new member seeks recommends...

I've been reading some of the past posts on these forums and have really enjoyed them. I've gotten some great recommends for restaurants we've never tried but would like to, like 211 Clover, Vietnam Kitchen, etc.

First, a little intro, my wife and I both teach art history at U. of L., live in the Highlands, and have a 6 year old daughter and 11 year old son. My wife (and now our son) are good cooks, and so fortunately we eat well at home. But we love to go out too (although as art historians we have to be careful about how many times we go out and what we order). The restaurant we've most often been to during our 8 years here (we're originally from California) has been The Uptown, for its combination of good food, fine service, reasonable prices, and quiet ambiance good for conversations. We also like the pricier Jack Fry's, where the food is a notch above (and the prices two notches above), and where my wife loves their Chocotini (the best in town, she says).

I've somehow resisted Seviche until about ten days ago. That's partly because when I was a kid my Dad used to make fresh seviche, which I loved, and I figured that any restaurant doing it would be a let down.

Anyway, we finally tried Seviche and it was great! First, it has a beautiful and quiet ambiance, and yet they made us feel welcome with our usually well behaved but sometimes slightly fidgety kids. Huge brownie points right away for the complimentary h'orderves that were brought quite quickly (there are only a few other places where that's happened to me, such as the English Grill). Anyway, we had four beautifully prepared and delicious shrimp. Our 6 year old daughter had never had shrimp before, but once she had one bite she loved it. The next time we went out to another restaurant she said, "Can I get shrimp like they have at Seviche!" We had to break it to her that only at Seviche would that happen.

My wife enjoyed a drink called a Caipirha (sp?), which she said was lovely and was packed with limes. I had a glass of wine.

We ordered their seviche of the day, which was spectacular. My dad would fix his seviche in a bowl, soaked in lemon and lime juices, tomatoes, and spices, with the liquid all there, and you'd fish out a piece, so to speak, with a toothpick or fork. At Seviche it was out of its marinade, but the flavor was spectacular--spicy in an amazingly complicated way. My son (who is a big fish fan) loved it, and so did I. My wife (not such a big fish fan) even tried it and gave a thumbs up. The quite spicy salsa that came with was nice complement. Presentation was very fine on this dish, and throughout--visually pleasing and rather Iron Chef-like without being fussy or silly.

My wife shared the chicken dish with our daughter. I got a bite, and I think it may have been the best chicken I've ever had in my life. It had again an amazing rub of spices and flavors that was complex and rich--it had a kick without being overwhelming. And the mushrooms that came with it, sauteed with a rich and sophisticated flavor, were in my wife's words "to die for." And the delicate couscous bed for the chicken provided nice balance.

My soup, which was some kind of cream of mushroom, was flavorful, rich and creamy, but in contrast a little more ordinary.

My son's dish was also great, and I got a few bites of it--some kind of salad and fish combo.

With our 3 drinks (two for my wife, and a single glass of wine for me as the driver), tax, and 20% tip (very nice service), it came to $99. Not cheap, considering we ordered lightly, but well worth it for what we thought was an extraordinary dining experience. I'm looking forward to going back again.

As much as we like the Uptown, even our daughter is saying that she's getting tired of going there. What other Highlands (or even non-Highlands) restaurants would you recommend? We've been to Club Grotto once a couple of years ago, and while we thought it was good it seemed a bit steep for what you got. We tried Palermo Viejo a few years ago too, and somehow I think we got them on a bad night--it just wasn't a particularly good meal for us and my visiting parents.

Anyway, thanks for all of the great reviews and ideas on this forum.

Best, Ben

Hi Ben!

Gordon and I love Equus. He keeps asking why we can't go there once a week . . . Asiatique has always been a fav also. And then there's 610 (sort of across the street from our house) and Proof. Oh and we enjoy L&N too.

Are you primarily looking for upscale places?

Hi Leah,

Small world! Say hi to Gordon for me...

I tried Equus recently and really enjoyed it. One of those expensive but worth it once in a while places. We tried Asiatique a few years ago, and maybe just had bad luck, but it seemed not that impressive to us for the price. Maybe we should go back. We like Proof, but it's a bit of a drive for us. We'd like to try 610, but when you add a babysitter into the mix we'll have to save up a bit for that one. How much does it run for a night for two there when all is said and done--$250?

What is L & N?

Yeah, we should find more reasonably priced restaurants to go to. We like upscale places, but like many we can't go to places like that every time. Our favorite fast food is Q-doba. Darn good for the price!

Best, Ben

PS I checked out your website and it's very nice. Your cakes are spectacular! Do you make some with butter, or since they're such architectural creations do you need to avoid it? One thing that seems strange to me about the cake contests on the Food network is that the judges seem to almost always pick the winner based on looks alone, and not on taste.

Ben, have you tried Café Lou Lou? It's a Sears avenue right down from Equus. I believe they call their menu “Mediterranean-Italian-New Orleans” or something like that. The atmosphere is very casual and the menu while looking very simple on the surface has many items with complex flavor combinations. The emphasis is on pasta dishes and pizzas (not your ordinary combinations though) and most of the pasta dishes are available in two sizes. It gets crowded in a hurry on weekends but they do take reservations.

It's not that far from the Highlands and well worth the trip!

It's not that far from the Highlands and well worth the trip!

Mark - thanks for the endorsement. Next time you're in during lunch please ask for me so we can say hello.

Ben, please do make a trip to Lou Lou - we are super kid-friendly and have a diverse menu that has a little something to offer everyone. I make the desserts - next week we're going to feature egg nog creme brulee.

As for "what is L&N?" - for fine dining, I'd like to highly recommend L&N Wine Bar and Bistro - it's at the corner of Mellwood and Brownsboro and Len and Nancy and crew do a fabulous job. If your kids were comfortable at Seviche, they'd love L&N (this time year they have yummy fireplaces lit for cozy comfort while dining).

Once again, kudos to Anthony and his staff at Seviche for serving amazing food that's accessible to everyone, including kids!

Let me give my praise for Cafe Lou Lou. My husband and I were there on December 5th for a birthday dinner for me. I had heard about it from a patient of mine, plus I had received a free surprise (dessert) email from Louisville Originals and then when I scrolled down on the Louisville Originals website I saw I could do on-line reservations.

At 6:15 I hit the button for a 6:45 reservation. And off we went to St. Matthews. We were seated immediately.

When we got there, I also discovered that Wednesdays are 1/2 price bottle of wine. Wahoo!

We had a wonderful dinner. Had a flatbread appetizer, small greek salads (yum), I had the ravioli with shrimp and portobello (Did you ever eat something and think I don't want to eat it because then it will be gone?). My husband did the pasta primavera, but being a carnivore, he asked to have sausage added. Our server, Cameron was efficient, friendly and a very hard worker. We ended this wonderful night with the pumpkin cake. The price was great, the atmosphere fun (a bit loud, but the place was packed), and we now have a new favorite place to dine.

We enjoy finding these treasures.

An Irish pub isn't the first place that comes to mind for family dining, but the Irish Rover on Frankfort Ave is one of the few places where a family of four can have a good "sit-down restaurant" meal for under $50. They have a great kid's menu, and the "Pub Grub" items on the menu are all quite good yet still under $10.

An Irish pub isn't the first place that comes to mind for family dining, but the Irish Rover on Frankfort Ave is one of the few places where a family of four can have a satisfying "sit-down restaurant" meal for around $50. They have a great kid's menu, and the "Pub Grub" items on the menu are all quite good yet still under $10.

Cafe Lou Lou sounds great! I'm looking forward to it. My wife is going to be away on a trip soon, and I may take the kids on a little restaurant tour for the 4 days she's gone... I haven't been to the Irish Rover either. Sounds good.

We just had a nice brunch at Winston's, which somehow we've never been to even though we live just a 5-6 minute drive away. Anyway, it's a nice spot for it. It's elegant, with fine service, and good food. Great pasteries are delivered free as appetizers. Yum. They were very flaky, very buttery, and varied in flavor--chocolate, apple, cheese (two kinds), cherry, and lemon. The apple was delicately spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and had little nuts. It was a little treasure.

Two small minuses, the grapefruit juice wasn't fresh, and the hot chocolate seemed to come from a mix (good, but we make it better from scratch at home).

The breakfast was mostly great. My daughter and I shared Belgian waffles with mildly flavored pumpkin butter (couldn't really taste the pumpkin, but I think that's what they said), raspberries, whipped cream, and real maple syrup. Oh my. The raspberries looked to be very carefully selected, as each one was perfect in appearance and taste. And their slight tartness was a nice contrast to the sweet richness of the dish. My son's French toast was also crispy and light, with good hints of spice. It was a huge serving, and we brought home some nice leftovers. My wife's Scotch eggs seemed good to me (having never had the dish before), but she said they were a bit oily and prepared in a way that was not fully to her liking.

The coffee for my wife was served nicely with her own pot, stick with crystal sugar, etc., elegantly poured (the student servers were all outstanding).

The bill came to $47+$10 tip, which seemed worth it for such a lavish breakfast. I've been grading final essay exams for 5 days straight, and so it was a nice reward.

I hope that students who graduate from there tend to move on to decent jobs.

Lori - happy belated birthday! Please come see us again soon, and say hello if you have time.

Ben - LOL, I'm one of those graduates! Winston's brunch sounds nice - I need to try it out again. We haven't dined there since I was in school!

I'm a graduate too! I definitely like my job!

Hey Marsha--love your desserts! Our decadent roll of trying a new restaurants hit a new high when after enjoying Winston's for brunch we headed over to Cafe Lou Lou for dinner. The place was hopping, which is almost always a good sign. (Somewhat off topic, I sometimes wonder how some restaurants keep going. De La Torre's I think is a very good place--delicious food, nice atmosphere, great service--and yet it's never been crowded when I've been there.)

Anyway, anyone who has been to CLL knows that the decor is bright and whimsical--with one of the world's largest ties, paintings of cats and dogs in surreal environments, snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, etc. Reminded me a little bit of Lynn's, which to me is a good thing. Our waitress was busy because the place was so full, but she gaves us good and efficient service, and seemed to warm up to us as time went by. I didn't see the soup specials, but the kids wanted pizza, and so we got a large one with half cheese (for the 6 year old) and the other half with artichoke hearts, black olives, roasted garlic, and asiago cheese. The pizza was darn good, and the roasted garlic especially was a treat. The kids had crayons and paper to draw with and play tic tac toe, which was a big help before the pizza came. My favorite pizza in town is still Luigi's on Main across from the Science Center (and Luigi's makes a dynamite artichoke salad drenched in garlic, olive oil, and other flavors.) CLL's pizza was very, very good, but I thought the tomato sauce was a bit bland.

We made sure to save room for desserts, and they were tops! We shared a chocolate creme brulee and a pumpkin cake. The creme brulee was great, but we felt it was maybe not a classic baked brulee but more of a chocolate mousse that somehow had been given a perfect, delicate little crunchy layer on top (maybe with a blowtorch like you sometimes see on Iron Chef, or baked in a broiler for a little while?). Anyway, the flavor was fabulous--rich, luscious, creamy, chocolately, melt in your mouth yumminess, with the crispy carmelized topping providing a great contrast in taste and texture. And one of the most important things for me was that it wasn't too sweet! Thanks for that. Sickly sweet desserts just get to be too much for me to finish most of the time. But this was perfect.

Same with the tender pumpkin cake, very delicately flavored and yet mildly spicy, with a terrific frosting with a chocolate drizzle. We finished our desserts and tried to send our complements to the pastry chef, but we weren't sure that happened, and so it's nice to be able to write a review that likely the chef will read.

Bottom line: the desserts are fab, the pizza very good. Would go back again. (And it's very reasonably priced.) The four of us ate and drank well for $36+ $8 tip.

Another vote for Cafe Lou Lou!
Grape Leaf on Frankfort Avenue
Sari Sari on Frankfort Avenue
Pita Delites on Grinstead Drive (behind Wendy's off Bardstown Road)
Third Avenue Cafe at 3rd and Oak
Cafe Mimosa on Bardstown Road
Thai Siam on Bardstown Road
Kashmir (Indian) on Bardstown Road
Ditto's on Bardstown Road (hardly ever go there, but went last week and it was good!)
City Cafe on the back side of the Mid City Mall
Havana Rumba in St. Matthews

All of these places have a variety of foods, are reasonably priced, and are good for kids.

No one has mentioned Baxter Station--fabulous food and fabulous price!!! It is truly a great place.

Thank you for your kind words, Ben - I'm glad you guys enjoyed dessert (and your pizza). I don't normally work on Sundays (or at night), so I'm sorry I wasn't there to introduce myself.

Actually, I get up at 4:45 AM and take the 5:30 bus to the restaurant most days