Tasting The Juke Joint Cafe
Girl meets gizzard and 'pulls a Seinfeld'
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had been anxiously awaiting the opening of Juke Joint Café Downtown on Fourth Avenue for several months. Partner and Executive Chef Melvin Johnson had been frequenting a particular breakfast spot where I also just happen to hang out. One day he showed up in the white-knotted jacket and we instantly "had it goin' on" (which means we had plenty of food stories to share). He told me he was opening a "Soul Food" restaurant just around the corner. I replied by telling him that, though not well versed in "Soul Food," I love all types of cuisine and have never met up with an innard I didn’t like.
Juke Joint is divided into two areas — the front, which is more café-ish with a view of the kitchen (and darling Melvin slaving away over a hot flame) and the back, which is a much bigger, dark, clubby room that features live music Thursday through Sunday nights. Chuck McPherson is the house player on the saxophone, Hollis Gentry shows up from time to time and even Ben Vereen has stopped in and taken the stage. If you arrive after eight and have dinner, there is no cover for the music.
I ordered almost every appetizer on the list because they all sounded so good. "Juke Popcorn" ($10) is a combination of crawfish, shrimp, catfish and alligator all fried up and served with black pepper tartar sauce and housemade hot sauce. It was
Executive Chef Melvin Johnson takes a break to sample the delicacies at the Juke Joint Cafe.
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presented in a great little "popcorn bag" and both sauces did indeed flip my skirt. I also recommend the "Tokyo Blues Egg Rolls" ($8) stuffed with collard greens, carrots, red peppers and blackened shrimp. I, much to my own dismay, can no longer boast that "I will eat anything" as I "pulled a Seinfeld" and spit my fried chicken gizzard in my napkin. Woowee, that’s something that ya gotta have a taste for. My dining companion, former San Diego Charger Courtney Hall, did like them, but he comforted me by telling me that he grew up eating gizzards and that they are an acquired taste. I should say so.
I absolutely loved the "Caesar's Southern Salad" ($8) which is a novel twist to the classic Caesar. Melvin uses a combination of collard and mustard greens tossed with his own version of Caesar dressing flecked with just enough spice and cornbread croutons. For two bucks more I recommend getting it topped with the fried oyster, shrimp and |
crawfish combo. It’s outrageously good.
Dinners are served with collard greens, maque choux (a mix of corn and red peppers) and your choice of yams or macaroni and cheese. It was no easy deed choosing an entrée either; they all sounded so good. We settled on three. The "Carmen Jones' Fried Chicken Dinner" ($15) is four pieces of chicken, jacketed with a buttermilk cornmeal batter and deep-fried. It is moist and juicy on the inside and has a great crunch on the outside. All the side dishes were good, especially the greens. With a mere trace of vinegar and perfectly cooked to a nice tender place, they needed no salt or pepper.
"Porky and Bess" ($14) was my big favorite for the evening. It is cornbread-stuffed pork chops sprawled over an earthy and deeply satisfying smoked ham hock sauce. It was so wonderful that I became selfish and withdrew my offer to give Courtney half. He ordered the "Big Daddy's Catfish Dinner" ($15) which comes with fried hush puppies as well as all the other fixins (that was enough food — he'd had half the chicken anyway). The catfish had only a whisper of cornbread as a coating and was beautifully flash-fried to a tender and moist doneness.
Juke Joint Café is definitely the "what’s happening" Downtown. Check it out. It’s open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday at 5 p.m. Have the gizzards and put my wimpy self to shame.
— Terryl Gavre
JUKE JOINT CAFE
327 Fourth Ave. - Downtown
(619) 338-8128
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One Flowery Review
Our critic really liked House of Orchids and its Hong Kong-style fare
Who doesn’t love Chinese food? I actually start to crave it when I think about my favorite dishes...spring rolls, won ton soup — and that’s just the meal's beginning.
The Mandarin and Szechuan styles are most popular in the United States, but other kinds of Chinese cooking are worth exploring. Among them is Hong Kong, and although restaurants featuring this food are harder to find, they're worth the hunt. Our journey for such a style led us to the House of Orchids on Miramar Road.
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In the Hong Kong style, seafood is prevalent. Not just shrimp, lobster and crab, but shark fin, abalone, sea cucumber, scallop, squid, clams, conch and oysters. For those who wish to select their prawns, crab, lobster or fish for special dishes, Orchids has an aquarium of swimming delights that, with the point of your finger, will soon find themselves on your plate in whatever sauce is desired.
Also characteristic of Hong Kong style is its cooking methods. Not only do they stir fry, but they pan fry, braise, bake, steam and double boil dishes too. Orchids features many interesting items native to Hong Kong, including the "Winter Melon," a fruit that must be cooked. The melon is often used in herbal medicine, but at the restaurant finds itself mainly in soup.
As for our dinner, we first enjoyed an order of vegetable spring rolls. Light and crispy, they were tasty when dipped into the accompanying sweet and sour sauce. The menu was huge (six pages), so we finished scanning it during appetizers and then moved onto our next course, "Won Ton Soup." Its flavorful broth, spiced by fresh slices of ginger, was absolutely delicious, and big enough for four people to share. It featured wonderful shrimp-filled won tons and loads of vegetables. I could have easily made a meal of this soup.
Next time I'd also like to try the "Duck Orange Peel," "Beef With Cilantro," "Diced Chicken with Sweet Corn," "Abalone Chicken" or "Orchid Seafood Soup."
Choosing just a few main courses was a challenge. A bowl full of shrimp, straw mushrooms, carrots and pea pods was poured onto a sizzling platter in front of us, raising wonderful aromas of ginger and garlic into the air. This dish, "Sizzling Shrimp with Vegetables," was my |
Abel Quidachay enjoys the plentiful Hong Kong- style
selections at the House of Orchids.
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favorite, with its generous portion of plump, tender shrimp cooked to perfection and its flavorful sauce ideal for my side of rice.
We also had "Bean Curd with Brown Sauce," featuring braised tofu with straw and black mushrooms. Its savory sauce is widely used at the restaurant. Our third dish was "Cashew Chicken," a heaping plateful of diced chicken stir fried with vegetables and lots of cashews in a light brown sauce — not to be confused with the brown sauce above.
And speaking of sauces, House of Orchids has many, such as "Satay," "Black Bean," "Ginger & Scallion," "X.O." (a somewhat spicy sauce), "Black Pepper," "BBQ" and "Sweet & Sour." The dish names are equally diverse, with items like "Lobster with Garlic and Fresh Chili," "Honey Walnut Shrimp," "Scallop with Macadamia" and "Sizzling Beef with Black Pepper Sauce." A nice selection of vegetarian entrées is offered, and by summer, Orchids plans to serve "Dim Sum" at lunch.
Lunch specials, which include soup and rice, are a deal at $5.95. At dinner, the menu expands greatly and prices rise to $8-$10 for most items, with some seafood around $12 and specialty items varying quite a bit.
Despite our full tummies, we ate the fortune cookies (there's always room) and engaged in the traditional ritual of sharing our fortunes around the table. Here's mine for you: "You will soon go to House of Orchids with a friend for a good time and good food."
— Melissa Jacobs
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