LEO's Eats with Robin Garr
"The Egyptian Kitchen" at Ramsi's Cafe on the World
I've spent a long time trying to really "get" Ramsi's. There's a lot to like about this fun, funky, multi-ethnic eatery on Bardstown Road, not least of which is that it's, well, fun, funky and multi-ethnic. Those are some of my favorite things.
Still, in many visits over many years, I've had a hard time achieving the heights of ecstasy that many of my friends reported. Last time I dropped by, I couldn't help noticing that the 100-item menu covered at least two dozen world cuisines. I like that in principle - it's a lot like what I try to do in my kitchen at home. But I just didn't see them doing Thai as well as a great Thai place, Italian as well as a top Italian place, and so it went.
Were they trying to be all things to all people? Better, I thought, to do what you know best. In Ramsi's case, with its owners hailing from Jerusalem, that would have been the fare of Southwest Asia and the Mediterranean. And Ramsi's kept right on being popular, without the help of my alleged wisdom.
The other night, after a movie ("The Martian," go see it) with friends at Baxter, we emerged onto Bardstown Road, and hey! Why not give Ramsi's one more try? And I'm glad we did. I'm not sure whether Ramsi's changed or I did. Maybe both. Maybe neither. The place looked and felt about the same, with its two crowded dining rooms, busy bar and that attractive courtyard that makes me think of Marseilles-on-Bardstown. ...
Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/?p=5400
See this column also in LEO Weekly:
http://www.leoweekly.com/2015/10/were-f ... et-remsis/
Ramsi's Cafe on the World
1293 Bardstown Road
451-0700
http://ramsiscafe.com
Facebook: http://bit.ly/ramsiscafe
Robin Garr's rating: 83 points