Kingfish Cafe

Fried Green Tomatoes and Hushpuppies

Josh and I were searching for a restaurant for a fun date. We wanted food that was creative, comforting, not over-priced but not walk-up-to-the-counter-and-order either. We were very particular with our search. Once we stumbled upon The Kingfish Cafe’s website, we knew we’d found our spot.

First off, we have to share another disclaimer most of our readers will be familiar with. Low lighting + inexpensive camera = less than inspiring pictures. But as I said with our post from Table 219, “Just squint your eyes and use your imagination. Better yet, go there yourselves and see it in person. You will not be disappointed.” It holds true for this spot too. All of our other pictures were worse than these ones and not worth sharing, so I’ll try to do my best with words.

Doorway to Deliciousness... yes, I know that's cheesy.

Even from the outside, you know this little cafe had character. The swirled iron gates, brickwork on the walls, and even the font on the window give it a quaint feel. As soon as you step in, the music, the pictures, the vintage furniture, all make you feel as though you’ve been transported to 1930’s Alabama. Giant portraits of African-Americans cover the walls (I later learned that every picture is an image of the owner’s relatives - “From our great, great aunt Mary Laura Josephine, born a slave in 1850, to our third cousin Poet Laureate Langston Hughes.” You feel as though you’ve stepped into a bit of history, into someone else’s story. And you feel hungry.

It’s 8:45 on a Saturday night, and the place is packed. The hostess tells us it’s a 30-45 minute wait, but we gladly settle into the worn green armchair in the corner and admire the menu. Doo-wop, jazz, and soul music fill the rooms.

The simple two-page menu is packed with mouth-watering dishes described in such a way as you can hear the sassy accent. It doesn’t take us long to decide. Fried Green Tomatoes to start (pictured above) that are served with Hushpuppies and Chipotle Sauce ($8.25), Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Collard Greens for Josh ($16), Fried Catfish, Herbed Grits and Collard Greens for me ($13), and a side of the Mac ‘n Cheese for us to share ($9.75).

Gah!

It was incredible. It was a night of firsts for us - first fried green tomatoes (bursting with flavor, couldn’t make them last long enough!), first grits (I liked them more than I thought I would), first collard greens (amazing eaten with the spicy grits). The hushpuppies were wonderful; the only thing I would want different would be more of the spicy sauce they drizzled on it! But as Josh said, “Any place that has hot sauce on the table is alright with me.” So the little hushpuppies got cut open and soaked in some of the hot sauce and they were just right.

The catfish was delicious - I took my first few bites without the sauce and thought it was pretty good… then I smeared the herbed-spicy-delicious-something sauce all over the fish and it was perfect! The salty spice was so full of flavor, just incredible. Josh’s chicken was perfect - tender juicy chicken, crispy and flavorful skin, everything you’d imagine good fried chicken to be.

And the Mac ‘n Cheese.

*sigh*

If you’ve read previous posts about my love for Mac ‘n Cheese, you’ll know I have standards. This place definitely met, dare I say exceeded, those expectations? I don’t know what they used (heavy whipping cream?) but my first bite made me open my eyes really big at Josh. Really big. Go get some. Heaven in the form of pasta and cheese.

Our conclusion is we will be back. The Blackened Salmon and Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce call to me. And we will be bringing our food-snob friends and family that we want to impress with our great little discovery. Warning: do not come if you are dieting. Better yet, put your diet on hold and come anyway. You won’t regret it.

Yes, that's a picture of Billie Holiday. In the bathroom. I couldn't help it. I love her.

Tags: Capitol Hill Restaurants, Comfort Food, Soul Food

This entry was posted on January 06th, 2009 and is filed under Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.