A Night at Slims

Last night Wendy and I went to Slims, a small restaurant in Northside, Cincinnati. Adam and Andrea watched Owen for us so we could enjoy a date night for once. Cincinnati Magazine just rated Slims as the #4 restaurant in town so we were definitely excited to take the venture.

There are a few things that make Slims cool. The owner, Patrick McCafferty, looks like a college professor and drives a lime green scooter. Slims has communal seating, big tables so many people, even those that don't know each other, can eat and socialize with everyone around them. Slims is BYOA, Bring Your Own Alcohol; this way you are not held captive to the wine list provided by the restaurant. Last and probably the most important, you can get world class food for a Prix Fixe price of 35 dollars. No, that is not a typo, 35 dollars. If this restaurant was downtown, he could charge whatever he wanted and people would pay it.

The meal started with two freebie appetizers, one being duck confit on puff pastry and a yam mash on the same puff pastry. Both a tasty morsel to start the evening off nicely.

Next came our appetizers, Wendy had the Vatapa. A sublime combination of curry, coconut, onions and tomatoes. I had one bite and was wanting more but Wendy drained the bowl. I had the Shrimp and Scallop Seviche, which again, was a wonderful combination with just enough spice to spark the palate.

For the official second course we each had the Crab, Mango and Avocado salad. This my friend was the highlight of the evening and worth the price of admission. It was delectable, creamy and melted in your mouth. The added Spanish influenced spice made it the most enjoyable and tasty dish of the evening. I could have eaten this salad for my meal. All they needed to do was find the biggest plate they had of the stuff and I would have been in heaven.

In between our salad course and main course we received a cheese plate with 3 different kind of cheeses and some roasted grapes. We also received a mango sorbet to cleanse the palate for our main course. Onto the main courses...

Wendy had Lamb Shanks on top of a Cuban flavored polenta which was fantastic. The lamb fell off the bone and had no hint of gaminess. Overall the flavors meshed well together but unfortunately one of the shanks was a little overcooked.

My meal was very good but I think erring on the conservative side was a mistake. I had the Pork Tenderloin which came with a mash that had so many flavors it was almost tongue overload. The pork came with, what I would describe as, a bechamel sauce flavored with a lot of butter and white pepper which complimented the pork nicely. It unfortunately saved the dish because the pork was over cooked and chewy. I could not believe after all of the master pieces we had eaten so far my main meal could be so disappointing.

Last and not least and probably second best thing we ate last night was the Pear Gelato. It was simply magnificent. It was so good I can not even do it justice here, you simply have to taste it for yourself. My mouth is watering as I type this right now.

Overall the evening was fantastic, we left undeterred and cannot wait until our next trip to Slims. I think the next time however, I will go for the gusto and order something with a little more pizazz. Wendy was very happy with her meal but mine being so simple, seemed to be handled with not as much care. I would have to guess had I ordered something more flamboyant I would have been happier with my main course meal.