What I Ate This Week

Gee... I think they should invest a little more in marketing.

Myself and three dining buddies (Jayson, Amy, and Kyle) decided to ditch the sound-bite nature of watching the inauguration at work and try out a new place in town, J. Gumbo’s.  I read about it from the awesome folks that run a discussion board at Wheretoeat.  Anyway, J. Gumbo’s is hidden (at least to me) around behind the U.S. Bank branch in the U.S. Bank building at 5th and Walnut.  It takes some looking– at first I thought they might have replaced Roly Poly, but SOMEHOW that place is still in business.  (Anyone know why?)  Keep walking and you’ll find it.  It’s the restaurant without a sign.  It might be what they call anti-marketing, but more than likely it’s just the sign of a very new place.

Sweet... spicy... and tapenade-y...

Folks, reset your expectations– this is a lunch-only Cajun-inspired chain quick-service restaurant.  OK?  But get this… the food was actually pretty good.  I ordered the Voodoo Chicken, a stew-ish chicken dish served over a rice pilaf.  It had a really nice kick to it, and a good blend of cajun spices, very appropriate for mainstream Cajun food.  A full cut above food-court Cajun and much closer to dinner-restaurant style.  The muffaletta (“lotta muffa,” anyone?) was also OK, although it was the tapenade that carried the day.  The bread was without much flavor or texture, and even the coldcuts were a little bland, but the tapenade came through (after the cashier warned us that it would taste “a little bit like olives”).

All in all, I’d definitely recommend it for those working downtown looking for a new lunch option, as I think it’s a nice break from most of the other places that are available down here.  And, at the risk of blaspheming, I’d go so far as to say I enjoyed the food as much (or maybe even a little more) than Knotty Pine on the Bayou, the much-ballyhooed (and in my opinion, VASTLY overated) Cajun place down on the Licking River in KY.  Of course, if you want my Cincy-Cajun pick, I’d say you need to head on down to Dee Felice Cafe in Covington.  But that’s another post for another day.

Well, that’s it.  Tomorrow I’m headed to Michigan for some work and a long weekend.  We’ll see what kind of culinary mischief I can get into up there.  Until then, here’s to new beginnings, everyone!