2 May 2011
Walking (and Eating) in Memphis
This weekend, I visited my younger sis in Memphis. She’s currently teaching third grade in the Memphis City Schools, and I hadn’t been to visit her yet.
Memphis is an interesting city, but I was (predictably) most excited about the food. Before I even set foot on the plane, I knew two restaurants I absolutely had to go to: Gus’s and Rendezvous.
We never made it to Rendezvous — there were lots of events happening in downtown Memphis this week, so traffic was INSANE. We did, however, get to Gus’s. And it was the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. EVER.
We started off with the fried pickle app (lower left), moved on to the white meat chicken plate with baked beans and cole slaw, and finished with coconut pie. It was my first time trying coconut pie, and it was perfect — just sweet enough with lots of coconutty flavor and texture.
The other meal highlight of my trip was a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese place called Saigon Le. Locals know about this place because it’s a total hidden gem. It looks like nothing, but the food is outstanding.
For an app, we tried the birds’ nest egg rolls, which are sort of hard to describe. They’re crunchy strands of fried stuff on the outside, and flavorful meat (pork?) on the inside. You wrap them in lettuce and stuff it with fresh basil, mint, and cilantro. SO unexpectedly yummy. For my entree, I got a shrimp dish that was fabulous, though I honestly couldn’t tell you what it was.
I finally got to try the famous Memphis BBQ on my last night, when we headed to Central BBQ for dinner.
It was basically like fast food BBQ, but I loved it (any time I can get brisket fast and cheap, I’m a happy camper).
All in all, my eating experience in Memphis was pretty awesome. Have you ever been to Memphis? Where do you like to eat?
