It’s a new
year and it was time to revisit an upscale restaurant that we hadn’t been to in
3 or 4 years. Cost is always a
consideration but this venue is also a long drive from our home.
Our
last visit to Northshore Brasserie was with our friends Lynn and George and
they were our dining partners this time as well. The restaurant is located in a strip shopping
center along Northshore Drive in Knoxville.
This restaurant
had been in business for more than 10 years.
It’s a family owned, full-service restaurant and bar serving homemade
French Belgian cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere.
We were hopeful that it would be as good as we remembered but I had seen
a couple of less than positive reviews lately…
After
an hour drive, we arrived for dinner at about 5:30 pm. The dining area and the bar were fairly empty
when we arrived but, as you can see, both areas were packed with patrons by the
time we were finishing our entrees!
Our
very attentive and efficient waiter brought us this little bag of warm crusty
bread…and I was thinking, “Is that it?!”
No worries though, the nice crusty bread kept coming warm and fresh as
long as we wanted more of it.
All of these
condiments were served with of Lynn’s appetizer. I saved the leftover horseradish for possible
use with my entrée.
Our
waiter did mention that there had been a recent chef change so the suspense was
building as we ordered our meals…
Lynn
loves oysters but she hesitated when she heard that they were from the Gulf of
Mexico. However she gave in and ordered this half dozen to start out her meal. (Market Price) She said that they were
fine but not her favorite…
Laurie
loves Escargot and she really liked this version that came sans the snail
shells! ($12.00) These “Iron Skillet Escargots” were sautéed in white wine,
garlic herb butter and parmesan. I’m not
an escargot fan but Laurie did let me ‘steal’ a bit of that cheese, wine and
butter from the bottom of the pan… Yum!
For my
appetizer/starter, I ordered a healthy salad… This is the Brasserie Salade.
($7.00) It included mixed baby greens, tomatoes, cucumber, egg and Danish bleu
cheese. It was a nice fresh salad…
Laurie
surprised me when she ordered the Veal Ragu Pasta. ($24.00) She gave me a taste
and I had to agree with her… This entree was very nice indeed!
I
continued to try to eat a relatively healthy meal. (My pre-dinner drink, a Jack
Daniel’s ‘neat’ was healthy wasn’t it?) For my entrée I ordered the Roasted
Half Chicken. ($24.00) It came with pommes puree (whipped potatoes), Brussel
sprouts and the chicken was topped with charred citrus…lemon. It was a very nice meal and well-presented
too.
I will
admit that I was jealous when I saw George’s entrée! He ordered the Lamb Shank. ($30.00) It came
with sweet potatoes, mushrooms and parsley-mint gremolata. He couldn’t finish it and he gave me a
taste! Excellent!
FYI… I
had no idea what ‘gremolata’ was. It is
defined as a dressing or garnish made with chopped parsley, garlic, and grated
lemon zest, served as an accompaniment to meat or fish.
Lynn is
a carnivore, that’s for sure. Again I
was jealous! She ordered the Butcher’s
Steak with shallot bordelaise sauce and pomme frites/French fries. ($24.00) The
steak was perfectly cooked and she happily cleaned her plate.
What
the heck, other than the bread and butter, I’d been relatively healthy…until
dessert that is! Both couples ordered
Profiteroles ($7.00) to share with their spouse. This dessert consists of a pastry shell
filled with vanilla ice cream, topped with a bit of fruit and smothered with
warm luscious chocolate sauce.
Excellent!
In our
opinion, the new chef is doing just fine.
Northshore Brasserie continues to rank near the top of the fine dining
pantheon in the Knoxville metropolitan area.
It’s a great place to celebrate a special occasion. Both the service and the food were far above
the norm!
Northshore
Brasserie is located at 9430 South Northshore Drive in Knoxville
Tennessee. Phone: 865-539-5188. Website: http://northshorebrasserie.com/.
Just
click on any of the photos to enlarge them…
Thanks
for stopping by for dinner!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
Looks like a special place. The meals all look delicious and well presented.
ReplyDeleteDid someone say lamb? LOL! Wow, lamb is my favourite...followed by chicken and salmon. The meals look succulent and the presentations are lovely! :)
ReplyDeleteThat did look like a special meal. It would have taken me a while to decide what to order – either the lamb shank or the steak with fries – since it is a Belgian restaurant their fries should be excellent because fries are not “French” they originated from Belgium. In France we just call them “frites.” Being Belgian, there should have been a good list of beer because Belgian beers are famous – and there is such a great variety. That was quite a meal.
ReplyDelete