The Scottish Arms - St. Louis, MO

When you think of the culinary scene in St. Louis, Missouri, most people often think of the great Italian food on The Hill.  Perhaps even the great barbecue in town may come to mind as well.  Certainly most would not think of traditional English and Scottish cuisine.  Tucked away just west of the Saint Louis University campus on the west side of downtown, is a traditional pub serving great dishes and great beer.  And unlike so many of the "pubs" in America that are owned and operated by "Yanks" who like the idea of a pub and go do their research, this pub is owned by an expert.  Straight from Aberdeen, Scotland, the owner grew up knowing what traditional pub food was firsthand and now shares it with the St. Louis community.

Admittedly, I had been searching for some traditional pub grub for a long time and it's not easy to find.  The weather was near perfection on the day of my visit so I sat outside on the back patio.  We were greeted by our server and the authenticity continued as our server was born and raised in London, England.  She knew the menu, could vouch for its authenticity, and her accent made it seem like we were in jolly ole England. 

I began my journey with a pint of Filler's London Porter.  Served warm in traditional fashion, it had a smoky, sweet flavor that made it very enjoyable on a cool summer evening.  We ordered the Highland Gathering appetizer sampler and settled in to enjoy.

Highland Gathering Sampler

The sampler offered a full selection of traditional fare.  the Scotch eggs were hands down my favorite.  Hard-boiled eggs wrapped in haggis and tolled in breadcrumbs before being deep fried.  The velvety texture of egg yolks was so well balanced against the crispy outer coating and savory meat.  What a great balance of textures and the honey, dijon mustard sauce was a great dipper.

The platter also featured haggis fritters.  Similar to the Scottish eggs, the haggis fritter is a ball of haggis meat coated in breadcrumbs, deep fried, and made to dip in a sweet, whiskey sauce.  I will admit that this was my least favorite part of the dish, simply because haggis is not a favorite of mine yet I was adventurous enough to try it.  the meat was well seasoned and perfectly fragile inside.

Baby Birdies came next.  Minced, seasoned beef was tucked away  inside of puff pastry.  These were great little treats.  A crispy, flaky crust with juicy meat inside.  How could you go wrong?

Last but not least, the plate featured smoked salmon with capers on crustini.  the crispy, crunch of the bread, the saltiness of the capers and the smoky flavors of the velvety salmon all melted together into one delicious bite.  I love salmon and especially smoked salmon.  So this was a pleasant pre-entree treat.

For my entree, I refilled my pint of London Porter and ordered up the fish and chips.  You can't get much more traditional than that.  My co-worker ordered Bangers and Mash and Squeek.  My fish and chips arrived piping hot with a huge haddock filet tucked inside of an ale batter.  The batter was crispy and the fish inside was soft and juicy.  The best part was that the dish wasn't greasy at all.  The sign of a great, traditional dish of fish and chips.  The lemon caper dipping sauce was tart and refreshing, while I also had the malt vinegar I wanted add that extra bit of tartness.

Fish and Chips

My co-workers entree arrived and it looked equally scrumptious.  He had a large portion of potatoes surrounded by two handmade sausages and a few fresh carrots.  We traded samples and the sausage was well spiced and juicy, while the potatoes were firm yet fully cooked.

Bangers N Squeek

The food at The Scottish Arms is authentic and the servers know their stuff.  The males on staff wear kilts and the beer is served traditionally and compliments the meals.  Food is affordable given the portions.  The entrees we had were $13 each and we were there for happy hour so the beers were $1 off each pint.  The Scottish Arms exceeded my expectations in nearly every way and aside from all of their traditional fare, they have a great farm fresh menu comprised of dishes that rotate based on the locally sourced, farm fresh ingredients that are available.

Jilly's Cupcake Bar & Cafe - St. Louis, MO

When it come to sweets, I am not always a big fan.  While my great grandmother always cracked me up by having a rabid sweet tooth, the gene seems to have escaped me.  I am far more enamored by the umami sensation.  That deliciously savory flavor that stews in the back of your mouth.  But every once in a while, I find myself in search of something sweet. 

And so it happened one day while in St. Louis on work.  I needed a fix.  And just who stepped in to satisfy my sweet tooth?  The winner of this season's third episode of Cupcake Wars, Jilly's Cupcake Bar & Cafe.  Now I am not a regular viewer of the show.  In fact, I tend to think that Cupcake Wars is a little too specific to be it's own competition cooking show, but such is the age we live in.  So I can't tell you much about the competition they defeated, but if they won then I figured the cupcakes must be decent.

Upon arrival, I could see that they are very proud of their victory.  The front window was plastered with a sign proclaiming their well deserved success.

Jilly's Cupcake Bar & Cafe

Inside, I was greeted by a bright, white interior that resembled an ice cream shoppe of old.  Then I focused in on the task at hand.  Choosing a cupcake.  Because it was my daughter's birthday, I seized the opportunity to purchase four cupcakes for the family to sample and share.  It was undoubtedly a difficult decision.  Jilly's rotates their cupcakes offerings and so there is the potential for different choices each visit.  They were pimping their Cupcake Wars winning treats on a daily basis.  They were outer space inspired creations and seemed a little too risky for me.

Jilly's Cupcake Selection

Instead, I zoned in on some traditional flavors.  I thought a safe, yet colorful selection would be the Missylicious.  This was a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream.  The buttercream was colored in a rainbow pattern to add some color to this otherwise very traditional cupcake.  The cake was moist and delicious as the combination of vanilla in the cake and in the buttercream made for a nice, rich taste in each bite.

My daughter loves Reese's peanut butter cups and so on this day, I knew I scored a happy birthday special.  Daddy was going to get bonus points when he brought home Jilly's "The Reese's" cupcake for her to enjoy.  And as the father of four young children, believe me I need all the bonus points I can muster.  I am not myself a huge fan of chocolate and peanut butter, however when it came time to enjoy Jilly's cupcakes I was ready to sample.  The Reese's has a moist, rich vanilla cake, injected with peanut butter and ganache.  Such a wonderful surprise tucked beneath a heaping layer of chocolate and Reese's peanut butter cup buttercream swirl.  To say that this cake is rich and delicious would be an understatement.  Since Jilly's cupcakes are so large as well, I would recommend that you skip lunch, grab a half gallon of milk, and keep some insulin on standby.  Every bite of this cupcake will be worth all the suffering.

Next, I selected the Twisted Pink Velvet cupcake. This cupcake starts with a red velvet-style cake injected with a delightful stuffing of caramel.  The whole thing is topped off with cream cheese and caramel buttercream and a healthy dusting of pecan praline.  Now this is my kind of cupcake.  Once again, the cake was moist and cooked to perfection.  The buttercream topping was rich and delicious, but the hidden treasure of caramel deep inside the cupcake made the whole thing special for me.

Lastly, I chose the Turtle Cheesecake cupcake.  Beginning with a chocolate cake, diners will find a nugget of creamy cheesecake baked inside.  All the acoutremounts of a traditional turtle sundae rest atop the pillowy buttercream topping.  Caramel drizzle and pecans abound.  This was the cupcake for me and it pained me to share it with any.  Each bite I watched others take stung a little, but made my own bites that much more special. 

My cupcakes packaged and ready to go

So for someone who doesn't normally eat a lot of sweets, I had a mini-religious experience at Jilly's.  I can't certainly see how their perfectly paired creations were a hit on Cupcake Wars.  As with anything good, daily supplies are limited so be sure to get there early.  The prices are comparably for cupcakes as each cake set me back about $5 or so.  Jilly's also offers a variety of sandwiches and salads for lunch Monday through Saturday and a Sunday brunch. 

Broadway Oyster Bar - St. Louis, MO

Just two blocks away from Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis lies the Broadway Oyster Bar.  The small restaurant in two buildings connected together brings a touch of Louisiana's French Quarter to St. Louis.  The restaurant that operates in a building with over 150 years of history, provides a full range of Cajun cuisine.  Music lovers will also find the Broadway Oyster Bar is a great haven, offering live music seven days a week.  Music is also a theme in the eclectic decor right down to the collection of vinyl record albums that are all over the ceiling.

 The Oyster Bar's Eclectic Interior

Now I am admittedly not a fan of oysters.  In fact, I have only eaten fried oysters before.  The thought of trying to gulp down a wet and slippery raw oyster just isn't in my culinary playbook.  Now some quality Cajun food is right up my alley.  If you are into oysters, however you can certainly get your fill.  Raw oysters, Oyster Rockefeller, Oyster Bienville, Oyster Cardinale and much more await the oyster lover.

I started my meal off with an appetizer of Alligator Sausage and Shrimp Cheesecake.  A spicy, savory alligator sausage is mixed with cream cheese and shrimp.  The whole thing is baked to a warm, gooey cake and each appetizer serving comes with a healthy slice.  All of it melts well together and the spicy flavor in the sausage is mellowed by the creamy texture of the warm cream cheese.  I thanked my server for recommending the dish.

Alligator Sausage and Shrimp Cheesecake

Along with my appetizer, I had to try a cup of the house soup, crawfish bisque.  I am a sucker for any bisque and I am glad that I got it.  The buttery flavor of the soup was consistent with a quality bisque and the creamy texture of the soup was good.  The other pleasant aspect to the soup was the plentiful supply of crawfish in the dish.  The appetizer and soup were a great start to my experience at the Broadway Oyster Bar and I was awaiting my entree while sipping on a Louisiana lager by Abita known as Purple Haze.  The rasberry wheat beer, is not usually part of my beer-drinking repertoire, however I found it to be light, crisp and the perfect beer for a hot, summer night.

Crawfish Bisque and a pint of Abita's Purple Haze

For my entree, I decided it was time to go big or go home.  I ordered the sampler platter, which came with a complete selection of traditional Cajun dishes.  The sampler platter had Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, and Crawfish Etoufee.  

Cajun Sampler Platter

I sampled the Red Beans and Rice first.  The rice had a hint of crunch to it still, showing that it was not overcooked and the tomato flavor was excellent.  Large chunks of Andouille Sausage were peppered throughout the dish.  Perhaps the only thing missing was one important ingredient.  A namesake ingredient.  As I ate the dish, I struggled to find any red beans.  Perhaps the only disappointment in the meal thus far.

Next, I tackled the Etoufee.  this was the weakest element in the sampler for me.  the sauce was light and creamy and I saw plenty of crawfish, however the dish was overwhelmed with large, stringy pieces of onions and peppers.  While these items were well cooked, it just wasn't for me.

The highlight of the sampler was the Jambalaya.  Born of a great, dark roux, the entree had just the right mix of spices, vegetables and seafood goodness.  Crawfish and Andouille sausage abounded in every delicious bite.  My dish also came with a pleasant little surprise.  Several small cornbread muffins accompanied my entree and they were little pillowy buttons of deliciousness.  These dense muffins had just the right amount of sweetness.  What a great way to end my meal.

Wait!  Don't stop reading!  I couldn't leave without trying dessert.  So fear not because I stuck around for dessert.  In fact, I got the bread pudding.  I love bread pudding, but the one thing that usually prevents me from getting it is that I don't care for raisins.  The Broadway Oyster Bar had my number though since their bread pudding has no raisins.  It does take a while to get your bread pudding, but that is to be expected since they bake each serving to order.  And damn it was well worth the wait.  The bread was firm and crispy on the outside, while being moist and soft on the inside.  The whole thing was backstroking slowly in a pool of whiskey sauce.  The buttery, savory flavor of the whiskey sauce was a perfect partner for the cinnamon flavor of the bread.

 Bread Pudding

All in all, the Broadway Oyster Bar was a great stop.  Quality Cajun cuisine, steps away from Busch Stadium, live music nightly, and a friendly staff all made it a great experience.  The prices were also fair for the most part, with the exception of the Alligator Sausage and Shrimp Cheesecake appetizer, which seemed a bit steep at $11.95.  The cup of bisque was $3.95 and the sampler entree was $16.95 and it was way more than I could've finished making it a great dish to split with someone.

Pappy's Smokehouse - St. Louis, MO

Have you ever walked into a restaurant and immediately fallen in love?  I mean like the kind of place that you would agree to give up your first-born son for one more meal.  The place that you dream about when you are sleeping and the place that you rearrange your entire life to go grab a meal there.  Whenever I go to St. Louis,  I have such a place.  A place that makes my mouth water, just at the thought of a meal there.  For me that place is Pappy's Smokehouse and this is what makes me drool.

I've said before that barbecue is close to my heart.  I have a professional barbecue team that competes throughout the country and I work hard to perfect my own barbecue.  So usually when I travel, I like to find barbecue restaurants.  Admittedly, I often find that my expectations aren't met because restaurants tend to overcook barbecue thinking that things falling off the bone is the way to go.  In fact, that means that the meat is mushy and overcooked.

After seeing Pappy's Smokehouse featured on several TV shows, I thought it was time to make the trip and check it out.  I had been told that lunchtime is the time to go eat at Pappy's because, unlike most restaurants, Pappy's only cooks a certain amount of food each day and when they sell out of an item it gets pulled off the menu.  So if you want ribs, which are excellent at Pappy's, then you have to be there for lunch.  I arrived at 12:30 and saw a line out the door and wrapped around the building.  A good sign, yet a scary sign.  I kept my fingers crossed that they wouldn't run out of ribs all the way until I made it up to the front of the line to place my order.  To my excitement, they still had ribs.  I ordered a half rack of ribs and sides of deep fried corn and potato salad..

Then I was off to find my seat.  At Pappy's you order your meal at the front counter and then find a seat and they deliver the food to you.  The decor is an eclectic mix of St. Louis sports and music memorabilia and the majority of the seating is family style at long counters or at huge picnic tables.  One wall is covered with menus autographed by celebrities who have dined at Pappy's while they were in town and near the front counter Pappy's displays the barbecue credentials that prove his stock.  While he hasn't competed in years, back when he did Pappy competed well.  In 2000, he became a world champion when he captured first place in the whole hog category at Memphis in May.

My food arrived almost as quickly as I found my seat and I was ready to dig in.  I always try barbecue without sauce first because I like to see how the meat is by itself.  I can honestly say that after my first bite of ribs, I didn't stop eating until the rack of ribs was nothing but a pile of bones.  I never touched a sauce and I never touched my sides.  The rub Pappy's puts on their ribs is tangy and savory and the smoke flavor courtesy of the mix of apple and cherry woods they use was great.  I licked every bit of it off my fingers.  The ribs were cooked correctly.  They were moist, tender and most importantly they didn't fall right off the bone. 

The sides were impressive as well.  I enjoyed the potato salad.  It was cold and not laden with mayo.  The potatoes were firm and it was delicious.  The corn was interesting, but not my favorite.  I have been to other restaurants with deep-fried corn on the cob and I have learned that you have to use a specific hybrid variety of corn to prevent it from being soggy.  I am not sure that Pappy's uses that and so the corn was a bit soggy to me.

Every single time I go to St. Louis I go to Pappy's.  I tell everyone I know to go there.  And now I am telling you to go there.  I guarantee you won't be disappointed.  Hands down, Pappy's provided me the best barbecue meal ever and it is the only barbecue restaurant that I have truly had competition-quality food at every time I set foot in the door.

Shell's Coastal Cuisine Food Truck - St. Louis, MO

The street food truck phenomenon is sweeping the nation and St. Louis is starting to get in on the craze.  Within the past 18 months, St. Louis went from having no food trucks to having a dozen trucks on the street today.  The trucks mainly serve the downtown and Central West End areas with some exceptions.  While I was in town, I made it my mission to find a food truck and test out the St. Louis food truck market.  That's when I hit my first roadblock.  I wanted to find a truck for dinner and I learned that none of the trucks in St. Louis have dinner service.  So it took a little strategy to work out my schedule, but I was able to make it work.  The next big concern was deciding which truck to frequent.  After some diligent menu research, I settled on Shell's Coastal Cuisine.

Shell's Coastal Cuisine started in May of 2011 as the brainchild of chef-owner, Shelley McMahan and it brings a menu based on Carribbean influences to St. Louis.  McMahan, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu's St. Louis school, has a number of fellow graduates helping her staff the truck.

On Wednesday, I found the truck serving lunch on the campus of Wells Fargo Advisors.  The truck has a fresh, beach theme and as I approached I could hear island music playing from the truck.  It was incredibly hot the day I went to eat there and despite the heat, the staff was very friendly.  McMahan took my order and unfortunately I didn't arrive in time to get the Blue Heaven's Shrimp Melt.  I was momentarily sad since that is the menu item that made my mouth water when I did my research.  However, the smell of steak on the flat top grill inside the truck made up my mind for me.  I ordered the steak tacos and sweet potato chips as a side.

My food was served quickly and I chose to have my tacos on corn tortillas.  The truck offers both corn and flour tortillas.  They also provide a number of different hot sauces.  After setting myself up, I took my first bite and was immediately pleased.  The tortillas were soft and warm and the steak was juicy with a nice crust on the outside.  The sweet potato chips were crispy and the sweetness of the chips were well balanced by the dusting of salt.  The chips were $2 and the two tacos were $7.50.  With a soda, my total bill was $11 and I was delightfully full.

Overall, my first St. Louis food truck experience was a positive one.  My hope would be that over time the trucks will begin serving dinner and so on subsequent trips I can explore more of the food trucks in the evening when I visit St. Louis.  For now I was glad to share a meal and some conversation with McMahan and her staff.  You can see their passion in the design of the truck, the ambiance (yes a food truck can have ambiance), and the food they carefully prepare.

Even my co-worker enjoyed his meal.