About a month ago my mother-in-law came to town and hubby and I decided we should treat her to one of our fine establishments in our area. Since we had been dying to go to Ellerbe's we thought there couldn't be a better occasion.
We made reservations for 7:30 on a Saturday, and arrived to find a fairly full restaurant. Tables are presented with simplicity accompanied by a menu printed and posted on a wood board and attached by rubber band. Each table is topped with a vase of the herbs from their garden on site. I know what you are thinking -are you talking "country kitch"? Not quite - think simple French country.
The menu is limited, but created seasonally with high quality meats, vegetables and herbs. Each dish is paired perfectly - meat with a vegetable. Now, on to the more disappointing part of my evening. There is one salad that is prepared vegetarian right off the menu, but not one entree on the menu that is vegetarian.
Fresh french bread is served with creamed butter and Hawaiian pink sea salt. The trio is wonderful, a delightfully sweat treat to start.
The salad of choice was the Mexia Peaches and Deborah's Farmstead Chevre. The citrus vinaigrette was just delightful and paired perfectly with the peaches and Chevre.
On to the main course. I was so disappointed when the waitress gave pause to my question regarding a vegetarian dish. Almost half of their vegetable sides are created using chicken broth or cooked with a meat product, leaving me with a less than desirable option. I just couldn't believe that a restaurant located on Magnolia would find it acceptable to have a menu with no vegetarian alternative. I felt that as a restaurant who touts their fresh, local, simple - what better blank canvas than to create a masterpiece for the vegetarians that frequent the Southside.
Nonetheless, I was brought a dish of soup broth with summer vegetables topped with their fried okra. The vegetables included, squash, zucchini, green beans, asparagus and peppers. The broth was seasoned perfectly and would have been great for a soup. The vegetables were grilled and had no flavor beyond the broth. The okra was breaded and seasoned perfectly and actually cooked whole, sliced in half - which is a new way for me to eat fried okra. If this is the only option for a vegetarian - I think they will find we visit once not again. I can't imagine paying the average price of an entree for this dish more than once.
As far as the other dishes served at the table - Veal Picatta and Johnnie Fair Glazed Petite Pork Shank - all were a hit. Hubby has listed this as one of his favorites.
Now who can eat such a meal and not have dessert? I had the Maw Maw's Bread Pudding, hubby had Mexia Peach and Prosecco Semifreddo, mother-in-law had the Schokinag Pot de Creme. I think we all should have just started with dessert. All the comments involved - "best dessert ever"... blah blah blah. I have had to Bread Pudding grow on me over the past several years - and this was by far my favorite. Simple, traditional and to the point is the only way to describe. I hate when bread pudding is like eating custard - this had just the right consistency.
For those of you that don't have room for dessert, all tables are served a complementary pastry - a single bite pastry with a vanilla sugar center topped with powdered sugar - delightful.
Reservations are recommended especially on the weekend.
Ranking: 3-4 carrots (totally in the middle)
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