One day I was working near East Parkway and I realized I was close to “Best Wings of Memphis.” I’ve read the review on Dining with Monkeys and I’ve also read Best Memphis Burger’s review. They were pretty much split. I, as always, decided I wanted to check it out myself and form my own opinion.

I heard the lines get really long around lunch time but I was only the 7th person in line when I went. (sarcasm) Anyway the line went very efficiently and quickly. Before I knew it I was at the front of the line placing my order. I ordered the 6 whole wing combo with fries. I took my seat and in less than 10 minutes they told me my order was ready. When I first opened up the box I was blown away by how great it smelled.

The wings looked pretty darn sexy if I do say so myself. I know there has been a little criticism from a fellow blogger about their sauce. I, on the other hand, found it pleasantly surprising. It does have some sort of tomato based sauce to it, but………I loved it. I thought it was messy and fantastic. It was literally finger licking good. It’s not quite as sweet as a honey hot or honey gold, but it does have some sweetness to it. The fries were also great.

I ate these pretty quickly and with my sleeves rolled up. Afterwards I made a quick trip to the restroom for a thorough hand cleaning. It was all worth it though. I am really looking forward to hitting up this spot again to try some other wing flavors or even some of their catfish I’ve been hearing about. The staff is nice and efficient due to the fact the lunch crowd is so large. There were plenty of seats though because most customers seemed to be getting take out orders. Please stop by here and see for yourself. Just remember…. you made need a waterhose or a shower once you are done, but the messiness is all part of the fun.

I’ve been hearing about Brother Juniper’s for years. I’ve even seen that famous Rachael Ray episode twice. So why has it taken me so long to go there?? Timing I suppose. Recently my wife and I ran a 5k for the Junior League of Memphis. It was just right down the road and it was early. I had secretly planned on going there the minute we signed up for the 5k. After we finished she asked where we were going to eat. Without pause I told her about this great little place that has the best breakfast in Memphis. She was down.

We got there around 9:30am, and this was a Saturday morning. It was packed, of course, and we saw several people outside waiting and drinking coffee. We went inside and the hostess entered out info on her iPad and asked if I would like a text message when out table was ready. (This actually impressed me….a lot.) She said it would be about 45 minutes. This was no problem. We walked over to the Tiger Gift Shop on Highland and looked for some shirts.

About 20 minutes later we ventured back over and we noticed that literally everyone waiting had coffee. I asked an older gentleman and he said to just go to the coffee bar inside and they would give you a cup. We went strait in and got our coffee. He just told us to tell our waitress that we got coffee while we waited. This is actually a genius idea. The other cool thing is that no two coffee cups are alike. It’s like they raided a thousand different garage sales and bought a mug at each one. My cup said CNN, and my wife’s was from some random John Deere dealership in Iowa. (This, too, impressed me….a lot.)

Not long after we got our coffee we got our text saying our order was ready. I put down the jar of Brother Juniper hot sauce I was holding and we were seated. A quick glance at the menu and we both decided what we wanted. I ordered the black bean breakfast burrito with toast and home fries. My wife ordered the French toast with eggs and ham. I had a fairly serious internal struggle when deciding between the home fries and the grits. In the end potatoes won. Next time I shall have grits.

It wasn’t long at all before the food came out. My wife’s French toast looked and tasted spectacular. It was the best I’d ever tried. Her ham and eggs were also good. (She actually ordered 2 extra eggs afterwards. 5k hunger is serious stuff.)

My burrito was big and beautiful. It came with some salsa that I wish I had more of. I also gave it a few shots of the Brother Juniper’s habanero hot sauce I was eyeballing. It was phenomenal. The black beans made it really great. My toast was served with their own jelly which is awesome. Did I forget something……………

POTATOES!!!! These things are addictive. They had a nice crispiness to them. I’m not sure how they cook them, but it tasted like they came from a cast iron skillet. (I could be wrong.) After some ketchup they were perfect.

Our trip to Brother Juniper’s was very nice. It was well worth the measly 45 minute wait we had. The food, the atmosphere, and even the mismatched coffee mugs made this one of my favorite places in Memphis. I’ll be back soon!

On a recent lunch date with my wife and son my wife suggested we try Shang Hai. It is right across the street from my favorite Vietnamese joint. (Pho Vietnam) I had seen the place many times but had never had the pleasure of stopping in. She doesn’t work very far from there and she had been quite a few times. I’m not sure at all what the building used to be. It looks like the Starbucks on Poplar/White Station used to look before they remodeled. I’m sure someone out there could help me with that as it was most likely a chain location. Anyway, back to my story.

The sign out front says that they serve Thai and Vietnamese food. Personally, I’m down with both so I knew I couldn’t go wrong here. When we walked in and sat down I looked around and I immediately picked up on the family vibe. There were several people eating there for lunch. (Always a good sign) The owner came over and handed us some menus and took out drink orders. She was extremely nice. I could see that it is truly a family owned and oriented type business. They knew many of their regulars by name.

We saw many things on the menu that would like to try but we kept it fairly basic for my first trip. We ordered the house combo fried rice. My wife ordered the house combo noodles. I ordered the Moo Goo Beef which came with fried rice and an egg roll. While waiting on our food everyone in the restaurant was visited by a little girl, presumably a grand-daughter of the owner, named Madison. Of course everyone contributed “Awwww’s” and “How cute’s”. This was further testament to the family atmosphere of the restaurant.

Our food came out fairly quickly to my relief. I was pretty hungry!! We all sampled each others dishes and I will say I was very impressed with it all. I had never had moo goo beef before (sheltered I know) and I must say it was great. The rock star of the lunch though was the fried egg roll. It was big, fried, and full of stuff. It had the clear noodles typically inside Vietnamese spring rolls. It also had lots of vegetables and plenty of ground pork. Looking back I might have just ordered a dozen or so of those bad boys and I would have been very content.

All in all I’m very glad my wife suggested Shang Hai. I’m glad to add it to my list of favorites for Memphis eateries. I’m also dying to go back and try the beef noodle soup for lunch. I highly recommend this place to anyone who loves great Asian food.

My Moo Goo Beef

Combo Fried Rice

House Noodles Combo

I’ve been to Pho Saigon exactly three times. I dont’ see my self going anymore. Why should I when there is a far superior Vietnamese restaurant right down Poplar (Pho Vietnam). I know that Pho Saigon is one of the most recognized Vietnamese restaurants in Memphis, and it has been for years. I just want to say that I am a huge fan of Vietnamese food. Their food is not bad. It’s…… ok.

The deal breaker for me is their service. The first time I went was with a large crowd. One of my wife’s friend’s daughters was playing with the chopsticks in the large cup. Every table has one of these cups. Out of nowhere the waitor comes over and takes away the chopsticks from the girl and removes the cup of chopsticks from the table. We were all shocked. Do you know what I had to eat that night? Neither do I. That experience vastly overshowed my meal.

The other two times were during lunch with my wife. We both got the fried pork chop with fries egg, rice, and pickled vegetables. We also got the fried quail and spring rolls. We both had soda’s to drink. They don’t have a fountain so they bring you a can every time you want a refill. Apparently I was thirsy because I actually needed a refill! Imagine that. The waiter seemed irritated that he had to walk all the way to the kitchen and get me another drink. He walked by the table very quickly and wordlessly slammed it down.

The third time we went we ordered water to drink instead. Same guy…….same attitude.

Basically their food is pretty decent, but I didn’t like my experiences there. I’m not saying to stay away. Please, go try for yourself. I wish you luck and I hope you have a better experience than I did.

I enjoy reading the local publications such as Memphis Flyer, Memphis Magazine, and Commercial Appeal’s GOMemphis section. I especially like reading when they do their annual “best of’s” for local restaurants. Like many other people probably do I instantly see if the winner in each category is somewhere I’ve been. More than once I’ve seen Tsunami in the “Best Seafood” category. My wife and I, both lovers of seafood, decided to try it out one Saturday evening.

We made reservations for 7:30 and got there a little earlier. Being a bustling Saturday night in the Cooper Young district parking spaces were scarce, but we got lucky and got a good one right next to the restaurant. I was pretty excited about that, and about eating at another fine restaurant in that area. They were pretty busy when we got there, but our table was ready and waiting for us. I was very impressed by the decor and the whole atmosphere. It’s very modern, but you feel like you can be relaxed here.

For an appetizer we ordered the Crispy Calamari. It was prepared beautiful, and tasted great. I’ve had it at a particular Italian chain restaurant and it was too rubbery. This was not…. It had a very nice texture, and it came with Chipotle Aioli.

For our entrees my wife chose their Roasted Sea Bass with Black Thai Rice. I ordered Lamb with sweet potato risotto. Both were fantastic and plated beautifully. The Sea Bass was cooked nicely and went wonderfully with the rice. My lamb was very tender and the risotto was outstanding.

For dessert we ordered Creme Brule. It was ridiculous…..ridiculously good. Not too sweet, and perfectly creamy. Overall we were really impressed with the place. We loved the cool atmosphere, and the food was great. They are a little on the pricey side, and the portions can be a little small. Overall I definitely recommend checking it out.