Friday, March 1, 2013

Brunching it up

 
Dish on Market delivers a heavenly Hot Brown breakfast

Hello food lovers! Welcome to my latest brunch edition featuring two fantastic Louisville eateries: Dish on Market and Ramsi's Cafe on the World. Let it be known that both are excellent options for lunch and dinner too. A few friends and I ventured down to Dish on Market for a full-on brunch patter  which included the Skillet Baked Eggs Hot Brown, the Huevos Racheros, and a Veggie Omelette. The texas toast along with savory mornay sauce were my favorite part of the Hot Brown dish and I absolutely adored the eggs benedict style, as well as the green onion, and melted cheddar cheese. The applewood smoked bacon was not remarkable for me (although I'm not a big fan of bacon in general) and I felt the pan roasted turkey, while tasty, was piled on too much and could have done with more eggs or peppers.  

 
Huevos Racheros hits the spot--mm,mm, good!

I found the racheros dish to be very delish, particularly the combination of chorizo, spicy jack cheeses, refried beans, ranchero sauce, and refreshing lime sour cream. I could have done with more cilantro and more overall spiciness, but then again I can never get enough of those two characters.

 
A veggie lover's breakfast plate


I didn't get to sample Michael's Veggie Omelette, but the photo sure is gorge and he had no complaints at all. I did get to try his cheesy grits, which were A-MAY-ZING. I would most definitely order them on my next trip here and would also love to try the burger, which has been voted "Best Burger" by LEO readers choice awards. Dish is also a great stop for bourbon lovers, as its bar is included on the Urban Bourbon Trail--an exciting Louisville experience for those who want to explore the best bourbon bars around town.

My next brunch outing entailed a wonderful buffet experience at Ramsi's Cafe on the World. This eclectic restaurant is located in the Louisville Highlands and has been one of my local go-to spots for over 10 years. I was so excited to try their brunch buffet ($15) for the first time, which I'd heard provides a little taste of....well, the world (duh). My group arrived around 11a.m on a sunny yet cold Sunday morning and we found ourselves with about a 10-15 minute wait. The wait is always a good sign as great cuisine is sure to follow... and it did.



 
My warm-up brunch plate on the world!
 
My first plate entailed samplings of both traditional breakfast (biscuits, gravy, and scrambled eggs), as well as testings of lunch / dinner options (jerk chicken, roasted potatoes, and pesto tortilleni with shrimp). I quickly decided the pesto and jerk would be invited back for round two. A few of my pals went with breakfast basics such as french toast, bacon, and fresh fruit and found themselves going back for second helpings.



 
Ramsi's brunch plate 2



My second visit to the buffet line was amusing. Two young women, gabbing about their crazy night out, kept asking me what everything was. I kindly directed them to read the labels found below each dish. One would assume they understood this. They didn't and continued asking me, "What's that one?". One of the girls, wearing a pinkalicious T from Victoria's Secret mind you, teased about getting an entire plate full of tortilla chips for her first plate. As much as I wanted to, I just couldn't hate them and found myself laughing along the line. I piled on more pesto and jerk, added some chips and hummus, and a few other samplings--a vegan version of huevos racheros, and an amazing goat cheese chicken dish. I would re-plate this again in a heartbeat!! Everything had just the right amount of seasoning which seems rare when considering the amount of varing cuisines I had combined on one plate. Shout it from the rooftops: Ramsi's knows how to do a superb buffet platter... on the world.
 
So the next time you're craving an awesome brunch experience in Louisville, be sure to check out one or both of these hot spots and don't forget to... LIVE TO EAT!