Friday, June 13, 2008

Bay Leaf Cafe

Jason:
Fusion, the mixing of disparate influences to get something new, also a restaurant fad. Bay Leaf Cafe, in Little 5 Points bills itself as a fusion restaurant. We wondered in anticipation at what kind of inspired fusion we would get to feast on. The we opened the menu. Fusion? More like confusion. There was bruschetta, caprese salad, pad thai, steak, ravioli, and various other slightly boring yet representative foods from various places, but no fusion. We dove in though, starting with an appetizer of Bay Leaf Volcano. It was a piece of pita bread with some chicken, tomatoes, spinach, basil, and chipotle sauce. It tasted homemade in the worst way possible. Not that it tasted bad, but that there was nothing special about it. Anybody could have thrown this together, and the chipotle sauce was nonexistent.

On to the main course. I got the special, which was an 8 oz New York Strip with asparagus and mashed potatoes. And just to reiterate what I said earlier this was not fusion at all. For $8.00 it was actually a pretty good deal though. The steak was tasty (and cooked how I ordered it), if not very special, and the asparagus was nicely done. The mashed potatoes weren't creamy enough, but at least they tasted and looked potatoey. That sauce that could possibly have given some interesting aspect of fusion was just A1.

Katy went for one of the Asian dishes, ginger chicken. This meat was the exact same meat that was on the volcano. If there was ginger we didn't find it. If there was taste we missed it. I won this round (I'm nice though so I let her eat some steak and asparagus).

So the meal is over, we head out, and this is where lunch gets interesting. We go to Java Lords across the street because Katy needs some Mexican hot chocolate (which is really good here). I had a cup of coffee in my car so I wasn't going to get anything until I see today's brew:

Yes, today's brew is "Robert Mugabe is an Ass Clown." There's no way I can refuse that, so I get a cup. We decide that it doesn't really taste like ass, and the closest thing to a clown would be circus peanuts, but that's really an unfair comparison. I don't know what Robert Mugabe tastes like (I'm an adventurous eater, but I don't actually ever plan on finding that out), but it's probably a safe bet that it didn't taste like him either. So the marketing was deceptive, yet highly effective. That's okay because it was still good coffee. Anyway, I'm putting one of those heat protectors on my cup, when who should walk up but my ex-girlfriend Beth. I guess it makes sense that if I spend enough time a tenth of a mile from her house that I'll eventually run into her, but it was a shock nonetheless. We all talked for awhile, and it was actually nice to see her again.

Katy:
Java Lords was clearly the best part of this outing. I can't add much to the whole fusion/confusion comment (very nice wording, Jason). This restaurant clearly could not decide what it wanted to be. Maybe they're hoping to be the magical destination everyone goes to when no one in your group can agree on what kind of food they want (Jason forgot to mention the Cuban sandwiches and hummus also on the menu).

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