Always up for suggestions!
One of the best parts about food blogging is coming up with new ideas for regular pieces. It’s what I enjoyed most during my time with the Houston Press and certainly still rings true with TMR.
Say hello to Buzz Word…a new-ish weekly feature, designed to increase interaction among Little Rock foodies! On Sunday evenings, I will post a “buzz word” on The Mighty Rib Facebook page. The word could be anything food related (ie… steak, cheddar cheese, Swiss chard). I will then ask for reader suggestions on one dish that includes the “buzz word” of the week. All suggestions go into a hat, one is picked, dish is eaten, review is written…all within a week’s time.
Our latest “buzz word” was rice. This time around we received 30+ reader suggestions—a new high for us! Here are just a few: risotto from Capeo’s, chicken fried rice from Mr. Chen’s, and the moco loco from The Southern Gourmasian.
This week’s selected dish was Laurie’s suggestion of red beans and rice from The Faded Rose.
This was my second visit to TFR. My first time around yielded the best fries I’ve had in Little Rock. It had been a good while since my last good bowl of red beans and rice, so I was pretty excited when this dish got selected.
And TFR’s version certainly did not disappoint. In a word… “classic.”
I ordered a small bowl ($4.75) which, in fact, proved to be quite substantial. I know ownership won’t like to hear this, but a Diet Coke and a small bowl of red beans and rice is really all you need for a perfectly satisfying lunch. The actual size of the bowl wasn’t overly huge, but it was filled to the brim. I’d say the beans-to-rice ratio was about 2-to-1.5, with both major components being executed to perfection.
The rice was moist and fluffy and provided an excellent bed for those soft red beans to lie on. With a spot-on dosage of Creole seasonings, I never considered grabbing the salt and pepper shakers. The beans themselves took on an almost creamy consistency, which enabled them to meld easily with the rice. The dish’s level of heat was just right—spicy but not too spicy, excellent for creating a slightly runny nose at the very end of the meal. Perfect!
I also wanted to recognize the fantastic service we received from our waiter. We showed up at an off-beat hour (2pm), and even though the restaurant was fairly empty, he treated my daughter and me like royalty.
Nice job all around, The Faded Rose!
