Picture courtesy of Mindy Knows Blog 2011 The Rhody Cafe, formerly The Rhodedendron, sits quietly on Chuckanut Drive in Bow. It is for the most part, unassuming, indeed its history speaks louder than the area it occupies, but on this waterlogged evening, my partner in culinary critique and I decided this would be our next stop. We needed a change from fast food and thought, (well, actually Kurt picked the place and surprised me with it), it might be a good way to go.
We arrived shortly before five to find not one seat occupied in the tiny place and waited to be seated. When the server emerged from the kitchen, he apologized and seated us immediately.
The restaurant was cozy but a bit dated; the beige flowery/paisley wall paper paired with the green wainscoting screamed eighties and though the table itself was quite sturdy it was covered with a vinyl beige fitted table cloth that told a tale of diners long past. Not that it was in any way dirty or soiled...it was just...well used. All in all, it was most likely a very charming place about 30 years ago, and still held some charm even on this soggy night.
I ordered the cheeseburger MR, which would serve to cause some discussion later, and Kurt ordered the Risotto with veggies. He also ordered a glass of wine which turned out to be quite lovely. Our server was quite knowledgable regarding the menu and the place's history, and when asked the source of the meat, he answered immediately that it had come from the local Co-op, and that they most likely had gotten their meat from the Double R ranch out of Loomis, WA, where they also sourced their steaks. There is nothing I like better than a server who knows his stuff, and this guy was definitely in the know.
When the food came out, I unfortunately was so hungry that I neglected to take a picture of the plate before I dutifully put ketchup on the patty and started stuffing the burger down my gullet. I would try and make that sound prettier, but sometimes you have to go with the truth, and sometimes, the truth is not pretty. The bun was smothered with some type of garlicky buttery sauce, and the patty was covered in white cheddar. Next to the burger sat perfectly roasted fingerling potatoes. It was truly a beautiful plate of food.
This is where things get a bit weird. I ordered the burger MR, somehow forgetting that all the burgers are supposed to be ordered M. I honestly don't know what came over me, except for the fact that I love meat cooked rare. I can't help it. So, the burger was JUICY. This burger was seasoned. It was fresh. It was full of flavor. Kurt commented that it would have been more fair if the burger had been cooked M, then we would have been able to do more of an apples-to-apples-type comparison, but ya know what? If loving rare beef is wrong, I don't want to be right. For the record, Kurt also loved the burger. It was, we agreed, the best one yet. The scores tell that story:
KURT:
SARA:
Yes, this is THE BEST BURGER TO DATE. At a price of 13.75, it was a good value. What would have made this better for me is if the bun had been toasted, if the vegetables had had a bit more flavor, and if there had been pickles offered to go with this delectable delight of a burger. For Kurt, he would have liked it cooked M, as then we would have had a true test of the flavor of the meat. I cannot argue with this statement, but I can't say I regret my decision. In fact, I didn't regret it so much that I took Kurt's garlic bread from his plate and sopped up the burger juices off the plate and ate the crap out of that piece of bread.
Yes I did. Kurt laughed. It was really quite wonderful. We ended the night with their ginger cake with lemon curd and chocolate torte. That is why I am up at 1 am writing this. I ate the torte. Kurt is currently sleeping. And snoring. I guess chocolate doesn't affect him the way it does me.
We arrived shortly before five to find not one seat occupied in the tiny place and waited to be seated. When the server emerged from the kitchen, he apologized and seated us immediately.
The restaurant was cozy but a bit dated; the beige flowery/paisley wall paper paired with the green wainscoting screamed eighties and though the table itself was quite sturdy it was covered with a vinyl beige fitted table cloth that told a tale of diners long past. Not that it was in any way dirty or soiled...it was just...well used. All in all, it was most likely a very charming place about 30 years ago, and still held some charm even on this soggy night.
I ordered the cheeseburger MR, which would serve to cause some discussion later, and Kurt ordered the Risotto with veggies. He also ordered a glass of wine which turned out to be quite lovely. Our server was quite knowledgable regarding the menu and the place's history, and when asked the source of the meat, he answered immediately that it had come from the local Co-op, and that they most likely had gotten their meat from the Double R ranch out of Loomis, WA, where they also sourced their steaks. There is nothing I like better than a server who knows his stuff, and this guy was definitely in the know.
When the food came out, I unfortunately was so hungry that I neglected to take a picture of the plate before I dutifully put ketchup on the patty and started stuffing the burger down my gullet. I would try and make that sound prettier, but sometimes you have to go with the truth, and sometimes, the truth is not pretty. The bun was smothered with some type of garlicky buttery sauce, and the patty was covered in white cheddar. Next to the burger sat perfectly roasted fingerling potatoes. It was truly a beautiful plate of food.
This is where things get a bit weird. I ordered the burger MR, somehow forgetting that all the burgers are supposed to be ordered M. I honestly don't know what came over me, except for the fact that I love meat cooked rare. I can't help it. So, the burger was JUICY. This burger was seasoned. It was fresh. It was full of flavor. Kurt commented that it would have been more fair if the burger had been cooked M, then we would have been able to do more of an apples-to-apples-type comparison, but ya know what? If loving rare beef is wrong, I don't want to be right. For the record, Kurt also loved the burger. It was, we agreed, the best one yet. The scores tell that story:
KURT:
- Flavor of Patty: 8.5
- Juiciness: 8
- Vegetables: 6.5
- Bun: 9
- Meat Source: 9
- Synergy: 7.5
- Value: 8
SARA:
- Flavor of Patty: 9
- Juiciness: 10
- Vegetables: 7
- Bun: 9
- Meat Source: 8.5
- Synergy: 9
- Value: 9.5
Yes, this is THE BEST BURGER TO DATE. At a price of 13.75, it was a good value. What would have made this better for me is if the bun had been toasted, if the vegetables had had a bit more flavor, and if there had been pickles offered to go with this delectable delight of a burger. For Kurt, he would have liked it cooked M, as then we would have had a true test of the flavor of the meat. I cannot argue with this statement, but I can't say I regret my decision. In fact, I didn't regret it so much that I took Kurt's garlic bread from his plate and sopped up the burger juices off the plate and ate the crap out of that piece of bread.
Yes I did. Kurt laughed. It was really quite wonderful. We ended the night with their ginger cake with lemon curd and chocolate torte. That is why I am up at 1 am writing this. I ate the torte. Kurt is currently sleeping. And snoring. I guess chocolate doesn't affect him the way it does me.
You know what is just as yummy as a perfectly cooked delicious burger? Sharing posts about yummy burgers. Get it? Food humor. I love it!
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