Mike Chicago
Google
5 stars. Yes.
FOOD, service, employee personality, in my neighborhood, all together, add up to A WINNER.
The girl who would be my girlfriend and I have been walking by Dick and Jenny's for months, saying "We should try this", but kept walking by. Finally (and thankfully), we did.
It's clean, nice atmosphere, not the greatest decor, but ...ok. The servers were polite, friendly, engaging and appreciative of compliments.
THE FOOD:
Started with a fried green tomatoes appetizer. It comes with a couple of (cold) shrimp and remoulade. The fried green tomatoes were some of the best I've tasted. Light breading, tart, sweet tomato flavor, excellently done to light brown perfection. The shrimp were peeled, and remoulade was excellent. An impressive start.
I had the beef short ribs for an entree. Described on the menu as "Braised boneless angus beef short ribs, sauteed chard, garlic mashed potatoes and port wine demi-glace". Yes. It delivers on flavor. The short ribs just pulled apart, no knife needed. Soft, tasty, packed with deliciousness. The mashed potatoes were excellent. The garlic was not overpowering and with the demi-glace was awesome. The chard added a touch of bitter that balanced the sweet of the demi-glace. Satisfaction. Well worth the $26.
The girl who would be my girlfriend had the Eggplant rollatini. The eggplant was thinly sliced, and rolled around a mix of ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, wild mushroom and garlic. A delicious tomato-vodka sauce is spooned on top (not swimming in it). Kind of reminded me of manicotti with eggplant instead of pasta being the vessel to hold the ingredients. An excellent dish if you're carb-conscious. This is a great tasting dish.
As a side, we had the Sambal-honey roasted brussel sprouts with smoked pork belly. Let me take a second to close my eyes and retaste it in my mind. Mmmmmm. Can't say enough. The best, most flavorful dish of the night. Which is not to take away from any of the other dishes we had. I could have eaten a bowl of this.
For dessert, we shared a strawberry panna cotta. Light, smooth mouthfeel, and a subtle sweet taste. Perfect palate cleanser and end to a perfect meal.
We told 2 servers how great the food was and they were appreciative of the compliments and said how good it feels to hear it. I stopped by the kitchen and thanked them for a great meal.
Dick and Jenny's quickly became one of our favorite neighborhood places.