A saving's grace...

My previous visit to the Stable, for brunch was so bad that it seemed to have garnered the attention of the restaurant's owner.  Upon being asked if there was anything he could do to make my dining experience better, I responded that the menu items that needed a change, NEED to be changed.  I don't ask anything for myself, as the money I spent on that fateful day was a loss and I just have to accept that.  While not entirely a trip back to re-try the brunch, I did get a chance to go back to the Stable, again, for dinner.

Originally, I was to try the Blackthorn Pub as the pub is continuously being written up in the RFT for their great pizza.  There was a few issues with me dining in the pub, this past Saturday night.  The first and foremost being space.  The small pub is home to perhaps 5 booths and about 6 tables, together seating probably no more than 40 people, if packed like sardines.  The bar had every seat taken and since there is no seater or host or hostess, you basically have to either stand in a line or stand across from the area that you want to sit at.  This reminded me of my time at Old Country Buffet when old people would make snarls and strange faces at the people who were in "their" spots until those people finished up and left so the "regulars" could have "their" favorite spot.  I saw an old couple at the pub, staring at couple, likely on a date, attempting to intimidate them to finish up quickly so they could have that booth.  After watching a small party of people leave from an 8 person table and then watching 4 people take that table and use the extra seats to house their coats and purses, I felt like we would not get a seat within the hour.  It was already 7:15 and after waiting for 5 minutes, as our stomachs growled, we decided to leave. 

I don't know if I will get a chance to dine there at the pub again, unless I come about 2 hours before I intend to eat and then when people stare at me and try to get me to feel uncomfortable enough to leave the pub, I should stare back at them with this "I will take you down" look and hope they stand in front of someone else's table.

Lucky for myself  and my two buddies and fellow foodies, The Stable, was about 5 minutes away and maybe longer as most of the city's residential roads were about as clear as mud.  After finding a lucky spot right in front of The Stable, we went in.  We were seated quickly and greeted just as quick.  The waitress was very patient with our slow choice of beers or drinks and even food.  She even played along with our random decision making as my father asked her to pick a number, in order to make his beer selection. 

We started with some starters: like the basket of bacon, which is always good.  But also added the bacon wrapped dates and the Cajun steak bites.  The bacon wrapped dates were juicy and sweet.  The bacon's maple flavor brought out the sweetness of the dates and added to the juiciness. The dates changed the bacon from a savory dish to a sweet dish, even when dipped into the red pepper sauce.  The bacon wrapped dates was easily a 5 out of stars as it just blew each of us our of the water.  It was the highlight of the meal and after we had finished our entrees we still came back and finished off the dates.

The other one we had, were these Cajun steak bites. What it was, was basically the most tender, mouth watering, fall-apart in your mouth piece of not too spicy but full flavored steak that you have ever had. They took about 3 chews to swallow and the flavor was not too overwhelming but also not deaf but just right.  These were a 4 out of 5 stars.

 

Next came the entrees and we were set for something different.  I really was caught between making the choice of the "plate of food" or one of their sandwiches.  I chose the sandwich.  One of my friends chose a different sandwich and the third picked a plate.  My father chose the Mixed Grill, which was a mix of sausages and some home-made res skinned potato salad.

My other friend picked the steak sandwich which was then topped with onions and peppers and cheese.  I appeared to have been good enough that he ate the whole thing and left nothing, not even a crumb.

I picked a grinder, which is a sandwich made up of ground beef that is stuffed into a piece of French bread.  The one I ordered was the Pizza Grinder, which had pepperoni and mozzarella cheese on top.  It was awesome.  It wasn't what I was expecting but definitely good. The ground steak, wasn't too flavorful but in a good way because if it was, it may not have worked well with the pizza-like theme.  I gave the sandwich a 3 out of 5 stars.  Overall though, even though it wasn't Brunch, which I have yet to re-try, I will say that our dinner selections were very tasty and helped convince my father that The Stable could be trusted again and should be visited again.

Back to the Stables...

When I review a restaurant, it is impossible for me to test everything on the menu.  I do not make much money at my day-to-day job so I cannot afford to go to a great place like The Stable and order 10 dishes for myself. So, if I am not with a large group of people, I have to go back to a previous location. Going back serves two purposes: first, it allows me to try something new and different and secondly, it allows me to track any changes the restaurant has made, be them good or bad.  This  past Friday, I gathered some friends and foodies and went on a return trip to The Stable.

 People have read my past blog and have started to go to the Stable and I have been asking what they have ordered and what they would recommend. A friend of mine suggested the house beer and the gumbo. Now, I did order the house beer and it was awesome, and of course a basket of bacon was ordered, and then the gumbo.  A fellow foodie and I were very disappointed in this gumbo to the point where I was unable to finish mine. From their menu, the Sicilian Gumbo has salsiccia, shrimp, fava beans, roasted peppers, ground beef and risotto.  While that description sounds good, that is what both of us hoped for. The first bite, was not a very good impression, however. My first scoopful of gumbo, and every bite thereafter, tasted like tomatoes and vinegar. It was a strong, sour taste that I was not looking forward to as I attempted to find those other ingredients in my cup.  I admit that it wasn't the best photo above, but it is enlarged to show that the items listed, were not in my gumbo.  It tasted like someone made a quick tomato sauce for pasta and placed it in a cup. There was ground beef, tomatoes, and a single slice of sausage.  There was no beans, no shrimp, no pepper, and not a single grain of risotto.  I kept talking with my friend, asking him if he has anything in his and he didn't find anything.  Every bit to him tasted like vinegar and with me only have taken 6 or 7 bites, I called it quits.  In my book, that cup of gumbo, read, in the menu as something very tasty, but what we were given, gets about 1 star out of 5.

On the upside, what The Stable really shines at is the variety of their Chef, whether he was in control of our gumbo/vinegar soup, we do not know, but the rest of the food was delicious. The Stable has an entree', so strange and unusual that my friend and I had to order it.  We decided on the Plate of Food. This entree', says that it is the Chef's selection, changes by the minute, changes by the hour, we don't know, $8.95 and no refunds. How much more manly can you get by having a beer, a basket of bacon and a plate of food. This wild card item was ordered by both of us, within a few seconds of each other and ideas began to fill our heads about what it could be.  What was more interesting was the thought that the Plate of Food could be two separate dishes and each of us would receive a completely different dish. Think of the possibilities and in particular, think of how many different possible dishes the chef could create and piece together.  If the chef has the components for every one of his regular dishes, in house, then would else could he have for the Plate of Food?  Are you ready....?

My food turned out to be a giant plate of two large slabs of a spicy meatloaf, a heaping scoop of a red skinned, cheesy mashed potatoes and a side of steamed broccoli.  The potatoes were creamy and rich, the meatloaf had a spice to them that was enhanced and brought upon by some extra richness in the gravy, and the broccoli had a dash of butter on them. My dish was a 4 out of 5.

 

My friend's dish came out as a breast and leg of an herbed, baked chicken, some mashed sweet potatoes and broccoli as well. I think he gave his meal a good 4 out of 5 as well.

The moral of the story, live dangerous, take a risk, and try the Plate of Food.

The horse before the cart

I am like every other German American guy in St. Louis, in that I love pork, beer and sausage. It is something that gets into your genes when you live within the St. Louis area. Almost everyone has seen or eaten some sort of sausage or pork product at almost every BBQ or family event. Beer makes the world go around and when what is probably the largest North American brewery is in your hometown, then beer is definitely part of your life.

Just this past Saturday, I attended a meal at a not so well known spot in St. Louis, called The Stable. This location would be classified as historic as it was the same stable that housed the draft horses that pulled Lemp Fallstaff beer around town, as the Lemp Brewery is right across the street. This was my first time hearing of and going to the Stable and I was very happy that I did. The inside has a high ceiling, plenty of ceiling and a host that will great you immediately and sit you rather quickly. They have smaller 2-top tables for dates and can even make larger tables for 20 or more. The restaurant is decorated with some simple things from the time, like the ol'fashioned chandeliers that resemble wagon wheels, hanging from the ceiling and many things hanging on the wall from the time period. The bar is made from a huge wooden mantle piece and there are two small rooms adjacent to each other that have a distillery for making their own alcohol and beers.

I sat down and was prepared to carefully peruse the menu until something caught my eye: basket of bacon. It was a Starter and it was $5.95 and it was a basket of bacon. How sweet does that sound? Had the food gods noticed my love for food pork and have delivered sacred mana bacon from heaven? What better can you get for a lover of pork products than bacon? Without thinking and acting as if through divine inspiration, I ordered that starter, along with one of their home brewed Marzens. After a few minutes, the basket arrived. The bacon was perfectly cooked for the way I like it. It wasn't too crispy, but still a bit soft and flimsy, perfectly done. It was set in a small basket, lined with some wax paper and the 8 strips were arranged in set a way that the grease would run down and collect in a pool in the bottom of the basket. The bacon, tasted like bacon: no maple syrup, no pepper, no spiciness, no smoked anything, just bacony goodness in a perfect multi-note dish of all bacon. Mmmmmmm..... an easy 4 stars out of 5 for all bacon.

I then received the butternut squash ravioli with a white bean ragout and it arrived shortly after the bacon. The ravioli were perfectly cooked with a filling that was almost too sweet for a savory dish. Unless that was their evil plan. I wonder if it was their plan to pair the sweetness of the pasta with the savoriness of the stew, underneath. With white beans and shaved vegetables it was in a nice salty broth that pulled the whole thing together. Don't get me wrong that the ravioli were very delicious but I just wasn't sure that it went perfectly well with what it was sitting on. 3 1/2 stars out of 5 for me.

The last dish I had was the Cajun sandwich, which was a hoagie roll with andouille, shrimp, a sauce with a side of pasta salad. The pasta salad was your normal cold pasta salad, that I am always a fan of but it was the sausage in the sandwich that was notable. Much like Anton Ego, I almost dropped everything I was holding when I tasted the sausage in that sandwich. It instantly teleported me to a camping trip from my childhood when my father would gather sausage from a meat market and bring it and cook it over an open fire, in the woods. The flavors reminded me exactly of that childhood meal and I could almost feel everything melt around me and transport me directly to that same wooded area, sitting in front of that fire and eating that sausage. I was in shock at the perfect balance of flavors and spices a thought for a brief moment that it wasn't real. It worked perfectly with the sauce, cheese, shrimp and bread as everything came together to fulfil a taste that was almost, no... better than the basket of bacon. Whereas I normally try to train my palette for as many things as I can to help distinguish between foods for my star ratings, this sandwich gets my top score of a 5 out of 5.

For anyone looking for a nice night out with some great food that is in the St. Louis area, I highly recommend the Stable. along with their 24 beers on tap and their 50 bottles that they house as well, it is a perfect beer lovers place, if you are not into sausage or bacon.