Think back to the days when Oriental House was new. One of the first Chinese restaurants in Louisville, it’s getting on toward 50 years old now. St. Matthews was just starting to sprawl when Oriental House settled in to its colorful quarters on Shelbyville Road back in the ’60s. The St. Matthews mall still had that new-mall smell, the Watterson Expressway had just inched around to US 60, and there were still plenty of potato fields around.
Continue reading Oriental House looks mighty good for its age
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Don’t think twice — Highland Morning’s all right
Breakfast places come and go. Some last for just an eye-blink; some earn landmark status; some hang around long after they should have hung up the spatula.
Bardstown Road’s latest addition to the fast-breaking genre, Highland Morning, crept in quietly. After a bustling grand opening, last week the café had settled into a relaxed pace serving comfort food — with a bountiful twist.
Continue reading Don’t think twice — Highland Morning’s all right
Simply Thai simply thrives after short move
I’ve liked Simply Thai ever since it opened in 2006. Since the beginning I have ranked it high among the city’s Thai eateries for food quality and presentation of standard Thai dishes – plus a short but appealing selection of Japanese delights and sushi.
But I didn’t go to Simply Thai very often, frankly because its popularity swamped its tiny quarters in a one-room hut at Wallace and Wilmington avenues. With maybe eight small tables crammed into a space meant for six, and a line of hungry diners elbowing through the middle of the crowd in search of take-outs, Simply Thai’s ambience fell simply short of simply comfortable.
But it’s all better now. Continue reading Simply Thai simply thrives after short move
The Fishery satisfies in Lent and all year ‘round
If you like seafood and fish, dine in a city that’s close to the water. This seems like good advice, but for reasons lost to history, Louisville has always been an exception to this rule.
The city is, and has been, crazy for seafood – particularly fried mild white fish – and we reportedly rank second only to Boston in cod consumed per capita, even though we must look hundreds of miles farther than the muddy Ohio for our source of supply.
Continue reading The Fishery satisfies in Lent and all year ‘round
Chuy’s says “¡Hola, Amigo!” to Louisville
Back in the early ’90s, I had occasion to visit Austin a couple of times on what was then my day job, and got to know and like the capital city of Texas and home of the Lone Star’s state university.
Austin was a good-size town, busy and fun, not only loaded with the innovative non-profit groups that had brought me there but blessed with a noteworthy music scene, the world’s first Whole Foods Market, and maybe best of all, dozens of eateries serving some of the best Tex-Mex food I had ever tasted. Continue reading Chuy’s says “¡Hola, Amigo!” to Louisville
Irish Rover’s winter menu offers seasonal comfort
Nearly 20 years after its opening as a pioneer on the Frankfort Avenue restaurant row, the Irish Rover has settled in to its neighborhood setting so comfortably that it feels as if it’s been there as long as the 150-year-old brick building it inhabits. While it’s as authentically Irish as a pub in Limerick, maybe, or Killarney, the Rover makes a perfect fit in Clifton. With its dark but cozy bar and its sunny, lace-curtained dining rooms, it’s almost two pubs in one, both as Irish as can be.
Continue reading Irish Rover’s winter menu offers seasonal comfort
Majid’s draws early applause in St. Matthews
Nearly three millennia past, before the glory that was Greece or the grandeur that was Rome, the emperor Cyrus the Great presided over the Persian Empire, extending from Eastern Europe through Southwestern Asia to northern India in the greatest empire that the world to that time had known.
Fast forward 2,700 years to modern Louisville and say hello to Majid’s, now open in St. Matthews with a new restaurant that shows considerable promise in its blend of the flavors of modern America and all the nations that made up Cyrus’s empire.
Continue reading Majid’s draws early applause in St. Matthews
Hammerheads a Swan Street tradition
For nearly 80 years, this basement space in Germantown has been home to some sort of bar or eatery. Most recently, it was a popular hipster hangout and vegan café called the Swan Dive, which sadly closed its doors in October.
In its place comes the equally charming (and carnivore-friendly) Hammerheads. Continue reading Hammerheads a Swan Street tradition
La Colombiana offers a different South of the Border cuisine
A few weeks ago my brother, Matt, was in town visiting from his home and work in Lima, Peru, and I figured it would make sense to take him with his fluent Spanish to an ethnic restaurant where we could put his language skills to work.
So off we went to La Colombiana, a fairly new eatery in Lyndon that features, as the name suggests, the cuisine of Colombia, a Latino nation on the north end of South America.
As it turned out, no special language skills were needed: The charming and competent service at La Colombiana speaks English perfectly. But my brother and our server still had a great time chatting in Español, and Mary, Matt and I enjoyed an exceptional, affordable dinner for three.
Continue reading La Colombiana offers a different South of the Border cuisine
DiOrio’s joins St. Matthews’ growing Pizza Town
St. Matthews has enjoyed a pub or two all the way back to Gilman’s Corner in the city’s pioneer days, a happy custom that continued in our parents (and even our grandparents’) time with homey saloons like Dutch’s, Maier’s and Gerstle’s providing community while slaking the public thirst.
Continue reading DiOrio’s joins St. Matthews’ growing Pizza Town