South City Kitchen

South City Kitchen, Midtown

Coming here on a Sunday was great idea. My sister and I had just returned from traveling and we simply wanted a fool proof meal without a lot of fuss. Their First Flavors struck our fancy more so than the main dishes so we got four and split them all. We ordered the fried green tomatoes, smoked pork belly, crab cake, and scallops. The smoked pork belly was probably the most creative as it was served with collard green kimchi and orange-Tupelo honey. Not to say the others weren’t good since they were they just didn’t have that wow factor that will keep me coming back.  What did, however, were their cocktails. They were fun and all had a southern theme. They even had one celebrating the 75th anniversary of Gone with the Wind, it was called return of the wind. I’m not sure what Rhett Butler drank but if he was around today I’m sure he would give this a try. The drink was composed of Woodford Reserve single barrel bourbon, cayrum, rhubarb tea, and braised beet liquor. If you’re looking for a sweet drink I would not recommend this one but I certainly enjoyed it. Lastly we split the peach shortcake, which ended the meal perfectly. I’m a fan of Southern cuisine and when paired with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere I’m sure to become even a bigger supporter. 

Jimmy G’s

Jimmy G’s, Cincinnati (Downtown)

And the good times keep on coming! This time I was not only able to catch up with two good friends, Morgan & Lauren, but Morgan’s mom was in town and seeing Mrs. B is always a treat. Morgan is probably the only other friend that enjoys a good steak as much as I do. So when she knew we would all be together she knew exactly where to take us.

Prior to sitting down we got drinks at the bar and before jumping into wine I got a dirty dry Hendrix Martini. It was of course exactly what I needed to start enjoying the weekend. To start Morgan and I shared the Crab Cake appetizer that had very nice sized clumps of crab. Few things are as disappointing than ordering a crab cake that has no meat in it! After that I transitioned to wine and the table was enjoying a lovely Cab from Walla Walla Valley Washington, L’Ecole No. 14. In fact we enjoyed it so much we ordered another bottle before the meals end. I chose the Dry-aged NY Strip Steak and was extremely happy- it was perfectly charred on the outside and had insanely good flavor. As a table we got the Mashed Potatoes and the description of “butter, butter, & butter” didn’t do it justice. I have never had potatoes as pureed as those, and coincidentally I now have a new mashed potato standard which may or may not be a good thing.

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So fortunate to have been able to try this wonderful steakhouse with even better people!