Review: Sangrias

Saturday for lunch we hit Sangrias on Market Square, which I can't seem to find a website for. (It's a pretty new place.) I was wearing a Fedora schwag t-shirt and the waiter recognized it, so he got points right off.

We eschewed a lengthy tapas lunch in favor of a carafe of sangria (half priced!), a big salad, and the meat and cheese plate.

I think it's a mistake to judge sangria too harshly, and this one was no exception. We had just finished walking around the Knoxville Zoo, so we were sweltering hot and it was deliciously cold. That said, I like my red sangria a bit dry and this was quite sweet. It also lacked any significant citric tang or fruity kick, but it did what we needed it to do. It was also big and cheap, so that wins points in my book; sangria shouldn't be expensive.

The salad was excellent, with a very thick, flavorful balsamic dressing that was drizzled on lightly, not drowning the salad. There wasn't much to the salad aside from lettuce, although I have to wonder if that changes when other produce comes into season.

The meat and cheese plate was actually a mistake; we ordered the mixed cheese plate, but didn't see the need to send back such a tasty array of charcuterie. The three meats were serrano ham, lomo, and chorizo. The lomo and serrano were too similar to my coarse palate, but the chorizo was a huge, glorious triumph of charcuterie. It went magnificently with the dried fruit that accompanied the plate. There was only one cheese: manchego, and not nearly enough of it.

Aside from the shortage of cheese, it was a great light lunch (albeit a bit heavy on the sangria for Melanie). The tapas menu is brief but promising, and the daily specials look especially interesting, so we've already booked our reservations for our anniversary dinner.

Review: Taste of Thai

Friday night we went to Taste of Thai with some friends. It was a quirky combination Thai/sushi joint where, as far as I can tell, the sushi is the thing to get. Of the six of us, I was the only one who got Thai, and I regretted it.

They seem to be especially fond of their specialty rolls, which, unlike the specialty rolls at lots of other sushi joints, were not all loaded with cream cheese or other Americanisms. They also had a selection of "normal" rolls, nigiri, etc., which were tasty (albeit smaller portions than I was used to). Their spicy tuna was not spicy, and was ground tuna, which seems to be the trend but still is always a disappointment to me.

Melanie and I split some spring rolls, which were unfortunately fried, but passable. I got the basil chicken, which certainly appeared uncontaminated by basil. The predominant flavors were a) spicy hot (I ordered it three out of four for hotness, and it delivered); and b) half-cooked green peppers. It also showed up 20 minutes after everyone else had finished eating. (The service otherwise was excellent, and they were preparing for a graduation party, so I can forgive that.)

They had a good selection of Asian beers, mostly Japanese; they didn't have Singha or any other Thai beers, sadly. The wine list was short and overpriced.

Review: Naples

Our introduction to Knoxville's restaurant scene came a few days ago at Naples, a cute Italian restaurant I'd describe as "family-friendly": checkered tablecloths, plenty of Ecco Domani, and vast shelves of squishy bread loaded with garlic butter. Naples provides that homely fare, but also had a bit of a daring side.

We started with the baked brie, served with a (supposedly) apricot chutney that appeared to actually be made from raspberries and deep-fried pita chips (welcome to the South!). The pita overwhelmed the brie, but the chutney was a nice complement. The brie itself didn't seem to be especially well-aged, and was a touch blander than I like.

Melanie got the Lasagna, which was colossal, and had a slightly sweet sauce, both of which reminded us both of a lot of the similar Italian food back home in Nebraska. It was loaded with ground beef and cheese, and definitely made up in chutzpah what it lacked in refinement.

I ordered the ravioli special, which changes frequently. That night it was crab meat ravioli with spinach pasta in a tremendously rich mascarpone rose sauce. They didn't scrimp on the crab, and the richness of the sauce didn't interfere with the flavor coming through.

The bottled wine list was impressive, although by-the-glass was a bit short. They only had one Italian beer, predictably Moretti.