.
1 Previous Review: Hide »
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8/29/2008 First to Review
An excellent breakfast/brunch/lun ch tradition in Old Montreal. This bustling establishment was an attraction even before Gourmet magazine singled it out in its 2006 issue devoted to Montreal. Now it's crowded with tourists, with little room for customers waiting to be seated.
That said, it's worth the wait and a fair amount of jostling. The sandwiches, soups, and pastries are delicious, and so is the coffee. Olive et Gourmando sells bread, too, and an amazing, decadent chocolate brioche.
Personal favorites: the Cubain panini, the chicken sandwich, and the granola. Did I mention the chocolate brioche?
Proof is trying to offer a different lunch experience: the value proposition is a simple Mediterranean lunch in a pared down aesthetic, and it's working very well.
The choices for lunch number around a dozen, including soup and salad, a small number of entrees and sandwiches. The sandwiches are served on lavash (merguez sausage, lamb burger, falafel, are among the choices) and come with a side of soup or salad. The sandwiches are surprisingly filling, and the soups are hearty and ever-changing.
The Friday dinners were themed at first, but with a few exceptions, the restaurant now focuses on a bistro-style dinner menu. Items are available a la carte or there's a $40 prix fixe option.
A recent Friday: beet and pine nut salad with Maytag blue cheese; bbq duck, pear, La Quercia prosciutto kebabs; braised beef and romano gnudi; and a flourless chocolate cake with blackberry cabernet sorbet. The sorbet was off the charts - rich blackberry flavor and sweetness with the tartness of the wine still evident.
Service is friendly and efficient, unobtrusive. At lunch, you order at the counter and seat yourself. At dinner, it's a more conventional restaurant experience.
The restaurant's design is minimal; hardwood floors, off-white walls. The message is clear: the food matters, and you and your dining companions matter. The rest is a blank slate.
Notable: the small plates. A few of them, shared, can make a complete meal. Or you can pick your favorite flavor for the main (lamb, say) and a secondary favorite for the appetizer (a recent winner: fried chicken and watermelon).
The wine is long and deep, especially in reds. The list of whites isn't nearly as impressive, but this might reflect a menu that leans toward red meats for the mains.
Service is usually quite good, and sometimes the restaurant is nearly empty. I note that because some people like a quiet dining experience, while others feel over-exposed if they're one of two tables in the place. Weekends are more busy, and louder, with a pianist providing light jazz.
Jay Denham is ambitious, and you can that reflected in the menu and in his efforts, inside the restaurant and out, to promote local producers. It's a real find
We enjoyed four stays at 21C over 16 months before moving to Louisville. The hotel showcases some really cool contemporary art, (it houses a notable contemporary art collection) including video art available on big screen plasma displays in the rooms, as well as in a viewing room off the lobby, and in the bar. The rooms are modern, with a clean design aesthetic and exposed brick on the exterior walls.
Besides the plasma screens, there's an iPod dock stereo in each room, and the hotel supplies an iPod with an eclectic mix of music. You can substitute your own, of course. The bath items are Malin+Goetz, which is a great touch. A single cup brewer takes care of basic coffee/tea needs. The concept is well thought out.
A couple quibbles. I like chilly hotel rooms, but 21C thermostats seem to bottom out at 68 degrees. Not cool enough for me, and that makes for fitful sleep. Also, I've noticed bad TV reception in each of the four rooms I stayed in. In two of the rooms, even the in-house video art channel was grainy and fuzzy. It's one thing to put up with that on a 10 year old motel TV, but on a big screen plasma, it's just not right. Some consultation with the cable company would make all guests happier. Don't expect to get much use out of the fitness room - it's in the basement and it's small.
In summary, room prices are reasonable for what the hotel delivers, the staff is friendly and is proactive about meeting your needs. Proof on Main, the hotel restaurant, is excellent. The bar is a true hotspot. The lobby bathroom was recently voted the second best public bathroom in the country, and while I'm not sure of the objective criteria behind that list, 21C does have a cool bathroom.
Louisville, KY 40214
(502) 363-5154
Vietnam Kitchen
Categories: Vietnamese, Vegetarian
You don't go for ambiance, you don't go for service, necessarily; you go for the food, which is delicious. I wish they'd turn the spiciness up a couple notches, but you can always ask for chili sauce.
This has been one of our most enjoyable restaurant finds in Louisville so far. I just wish it was closer to the Highlands.
The coffee is good, too. This isn't single brew from an $11,000 machine, as much as I enjoy that; it's good basic coffee, well-roasted. There are always a few varieties of drip available, almost always fresh-tasting; and the baristas, overall, are competent with espresso-based drinks. Speaking of the staff, they're friendly folks and they know how to treat regulars well without making the newcomers feel left out.
WiFi is speedy and free here, and there are a number of electrical outlets around the perimeter of the room, and on the raised platform.
If there's any complaint I have, it's that the place is sometimes in a state of disarray, but they've rearranged a counter and some tables recently and that's helped. Hey, if I wanted less funk, I'd be at Starbucks.
I moved to Louisville looking for a cafe-home, and Highland is it for me.
1 List
1) quite possibly the best granola/yogurt combo I've ever had at a café (and I've eaten a LOT of granola/yogurt at cafés)
2) pudding. yes, pudding, with vanilla wafers hidden in the bottom of the single serving cup. There's the first moment where you think "that's goofy" and then, the next moment, you're staring at an empty pudding cup you've just consumed, and you're thinking, "uh, would I look silly if I got another one?"
Both additions are helping to fill the gap at Quills for coffee drinkers who aren't in a bagel, muffin, cookie mood. I'm guessing the next step will be a more formalized dessert option or two for the post-dinner crowds, who want coffee and a big ole piece of cake.
Oh, and the coffee is still EXCELLENT.