Tag: fried green tomatoes

Food Review: Blue Heaven Benton

I’ve been hearing so many wonderful things about this new restaurant in Benton, Blue Heaven. We went there for my mom’s birthday last night and here is the breakdown:

ENVIRONMENT

Wow. The most impressive thing about this place is how absolutely beautiful it is, inside and out. These owners really went above and beyond to make this place feel fancy, clean, while still homey and comfortable.

There are a few rooms inside, but we dined in this beautiful sunroom, which opened up to their outdoor spaces. There was also a large, open dining room adjacent to a stunning bar area that I may have to sit in next time just for the fancy ambience.

However, outside is remarkable.

Our dining room opened up to a covered, outdoor seating area full of many, many tables, decor, plants, outdoor furniture, and great lighting.

This area also has an outdoor bar.

There’s even a coy pond!

Finally, there are two gaming areas, one with ping pong and another with horse shoes and cornhole.

 

MENU

You can find their menu here on their Facebook page. They have lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch menus. There seems to be a little bit of everything from sandwiches, steaks, pastas, and some unique items as well.

 

FOOD

Key Lime Pie Martini: $9


Ok, this isn’t food, but it was the only drink ordered and it did taste like key lime pie. It was very tasty and we loved the graham cracker rim.

Fried Green Tomatoes: with remoulade sauce: $7.95

These were good fried green tomatoes, and the homemade remoulade was perfect! However, there were just five tiny tomato slices for $8. I probably won’t get these again for $1.60 per bite. #cheapskate

House Salad that comes with each entrée and your choice of homemade dressing

These came in beautiful bowls and you got to pick from a variety of homemade dressings. The ranch was delicious! While I loved the couple of radishes, tomatoes, and cucumbers, the lettuce was pretty wilted and I was wishing I had some croutons or at least crackers or bread for the table?

Crispy Duck: $26.95
Description: Half of a domestic duck confied then dropped in the deep fryer to a crispy golden brown an drizzled with mojo Caribbean glaze. Comes with one side and a side salad

The two options for sides this evening were sautéed green beans or a baked potato. The green beans were so flavorful. I really enjoyed them. The duck skin was tasty, with a sweet honey-like glaze over it. The meat inside seemed a little tough. Perhaps frying it after it is confied overcooks it a little? I was most excited about this dish, but it ended up being my least favorite.

Cornish Hen: $18:95
Description: Marinated overnight and deep fried to perfection. Comes with one side and a side salad.

Coconut Shrimp: $21.95
Description: Jumbo shrimp battered in coconut shaving mixture fried to a golden brown and served with a rum orange marmalade dipping sauce. Comes with one side (baked potato) and side salad.

I didn’t taste this one! But they looked perfectly cooked. And well, a potato is a potato.

Blue Heaven Signature Burger with added “crispy” bacon: $13.95
Description: All beef patty cooked medium or well done (well done here…my mom’s order, not mine!) served with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, with your choice of cheese (American, pepper jack, or Swiss)

I’m pretty sure my mom was not given a salad, but only a choice or fries or chips, like a lunch entree. Either way, the burger was probably the item ordered at the table. My mom loved it and ate every bite of it!

Strawberry Cake: $6

My mom loves strawberry cake, so we got one for the table. I had only one bite because it was so dry. Maybe a day or two old and in its youth it was better? My mom enjoyed it, though, which is what counts! It was her birthday!

 

OVERALL

I really wanted to fall in love with this place. But at $150 after a 20% tip for 4 people, I guess I’m kind of relieved I didn’t just love it. The ambiance, the whole setting? I loved that! What an epic place to rent out for an event. I just wish all the food was really good. I also think an offering of a little homemade bread for each table would make the dining experience feel even more special. Maybe one day?
Yet, on a Wednesday evening, the entire restaurant was packed, so what do I know? =)

 

Food Review: Copper Mule Table & Tap in Bryant

The Copper Mule Table & Tap is a relatively new, exciting, and popular restaurant in Bryant, AR. It’s been on my list to try for a couple months now and I had a wonderful experience last night! Here is the breakdown:

ATMOSPHERE

The Copper Mule is located in a new shopping center and isn’t anything too fancy.

It’s modern with the beams showing and metal chairs, and I love that they serve their food on metal trays. They have two dining areas and a bar.

 

MENU

Drinks:

   

There is a large menu of signature drinks: different versions of Arkansas mules and then their own specialty cocktails are the main event.
There is also Happy Hour Tues- Friday from 4-6, where the drafts and mules are $1 off and the specialty cocktails are $2 off.
We went during happy hour, of course!

Food:

The menu is mostly Cajun fare, including jambalaya, voodoo pasta, crawfish mac and cheese, etc. However, there are a few sandwiches to choose from as well, such as po’boys, fried bologna, and burgers.  There are also fried baskets of all sorts, including fish and chicken strips. There are salads, but not too many options. What sounded the most exciting to me are their starters, which include fried boudin balls (mule balls), fried pickles, fried crawfish tails, and more.

 

FOOD and DRINKS

Head Hunter ($7 during happy hour) and Blueberry Mojito ($6 during happy hour)

The Head Hunter is two different rums, vodka, blue curacao, lemon, lime, pineapple, and Demerara simple syrup. It was delicious and tropical, just like I imagined.

The Blueberry Mojito was exactly what you’d expect. It had rum, simple syrup, club soda, lime, mint, and blueberries. It was good, but nothing too unique.

Strawberry Basic Mule ($8 during happy hour)

This drink was our favorite of all three. It has strawberry vodka, basil vodka, ginger beer, grenadine, lime, and strawberries. It packed great flavors that really worked well together to make a nice, refreshing drink.

Fried Green Tomatoes ($7, or $10 if add spicy crab on top)

We voted to get ours plain and these were pretty good. Perhaps a little greasy, but come on, we are eating fried green tomatoes. The remoulade sauce was so delicious, though! We kept the leftover sauce to put on whatever other food was headed our way next.

Fried Berkshire Chop with Lemon Caper Sauce plus Fried Okra and Greens ($18)

This was the best meal of the evening. Everything was so good, but especially that massive, perfectly fried bone-in porkchop. It was very thick, and cooked perfectly. It was so juicy and flavorful. The crust was perfectly crunchy. Though, the sauce gave it that extra punch of flavor that I loved. It was so big, I took half of it home.
The fried okra wasn’t anything special, but it wasn’t greasy and that is a good thing!
The greens had almost as much pork in them as they did greens, but that doesn’t bother me. There was so much porky flavor, it was delicious.

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo Bowl ($12)

This bowl was massive! It came with two scoops of creole potato salad, like they do in New Orleans. Overall, it was good, but it needed more seasoning for sure. It was a little bland. Thankfully, not only do they put salt and pepper on the tables, but there’s also a house spice blend you can sprinkle on whatever you like. We put all three on this one and it was much better.

Fried Shrimp Basket ($12)

I didn’t get to try this, I was too full from everything else. Though, my mom enjoyed it. The shrimp looked perfectly fried with a light batter and crispy. Again, nothing was greasy here. It came with that delicious remoulade sauce, so that made it worth it no matter what.

 

OVERALL

The whole experience was great because the service was top notch. Our waiter was so kind and friendly and knowledgeable about the menu, both food and drink. There wasn’t a hiccup all night and our food came out with perfect timing, piping hot and fresh.

I think this place is a real winner and have no doubt they’ll be around for a long time. I will definitely be back, probably to get that pork chop again.