On my first revisit to Little Goat, Stephanie Izard’s newest food spot, Jill and I indulged in items perfect for a late night foodie fix. On this trip we began with a half order of house made biscuits and gravy. I mean, come on folks, why wouldn’t they be fantastic.
The biscuit was plenty to share, large, tall and extremely flaky. The gravy that completely covered the block of biscuit was thick and had a nice earthy flavor and it didn’t come across as being either too thick or thin. It was just right. For six bucks I felt we got our moneys worth in this “starter.”
Sandwiches. We were in the mood and had to get ‘er done. First up was their Daily Bahn Mi. A duck confit slow cooked to perfect tenderness, then coarsely shred, it placed atop a French Baguette. Before this though, a generous slathering of duck liver moose is spread on the bottom bun. They top that with a zesty pickled slaw as well as a drizzle of creamy aioli to bring the dish home. Awesome balance of textures with the mousse and confit – a nice contrast with the slaw cutting through all the other rich flavors. While it’s about three times as expensive as those at Nhu Lan, you just can’t find ingredients like this on Lawrence.
We checked out their burger options and we we ordered a Korean Burger featuring Slagel Farms Beef. This included the beef cooked to their recommended medium, medium well. The patty is flavorful and still extremely juicy, but with that quality beef, I’d still like to see a little pink, ya know? They carefully pile on Kimchee, bacon, a delicate fried egg and spicy mayo all atop a squish squash roll, or so they call it. The bun holds everything together and is somewhere between and brioche and potato bun. Very good, but I still wanted pink. Next.
A tuna melt. But this is not really a tuna melt. I mean, it is. But. It. Isn’t. Their open faced melt is by definition and knife and forker. Two thick slices of a sourdough style bread are laid on a plate and topped with premium albacore tuna seasoned simply and left to stand on its own. Little Goat uses a decadent Mornay cheese sauce instead of your traditional sliced variety. A tangy pickled Nicoise salad with hard boiled egg sliced perfectly and some pickled onion and green beans complete the most unique tuna melt I’ve ever tried.
The last selection of the gluttonous evening was a simple club sandwich. And it was simple. Very tasty, but very simply a club. Toasted and buttery home made white bread, with fresh roasted turkey and ham, cheese, bacon, lettuce tomato and mayo. It was massive. I mean, a novelty to eat as a whole without a bit of dismantling. I was able, however, to take a few full bites with everything the dish had to offer. It was excellent, but the flavors were familiar and maybe less impressive than the other three on this trip.
I don’t imagine there are many misses on the menu at Little Goat. Thus far, they’ve hit on all cylinders and I can’t wait to return for more.
I’m hungry. Let’s eat!
Hungry Hungry Hinden 