25 Bites: Meals we crave in Central Arkansas

We handed the baton across the editorial room this week, every tasked with naming a few of our favourite dishes in Central Arkansas at this very second in time. What we discovered is that this isn’t a simple project to tackle whereas hungry and current on the Arkansas Instances workplace, which has no pantry to talk of, a fridge stuffed with Weight loss plan Coke and nothing else. Additionally, 25 is simply too small of a quantity in a city full of fantastic bites. There’s so many extra bites worthy of creating such a listing. So, what you’re seeing right here isn’t a High 25 listing, it’s merely a listing of bites we lengthy for and wish in our lives proper now.

Cheesecake (The Pantry)

The Pantry

Absolutely the worst factor concerning the cheesecake at The Pantry is the sense of fiery rage you’ll really feel in any respect the years you wasted NOT having this cheesecake. No less than, that’s the way it was for me the primary time consuming this wedge of gorgeousness — a beneficiant bedrock crust that would simply stand alone because the makings of a fantastic cookie, an ivory-hued cheesecake that’s completely candy and neither too dense nor too fluffy and, to safe its place because the signature dessert certainly served day by day within the Elysian Fields, a torched crackly creme brulee crust on prime. SS

 

Baleada con todo (El Sur)

Lindsey Millar

Packed tightly into an outsized tortilla are wealthy, creamy beans and avocado; the marginally candy mush of plantain; the char on tender, candy and spicy pork (or protein of your selection); the bitter pop of pickled onions; the tart crema and gooey cheese. It’s so advanced and satisfying I at all times discover myself stopping halfway by means of a meal to review it and take a look at to determine its secrets and techniques. LM

 

Pimento cheeseburger (The Root Cafe)

Stephanie Smittle

In an age the place a burger’s high-falutin’ top can immediately make or break its potential for Instagram fame, The Root Cafe’s pimento cheeseburger is a convincing argument for the practical and stalwart — an expertly griddled Simon Farms beef patty under a velvety blanket of house-made pimento cheese, house-made candy pickles and a garlic mayo that makes the delicate bun sing. Suppose: the farm-to-table model of Anya Taylor-Pleasure’s last order in “The Menu.” SS

 

The Offended Hen (North Bar)

Rhett Brinkley

Not judging anybody for freaking out concerning the Popeye’s sandwich — it’s actually good and undoubtedly warranted hype. However in all truthfulness, North Bar’s Offended Hen had the identical quantity of wow issue for me once I first tried it in December 2018. The sandwich is one thing to behold. Most hen sandwich patties are spherical; this one seems to be extra like a boomerang. One other distinctive addition is the melted provolone, which pairs properly with the smoky house-made chipotle sauce. RB

 

Spiced pecans (Capital Bar and Grill)

Capital Bar & Grill

If the pimento cheese and house-made soda crackers are the blockbuster of the Capital Bar and Grill’s starters menu, the spiced pecans are the sleeper hit. One chunk will absolve you of any guilt about including $10 to your tab for what are, primarily, bar nuts; the spice mix coating the pecan halves feels designed to accompany lengthy gazes on the fancy downtown resort’s show-stopping Christmas tree, however perennially interesting sufficient to make the grade year-round. SS

 

Legit Cheesesteak (Brood and Barley)

Stephanie Smittle

Even had we not heard inform of Brood and Barley’s cheesesteak bona fides from our contributors on the meals writing entrance (taking a look at you, Stefanie Kennon-McGill), we’re a font- and typeface-loving individuals right here on the Arkansas Instances, and we’d know the way to take a touch from the menu format at this Philly-forward gastropub. It’s an absolute beast of a sandwich — a pillowy hoagie roll filled with thinly shaved and grilled ribeye, Pilsner-infused onions and a cheese sauce that’s already made its method into each nook and cranny of your sandwich by the point it hits your desk. SS

 

Glazed Donut (Mark’s Do-Nut Store)

Brian Chilson

Some donuts disappear into skinny air when bit into, so delicate that they’re nearly substanceless. Different donuts are too dense, chewy and resistant, getting dangerously near bagel territory. The basic glazed from Mark’s Do-Nut Store splits the distinction and hits the perfect candy spot between these perilous poles. With a beneficiant brush of glaze that’s throughout your fingers on first contact and lodged in your facial hair by the second chunk, it’s the proper morning deal with. DG

 

Cheeseburger (Okay-Corridor & Sons)

Daniel Grear

I like my burgers easy, so once I ordered mine on the unpretentious Okay-Corridor & Sons — produce retailer, wholesale meals distributor and informal restaurant — I stripped it right down to what I see because the naked necessities: bun, patty, cheese, lettuce and tomato. No regrets. Even when I’d have 86’d the slice of completely melted American, the medium-thick beef would have performed loads of the juicy heavy lifting. That’s the place the true magic lies. I scarfed the entire thing down in below 2 minutes. Subsequent time, I’ll get two. DG

 

The Backyard (Jimmy’s Critical Sandwiches)

Stephanie Smittle

Is it the punch of the pumpernickel? The pillowy mishmash of spinach pate and mushrooms? The doubling — nay, tripling down — on the cheese entrance, with provolone and cheddar and Swiss gone all melty? Or the muted crunch of the sunflower seeds speckled all through? In the case of the bona fides behind that blue ribbon subsequent to The Backyard on the Jimmy’s Critical menu, I believe we’ve acquired a “larger than the sum of its elements” state of affairs. SS

 

Dumplings (Three Fold)

Brian Chilson

Equally glorious when filled with pork, hen or tofu, Three Fold’s scratch-made dumplings are pockets of marvel. No matter whether or not you select to soak them within the tangy supplied dunking sauce, every uniquely formed, dough-cradled, slightly-too-big-for-the-mouth dumpling is flawlessly easy and decadent, like an outdated household recipe. DG

 

Fried hen (Samantha’s Faucet Room & Wooden Grill)

Samantha’s has turn into lately the go-to downtown enterprise lunch spot due to its mixture of comparatively wholesome fare and down-home lunch specials. Among the many latter, the three-piece fried hen meal, served on Thursdays, reigns supreme. It’s fried and seasoned expertly and comes with a facet of brown gravy that tastes like Thanksgiving dressing. Plus, you get Texas toast and two sides. You might need to steal a nap at your desk later within the afternoon, nevertheless it’s price it. LM

 

Tamales (Doe’s Eat Place)

I’ve by no means had a nasty chunk at Doe’s, however I’ve discovered, whether or not I’m stopping in for a catfish sandwich for lunch or a large porterhouse steak for dinner, no meal is full with out an order of the Little Rock establishment’s Delta-style tamales. Made with cornmeal reasonably than masa and spiced excellent, the tamales include a bowl of chili. Get you some sizzling sauce and saltines and dip and dunk, and also you’ll be in heaven. LM 

 

Italian beef (HAM Market)

HAM Market started life as a butcher store identified for its sandwiches, then turned extra of a butcher store and now, as soon as once more, has turn into a vacation spot for sandwich specials. HAM is working semiregular muffuletta and pate sandwich specials, however king amongst its choices is the Italian beef, out there most Wednesdays. Just like the Chicago basic you drooled over in FX’s “The Bear,” it’s thinly sliced roast beef, topped with jalapeno olive salad, provolone and a wholesome dip of aus jus on a hoagie roll. It’s a deeply satisfying mess. LM

 

Taco Arriero (El Palenque)

Rhett Brinkley

Often known as the particular taco, the Taco Arriero at El Palenque appears nearly too good to be true. For a whopping $2.25 you get a delicate flour tortilla full of carne asada, chorizo, pico de gallo and an enormous slice of avocado. I at all times order three, douse them with the house-made purple and inexperienced sizzling sauce and attempt to not end my Mexican Coke earlier than they’re all gone. You may’t go mistaken. RB

 

Pho Dac Biet (Mike’s Cafe)

Rhett Brinkley

After I should be healed of a chilly or world weariness, my abdomen directs me to Mike’s Place and the Pho Dac Biet, higher often called P1, which the menu describes as “mixture rice noodle soup.” It’s a combo not for the squeamish, an assortment of beef elements: tendon, flank, brisket, meatballs, tripe and uncommon beef slices. It comes with typical pho garnishes: cilantro, sliced jalapeno peppers, bean sprouts, Thai basil and lime wedges. Throw no matter mixture of that you simply like on prime, liberally douse with Sriracha and hoisin sauces and slurp with out disgrace. The one solution to get all of Mike’s wealthy broth is to choose the bowl up with two fingers and drain it into your mouth. LM

 

Steak frites (Hill Station)

Hill Station does every little thing effectively, however this basic dish is tops on the menu. The restaurant has moved away from hanger steak, an usually missed lower that the affiliated Hillcrest Artisan Meats popularized, however we’re not going to complain about center-cut ribeye. It comes topped by large pads of herb butter and with a facet arugula salad and heap of the most effective thin-cut fries on the town. LM

 

Shrimp Burrito/Salsa Verde mixed with White Cheese Dip (La Hacienda)

Brian Chilson

La Hacienda’s Shrimp Burrito is among the greatest and understated burritos on the town, a cheese dip slathered tortilla filled with tasty grilled shrimp and veggies. When you’re ready on it, take the complimentary salsa verde — the most effective of its form — and fold it proper into your cheese dip. It’s a taste symphony like no different. RB

 

Reality Wings (Licensed Pies)

Brian Chilson

Want some assist along with your Tremendous Bowl unfold? Look no additional than Licensed Pies for among the most scrumptious battered wings in Central Arkansas. Licensed’s Reality Wings are frivolously battered, fried and tossed in Reality Sauce, an unimaginable candy warmth sauce bottled by Little Rock native Keith Tucker Jr. In case you’re on the lookout for a bit extra warmth, attempt the Scorching Dam Wings — an ideal mix of Reality Sauce and Frank’s Scorching Sauce. RB

 

Hen Hearts of Palm Soup (Cafe Bossa Nova)

Cafe Bossa Nova

Do not forget that “Soup Nazi” episode of Seinfeld the place everybody was shedding their minds over how good the brand new soup stand was? That was my expertise some 15 years in the past when seemingly everybody I knew instantly  found the culinary marvel of Bossa Nova’s Hen Hearts of Palm soup, the wealthy, golden broth with chunks of hen and hearts of palm pairs delightfully with Pão de Queijo, essentially the most splendidly textured cheese bread round. RB

 

Truffle-garlic-herb fries (Massive Orange)

One of the best fries on the town get blanched and fried twice and seasoned liberally with salt and herbs and a hearty dousing of truffle oil. Dip ’em in garlic mayo and also you’ll  need to work laborious to maintain your “mmmmmms” from carrying throughout the room. LM

 

Sriracha poke bowl (Kemuri)

Rhett Brinkley

Bear in mind the temporary poke growth in Little Rock a number of years again? There have been a minimum of 4 new eating places that specialised in poke, that basic Hawaiian dish of uncooked fish and veggies served atop rice, and inside pretty brief order all of them went bust. Fortunately for these of us who crave a deconstructed sushi bowl, Kemuri provides a handful of poke dishes at lunch, they usually’re vastly superior to something from the bygone spots. The Sriracha bowl is my favourite: A rainbow of coloration, it comes with salmon, tuna, crab, some sort of white fish, cucumber, sliced avocado, shredded carrots, pickled cabbage and seaweed salad on a mattress of rice. Clear consuming is never so filling. LM

 

Crab desserts (Mr. Cajun’s Kitchen)

Rhett Brinkley

I used to be in luck not too long ago at North Little Rock’s Mr. Cajun’s Kitchen once I sheepishly requested if crab desserts had been out there they usually’d serendipitously been added again to the menu that day. Although not at all times out there, they’re price in search of out. Served on a mattress of Cajun rice, the superbly packed desserts have a pleasant crisp exterior and are drizzled with spicy remoulade perfection. RB

 

Quesabirria Tacos (La Casa De Mi Abuelita Mawmaw’s Home)

Brian Chilson

The phrase “frico” will get plenty of play on the planet of Italian meals, however the boot doesn’t have a cultural monopoly on fried cheese, nor are the glories of that crispy griddled goodness unavailable in Arkansas. Behold the quesabirria tacos at Abuelita Mawmaw’s, a beneficiant portion of tender, stewed beef birria (assume: Guadalajaran brisket) folded right into a delicate taco shell with a heap of cheese, then griddled within the beef fats and broth till it’s crunchy, which makes it an impossibly dreamy companion for the cup of beef consomme served alongside. SS

 

Cardamom Espresso Cake (Fidel & Co.)

Brian Chilson

Fidel & Co.’s bakery choices are leaps and bounds higher than they should be, and although the cornmeal cookie is a detailed second, I’ve a serious delicate spot for the espresso store’s cardamom espresso cake. It behaves extra like a pound cake than a espresso cake, with buttery depth and a crumb that makes it rattling close to unimaginable to attend any appreciable size of time between bites. SS

 

Vino’s Particular (Vino’s)

Mandy Keener

Not sufficient glowing consideration is given to Vino’s model of the supreme pizza, a basic hand-tossed slice as large as your face, that makes me really feel like I’d exit the restaurant and discover myself on the streets of the New York Metropolis underground punk scene. Whereas it tastes the way in which I consider conventional supreme pizza, it goes locations different supremes don’t with the addition of inexperienced olives, contemporary mushrooms, sliced purple onion and meatballs. Sure, meatballs. You may order it by the slice, however I favor getting an entire pie and making a weekend out of it. RB

 

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