Louisville Eats

Well I have arrived back from my trip to Louisville. I had a whole list of restaraunts I wanted to try while I was there but unfortunately had to work way to hard and only managed to hit three. All of these were in the depressed downtown area. I say depressed due to the high number of homeless pushing their grocery carts and gangbangers. At least that is what I assume anyone wearing head to toe purple jump suits and lots of gold are. Anyways on to my experience.
First off, I stayed at the Brown hotel. A nice historic hotel in the downtown. Normally, I do not eat at the hotels I stay at but considering the Brown is the home of the English grill, home of the Hot Brown.
The English Grille is a nice litte restaurant and the service was excellent. I started with a cream of mushroom soup which, even though it is cream based, was way to thick. It reminded me of cold congealed broth. The taste was average. The cream of mushroom at Prarie Grass is way better.
The hot brown... for those of you who do not know what it is, is an open faced turkey and bacon sandwich, covered with mornay sauce and tomatoes. When it first came out I felt my heart jump in anticipation of a grabber. It looked good but unhealthy. There was definately way more than I could eat. The bread was great lightly toasted that still retained it's crispness despite wallowing in mornay sauce. The mornay sauce was THICK. It reminded me of gravy on biscuits and gravy...but thicker. The turkey was fresh and tender and the bacon meaty and crispy. Overall, a definate try it once, but if you value your health stay away long term.
Day two... a local brewhouse near the Brown called Bluegrass Brewing company. Well, of course I had some of the local microbrew. Damn good beer. I tried 4 different types from raspberry to stout and I found them all to be outstanding. two thumbs up there. However, their food lacked a lot. I had some muscles as an appetizer and they were brutal. Only six came with the order and they were in a chipotle sauce. The muscles seemed like they had been sitting for a long time and I could not even finish the six. I thought for sure I may get sick from them. Then along to the pizza, which being a Chicagoan have high standards, I found it to be passable. A doughy light crust with a garlic sauce. It was good for a traveler. They have shirts there they sell saying beer is food. I recommend that. The beer, no food.
Lastly, I ate at the Makers Mark restaurant in their 4th street live. The whole area looks pretty cool and I am sure that on days the temperature isn't 20 degrees the place is packed. The Makers Mark first impression is very trendy, leather bench seating, narrow table and a long leather table. The lighting is subdued red with several fireplaces about. Very cool looking. I am not a big fan of bench seating and this place was no exception. After about 10 minutes my back started to hurt and I had to move to the chair across from me. The only place I could stand bench seating has been Alinea and that is because of the pillow arm rests provided. The chair was not much better. Comfy but so long it could not be pushed under the table. the result was a plate to mouth distance of a couple feet. On to the food.... Since I was on expense account I went large. I ordered the duck spring rolls ($12) and a 16oz bone in ribeye that was dry aged three weeks($45). The spring rolls were very good. They were light, crispy, and the duck flavor really exploded in your mouth. The steak was served with honey baked sweet potatoe fries that were excellent. I have had these at many places and always expected more, they exceeded my expectations here. Crisp on the outside, warm, sweet and hot on the inside. A side of broccoli as well, that was nothing to mention. The steak itself was disappointing, to say the least. It was cooked medium rare as requested, but really lacked the flavor I expected out of a ribeye, especially at the price. It was rather chewy and not at all very tender, even near the bone. The marbeling was non existant. More of a giant line of fat. I am glad I did not have to pay for that one.
Wish I had time to visit some more places. Definately better to hit the downtown in warm weather where there are more people about.