If you enjoy eating barbecue as much as I do, you love cities known for smoked meats like Memphis, Kansas City and Austin, Texas.
But there’s much more to food scenes than meats (ha) the eye.
I recently returned from a trip to Memphis and Arkansas. And though I admit barbecue is one of my go-to meals in these areas, I managed to dine just fine without ribs, brisket, pork or beef covered in sauce or layers of spices.
Eat your veggies? Absolutely, when they’re served at Soul Fish Cafe in Memphis. (Photo by John Naughton.)
My visit to Memphis included a soul food feast. Hot Springs brought seafood, gumbo and a regional dessert.
Let’s start with Memphis. Soul Fish Cafe — as indicated by its name — features both soul food and seafood. There are four locations, which is making a statement in one of America’s great food culture towns.
I ordered a Peacemaker po’ boy sandwich: Fried shrimp and oysters side by side on a French roll. Hush puppies are so delicious and popular here that they’re served by the plateful as an appetizer (golden fried and tender, loaded with kernels of corn)… the best I’ve had.
The Peacemaker po’ boy has both shrimp and oysters. Seen here with collard greens. (Photo by John Naughton.)
I had an option of side dishes and chose the collard greens. But when it comes to tempting your taste buds, Southern vegetables are so wonderful that I couldn’t resist to have more than one choice — I added the fresh vegetable plate, a selection of three more sides.
The veggie plate featured pickled green tomatoes (tangy and sweet), Cajun cabbage (cooked cabbage in a flavorful liquid base) and black-eyed peas that had simmered for a long time. My favorite of this trio was the green tomatoes, which had that sweet and sour taste you might find in your Iowa grandmother’s jars of pickles.
Delightful hush puppies at Soul Fish Cafe in Memphis: Golden brown, crispy and good enough to be served as an appetizer. (Photo by John Naughton.)
The sides overshadowed the main dish, in this case. With 18 vegetables on the menu, I’m going to have to return for another round.
My next culinary stop led me to Hot Springs, Arkansas.
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