Seviche - a Latin Bistro

Seviche - a Latin Bistro has been one my local favorites for several years. I first heard about Seviche when my sister recommended it to me for a special celebration dinner. On that occasion, I travelled over to Bardstown Rd. and found an instant favorite. So, it was with high expectations that I arrived recently at their new, second location on Goose Creek Rd.

We arrived fairly early on a Thursday night. We were seated quickly and received prompt attention from our waitress. The wine menu was very generous with wines in every price range. However, I quickly settled on a personal favorite - Cakebread. This is an excellent Napa valley winery with some of the best tasting wine around.

While looking over the menu, we decided to order one item from each group. One appetizer, one salad, one entree and one desert and split everything between us. While I like seviches, my wife doesn't care for them, so we chose a standard appetizer instead of a seviche. For those not a familiar, a seviche is a mixture of meat (beef or seafood), vegetables, and/or fruit that is "cooked" with highly acidic fruit juices. I let the waitress know that our plan was to split everything. She went the extra step of having the kitchen pre-split everything on two plates for us (except desert, of course, when they just brought two spoons).

We started off with the corn cake with green chilis and shrimp. The flavor of this dish was exceptional. The shrimp were perfectly cooked. I'm not sure what I expected with the corn cake itself, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a polenta, cheese, and green chili patty that had been pan fried. The only problem I had with the dish was that I felt there should have been two of the corn cakes with a shrimp each instead of one corn cake with three shrimp.

After that, we had the spinach salad with strawberries, roasted pears and goat cheese. Again, the flavors were wonderfully combined. The stawberries were big and full of flavor, which is a rare treat this time of year. The pears however, were lifeless.

On to the main course, we ordered the "Gaucho" special. The Gaucho is a chef's choice non-seafood entree-of-the-day. The day we were there it was a 12 ounce bone-in pork loin chop served on chorizo dirty rice with asparagus on top of it all. In order to split this onto two plates for us, they deboned the chop after it was cooked. We ordered the chop medium well and it was sublime. It was done all the way through (no pink left), but still juicy and moist. In addition to the chop, the rice, and the asparagus, there were also a couple of slices of tomato on each plate - one yellow and one red. The yellow tomato was quite good while the red was standard for this time of year.

After our main course, we ordered the Black-and-White Tres Leches for desert. This is an over-the-top version of Tres Leches with caramel, chocolate, blueberries, and raspberries on top. Honestly, it was big enough and rich enough that 4 people could easily split it and they would all be satisfied. As wonderful as it was, we couldn't finish it.

The obvious comparison for this experience is my initial experience at the Bardstown Rd. location. Food quality, presentation, and service are all identical between the two locations. However, the Bardstown Rd. location "feels" more like a high-end restaurant. My biggest complaint about the Goose Creek Rd. location is the low ceilings. Because of the low ceilings, I felt cramped and crowded even though the restaurant was not full.

One more note about the Goose Creek Rd. location. While we were there, they informed us about their new Sunday hours and specials. They are now open 4-9pm Sunday evening with 1/2 price bottles of wine, 1/2 price appetizers and seviches, specially priced "trial size" seviches and appetizers, along with any regular entree for under $20.

Overall, I rate the food and the service very high, while the atmosphere is more average.

Health Department Rating: A (98%)
Appetizers and seviches - $9-16
Salads - $8-12
Entrees - $15-30
Deserts - $6-8
Wines - $20-368/bottle

Overall Rating: 8

Stoney River Legendary Steaks

Located at 3900 Summit Plaza Dr., Stoney River is just off Brownsboro Rd. and easily accessible from the Gene Snyder Freeway and Hurstbourne Parkway. Because Stoney River is in the Summit Shopping Center, there is ample parking nearby. Inside, Stoney River reminds me of a mountain lodge or chalet. There is lots of wood, vaulted and beamed ceilings, and a wide open floor plan. When you enter, the kitchen is visible in the back of the restaurant. Lots of nice touches made tonights meal very memorable for me - real table linens (both the table cloth and the napkins), spotless silverwarer, and impeccably clean glassware. As this was my first visit to this restaurant, I was quite pleased by the laid-back atmosphere. My date and I arrived around 7pm tonight (a Tuesday night) and we were given ample time to look over the menu and decide what we wanted to order. We never felt rushed or hurried at all. While we were deciding what to have for our entrees, we ordered the Buffalo Mozzerela and Beefsteak Tomato appetizer. This had all the right touches including fresh basil, a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing, bacon bits, and some french fried onions on the side. The onions were very thin and very sweet - a perfect compliment to the acids in the tomatoes and the vinegar. There were plenty of other appetizer options that sounded just as appealing. For our entree, we both chose to order a "Legendary Steak." She got the Twin Filet Medallions with sauteed asparagus, while I ordered the "Lodge" (a 10oz. filet) with sauteed green beans. While she was not given a choice of sides, I was allowed to choose from the beans, a baked potatoe, or steamed broccoli. When our entrees were brought to us, the server waited patiently while we both cut into our steaks to ensure that they were done to perfection (they were). Both steaks were well seasoned and flavorful. Stoney River boasts that they age and trim the steaks on the premises, and the attention showed in the flavor of the beef. My date ordered her medallions medium-well and the steak was still quite tender and enjoyable. My steak (which I ordered medium rare) was bliss on a plate. While the side items were good, there was nothing special about them. With our steaks we each had a glass of wine recommended by the waiter to compliment our steaks. The wine complimented the steaks quite well, and we were both happy with our selections. After dinner, we ordered a very special desert in celebreation of my birthday. We split an order creme brulee, and we each ordered a glass of Graham's 30 year old tawny port. At $15 per glass, the Graham's was quite a treat. If you've never had a really good glass of port, this is the best way to try a $100+ bottle of port before you know whether or not you'll like it.

One of the things I liked best about this restaurant was their attention to detail. Everything was beautifully clean. When the waiters would go to the bar to get a drink for a customer, you could see them making sure the glass was spotless before they allowed the bartender to pour anything in it. Between our appetizer and our meal, the table was cleaned (we'd gotten a little messy with the excellent french fried onions). We had plenty of time to eat and enjoy our meal. Our water glasses were refilled as necessary, but the wait staff never "intruded." Overall, it was a wonderful experience. The one small complaint that I have from the evening is that I specifically asked for my wine to be served with my entree (in fact, I asked twice while ordering), and yet it was still brought out in advance of the appetizer. This one misstep however, could easily be explained by the fact that there was a party of 10 or 12 at the table next to us.

Down to the nitty-gritty:

Health Department Rating: A (98%)
Prices:
Appetizers: $8-12
Salads: $8-10 ($4.99 w/ Entree)
Entrees: $16-30
Deserts: $6-8
Alchohol: Full bar including a good-sized by-the-glass wine list
My rating: 9 of 10

Summary: Excellent steaks, average side items, great service, and spotlessly clean. A little too pricey for everyday, but a great place for special occasions.