Opinion on 50 Plates has been a bit divided, and I figure I'd weigh in. I stopped in prior to last nights Blazer game, hoping to grab a quick bite. I was pretty disappointed not to find the lobster roll on the menu anymore, but then again even Hungry Cat had to relegate it to their lunch menu. Instead I had their "not a" cobb salad. Really there's no relation to a cobb salad whatsoever either in ingredients or presentation, so they could have called it "not a" Swedish meatball or "not a" platter of chicken sashimi.
Okay, okay so there was a boiled egg and bacon. No matter what you call it, it was perfectly fine salad, well seasoned, and good portion for the price.
not a cobb salad, apparently
The fries came out, which are also well seasoned and reminded me of the old Rally's fast food chain fries in terms of their spice. I could only wish they also used their fry oil. If you didn't eat the fries immediately, they would soon grow sad and limp. Even a second order, provided generously by the house in an effort to correct it, didn't significantly improve upon the first attempt. But like I said, they tasted nice, but you better scarf them down fast.
The cocktails were really the strength, as one would expect with Lance at the helm. I didn't have time to try any of their signature cocktails on the menu, though I did have a taste of a rye, applejack and chartreuse cocktail whose name escapes me at the moment.
I don't think 50 Plates deserved the vitriol or high praise it got in either direction, and I found it to be exactly as advertised: updated versions of American classics. They don't have to be revolutionary or even exciting interpretations; just updated. I've found that the term "comfort food" is a loaded term, in all cultures really, because as soon as you deviate from the norm by one iota, people are going to scoff. (See also: tots, Tater)
Probably my favorite dish of the night was one that Flynn ordered: the dirty rice "beignets" were actually really nice variations not of a beignet, but of the Italian arancini, served with minced andouille sausage inside as well as rice. Just like the cobb salad, it has nothing to do with the free form donut coated in powdered sugar served from Cafe du Monde, of which I've had many. But it was an awesome spicy gooey fried rice ball. I wouldn't be surprised to walk into a fusion-style izakaya and find a Kei-Jun onigiri served exactly the same way. Or an Italian place calling it arancini creola.
Perhaps that's where 50 Plates is the weakest: not in the food itself, per se, but in how it's presented on the menu. When you dare to evoke any American classic dish, you get with it not only the imprinted memory of what it's supposed to taste like, but also all of the memories and context surrounding it. You really can't win. They should just print each item description as "Not A" Replacement, but Delicious Nonetheless.
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