Just Appetizers – WOW!

…continuing with our short exploratory adventure in the area around Lexington Kentucky.  Following our tour of the Kentucky Horse Park, the four of us, Bonnie, Bill, Laurie and yours truly, headed over to a restaurant that I’d researched in advance.  It looked great and the food reviews seemed to match up too…  

OBC Kitchen…is a local restaurant that is famous for its rare bourbon collection, extensive wine list and its eclectic craft beers.  It was named after the counties that eventually became Kentucky.  The words “Old Bourbon County” were stamped on bourbon barrels that floated on down the Mississippi River from Kentucky.  The adjoining Malone's Prime is part of the same company that owns OBC Kitchen. 

While Bill and I do imbibe in bourbon from time to time, our real draw was the menu and the restaurant’s reputation for both quality and creative food offerings…

We arrived at OBC Kitchen at about 3:45 PM and the place didn’t look all that busy…but I quickly learned that all was not what it seemed.  I knew that it was a horse racing weekend in Lexington at the nearby Keeneland Race track, but I thought that we’d be OK if we ate early.  As it turned out, we were told that they could only seat us if we were finished by 5:30 PM…a condition to which we readily agreed.

The restaurant isn’t huge but the tables were nicely spaced.  The bar is very large indeed and, as you can see, it was well stocked with adult beverages.  Those lists on the wall of the dining area enumerates the variety of Kentucky Bourbon that OBC Kitchen generally keeps on hand.

I took this photo of Bill and Bonnie at our table.  For those who don’t follow my blog, Bonnie is Laurie’s sister and Bill is Bonnie’s husband.  This was their first trip following Bill’s recent retirement.

Laurie actually tried and liked this bourbon drink.  Zach, our waiter, talked her into it.  It was bourbon diluted with a simple syrup over a pretty round ball of ice.  At $14.00 each, this must have been a great bourbon as well.  She did enjoy it…

OBC Kitchen (aka Old Bourbon Country) stocks as many as 154 Kentucky bourbons.  That doesn’t even include the American (non-Kentucky) bourbons, American whiskey, Irish Whiskey, Rye Whiskey, Private Stock bourbons, Japanese Whiskey, Tennessee Whiskey, Scotch Whiskey and Canadian Whiskies on hand. 

No, this isn’t all of the bread that was served at our table.  It’s the remnants of the second basket of bread that we consumed.  These yeasty, buttery scrumptious rolls were just over the top amazing.  We ate 3 baskets of them in total…no charge for the bread.

OK, what to eat?  Had to be done by 5:30 PM… We looked over the menu which included Asian rolls, Appetizers and Entrees and we decided to skip the entrees and go for the appetizer related items, in quantity of course.

These Short Rib Tacos ($14.00) were far and away my favorites.  The short ribs were cola-braised, then served on flour tortillas with salsa verde, pico de gallo, a kale-jicama slaw and horseradish crema.  They were just excellent!   

Another table favorite was the Breeder’s Cup Roll ($14.00) with crispy tempura shrimp, avocado and cucumber wrapped in seaweed and sushi rice, then topped with spicy crabmeat salad, tempura crunch, sushi sauce and microgreens.

Bill ordered these huge Hickory Smoked Chicken Wings with a BBQ spice rub and a sorghum-ponzu glaze. ($14.00) They came with a crisp celery slaw and pickled red onions.  I’m not a fan of smoked or smoky tasting fowl of any kind, but everyone else really liked these wings…

Another choice was the Braised Country Ham. ($13.00) The ham was molasses-braised and then thinly sliced and served with pickled vegetables, crostini and grain mustard.  This appetizer was just another winner!

As another option, I chose the Smoked Salmon “Potato Skins”. ($14.00) The potato skins are topped with premium Ducktrap River Kendall Brook smoked salmon, whipped herb cream cheese, organic arugula, citrus vinaigrette along with lemon-Tabasco aioli and microgreens.  Very nice indeed!

Between the 3 baskets of rolls with butter, our adult beverages and the five (5) appetizers, we were quite content and couldn’t have done justice to any entrees, that’s for sure.  But we weren’t done…we just didn’t know it.

When our waiter came by and asked what else we’d like, we told him that we “were all in” and ready for our check.  He told us that we couldn’t leave yet as we hadn’t tried OBC’s candied bacon.  A couple of minutes later, he delivered this glass containing honey bourbon sugar glazed bacon with peanut butter on the side. (Normally $12.00) It was an amazing and satisfying conclusion for our OBC adventure in dining!  Note: We did try the peanut butter accompaniment…but didn’t really ‘get it’.

Our waiter for this delicious experience was Zach.  He was very attentive, knew how to ‘sell’ without being too pushy and he provided great service.  It didn’t hurt any that he also charmed Laurie and Bonnie…

When we return to Lexington again, we’ll be stopping at OBC again, this time to try a couple of entrees.  OBC Kitchen is located in a shopping center at 3373 Tate’s Creek Road in Lexington Kentucky.  They are open daily.  Phone: 859-269-9922 or 859-977-2600.  Website: OBC KITCHEN, OLD BOURBON COUNTY.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave