We recently enjoyed a very nice dinner at the Cafe on the Corner, in the business district of Lookout Mountain. This has been the home of several restaurants including the Lookout Mountain Cafe. Hopefully, this one will succeed because the food we had was very good and I love the feel of the building with the fireplace in the back.
The owner, Ruth Oehmig, was on hand to greet customers, going around to the tables to see if there were any problems, etc.
While waiting for your appetizers or meal to arrive, you are served bread and a delicious cracker with pimento cheese.
Wayne ordered the Pork Sliders ($8) for an appetizer, but since I don’t really eat much bread, I ordered something else for me – the Tempura Fried Okra ($6). The bread for the sliders was a cheddar thyme biscuit and the pork was topped with pickles. The three sliders were accompanied by blue cheese slaw. All I can say about this slaw is that I LOVED it and was disappointed my okra wasn’t served with the slaw!
The okra was left whole, and fried to a nice brown crispness. It was served with pickled carrot and a sweet chili sauce for dipping. I would definitely order the okra again.
They did offer burgers and a fish sandwich, as well as several salads, but we both decided to go with an entree plate. Difficult to narrow it down between Crab Stuffed Trout with charred tomato buerre blanc, grits and broccoli ($20), Seared Scallops with sweet corn and bacon cream, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables ($21), or possibly Pan Roasted Chicken with rosemary jus, herb roasted fingerling potatoes and broccoli ($15).
I finally decided on the Shrimp ‘n Grits with chorizo cream sauce, peppers, onion, and andouille sausage, over stone ground white grits ($17). I have to say, this was probably the best Shrimp ‘n Grits I have ever eaten. I have been served runny, watery grits, and hard, crisp grits, but these were perfect (as least to me). I would definitely order this dish again.
Wayne ordered the Cafe Meatloaf with thyme brown gravy, mac ‘n cheese, honey glazed carrots and blue cheese slaw ($16). The meatloaf was very tender and our server told us it had lamb mixed with the beef. It had a very smooth texture, rather than the larger grainy texture. The mac ‘n cheese was good, but it didn’t stand out as much as others we have enjoyed. Something that surprised me were the carrots. These were small, whole carrots (complete with tops) and Wayne loved them. He doesn’t usually eat carrots!
We let ourselves be tempted by the “homemade” when it came to desserts. Wayne tried the pecan pie, which he thought was excellent, and I ordered the bread pudding. Yes, I know – bread. I thought it would be a bit more “pudding”. It did have a nice flavor, and a good taste, but due to more bread than pudding, I would probably opt for something else next time.
They also offer lunch and have quite a few sandwiches such as a Reuben, Grilled Ham & Pimento Cheese, and a Fried Green Tomato BLT. Sandwich prices range from $7 to $13. There are also salads and several entrees and you can select your own sides.
Hours for Cafe on the Corner are Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m. They are closed on Sunday.
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