Ladies that Lunch - eighty3

Ok.  If you've visited Bubbleland lately, I bet you think I just lunch.  (In between cooking soft boiled eggs & petting my puppies.)  Since I'm not as tied to a desk, it really has been a treat to lunch out a little more.  I have been cooking, but lately it's been mostly the same ole, same ole that has already made an appearance here in Bubbleland.

How many times do you wanna look at a pork chop?

All that to say, I recently met up with The Finer Things Club to check out eighty3 for lunch!  It's located in Downtown Memphis, right next to the Madison Hotel.

I got there a little early and went on in.  And it was weird.

The waitresses looked up from the end of the bar - not the hostess stand by the door.  Ignored me.  And after me lurking awkwardly, finally asking me if I had a preference where to sit.  I said I hadn't been there before.  And they told me to sit anywhere.  There only appeared to be one room...  So it made me wonder, was there a room I didn't know about?  (I'll take the showcase behind the door, please.)

The inside of eighty3 is weird.  It's dated.  But snazzy.  Upscale.  But not really?  It's has the illusion of an upscale place...  That you don't want to look at too closely.  The dark wood bones of the place were nice but it was drowned out by the tacky shiny satin curtains all over one wall.  There were also some graffiti paintings that didn't match the rest of the place.*

*All subject to my personal taste, of course.

Our waitress came by promptly.  And handed me their paper menu that was trifold folded up like someone was going to put in a business envelope.

So far, between the weird seating sitch, weird interior, and weird cheaply folded menu, I didn't have high hopes for the food.

Their lunch menu looked good.  While we looked it over, we ordered an appetizer of the smoked bacon wrapped dates.

Wish I knew what the buttery, cheesy, slightly lemony stuff really was under the dates

The dates did not disappoint!  The sweetness of the date went so well with the savory bacon.  It wasn't overly smoky.  So I can't say much to that.  But it was VERY tasty and the sauce underneath - whatever it was! - went with it perfectly.

So far.  So good.

Eh.  But then it got weird again.  The bread selections, are they the size of a meal?  It's not under snacks.  So how can you tell?  We asked if the lamb kofta cigar roll (also under breads) was a meal?  No, apparently it's tiny.  And was described as too tiny to share.  I was interested in the shrimp & crap spring rolls (under greens & things) only to be told it was also a very small plate.

The price points on their menu in combination with the headers that they organize their food under are really confusing.  You can't really tell what's going to be a meal.  Or a personal starter vs an app you can share.

Anyhoo, after some quantity questions, we got to ordering.

Natalie got the spicy chicken sandwich.  Which for some reason we all thought was grilled, but came out lightly fried - not that she complained!  It was pretty.

She said it was very tasty.  Not greasy and the slightly spicy aoli that was on it was fab. It was so good that she got a little thing of it on the side so I got to taste it.  And yup, went well on fries.

Anita got the chicken schnitzel.  And then we all just enjoyed saying the word schnitzel a couple times.

And she really liked hers too!  So far, so good.

I ordered the tacos.  And hey, it came with fries, who knew?

Cute basket

When the tacos came out, I was very pleased with my choice.

Korean Braised Tacos

Yum.  They did a little grill on the tortillas so they had a crunch.  The meat was tender and the sauce was super tasty.

In closing, this is a confused restaurant.  They should seat you or have a sign that says to seat yourself.   Be specific on whether it's an appetizer or a plate.  Be detailed on how things are prepared and what the sides are.  (Cuz who assumes fries come with tacos?)  But the service was good and the food very worth the time.  I would just say, make sure you know what you're getting!

And in my personal kitchen, I should have some new experiments going soon.  I love Fall and I've been mad pinning some soup recipes!

Until then, at least we have the pups.

Adorbs