Simply Thai Middletown, Burger Boy Don't Score Well With Reviewers

Simply Thai's Middletown spot only scored 79 points (oh so close to a B-) in Robin Garr's LEO Weekly review. "Fresh spring rolls ($5), fat cylinders of shredded carrots, cucumber and rice noodles rolled in lettuce and translucent rice paper plus your pick of shrimp, chicken bits, tofu or grilled veggies, were carefully formed but on the bland side, really needing a dip in the accompanying sweet-hot peanut sauce to bring them around. Tom Kha (chicken lemongrass coconut-milk soup scented with ginger-like galanghal, $5) didn't show us much in the flavor department, but a simple spicy beef salad ($9) gained from flavorful, thin-sliced beef and spicy lime dressing over standard salad fixins." [Louisville Hot Bytes]

The Louisville Courier-Journal's Marty Rosen gave Main Street Cafe three stars out of four, reveling in the "deliciously transgressive" behavior of eating breakfast at any time. Eggs in the middle of the afternoon? Marty, you naughty, naughty boy. "As far as I'm concerned, chef [Laurence] Agnew's bruleed grapefruit ($3) is the height of civilized luxury. The torched surface looks like red gold, and for some folks that, an order of toast and a cup of coffee would be a grand way to start the day. But there's more, of course. Agnew whips up a play on Colombian cuisine with arepas and eggs ($9.50), featuring a griddled corn cake, spicy house-made chorizo and scrambled eggs along with a scoop of black beans, a drizzle of Mexican crema and some smashed avocado." [Louisville Courier-Journal]

Robin Garr, this time for the Voice Tribune, lets loose a "Whoa!" over the SuperChef's concept: these chefs serve breakfast in restaurants normally closed until lunch, then get the hell out of the way. "If you're on a tight budget, you can find plenty of deliciousness for as low as $5.99 a plate. A platter of sizzling beignets, crisp-fried and enhanced with a dab of creme anglaise, light enough to float to the ceiling, come in at that low toll with coffee included; the same charge will buy you the memorably savory roasted red-pepper grits with a pretzel croissant or a hearty bowl of peanut-butter-and-jelly oatmeal. An order of breakfast tacos ($9.99) brought three hard-shell corn shells loaded with the chef's own house-made sausage, fluffy scrambled eggs with cheese and a cheesy Mornay sauce, garnished with diced tomatoes and a small side of mesclun topped with salsa." [Louisville Hot Bytes]

For the Lousiville Courier-Journal, Marty Rosen scored Burger Boy 2.5 stars out of 4, while on the same day, in a review with the same words, but this time published in for the C-J-owned Metromix, he gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars. I hope Burger Boy's chef doesn't go all Bernard Loiseau over the downgrade. "What Burger Boy does quite well is breakfast...Prices are low enough to comfort nearly any pocketbook. For $6.99, you can tuck into two eggs (any style — other than poached), home fries, a hefty portion of biscuits and Southern-style gravy, and bacon, ham or sausage (Beware: The cooks sometimes cook off meats in advance of a rush. I once encountered a rasher of bacon so badly overdone it could have starred as a comic book supervillain — but that's an exception)...I would note that Burger Boy also offers chili ($3.49) — but not a version I can endorse." [Louisville Courier-Journal]

For WFPL, Dana McMahan declared Feast BBQ not only a viable candidate for her desired last meal on Earth, but—more remarkably—also worth a trip to Indiana. "Brisket, chicken, pulled pork, smoked tofu, sweet potato fries, mac and cheese, baked beans, collard greens—dish after dish. I tore into my plate with full intentions of finishing all of my dishes and tasting everything. And it was a valiant attempt. 'I am impressed,' my husband said in reverent tones as I plowed through the spread. The food was so very, very good that it didn't take any particular skill on the part of this professional eater to polish off a significant portion. The creamy, peppery mac and cheese led perfectly to the crunchy cole slaw, which was the perfect segue to the savory, succulent pulled pork, followed by the surprisingly complex tofu and capped off with the perfectly crispy, sweet and savory sweet potato fries." [WFPL]

LEO Weekly's Robin Garr overcame a confused Siri and was able to find Relish, rating it a 92. Why did Garr need directions to River Road? Is he not local? "We loaded up on lunch and took more deli dishes home, and I couldn't find a nit to pick. The churrasco steak ($9) was perfect medium-rare as ordered, thin medallions over a Salvadorean-style arepa (corn cake) filled with grilled jalapeños and finished with spicy sautéed mushrooms and bright-green Argentinean chimichurri. The onion and goat cheese tart ($7) was simple and flavorful, fine short pastry topped with sliced onions sautéed dark brown and sweet, garnished with mild goat cheese crumbles and plated with a pile of fresh, bitter arugula tossed in a gentle lemon vinaigrette." [Louisville Hot Bytes]

While not located in Louisville, but also relevant to our interests as it's at the new 21c Museum Hotel in Cincinnati and its executive chef is Michael Paley, formerly of Proof on Main, the Cincinnati Enquirer's Polly Campbell and her hat gave Metropole five stars out of five. "Though the setting and the art everywhere (including on the floor on the way to the bathroom) are thrilling, it's the outright eatability of the food that will surely bring people back. Chef Michael Paley creates imaginative dishes that use foodstuffs you may never have had in combinations you may never have thought of. Still, they're each essentially simple. One of my favorites was not much more than pork, polenta and broccoli ($26) – heirloom pork, locally raised, with all possible flavor developed through braising it in milk and finishing it over fire. The grilled strip steak ($32) has a texture as close to melting as red meat can have with a mouth-filling flavor; the best steak I've had in ages. Seared octopus is a favorite dish in Louisville: here it's served with watercress and garbanzos and has a surprising texture: tender but firm and meaty ($12)." [Cincinnati Enquirer]

[Photo: Courtesy Simply Thai]