Hall Of Fame STL

My family celebrated my fathers 60th birthday yesterday by bringing him down to Ballpark Village and exploring both the Hall of Fame as Well as the Budwieser Brewhouse. I must say that the HOF was much more than I expected, with so much that caught my attention. John was our guide if you will, but in all reality we we just the only people there so he gave us a lot of attention. I got to hold Stan the Man's bat and was able to take a few great pictures of the memorabilia. After spending maybe a hour in there the family adjourned to the Bud Brewhouse. We deliberated for a few minutes in what to order as far as drinks and light fare before heading to Mike Shannons for dinner. Mom, Dad, and Gina all ordered a 32 oz mug of shock top, Court ordered a Schlafly Pumkin beer and I rounded it out with a Busch. We decided on egg rolls, fish tacos, and pretzels with cheese. All of these were perfect finger foods of conversations and sipping our beers. I can say that the egg rolls were gone the quickest, and the fish tacos were worthy of a taste, but I wasn't needed more. I will say that while pretzels are always good, they are really starting to bore my taste buds. Brewhouse is ok, a soso bar and grill that is simply in a location that will continue to afford them the traffic necessary to survive. Convenience is king... We stumbled from BPV to Mike Shannon's which let to sharing stories and laughs at the table as another meal began. Wine and beer were the drink of choice as the we commenced. A few salads were ordered and brought out in a nice delay. Pops ordered a stip steak, mom ordered shrimp scampi, Gina grilled shrimp, while court and I went for the burger. Although pricey from the start as everything is a la cart, it was all prepared with great attention. Dads strip did appear a little rare for his taste, but as a mountain man, he didn't grumble and still enjoyed it. I didn't try any shrimp because it didn't last long enough, which is always a great sign. The burger was topped with melted housemade American cheese, lettuce, red onion, and tomato. I ordered some mashed potatoes, and court ordered the fries. We were full and happy, when a Chocolate Dome was brought out for the birthday boy, and of course this put us over the top. Please note that the manager did stop by to wish my dad a happy birthday, and this art of simple acknowledgment has been lost of some of the restaurant managers over the years. We had a nice time, and I will return especially if someone else is buying. Much Love

The King and I

Well I suppose I'll start at the beginning...I began with an urban chestnut beer, one of the fine selections from a good buddy Bradley given as a gift to the close knit group of friends standing with him at his wedding.  I pryed open the top and took a sip and found the first bit unbearable, another sip, nope no good, then I did what any self respecting drinker would do and grabbed a frosty glass and poured the beer.  I let the foam settle and went for it again.  Yep that's the ticket!  The flavors simply needed a better canvas for its showing.  I give half crown a full thumbs up, and as an IPA drinker this was deliciously superb.  As I sit patiently waiting for the wife to style herself into the fox she is, so that we could head to the Fabulous Fox, I popped a cheesecake into the oven.  Did that catch you off guard, because it's the truth. Cheesecake, ipa, and a go day to die hard, trifecta. The timing couldn't have been better, finished my brew, cheesecake done, and a lovely wife beckoning to me to come with her. We jumped into the car and raced to meet our reservation at 6:30(it was 6:25 of cours.). We sat in traffic as if surprised why everyone was having so much trouble navigating rush hour in the rain. We make it to our exit and head to south grand peering through the water sprayed windshield and the street names. There it was, The King and I, a little Thai food just for us. I dropped Courtney off at the front so that her time spent getting ready wasn't spoiled. We were greeted by Yuli at the table explaining the drink specials... Mai Tai, Zombie.....yada yada. Water would be great. After we discussed strategy we settled on the Crispy Spring Rolls which were stuffed with bean thread noodles, cabbage, carrots,, cilantro, and green onion served with a sweet and tangy plum sauce. I feel, and I know Courtney would agree a great test of egg rolls are the veggie, leave the meat for the main course. The cigar rolled pockets we right out of the frier and straight to our table with much hast. We asked for some with rice and devoured these almost a quickly as the arrived, with a little plum sauce and soy, this was a great start. Now I will preface this next section with some dismay... We chose two dishes to share, the Pad Thai (no tofu sub chicken) and the Thai Fajitas. Court asked for exta peanuts for the Pad Thai and we decided on a medium level of spicyness on the Fajitas. The Fajita arrived with tortillas and more white rice, and so it began. The favors were as expected and quite good, and medium spiced seemed to lead me more towards extra spicy, as it felt like the heat was "turnt up" as the kids these day proclaim. Soon after the first few bites the Pad Thai arrived. The service was great as far as our water glasses being refilled up to four times during our jouney. Courtney dove in and enjoyed every last bite she took, I however was overpowered by the extra peanuts so much that I withdrew from that dish completely. I felt as though we had noodles with a peanut paste sauce, it had zero other flavors that were able to impact my palate. The fajitas and spring rolls will steer me back to this establishment, and knowing the Pad Thai was altered at our request drives me to give it another shot in the near future. I give the King and I a 4 out of 5 and will try another specialty dish sooner than later that will no doubt move this up a half point. Much Love