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During the holiday season we love to reminisce on the
traditions each of our families have established. In the South, especially during these times,
a lot of those traditions stem from the kitchen. Whether it is Sunday morning biscuits or
Saturday evening greens, we can relate many things we do during this time of
year to an activity in the kitchen. So
some have taken these traditions we have grown up and fallen and love with and
combined it with an artful twist to bring us a Southern gastropub. Speckled Hen Tavern & Grille is taking the classics we
know and love and putting their upscale spin on them in hopes of intriguing us
to come dine with them.
The Speckled Hen is located in an area most people would not
think to look for nice meal out, beside a Steak ‘N Shake and Regal Cinemas and
sandwiched into a little strip amongst places that seem to just come and go
while they hold strong. The restaurant
is split up into three areas, two sections of booths and four seat tables split
by a row of high top tables and a small bar.
At first the restaurant appears to have that perfect ambient lighting,
but after trying to read a menu you realize they could turn the house lights up
a little bit. They do have a beer and
wine list, but the beer on tap are written on a chalkboard that is nearly
impossible to read because it is tucked away in a high dark corner with no
dedicated lighting to keep you from straining your eyes.
Our hostess greets and seats us without stating the specials
or taking our drink orders, and then the server shows up expecting this to
already having been done. She then goes
over the beers on tap selection and I was so distracted by the huge stain on
the server’s shirt that I had to ask her to repeat them, she seemed irked at
what is a common request that does not force her to go out of her way. She also explained the specials for us, one
which made us all look kind of funny at each other while looking over the
menu. The soup of the day way Beer
Cheese Soup, while the soup that is on the daily menu is Beer Cheese Soup. Maren, Darryl and I order our beverages and
move on to the appetizers.
Fried Brussel Sprouts, habanero aioli, balsamic reduction,
$6.
Ahh, brussel sprouts, commonly a vegetable that makes the
average kid turn their nose up and sit at the table until bed time because they
will not eat their vegetables is now being accepted for the versatile vegetable
that it is. And it is a welcome
comeback, with chefs now preparing it in ways to appeal to several palates, by
chefs frying it. These chefs are being a
little deceitful with their “fried” brussel sprouts as they are not battered
and fried, as opposed to more of a method like immersion sautéing. Finish them with a beautifully balanced
habanero aioli and contrasted with properly reduced balsamic vinegar and these
once lost vegetable will soon be found on every dinner table.
Duck Quesadilla, caramelized onion, white cheddar, avocado
aioli, charred tomato salsa, $9.
The thing with duck is you tend to either love or hate
it. Some people just can’t stand the
thought of eating the “cute animals”, while others loathe it being served for
its association with Foie Gras, and other simply because it comes across to
them as “gamey chicken”. Well if you
want a dish to attempt to change yours or another’s mind, do not do it with
this one. Though conceptually a good
dish, we felt like it was executed horribly.
The duck was flavorless and slightly greasy, and there appeared to be no
caramelized onions in the tortilla at all.
The salsa was a little lacking, but being that they are out of season
during this time of year, it did not surprise us. What did surprise us was the avocado
aioli. We would have been happier paying
for and eating toasted tortillas with avocado aioli to dip it in. Velvety texture. Heat, acid and salt were all perfectly
balanced. This sauce was executed so
well we held on to it to dip other things into the liquid love.
Tavern Fries, beer cheese sauce, bacon, scallion, $6.
Potatoes, which are just blanched and fried. Who would have thought that something so
simple would take to Americans like funnel cake and cheeseburgers? The irony behind it all is these are all
deeply rooted in European culture. But
there is definitely debate on who finally perfected them. And you can throw Speckled Hen Tavern onto
that list. Some things are not meant to
be described with words but rather experienced with the senses, so if you do
not do anything else with this restaurant, go and eat some of the fries. The beer cheese sauce did not have much of
the beer flavor we were expecting but was still very good. The only problem we had with this dish was
there was no bacon on it as stated on the menu.
While it did not hinder the crispy, golden potatoes, it surely could not
have hurt them, I mean, BACON!!!
Throughout the appetizers our server seemed to be getting
more and more irritated that she had to do her job. She did not like that I requested a glass to
go with my bottled beer, nor that I requested for water. At least it was not the tangible and audible
teenage version of irritated, but with the leering looks and the constant
setting down of the water bottle harder and harder as the night goes on, it was
obvious we were being some sort of inconvenience to her. This all leads into her not communicating to
the kitchen our progress in our starters and entrees get served while we are
still enjoying the perfect fries and awesome sprouts.
Grilled Meatloaf, caramelized onion whipped potatoes, bacon
wrapped green bean, red eye gravy, fried onion, $14.
A traditional meatloaf, nothing extraordinary or outlandish
about it. The potatoes were grainy,
almost inedible grainy, and had no caramelized onions in it. The green beans looked beautiful but were
very lacking in flavor, unseasoned and wrapped with cheap bacon. The best part about this dish was the fried
onion garnish.
Shrimp and Grits, grilled Andouille sausage, Tasso etouffee,
Anson Mills stone ground grits, $19.
Mayport shrimp are properly sautéed and served with a
beautiful creamy etouffee laced with the spices of Tasso ham. All of the toppings melded into a delicious
topping to a nice coarse stone ground grits.
The grits, however, were stone cold, so cold they had already congealed
on the outside and bottom before they put the rest of ingredients on it. Properly heated grits make this dish a
winner, but being served cold turns it mediocre.
Grilled Flank Steak, sautéed spinach, lardon whipped
potatoes, wild mushroom, roasted red pepper, Worcestershire sauce, $18.
This dish looked visibly appealing, but eating only begins
with the eyes. The flank steak was
ordered medium-rare and was served just over medium. I got the same potatoes that were served with
the meatloaf. Even to the point of mine
was missing the lardons. The roasted red
peppers tasted as is they had been soaking in straight vinegar and
Worcestershire mixed with the juices from the steak, a sign that it had not
been rested properly before slicing and plating, and spinach and created a
watery pool on the bottom of the plate, washing whatever flavor that happened
to be left into it.
When the server comes to check on us, I bring up all the
concerns of the meal. Her first mistake
was trying to blame us for taking a few more minutes to finish our starters
being the reason behind some of our food being cold. Then, instead of offering ways to fix it, she
asks us what we would like done. Darryl
decided the meatloaf was edible enough and did not ask for anything in
exchange. Maren requested a hotter side
of grits, and I decided to exchange my dish for another menu item. She returns my dish to the kitchen while I
decide on one of the burgers to replace my dinner.
Southern Burger, Cahill porter cheese, lettuce, tomato,
fried pickle, sesame seed bun, $10.
This burger made up for the disaster of a plate I had not
fifteen minutes earlier. The burger was
actually cooked medium-rare. The pickles
were thick cut and fried golden. The bun
was warm and toasty. The only thing is
the cheese gets a little lost in the mix.
It was still a good burger and it comes with more of those fries, I
mean, I could have gotten some fruit to go with it but let’s be honest; these
fries are worth eating twice in one meal.
This restaurant certainly provided killer entertainment with
a meal. After all, how many places offer a roller coaster ride with dinner? The
worst part is they decided to leave us in a slump. While we were finishing our meals, our server
informed us that the manager had tried my original dinner and agreed that it
was sub-par. Good to know management
backs a customer, bad to know they will not come to the table and admit their
mistakes.
The Speckled Hen has skills in the kitchen but does not
deliver 100% of the time. I remember
seeing this place open a few years ago. They have done a good job changing
their menu to keep clientele coming through the door, but good fries, concepts,
and beer will not keep a restaurant afloat if your customers don’t feel like
they are being given the service they are paying for. I am hoping the next thing they work on is
fixing the service side with both the kitchen and service staff. But until I
hear word of that, I do not think I will be dining here again for some time.
