Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 23, 2009
Weekly Indulgence
Samara Litvack
For lunch last week, my roommate and I met up on Amnicola at the Boathouse. She’s been going there a lot lately for their salads, which she just “can’t get enough of,” so I decided to head out there with her to check out what all the fuss was about.
We began our lunch with the Poblano Pepper, which was grilled and stuffed with rotisserie chicken, queso and feta cheese, and topped with avocado. This is probably one of my favorite appetizers I’ve ever had in this city. The rotisserie chicken was tender. The queso and feta cheeses were flavorful and complemented the faint heat of the pepper. I’m normally not a fan of avocados in their raw form, but combined with the other flavors in this dish, they were perfect.
I could have easily eaten that entire Poblano Pepper in one sitting and called it a lunch, but, because I’m a good roommate, I ate only half of it. And as a bonus, I saved room for my entrée, the Lotta Lotta Garlic Chicken.
The menu described it as “chicken with black beans, rice, arugula, pineapple, tomatoes, avocado and feta.” I now know I should have asked questions, but in my mind I envisioned the same rotisserie chicken, served on a bed of black beans, rice and arugula, slathered in some mixture of other ingredients. Instead, I was served a dish that included each of the ingredients laid out individually on my plate, with a garlic dipping sauce on the side.
I was disappointed, but decided to give it a try. Much to my disappointment, I did not like it. The chicken was tender but I just didn’t like the combination of flavors. Even when I successfully got a bit of each component on my fork, I was unhappy with the end result.
I tried a few bites before my server, Carol, came back to check on us. Noticing I hadn’t eaten much of my entrée, she asked how everything was. I explained I didn’t really like mine, and she promptly offered me something else from the menu.
Let me stop here to commend Carol on her customer service. As I’ve mentioned before, I spent several years in the restaurant industry before moving to Chattanooga. I worked for franchises and independently owned restaurants, but one thing I valued above all else was always customer satisfaction.
Carol didn’t miss a beat. She took my plate and replacement order (as well as my apologies) and she had a second entrée to my table before I knew it.
This dish, the Voodoo Chicken, was a whole half chicken, cooked all the way through in the rotisserie and then dropped for a few seconds in the deep fryer to make the outside crispy. Before I go any further, can you imagine a better tasting chicken? It had the best of both worlds – moist and tender on the inside and crispy (but not too much so) on the outside. It was a huge portion size – a breast, thigh, wing and leg – and came served with the most interesting sauce I’ve ever tasted.
Carol wouldn’t disclose the ingredients of the Voodoo sauce, so I’ll just describe it as best I can (although I’d never had anything quite like it). It is citrusy and tangy with a little bit of a kick. It was definitely the predominate flavor of the dish, and it went wonderfully with the natural flavors of that rotisserie/fried chicken. Carol called the Voodoo sauce a “house specialty” and I completely see why she kept the lid on the secret. It was amazing.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention my lunch companion’s meal – the Texas Dip brisket sandwich, served with Swiss cheese and onions and au jus sauce for dipping. The brisket is also prepared in the rotisserie, and I was thankful to have such a yummy snack while I waited on my second dish to be prepared.
I also have to mention the olive fries that came with it. Carol explained the Boathouse’s fries are cooked in olive oil, giving them a unique, much healthier flavor than the fries you get other places.
Overall, I was completely happy with my trip to Boathouse. Carol recommended I try the barbecue shrimp on my next visit, which are prepared New Orleans Style (in shell, sautéed in butter, black pepper and garlic) and served with bread. The manager, Angela, came by to suggest the whole trout, which she explained is locally grown and is served with its head and tail still attached. The goal, she said, is to eat everything from one end to the other, leaving only the head, tail and bones when you finish.
(As much as I like trout, I’m not sure I could survive a whole meal with trout eyes looking up at me. But hey, it’s worth a try. I just might do it next time.)
To learn more about the Boathouse, visit www.boathousechattanooga.com.
Contact Samara at samara@hamiltoncountyherald.
com.
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