March Madness in Montgomery...in March

This March has ushered in a greater than usual amount of Madness in the Gump. Especially in the restaurant trade.  According to our Montgomery Advertiser, restaurants were lining up to peacefully open new locations within the historic heart-shaped environs of the Gump.  Why, in our new downtown Foshee development, we see Island Delight, Cuco's and Mama Goldberg's joining the Irish Bred Pub on Dexter.  Happy St. Patty's day by the way to our Irish brethren who marched in Dublin for freedom from British Rule only to be gunned down by machine guns in a stadium in the first "Bloody Sunday."

Up in No-Clo everyone is buzzing about the new Kudzu Noodle Bar and rumors of franchising for them abound ala Zoe's, Chicken Salad Chick and Maki Fresh.  Love those Asian wings bro.

A dramatization of the famous Noodle March projected on the wall at Kudzu. 

Good stuff in there.

The Red Phone to the bar next door in case you have to wait or to reach Chairman Meow.

Then of course we all are geeked up about filling out our brackets for the NCAA basketball tournament featuring not a single mens team any of us care much about. This one looks like a shoo-in for the Kentucky Blue Grass.  And  now they have dumped their PETA un-friendly and endangered species of Wildcat mascot, we can all watch the ASU women complete as we feed our carnivore cats tuna flavored tofu. But if I were you, I would watch out for those pesky Wisconsin Badgers.  Badgers are not endangered you know.

A state trooper rustles up some Oklahoma SAE's to get them out of the Gump (Will we ever not have "a long way to go"?)

Last but not least we have been host to some pretty important historic March marches which caused some of our finer restaurants (Central) to be bought out by big wigs.  Bet it was an eye-opening experience for the wait staff when guys with badges started giving them those "voluntary" background checks. (Thankfully my ankle bracelet did not go off).  I am sure everyone's papers were in order and anyone whose papers were not did not show up for work.   Could all the ruckus have been because the guests were a present/former president or just some run of the mill Senators/Congressmen? In any event, whomever it was I heard they raved about Chef Leo's fare.  Did they learn about him on LITG by chance?  Not likely but as Randy Newman sings in Harps and Angels: "You never know". Our little blog does get a few hits from D.C.

 See reviews in YELP.

Island Delight: What a Jerk!

Outside the Comfort Zone: Island Delight

Every now and then we all need to get outside our comfort zones by trying something different. You know, like paying your child support on time or drilling oil wells a mile deep in the Gulf. My comfort zone for lunch is your typical fried chicken with three sides with some hot cornbread muffins and real butter. But today I ate lunch where they serve "beef" oxtails (get your mind around that thought) and "Curry Goat":

Is there an Ox-Oxtail?

Where was I, you ask? Well I ventured out onto Airbase Boulevard, within the shadow of the entrance to Maxwell AFB on the west side of the Gump, and tried the Caribbean fare at "Island Delight." Undeterred by the bars on the windows, I entered and found a well-lit, clean and friendly place with several out-of-the-ordinary meat selections: Jerk chicken, King fish, beef oxtails and curry goat. The "sides" were also out of the box. I'd heard of but never had fried plantains before. But the thing that caught my eye was the "festival" which I had never ever heard of before. I decided to stick with the more conservative choice so I ordered jerked chicken. "Jerked" chicken is not obnoxious chicken with an attitude that won't return your calls. "Jerked" chicken is roasted/grilled after being rubbed with a "jerk" seasoning (sort of like beef jerky). At Island Delight the jerk chicken was delicious and not greasy. The extra "jerk" sauce on the side had a little kick which I supplemented with the Jamaica hot sauce on the table. Before I dug in the plate looked like this:

Almost enough to feed Tojo!

Everything, the vegetables, rice with beans and jerked chicken was terrific. Hell, it might even have been good for me when compared to a greasy meat and three. But the discovery of the week was that little brown thing you see at the left of the chicken and below the tub of jerk sauce: That, my friends, is a "festival." What, you ask, is a "festival"? Well it is sort of a sweet fried cornbread that kicks most of the so-called cornbread offerings in the Gump in the butt. Now I certainly don't know how to cap a mile-deep oil well blow-out. But I do know my cornbread and I could eat a lot of this festival stuff. It's light and tasty and needs no extra butter. It melts in the mouth.

If you are the skittish type and like to eat among yuppies, this Island Delight is not your place. But if you have a little adventuresome spirit and a group looking to eat off the usual menu, I can highly recommend this little hole in the wall on the "other" Boulevard. Next time I may even try the oxtails!