South Congress Cafe

Since I mentioned South Congress Street yesterday, I thought I'd follow that up with my favorite restaurant in that area. Hands down, South Congress Cafe. I've eaten there several times and have never been disappointed. Not only does it have a really cool atmosphere, almost stark in decor, the food is to die for.

        

Aleza and I played hooky one day and had a girl's play day which included shopping, the Big Top Candy  Shop and having a lunch at South Congress Cafe. We had this planned for a while and we were both jumping out of our skin in excitement. I can't even tell you. We had to wait an hour and it didn't even matter, despite our hunger. Worth every minute.




Once we were sitting, it was on. Seriously, I was so anxious to order that I wanted to rip the menu out of the waiter's hands. Have I not expressed how amazing the food is here? I mean, even the bread and butter they serve before hand is amazing. Sometimes the butter is flavored with herbs and sometimes it's just rich and creamy but regardless it literally melts in your mouth.

Another amazing this here? The drinks. They are fancy and fresh and full of fruity goodness. Aleza had a cucumber martini without the tini and plus tea. It was so cool and refreshing. And I had the elderflower martini. St. Germain is my favorite liquor so anytime I see it on a menu, I get super excited. Plus, the word elderflower is very romantic.

Honestly, despite how famished we were, I have NO idea how we finally made our food decisions. We went back and forth. I mean, honestly, I usually have a bit of a hard time with menus since I'm naturally indecisive but food is something I know. I know what I like or if I feel like trying something new. But when everything on the menu is something I want to eat or try, what do I do?

Okay, I will stop raving and finally share what we ate.

               


Miss Aleza ordered Braised Short Rib Pasta. Those who know me know that I'm super weird about meat and eggs. But wow was this good. The ribs were braised with an arbor chile burgundy sauce complimented with olives, capers, basil, grano padano cheese served with rigatoni pasta.

I finally decided on the Pan Seared Sea Bass which was served on top of chorizo refried blacks and  accented with shitake mushrooms and leeks. On the side came an avocado, corn and crab salad. And this dish was cooked with white truffle oil. A dead giveaway that something you are about to eat is going to be good is if you see the words "truffle oil" on the menu.

The portion of the Sea Bass was a little small (and our waiter did inform me of this ahead of time), but I thought it was perfect. If you have a big appetite, this dish is recommended with a side salad or a cup of soup.


 Now that I have made you extremely hungry and incredibly jealous of our lunch date, I think it's time you check out South Congress Cafe.  Do be aware that there will be a wait but it's worth it. Trust me. Plus, being that is on Congress St., you can just go shopping! Peruse their menus online and you will completely understand why ordering is such a dilemma.

For those you who have eaten there, do you have any recommendations of dishes for our newbies?

Happy Eating!
Deepika