FoodieCuisine.com

by Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Boudreaux's Logo

Updated 9-7-2010

The restaurant Boudreaux’s Bar and Grillis a Cajun themed bar and grill located on the outskirts of Maumelle and took over the old location of Pasta Jack’s.  If you never went there before, Pasta Jack’s was probably the worst Italian restaurant I’ve ever been to.  It was more than bland and as a further insult, it was expensive.

Given the super short amount of time between Pasta Jack’s closing and Boudreaux’s opening, I thought the two were owned by the same person and have not visited it due to this.  Time has passed now and while I still don’t know if it’s the same owner, I have heard good things about the food there and decided to give it a cursory try a couple of weekends ago.

Boudreaux’s describes itself as “Boudreaux’s Grill and Bar is a place for everyone, whether it be watching the game, having a beer, a family dining experience, or all of it. Great bar for just stopping in or plenty of tables if you want to stay. Good food, good drinks, good friends… Boudreaux’s is da place to be.”  The restaurant is located in a strip mall off of Maumelle Boulevard and is close to Subway Sandwiches and Senor Tequilas.  They have an easy to see red neon sign outside and are much bigger inside than they appear.

White Queso with Chips

The place is clean and has plenty of room to sit and watch football or just hang out to eat (or drink.)  Every Friday I have what are called “Cheese dip Fridays” in which I like to go after work to eat cheese dip and relax (and no, I haven’t gained a pound doing this!) 

A couple of weeks ago I decided to give Boudreaux’s a try to see if they could become my new standard for a good cheese dip.  The friendly waitress took our order I opted for the Jalapeno Poppers ($6.95) and the White Queso Cheese Dip with Chips ($6.95).  Saying queso next to cheese dip is a bit redundant since queso means “cheese” but we can forgive such minor lingual transgressions right? 😉

The cheese dip came out right away and is the first thing we tried (a friend had joined me for the experiment.)  The chips were a tad stale and appeared to have been re-fried.  This is a typical tactic by restaurants to “refresh” chips as they will dump them into the deep fryer for a second to take the staleness out of them.  If they did not do this, they were very greasy for chips.  The cheese dip looked good with pieces of pepper or other seasonings in it.  It also tasted great as far as flavor is concerned.  This is where the major flaw comes into play though.  The cheese dip had the consistency of a somewhat thickened water.  It was so thin that I had a hard time tasting it since it would slide off of my chip before I could consume it.  Oh how I wish it would have been thick considering it tasted good.  But alas, it is not to be and therefore I do not recommend ordering it, ever.

Jalapeno Poppers

The biggest surprise was found with the Jalapeno Poppers.  They are a decent size and were breaded in a panko style batter.  They were not overly fried which surprised me and had a great flavor.  I liked the ranch dipping sauce they were served with and the whole basket of peppers was gone in a short period of time. 

I really liked the appetizer.  I know, it’s nothing special to put cheese in jalapenos, bread them, and fry them, but these were some of the best I’ve ever had.  If it wasn’t for the bad cheese dip, I would come back again to order the poppers.  If they fix the cheese dip I may give them another chance, but until I hear otherwise I can’t recommend going to Boudreaux’s for appetizers. 

I went back to Boudreaux’s this last weekend to give an entree a try and ordered the Shrimp Po Boy ($8.50).  I was going to order the Oyster Po Boy but upon inquiry found out that they do not bread the oysters themselves.  There isn’t much you can do to custom fry a Sysco or Ben E. Keith oyster so I opted for the Shrimp Po Boy instead.  My wife order the large bowl of Cajun Jambalaya ($9.95.)

The Jambalaya had a good flavor to it with plenty of bits of sausage and chicken throughout.  It could have used a little more sauce as it was dry but it was very close to perfect as far as technique is concerned.  Overall it is something I would probably order again. 

Shrimp Po Boy

The Shrimp Po Boy had three shrimp on it and the jalapeno mayo was almost nowhere to be found.  I was looking forward to the jalapeno mayo but found no more than a few drops of it on my sandwich.  I also ordered the sandwich without tomatoes or onions but they brought it with no lettuce, tomatoes, and put plenty of onions on it. 

The shrimp were of a decent size but tasted greasy and were tough to bite through.  I had a hard time taking a single bite as each attempt resulted in a whole shrimp being consumed.  The bread was not homemade but was springy enough to hold up to the sandwich.  The cajun fries that came with the sandwich had a nice flavor to them and were fried well.

If it were up to me I would have included more jalapeno mayo, lightly toasted the bread, fried the shrimp at a higher temp for less time, and put the right condiments on the sandwich.  Although I liked the Jambalaya, I won’t be ordering the Shrimp Po Boy again.

For dessert we had the Louisiana Bread Pudding ($4.99) that comes with a rum sauce.  They brought up a corner piece of bread pudding covered in rum sauce and with a dollop of whipped cream on top.  It was quite warm and had a very nice crunch to it from the sugar crust.  The rum sauce had a great flavor as did the bread pudding with plenty of raisins throughout.  Overall I was very happy with the dessert and can see myself visiting Boudreaux’s on the weekend for a takeout order of bread pudding.

Boudreaux’s Bar and Grill
9811 Maumelle Boulevard, N Little Rock, AR
Mon-Thur
4pm – 10pm
Fri-Sat
11am – 10:30pm

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Bosco's Beer

My wife and I went to dinner in Little Rock’s Rivermarket district over the weekend and decided to eat at Bosco’s Restaurant and Brewing Co.  Bosco’s has been in the Rivermarket for several years and is one of the few places around Little Rock that brews their own beer.  They are primarily a restaurant but call themselves a “Restaurant for Beer Lovers” since they focus a lot of energy on the micro-brewery they have. 

Their homemade beers are some of the best in the state and have great flavor to them.  They change the beers offered around quite a bit so you can expect to find something new to try every few months.  For dinner my wife had the Downtown Brown ($4.50) which is a strong and flavorful dark beer.  They have many other choices including a sampler which gives you all of their beers in shot glass sizes for trying out.  I recommend ordering it if you have never had their beer.

The restaurant is dark inside with booths and tables to choose from.  There is a large bar to one side while the restaurant is on the other side.  There also exists a brick oven in the back for pizza making and has stools around it to eat at (and to watch them make pizzas.)  I’ve never sat around the pizza area but it looks like it could be fun.  Overall the bar has a casual feel to it that can be loud but not too much so.  The bar can get busy but it does not affect the experience in the restaurant.

For our appetizer we ordered the Smoked Duck Spring Rolls ($7) and for dinner we both ordered the Cedar Planked Salmon ($20).  I didn’t get a photo but the Smoked Duck Spring Rolls came out in about 5 minutes and had a nice flavor to them.  They were fried till crispy and served on a plate with a slightly spicy red sauce.  I wished they served them with more sauce since it tasted so good but it was enough to be pleasing.  The spring rolls are small but filled nicely with meat and well balanced.  Overall I liked the appetizer and would order it again.

Cedar Planked Salmon

Our dinner arrived about 15 minutes after our appetizer did and both plates look identical.  The Cedar Planked Salmon looks like its cooked in the brick oven as the cedar plank it sits on was slightly charred (which was a good thing.)  The cedar infused a great flavor into the salmon and the soy glaze over the top was wonderful.  I especially like how the seasoning and glaze they used prevents the fish from tasting “fishy”. 

As you probably know, salmon is one of those fishes that can be overpowering due to the fat and oil content.  At Bosco’s, their cedar salmon dish succeeds in keeping this from being a problem and it results in one of the best filets of salmon you can order in town.  The garlic mashed potatoes served on the side were great as well and had a nice texture to them.  The only complaint I have is that my grilled asparagus had the texture of wood and was inedible.  The asparagus needed about 5 more minutes of cooking.  I recommend ordering the salmon if you ever go to Bosco’s and plan on doing so again myself.

For dessert I ordered the Cinnamon Bread Pudding ($6.50) to go as we were tired by this time.  It didn’t take long to eat but we had been to a friends birthday party earlier and were ready to go home.  I tried it when I got home and was very impressed.  The bread pudding didn’t look like much but it tasted great.  Especially good was the vanilla ice-cream that had specs of vanilla bean in it.  I usually don’t get excited about vanilla ice cream but theirs tasted very good.  I recommend ordering this dessert in the future.

Bosco’s is a regional chain with locations in Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, and Franklin but is small enough to feel like a one of a kind place and changes enough as well.  I’ve enjoyed going there for years and plan to keep going there into the future.  Give them a try! 

The dress is casual and you do not need reservations.  I also recommend the Muffaletta sandwich for lunch (they do not have it for dinner for some reason,) and the Black Bean Tamale for dinner.  I also like the side of Garlic Fries they offer.  They are not healthy but taste great.

Boscos River Market
500 President Clinton Ave.
Little Rock, AR 72201
501.907.1881

Hours of Operation
Mon – Thur: 11 AM – 11 PM
Fri – Sat: 11 AM – Midnight
Sun: 10:30 AM – 10 PM

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Sous Vide Supreme Water Bath

If you have watched Top Chef on Bravo TV or Iron Chef on Food TV you have seen Sous Vide cooking at work.

The advertisement for the SousVide machine describes Sous Vide cooking as “Sous vide cooking involves vacuum-sealing food in airtight pouches, then submerging it in a water bath at precisely controlled temperatures – often much lower than those used in traditional ovens – but for a longer time. The result is perfectly cooked foods with enhanced flavors and nutritional benefits.”

So what is it really?  It’s actually very similar to the concepts used in slow-smoking meat for BBQ.  Slow-smoked BBQ is all about taking very tough (and cheap) cuts of meat, cooking them for a very long time, and transforming the meat into something tender and super flavorful.  The trick to this is to not overcook the meat or to cook it too quickly.

When you cook meat at a low temperature for a very long time you are breaking down the connective tissue (Collagen) in the muscle fibers that make the meat tough.  When you break down these fibers, you make the meat tender as there is nothing left to to hold it together.  This is why pork shoulder can be pulled apart or is “fork tender” when you cook it for a long time.  You have cooked it long enough for the Collagen to dissolve, leaving the tasty muscle behind.

Chicken in the Sous Vide Supreme

If you cook it too long, you cook all of the fat down and all of the moisture out of the meat.  When this happens you are left with nothing but the muscle fibers which are dry by themselves.  The other trick, past breaking down the collagen, is to know exactly how much fat to cook away versus leaving behind before serving the meat.  If you cook away too much fat, it will be dry.

Sous vide cooking addresses the above issues through two things: the first being that there is no air involved since you are cooking the food in a vacuum.  The second part is that you are cooking in water at the temperature you want the food to reach and not a degree higher.  Both of these steps combined mean that your food will never go above the temperature you set.  There is no air to heat and since the water is at the desired temperature, the food cannot go above what you set.  This means you can take two hours or two days to cook your food and it will never overcook!  And guess what?  You can cook food for two days without problems with bacteria since it’s vacuum sealed and maintains a “perfect” temperature.

Cooking in the Sous Vide Supreme is quite easy actually:

• Dry and seal your protein in a vacuum bag.  I use a Food Saver machine to do this.
• Turn on the machine to the desired end temperature (with it full of water).
• Put the food in the machine, close the lid, and let it cook.
• You come back 2-48 hours depending on what you are cooking and pull the food out of the water bath.  You then cut the bags, remove the food, and pat it dry.
• The last optional step is to sear the meat in a pan with hot oil to develop a nice crust.  It only takes a few seconds to sear since it’s already cooked and this step does not result in overcooking.  The only way it would is if you seared it for too long which would most likely burn the food anyway.  This is an easy mistake to avoid.
• Serve!

There are a few caveats to cooking with this method:

• You do not use meat that is in a sauce or wet (like a marinade) as it will not seal properly in a vacuum unless you have an industrial vacuum packer.
• You do not cook things like stews which require braising techniques.
• Meat can turn out mushy if you cook it for too long.

Luckily, the caveats are really only rules and don’t take away from the opportunities.  I’ve cooked chicken and meatballs in the machine and they turned out great.  I’ll be posting my meatball story at a later time but needless to say they turned out very tasty.

The Food Saver Home Vacuum Sealer

You may be wondering if you can do this with a pot of water and food in ziplock bags?  Well, you can, but you technically can BBQ brisket in a trash can with charcoal.  Do you want to?  The problem with doing this in a pot of water is keeping a constant temperature and not letting the water cook out.  You also have the problem with ziplock bags in that they are thin and not recommended for long term cooking.

The Sous Vide machine is expensive for a few reasons: it’s durable, it’s well insulated, it heats up very quickly, and it maintains the water temperature within one degree.  All of these characteristics are what lead to it being costly but also necessary if you want to do this type of cooking.  One of the reasons I got the machine is because previously, you had to buy an immersion circulator for over $1500.00 to get started.  The Sous Vide Supreme lets you get into the art for $450 which while expensive, is much cheaper than it was before.

You do need a vacuum sealer for this to work and thats where the Food Saver unit comes in.  You can get one for around $150 at most stores and they work great for the purpose of sous vide cooking.  The ultimate you can get is a clamp vacuum sealer but they are usually only found in commercial settings and can cost more than $2000.

I love my new machine and hope to do some interesting things with it in the future.  I really like the fact that I can take a cheap cut of beef such as flank steak, cook it for a day, and end up with something as tender as filet mignon.  This is the true power of the machine as while it’s expensive, it allows you to enjoy things like steak without breaking the bank every time you want it.  Flank steak is $7.99 a pound here while filet mignon is $21.95 a pound.  It won’t take long for me to actually save money especially when you consider the cooking done for parties.  I also will be able to cook things like lamb chops, venison (during deer season,) and other meats without worry of it drying out.

by Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

The Greek Pizza with Spicy White Sauce

I’ve been a patron of Damgoode Piesfor many years now, including back when it was called Pie 2 (square) Pizza in the Heights.  They now have two sit-down locations, one in the Heights and one on Cantrell, and a take-out location on Rodney Parham.  They also have a location in Fayetteville.  For this review I went to the one on Cantrell with a good friend of mine for a quick dinner. 

We arrived at 5:30pm on a Friday and were greeted by an empty restaurant which was to be expected given the time of day.  We were quickly seated and placed our drink orders.  Damgoode Pies is a very casual place to eat and you can expect to see plenty of people in shorts and t-shirts.  The decor reminds me of old-school punk and rock clubs with all black paint, odd lighting, and even foam noise insulation stuck about the ceiling.  It’s funky and welcoming.  I especially like the clouds painted on the ceiling in the back area.  The only think I would change is the bright lighting in some areas.  It reminds me of the lights that used to go on after concerts were over or when bars were closing. 🙂

I ordered the usual which for me is a Large Stuffy (+$5) Greek Pizza (+$16.95) with pepperoni added (+$3.25) and topped with their Spicy White Sauce.  Yes, they are on the expensive side.  Damgoode Pies is the only place in Little Rock I will go to for a Chicago Style stuffed pizza.  There are other places that claim to have stuffed pizzas but they pale in comparison to what I have had many times in Chicago.  I used to travel to Chicago for my work and spent over a year commuting there almost every week.  My favorite thing to do was to go by Gino’s East Pizza or Giordanno’s Pizzaand get a stuffed crust pepperoni pizza.  I don’t go to Chicago very often anymore so Damgoode Pies has to do it for me.  Luckily, they almost always deliver on quality.

Slice of The Greek Pizza

The Spicy White Sauce is a sauce made with Parmesan cheese, garlic, ricotta, basil, and red pepper mixed in.  They also offer a very garlicky Pesto Sauce, a “traditional” Red Sauce, an Alfredo Sauce, a Tomato Basil Sauce, a Pesto Cream Sauce, a Garlic Butter Sauce, and a Pink Sauce.  The sauces are really what makes the pizzas and I recommend you try them all to see which one(s) you really like.  The Greek pizza comes with spinach, feta cheese, tomatoes, and black olives.  I like to add pepperoni for the salt and the depth of flavor.  Unless you are a vegetarian I highly recommend this step if you order the same thing.

The pizza came out about 20 minutes after we ordered it and looked great.  It was almost over-cooked but had a decent texture to it.  They also didn’t cover the entire thing with the Spicy White Sauce.  The stuffed pizza is made first with a layer of dough.  They then cover the dough with the toppings.  And lastly, another layer of dough is put on top before they bake the pizza.  When the pizza is almost done they remove it from the oven and add whatever sauce you order.  They then put it back into the oven to finish cooking the pizza and the sauce.  The only problem I see them run into with this method is that sometimes they don’t use enough sauce.  The sauce is so good that I don’t want any bare spots on my pizza; therefore, I usually end up ordering a side of sauce to fill in the gaps.

The pizza as ordered has an amazing texture and taste to it.  You get a tiny crunch from the pizza crust that is quickly followed up by the smoothness of the sauce.  The vegetables come next which are very moist and the whole thing is finished with the spiciness of the pepperoni and an after-kick of the red pepper.  This is one of the few pizzas that I don’t have to add red pepper to it since it’s already baked in!  The flavor is amazing and has kept me coming back over the years.

Make sure you bring your appetites or a to-go box as you will get plenty of pizza if you order a Large Stuffy Pizza!

Damgoode Pies
6706 Cantrell Road
501-664-2239 (All LR Locations)

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

My wife and I threw a baby shower dinner party for friends of ours last night.  We ended up with 10 people including ourselves.

Warm Goat Cheese Salad

For the party I served (in the following order):

• Warm panko breaded goat cheese salad made with butter lettuce, endive, radicchio, and topped with balsamic vinaigrette and a dollop of Kalamata olive tapenade.
• Lamb meatball made sous vide and fried.  Each meatball was sitting on a spread of basil infused olive oil and topped with shaved aged parmesan cheese.  A dot of Habanero infused oil was on the side.
• Escargot served “family style” with a garlic butter made with shallots and sided with toasted bread.
• Bruschetta topped with goat cheese, candied onions, roasted fig, and drizzled with honey.
• Fresh made Tagliette pasta with homemade Ragu of Beef, Pork, and smoked bacon.
• Pre-made caramel cake augmented with orange marmalade puree, shaved chocolate, and drizzled with caramel.

Everyone seemed to like the food!  I’ll be posting recipes and articles about some of the items later on.  You can already find out how I make the Ragu from a previous article here.

by Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Vesuvio Italian Bistro

I’ve been thinking about going to a restaurant called Vesuvio for several months now. It caught my eye a while back when I was looking around UrbanSpoon.com and noticed all of the great reviews for it. I’m a huge fan of Italian food but have not been able to find many places in Central Arkansas that I care much for.

I make my own pasta at home and spend days making the perfect Ragu (which I’ve blogged about here.) The problem I have with almost every Italian restaurant around town is they don’t even make their own pasta. I find this offensive and don’t give much credit to places that don’t at least show enough passion to make their own pasta. To me buying pre-made pasta is akin to buying pre-made crust for pizza. You just don’t do it and expect to have great food.

I’ve been waiting to go to Vesuvio for a while since great reviews and a high percentage rating on UrbanSpoon.com do not equate to quality food. All you have to do is look at ratings for places like Senor Tequilas to see what I mean. The location of the restaurant has kept me away as well. I mean, how good can it be if it’s located in a Best Western hotel? Needless to say, my wife and I finally visited the restaurant on a Saturday night and we were surprised by how much we liked it. We liked it so much that we plan on going back many times in the future.

Vesuvio Bistrois located in a Best Western hotel off of Rodney Parham in Little Rock and is located near the 1620 restaurant. They have a nice awning outside that leads you through the main entrance of the hotel. Once inside the hotel you find the restaurant on your left under a bright blue neon sign. Take a few steps down the stairs and you are transformed into an Italian bistro. The decorations looks a little dated but there is a nice bar running along one wall with large images of underwater scenes on HD televisions on the wall. People were dressed in business casual attire but we fit right in with our jeans. I had a dress shirt on and did not feel out of place.

Bruschetta

The Maître d’ who greeted us could use some personality training but was cordial enough and seated us right away. We were put in the middle of the restaurant, even with tables visible in better areas, but we did not have reservations so I didn’t complain. It took a while for our waiter to show up and take our drink orders but he did drop off some good looking bruschetta while taking the drink orders. Bruschetta is toasted bread topped with salt, pepper, and various toppings. The bread was not warm but the diced tomato topping had great flavor to it with the perfect hint of citrus.

We ordered the Spaghetti Chitarra ($18.75) to split, the Ribeye ($32) for my wife, and the Filetto Verde ($30) for my entree. The Spaghetti Chitarra is a homemade, yes homemade, spaghetti pasta that is heated in butter and swirled around in a large wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese before serving. The pasta looked absolutely amazing as we saw it being made table-side. While we waited for the spaghetti to be made table-side we were delivered another basket of bread, this time with a nice olive tapenade. Tapenade is typically a blend of olives, oil, and spices and is used to top bread, pasta, and chicken.

Spaghetti Chitarra

The spaghetti was delivered after about 15 minutes and was prepared table-side by a nice gentleman. He poured the fresh pasta hot from a skillet from the kitchen into a large wheel of cheese and spun it around for a minute to capture plenty of cheese. He then split it among two bowls and served it. I had to request a spoon in order to eat my pasta but other than that it was a great experience.

How did it taste? Amazing! You could tell the pasta was made fresh and the cheese couldn’t have been better. I am glad we ordered it to split as it would have been too rich for me to have eaten as a full entree. It was very good but I would have grown tired if it quickly. It was just too rich to eat for long.

Filetto Verde

Next up we received our steaks. My wife’s ribeye looked great but I did not try it. My Filetto Verde, or filet Mignon, was topped with a green peppercorn sauce and sided with mashed potatoes. I ordered the steak Medium-Rare.

It was cooked Medium but had a great flavor and texture. It had plenty of salt and pepper and the peppercorn sauce was very good. The side of mashed potatoes was decent enough, nothing special to write home about, but they were good.

For dessert I ordered the Molten Chocolate Cake ($9.50). I was full by this time but had to take one for the team for this review. The cake is as you guessed it, molten in the center, and is served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top. It tasted good and is worth ordering. I don’t talk much about it because it was “just” a molten chocolate cake. Nothing fancy but nothing bad either.

Spaghetti Chitarra Prepared

We left the restaurant a couple of hours after we arrived which was just about right on the timing front. Some things took a little longer than I expected they would but the great food out-shined any wait we had to endure. One thing I noticed is that not a single employee I saw was female. It may have just been the night we were there for but I hope they have women working there.

The other thing is our waiter. He must be cut from the same cloth as the Maître d’ since the waiter was not very friendly. If I owned the restaurant I’d put them both through some personality training. You don’t have to be happy to be at work (otherwise they would call it going to “fun” right?) but you should at least act like it when serving the public.

I will be going back and already have a list of things on the menu I want to try. This says a lot since I’m normally hard pressed to find one thing I want to try on a menu during a return trip, much less several. Highly recommended!

BW Governor’s Suites
1501 Merrill Drive
Little Rock, Arkansas 72211
501-224-8051

by Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Layla Gyro & Pizzaria

“Wow!” is the easiest thing for me to say about Layla’s Gyros & Pizzaria in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I met my wife for lunch there, not expecting much, but was blown away by some of the food.

We first ordered the Babba Ghannouj ($2.99) “Baked eggplant puree with tahini, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil”, the Hummus ($2.75) “Chick-pea puree with tahini, garlic, lemon juice & olive oil”, and the Tabbouleh ($3.20) “Bulgur wheat, green onions, tomatoes & parsley mixed with lemon juice  & olive oil.”

The Hummus had a nice kick to it with cayenne on top and the texture was nice.  It didn’t have the level of acidity I like in a Hummus but was better than most.  The Babba Ghannouj was too creamy for me and needed more texture.  I did like the cayenne on the top and the spice but wasn’t excited by it.  The tabbouleh on the other hand was excellent and had a great consistency.  I would definitely order it again.

Layla Appetizers

I ordered the Gyros Sandwich ($4.65) with Feta added.  The sandwich is described as “Served on a pita with marinated onions & taziki sauce.”.  I also ordered the Greek Pizza ($6.95) to split with my wife which comes with your choice of chicken or Gyro.  We opted for the Gyro on the pizza.  The pizza is described as having “Feta & Mozzarella Cheese, samak marinated onions, your choice of meat Gyro or Chicken, Fresh Tomato on the top & taziki on side.”

Layla Gyro Sandwich

The Gyros on the sandwich had a very nice crust to it which is much better than the mushy meat you get at some places.  Not only was it crisp but it had a great flavor.  The sandwich had plenty of feta cheese on it and the sauteed onions were wonderful.  The pita was warmed as well and the entire thing was topped with a very flavorful taziki sauce.  I can see myself going back very soon to have another Gyros, it was that good!

Layla Greek Pizza

Here comes the big surprise.  I didn’t expect to like the pizza given that it is a Gyros pizza after all.  I mean, who thinks of pizza when they think of Greek food?  I sure don’t but wow was I surprised.  The Greek Pizza was the best thing we had and was super flavorful.  It had plenty of Gyros meat on it and was formed on a brick-oven style crust.  There was no marinara sauce to have but instead they used melted cheese, feta, and the taziki sauce (on the side.)  The onions were nice and spiced as well and overall the entire pizza tasted great. 

I actually can’t wait to go back again and have the pizza.  That’s saying something too since I can be pretty critical about food. 🙂

A word of warning though.  Do not go there for a formal dinner or expecting to have a quiet subdued lunch.  The place is small and loud and reminds me of the restaurants I used to eat lunch at in Philadelphia.  Expect to get in, eat, and get out.  It’s very loud too so I wouldn’t expect to have any life changing conversations there. 😉

by Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

Istanbul in Little Rock

I had the chance to eat at Istanbul, a self-proclaimed Mediterranean restaurant in Little Rock, over the weekend.  My wife and I joined two of our friends for dinner there and went without reservations on a Friday night.  The restaurant is located in West Little Rock by The Fresh Market and CheeBurger CheeBurger and we arrived at around 7:15pm. 

The place was full (a good sign normally) and we had to wait for about 20 minutes to be seated.  This must be a rare occurance as the wait staff didnt seem to know what to do with us.  There is not a waiting area; therefore, we stood at the front door while we waited.  It was quite humorous to watch one of the waitresses try and figure out how to combine to 2-seaters into a 4-seater but it never quite worked out.  This may clue you in on the fact that we could have been seated right away if the patrons in the restaurant had been seated at tables appropriate for their party size (2 people in a 2-seater, 4 in a 4-seater, etc.)  As I said before though, they probably don’t have the overcrowded problem often; hence, the wait.

We were seated in a booth and promptly requested to have the air-conditioning turned up.  It was quite stuffy in the restaurant and my wife looked like she was ready to pass out from the heat.  They complied and turned on the air after taking our drink orders.  The first thing I noticed about the menus were the pictures.  I have a saying about menus that have pictures on them and it’s not flattering.  I mean, if you need pictures, why are you in business?  Is a lamb kabob really that strange of an item that you need a picture to explain it? 

The menu had the “standard” offerings I would expect from a Mediterranean restaurant with appetizers such as Hummus ($5), Babaganouj ($5), Falafal ($4.50), and Dolmas ($5).  In the entree side I was suprised to see the Turkish specific item of Iskender Kebap ($13.50).  The menu had it mis-labeled as Iskender Kebab but it is the tomato braised beef dish famous in Turkey and not a kebab.

They have many Doner dishes on the menu which they describe as: “Doner is a blend of ground lamb and beef carefully mixed with select Turkish spices and then vertically slow-roasted to crispy, juicy perfection. This tantalizing Mediterranean favorite is served sliced and dipped in sweet cream butter and roasting juices.”  They also have several kebabs and sandwiches made from Doner, Chicken, and Lamb.

We ordered several appetizers to start with including the Trio Appetizer (Hummus, Babaganouj, Dolmas for $10.50), Spinach Pastry ($4.50), Cigar Pastry ($5), and a full order of Dolmas ($5).  We had ordered quite a few appetizers but wanted to try everything they had to offer.  The appetizers arrived in about 10 minutes and we dug in.

Trio Appetizer

The first thing I tried was the Trio Appetizer with the dips and dolmas.  The dish came with a good amount of pita bread nicely sliced and ready to go.  The Hummus and Babaganouj both had almost zero flavor and had the texture of what I imagine a mushy sand paper to feel like in your mouth.  The dolmas had a good flavor but were not firm enough for my tastes.  I promptly moved on to the Cigar Pasty and didn’t bother to grab another bite of the dips. 

Dolma, Cigar Pastry, Spinach Pastry

The Cigar Pastry had a nice sharp cheese in it that was a bit on the sour side (which was good.)  I really enjoyed the pastry but a side of yogurt sauce would have knocked it out of the park on the goodness scale.  Next up was the Spinach Pastry which looked good but had almost zero flavor.  I could feel the fried pastry, spinach, and cheese, but it had zero flavor.  We ended up with almost all of the dips on the table and a spinach pastry left but the cigar pastries and dolmas were all gone.

Lamb Shish Kabab

For the entree I ordered the Lamb Shish Kebab ($15.50.)  My wife had the same thing with a side order of Tomato Soup ($3).  One of our dinner companions had the Falafel Sandwich ($7.50.)  I didn’t try the dish of our other companion so I won’t go into it here.

The Lamb Shish Kabab had a good amount of flavor.  The lamb was also cooked properly and was tender.  I actually had expected it to be tough but that was not the case.  Out of everything the entree was the best item and is something I could see myself ordering again.  The dish was served with a nutty rice and slices of pita bread that had been seared. 

The Falafel was overfried but had a decent enough flavor.  It was on the dry side due to the frying though and a bit too dense for my tastes.  I did not try the tomato soup but my wife seemed to enjoy it.

We opted to skip dessert as everyone was full from the variety of appetizers and the entrees.  We left at around 9pm and were satisfied with the meal.  Would I go back?  Most likely not.  I only have so many calories I can consume a week and prefer to spend them on food I enjoy more.  If you are looking for a good Hummus or Babaganouj I recommend The Terrace on the Green.  Their food is much better.