On our way to Jimmy Bigg’s Grill we
passed the packed parking lot of the Village Garden. Always seems
packed and we’re stopping in for lunch. The lot is packed for a
couple of reasons…parking is a scarce nightmare. The second reason
is the place is full and apparently so are the lots of every
adjacent business, to the dismay of some. |
Service was friendly but smoother for the regulars than it was for we the first-timers. The menu has the word Macedonian peppered through each page in what turns out to be a long-standing family restaurant.
The only “Macedonian” thing we ordered was a bean soup. Should have
ordered more. The soup would have made my Dad happy with a porky
base, flashes of spice, variety of legumes, bits of floating ham,
all piping hot. Recipe for tasty. Steph ordered the turkey rice soup
with her sandwich, which was fine but had nowhere near the depth and
flavor of the bean. |
Deep & Layered Macedonian Bean Soup |
Functional Turkey Rice |
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Steph’s sandwich was also thinly flavored in my opinion. Shredded chicken salad didn’t have any of the interesting layers included in the one she had last week at the Pufferbelly. Meh. Our sandwiches ended up being like our soups.
I became enamored by the name of the sandwich I ended up ordering.
I’m pretty sure it was called the Miami Rainbow. Rye, turkey, ham,
cheese…pretty straightforward. Then it’s all topped with slaw and
doused with Russian dressing. I like all that stuff and it was
pretty good together. The sweet burnt-orange dressing, the pepper of
the cabbage and the creaminess of the slaw (definitely on the creamy
not vinegary end of the spectrum) were unique and worked pretty well
together. I don’t imagine I will have distinct cravings but there
was nothing wrong with it, at all. Steph’s sandwich came with
functional chips, mine came with fat, hot, crispy steak fries. I’m
feeling like 2011 Charlie Sheen. Winning! |
I Found The Chicken Salad Mediocre |
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Came With Big Fat Crusty Fries |
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On the way to pay the tab, the dessert case revealed a pan of
baklava, which we ended up trying in the car. Way, way, way sweeter
than any I can remember. As soon the sweet hit me I expected to be
disappointed, never arrived. Seriously sweet, there is just enough
bitter in the brown crusty layers on top to keep it from cloying.
The Village Gardens seems like a place that has some real gems on
the menu. I don’t think we uncovered the treasure but there was
enough bling to warrant further investigation. |
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Found This At Checkout |
As Close Too Overly Sweet As You Can Get Without Crossing A Significant Line |
Ratings | |||||||
Food |
Service |
Ambiance |
What's Best |
What's Worst |
Overall |
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B | C | C | B+ | N/A | C+ | ||
Soup, Baklava |