From food trucks to fine dining: that is what we are all about! Last week was a fun lunch spot on campus that is quick and easy for a lunch in between classes. This week is a complete one eighty from La Mexicana. We are talking about the upper echelon of cuisine here in Tuscaloosa.
This week I took a little trip downtown for a date night at Side by Side Kitchen and Cocktails. You can tell it is a fancy restaurant because it has the word cocktails in the title. You can also tell how nice of a restaurant it is by where it is located. It is seated at the corner of Greensboro Ave and University Blvd, and it shares a building with the Embassy Suites.
There are a lot of things I could say about this place- the ambience, the décor, the service- but I really do not care about going into detail about it when I have so much to say about the food.
I want to start by saying that this is the most gluten-free friendly place in town. The kitchen can serve any of their pastas with gluten-free noodles, and the waiter said that the chef is working on making the entire menu gluten-free and delicious.
This restaurant has everything on the menu from steaks to pastas to seafood. Flip a coin or throw a dart at the menu, and I promise that whatever it hits will be delicious.
My order from their kitchen was the Blackened Cajun Surf and Turf. Any dish that has the word “cajun” in it will most likely end up in my mouth by the end of the night. This dish comes with four basic components that work together in perfect harmony with one another.
Component number one for me to discuss is the turf part of Surf and Turf. They served grilled quail as the turf. This is bold since most restaurants just roll with a steak and say “to heck with it”. It is an on going theme that I mention quality of ingredients when I eat somewhere.
The quality of the quail was exceptional. I am an outdoorsman myself, so I have had my fair share of grilled quail. I can say with confidence that this was the best I have ever had. The meat was juicy and tender with nothing but a hint of gaminess to give it its flavor. Phenomenal.
The second component of the dish will be the blackened catfish. I am from the South, so most of the time my catfish is fried and eaten with ketchup. This was a different take on the fish, but it was great. You could have told me that it was the fresh catch of the day out of the Gulf of Mexico, and I would have probably believed you.
The flavor in the rub used to blacken the fish was perfect. I could not tell exactly what was in it, but, frankly, I don’t think I could care any less. Many places do not have the right balance of how much of the rub to put on their blackened fish. Side by Side has it down pat.
Component number three was the shrimp. I think this was a filler element in the dish to liven up the catfish. That makes no difference to the chef as he prepared it as if it was the focal point. It was doused with the perfect amount of creole sauce and seasoning to give it that New Orleans taste that I fell in love with the first time I had it.
Creole red beans and rice is the final component that finishes the dish off with a bang. My goodness is all I can say. Red beans and rice has been in my top five favorite dishes since I can remember. Whoever the chef is I would like to give a handshake. He made tasteless white rice and moderately tasteless red beans turn into an explosion of flavor with the rue it was cooked in.
Side by Side Kitchen and Cocktails is the best restaurant in Tuscaloosa, and I don’t care if my reputation is ruined by this statement. The price to food ratio is spot-on unlike every single other upper scale restaurant in town. They give you a lot of food, incredible food at that, for half the price of its main competitor (you can probably guess who I’m referring to).
Overall, Side by Side gets my first and only A+ I will ever award. There is not a single thing that could have been better about my experience. From the service, to the atmosphere, to the food- this establishment deserves a round of applause. I would recommend it, but I want that last table of the night.
