2 new tries today Cafe Mimosa and Al Watan

Doing the 2 new tries each weekend. Cafe Mimosa was so bad, I hate to review it. Tofu Pad thai was spicy with red pepper flakes, but that's about it. No flavor. Thick gooey noodles, a few sprouts. A couple green onions. No cilantro, lime, peanuts, veggies. Daughter #1 had the rather expensive eel roll; she spit it out...tasted very fishy. To me it smelled old. She eats sushi/sahhimi around the country and has a great palate. Hot and sour soup had odd flavor and canned mushrooms and stringy pork.

Thank goodness we had Al Watan for dinner. Baba ganoush ( 2 varieties) incredible hummus, fresh pita...flavors were sublime and the prices were so reasonable. I can't wait to go back and sample more. Many options for vegetarians, very helpful and friendly people at the kitchen for carryout. The place is definitely a bit off the beaten path (Klondike lane) but the food is just incredible!

Everything I've tried at Cafe Mimosa has been incredibly underwhelming. Last week, I gave their pho (labeled "Northern Vietnamese Noodle Soup" on the menu) a shot thinking their Vietnamese would be better. What I got when I came home was tough strips of beef in a bland broth with overcooked noodles on the side. But maybe I've been somewhat spoiled since I've had really really good pho before.

Conversely, I just ordered two chicken tacos from La Bamba's tonight for the first time, and they exceeded my expectations.

Thank goodness we had Al Watan for dinner. Baba ganoush ( 2 varieties) incredible hummus, fresh pita...flavors were sublime and the prices were so reasonable. I can't wait to go back and sample more. Many options for vegetarians, very helpful and friendly people at the kitchen for carryout. The place is definitely a bit off the beaten path (Klondike lane) but the food is just incredible!

I second everything Linda said. This board turned us on to Al Watan, and now it's one of our favorites. Terrific value, pleasant and friendly service, and such rich flavors. Make a point to find it if you're in the area -- you won't be sorry. Be sure to get some extra pitas to nibble on!

[Robin Garr]

Doing the 2 new tries each weekend.

I'm afraid Cafe Mimosa hasn't amounted to much for years. Originally it was Louisville's first Vietnamese restaurant, and it was very good, but the first owner (who now has Zen Garden) moved on, and it's been nothing but downhill since.

Al Watan, however, is outstanding!

If you want really good Vietnamese food, go to Vietnam Kitchen in Iroquois Manor. I've never had anything bad there. It's *all* good.

[Robin Garr]

If you want really good Vietnamese food, go to Vietnam Kitchen in Iroquois Manor. I've never had anything bad there. It's *all* good.

Good advice, Steve. Vietnam Kitchen is a longtime forum favorite. Cafe Annie, a few blocks north of VK on Woodlawn, is excellent, too. Pho Binh Minh on Strawberry lane is a little more iffy, tiny and family-run, but it can be fun if you don't worry about a serious language barrier.

For purposes of this discussion, though, Cafe Mimosa has gone downhill considerably since it was the first (and only) Vietnamese restaurant in town.

If you want really good Vietnamese food, go to Vietnam Kitchen in Iroquois Manor. I've never had anything bad there. It's *all* good.

Good advice, Steve. Vietnam Kitchen is a longtime forum favorite. Cafe Annie, a few blocks north of VK on Woodlawn, is excellent, too. Pho Binh Minh on Strawberry lane is a little more iffy, tiny and family-run, but it can be fun if you don't worry about a serious language barrier.

For purposes of this discussion, though, Cafe Mimosa has gone downhill considerably since it was the first (and only) Vietnamese restaurant in town.

Hmmm... I'll have to try Cafe Annie sometime. Thanks! I just tried Lemongrass Cafe last night out of curiosity -- they're not bad either. I had a chicken tamarind curry dish that was pretty good, but I have to say VK does curry even better. I think I'm addicted to VK's food, and I can't say that about too many restaurants.

[Robin Garr]

Lemongrass Cafe

I didn't mention Lemongrass because it's not just Vietnamese but Viet/Thai/Chinese (although the owners are Vietnamese, for what it's worth). They're okay, with some very good dishes, but it seems to me that it's a bit less "ethnic" than the others mentioned, maybe more tilted toward American tastes. It's also a small-enough chain that I'm not certain there's 100 percent consistency among the locations.

I just tried Lemongrass Cafe for the first time tonight. I was really looking forward to it since I've never had Thai or Vietnamese food. However, the 'C' rating that was on the sign in the window didn't really make me feel too sure about my choice.
I ordered Thai iced tea to drink. It was really different from anything I'd ever had before. It had a really smoky almost burnt flavor to it, and everytime I took a drink I thought it tasted just like the smell of burning leaves in the fall.
I started with the chicken satay. It was not bad, but as the meat had no seasoning at all it wasn't anything that I would order again. The peanut sauce that went with the satay was very, very sweet. I had thought it would be more like plain peanuts but it was like a sweetened peanut butter.
I also had the Gaeng Garee with pork. I figured I couldn't go wrong with that- it contained some of my favorite foods: sweet potatoes, onions, curry, pork, and coconut milk. First off, it was very hard to eat because it was so hot (temperature wise). All I could do was skim off the top. Because it was already very soupy I didn't want to add ice cubes to it.
The sweet potatoes and onions hadn't retained any of their natural flavor, and I didn't care for the flavor combination of curry and coconut milk.
I don't think the food was prepared badly by any means, it just wasn't to my personal liking. There are plenty of other items on the menu that I still want to try, so I'll definitely get back to visit sometime.

[Robin Garr]

However, the 'C' rating that was on the sign in the window didn't really make me feel too sure about my choice.

Be aware that a C rating is temporary and usually reflects a bad but temporary situation that an inspector caught and penalized, and usually only lasts a week until the re-inspection.

A classic example: The new Riverfront Tumbleweed drew a C during its first week of operation because a health inspector came in and found that they had the windows open in the second floor dining room to catch the mild spring air. Flies flew in and BANG! A red "C" went on the front door. The inspector came back a week later, the windows were duly screened, and the "A" came back.

A restaurant that earned a C as an ongoing matter would be closed by the Health Department. In an odd way, once the C is actually posted on the door, you can pretty much be certain that the problem that caused it has already been addressed ... but the punishment lingers.

Curry + coconut milk is very common in Vietnamese cooking, so if you don't like it, you'll be excluding a good number of menu choices.

Also, peanut sauce is kind of like a runnier peanut butter, although I don't think "very, very sweet" is the norm. Robin, I'm sure, knows a lot more than me about this.

I'd recommend trying Vietnam Kitchen before deciding if you do or don't like Vietnamese food.

I tried the Lemongrass in St Matthews twice this year with husband and kids and none of us enjoyed our meal. The pad thai had no flavor at all. The second time we went back I ordered it with shrimp and asked for some lime and cilantro on it. The server must have been in his seventies. It came out with neither ingredient- totally bland. Since I have Thai Taste in the hood, I have no reason to go back to Lemongrass.

Be aware that a C rating is temporary and usually reflects a bad but temporary situation that an inspector caught and penalized, and usually only lasts a week until the re-inspection.

A classic example: The new Riverfront Tumbleweed drew a C during its first week of operation because a health inspector came in and found that they had the windows open in the second floor dining room to catch the mild spring air. Flies flew in and BANG! A red "C" went on the front door. The inspector came back a week later, the windows were duly screened, and the "A" came back.

A restaurant that earned a C as an ongoing matter would be closed by the Health Department. In an odd way, once the C is actually posted on the door, you can pretty much be certain that the problem that caused it has already been addressed ... but the punishment lingers.[/quote]


How do the places like Flannigans and Brendans get away with those windows on the front of the building that open?

[Robin Garr]

How do the places like Flannigans and Brendans get away with those windows on the front of the building that open?

Good question, Wes. Are they screened in? That would be my first guess. My second guess would be arbitrary whim and caprice on the part of an individual inspector.

I can absolutely attest to the Tumbleweed story, though: I was there when the C went on the door, and I interviewed the head of the inspection department that same day, so this isn't just one of those stories you hear at third hand from the friend of a friend.

Robin i remember the Tumbleweed story. The other places are wide open this time of year. No screens! We have looked at doing the same thing at Imp. but maybe next year. Sure puts a strain on the old Ac this time of year.