Review: Oodles Uncorked

Friday night we grabbed the dog and headed to Market Square, where a number of Knoxville's many dog-friendly restaurants are. The three of us walked around getting loved up (okay, just the dog) until a menu jumped out at us, eventually pulling up a patio table at Oodles Uncorked. It was devilish hot, so I ordered a beer.

Two of my favorite things about Knoxville: 1. You can get Yuengling; and 2. It's routinely one of the cheaper beers available.

I ordered the seafood fra diavolo, which was awfully tasty. They had spiked it with chili oil, not just with red peppers, so the heat permeated the whole dish. I'm more accustomed to mussels with a hefty helping of meuniere or the like, so they were a little raw and fishy tasting without anything similar, but the shrimp were perfect -- tender, not overcooked, brightly flavored. Beer, spicy pasta, nice sun -- awesome.

Melanie got the portabello sandwich, which was absolutely drenched in a to-die-for goat cheese sauce. Unfortunately, the quantity of sauce tended to drown out the other flavors -- not that that's necessarily a bad thing when you're dealing with goat cheese. She had a glass of Sebastiani Chardonnay with it, which was smooth and tremendously buttery. Not my first choice for a hot weather wine, but a nice deal on a deeply malolactic chard. The wine list in general was quite complete, with a wide range of various varietals, including organic and otherwise "green" choices.

Our dog got a bowl of water (very promptly, with ice), which she seemed to enjoy immensely, lots of love from about every server in the place.