Lola

The name is Lola,

It is a restaurant,

With lots of tasty fare,

And a whole fish over there...

Baja Style Whole Fish

We shall stand on the tallest mountain singing the praises of Denver Restaurant Week until the day we die...or until they stop having Denver Restaurant Week.  You know, whichever comes first. 

As we walked into Lola Mexican Fish House,  we were really nervous.  You see, we here at MenuManiacs Headquarters are not what the kids call, "fish-type people".  In fact, before we started this blog, we mostly frequented steakhouses and burger joints. That being said, after a brief retrospective we realized the one reason we started this blog was to try new places and different types of food.  Good plan, us.  If we let the name of the restaurant and the type of food they serve scare us away, we would have missed one of the most interesting, unique, and delicious restaurants we have reviewed to date. 

Lola's is located in the Highland area of downtown Denver on the corner of 16th and Boulder Street.  In fact, it is located not too far from another restaurant we reviewed last year, Forest Room Five.  The space is on the smaller scale so we do recommend reservations.  We were lucky enough to be seated in front of the open kitchen and were continuously entertained while watching the chefs prepare a myriad of dishes.  There is a full bar with ample seating and a cold bar that serves all types of seafood.  They do have a downstairs area used for both overflow as well as private parties.  Dinner starts nightly at 5pm, brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 2pm, and Happy Hour all night Monday through Friday from 4pm-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 2:30pm-5pm.  They have a slew of special events including weekly specials and live music so check their website for a full listing.

Guacamole Master!

The night we visited Lola, we met our favorite server thus far.  When you visit, we demand you ask for Jacquie.  Half the reason we enjoyed our visit was because of this well informed, vibrant, funny, and exquisite server.  She knew the menu inside and out, entertained us with stories about the restaurant and it's history, and was kind enough to set us up with guacamole maker extraordinaire, Rolando.  Or is it Orlando?  Due to the music in the background, we are still debating what the kind gentleman's name was so we do apologize if we got this detail wrong.  If you order one thing at Lola Mexican Fish House, be sure it is the fresh guacamole.  The bussers spend one shift a week making guacamole tableside.

Fresh made guacamole and cocktails

On that shift, they must make one batch for the chef before they are allowed to make it for the patrons.  The chef will approve their skills before they proceed.  A cart is brought table-side with a wide variety of ingredients.  You are given a choice of what you want to include as well as how spicy you want it to be.  Not being huge fans of guacamole, we typically have a bite or two at the most, but we ate the entire serving.  Seriously, the whole thing.  We don't know what was in that stuff.  Maybe it was the fresh lime and paprika but it was unbelievable.  It was such a beautiful presentation and execution that we will come back just for the guacamole.  Amazing!

Because of their varied drink menu, we chose a few unique adult beverages.  The Cucumber Lemonade consisting of cucumber infused vodka and fresh lemonade was very refreshing; however, the Lola Colada was by far our favorite of the evening.  It is made with pineapple-fresno chilie infused espolon blanco, Malibu rum, and agave.  This was an interesting flavor combination that started out sweet and was followed up by a spicy kick.  They offer an extensive tequila list as well as tequila flights if that's your poison.

Fundido

One of our favorite things a restaurant can offer are sharable plates.  Simply because it gives you a chance to try more of their menu.  Lola's menu is divided into three sections - Large Plates, Cold Shared Plates, and Hot Shared Plates.

From the Cold section, we ordered the Shrimp Ceviche served with tomato, avocado, onion, cilantro, and a boat load of lime.  For those that do not know, Ceviche is a process where raw seafood is cured in citrus juices.  We really enjoyed this dish.  Fresh lime juice is the key and it seemed to be the element that tied all of our food choices together.

Crispy Fried Chicken Mole

We chose two dishes from the Hot Shared Plates section.  The first being the Fundido.  This was made with queso blanco and pico de gallo, served with fry bread and a side of chorizo.  The second dish was the Crispy Fried Chicken Mole served with reposado-honey syrup and pickled jalapenos.  It is always entertaining when the dish you think will be your favorite, well, isn't.  Although we liked both our choices, the mole's subtle smokiness won by a landslide having an excellent texture and flavor.

Pan Roasted Red Grouper

Since we were at Lola Mexican FISH House, we figured we should probably order some fish of some kind.  We decided on the Pan Roasted Red Grouper from the large plates section of their menu.  This was served with salsa veracruz, escabeche, poached egg, and chile olives.  This was seasoned perfectly with a light crust and good texture.  The fish was not dry and flaked beautifully.  Grouper is a meaty fish when compared to other white fish like tilapia; however since it is a fresh water fish, it isn't oily like sea bass.  Grouper is a great choice for the fish-phobic.  Let's just call it a gateway fish.  We absolutely loved this dish which left us shocked and slightly confused.  It is so awesome to try new things! 

Churros

Moving on to dessert we choose the Cinnamon Dusted Churros and the Tres Leche Cake, a suggestion by Jacquie the uber super duper server.  We were a little nervous about the Tres Leche Cake because one of us has an issue with soggy textured foods.  However, we really enjoyed the cake.  It was moist but not soggy.  The texture of the cake was well preserved without turning to mush.

Tres Leche Cake

There is one item we did not order that we will be sure to try on our next visit, the Baja Style Whole Fish.  This is one of their signature dishes and is a very interesting presentation.  It is a crispy fried gulf snapper served with carrot mojo, tomatillo tartar sauce, and fried yams.  They serve it with tortillas and from there you basically build your own fish tacos.  It is truly something to behold.

The amazing Jacquie!

To sum up, Lola Mexican Fish House was a home run.  The atmosphere, the food, the staff, and the location were simply perfection.  We urge you to give Lola a try.  Of course we awarded Miss Jacquie, the staff, the chefs, and the owner the coveted golden spoon.

It is so exciting to find a place like Lola.  Especially when it's an establishment that we would never have visited if it wasn't for Denver Restaurant Week.  Fellow MenuManiacs, remember to step outside your comfort zone every once in a while to try something new.  Invite your friends and make it an adventure.  After all, that is what life is all about.

Thank you Lola for reminding us why we do this blog.  We'll see you soon for a double batch of guacamole and a whole fish.  Jacquie, save our table by the kitchen.  We can't wait for round two!

The Officially Unofficial Voting Legend
Take it with a grain of salt, we're not professionals.
	Awesome place, we’ll shovel more food in our face!
	It was okay. Not our favorite, but we’ll take another stab at it.
	Didn’t make the cut.

The Fort

One Fort Night....

Big B's Spiced Apple Cider

The Fort first opened it's doors in February of 1963.  Built by William Lupkins, the well known adobe architect from Sante Fe, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 4, 2006, and is a replica of historic Bent's Fort.  In 1833, William and Charles Bent built the fort to trade with the Arapaho Plains Indians, Cheyenne Indians, as well as fur trappers for buffalo hides.  It was destroyed in 1849 under mysterious circumstances, although most people believe William Bent burned it down after abandoning the fort due to a cholera epidemic that struck the Oklahoma and other plains Indians.  Others believe it was destroyed to prevent the Government from taking their property.

The Fort is located in beautiful Morrison, Colorado and is not far from the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater.  One of the unique offerings The Fort offers is a limousine service through Denver Limo, Inc that offers transportation from as few 2 - 32 passengers.  If you use this service, be sure to mention The Fort to receive a FREE bottle of champagne! 

There are so many fun stories about The Fort and it's history.  One example is Sissy Bear.  The owners adopted a two month old Canadian black bear cub and kept her at the restaurant.  They taught her many tricks including drinking root beer from a bottle and kissing the guests.  Photographs of Sissy adorn the walls of the restaurant, and you can read all about Sissy on The Fort's website.

Buffalo Tenderloin Filet

Presidents, Mayors, Governors, sports legends, and actors have visited The Fort on many occasions.  While dining at The Fort, you may spot a plaque on the back of whichever chair was used  by a President at some point in their history.   If a celebrity visits, that person will sign the bottom of the chair.  Be sure to take a second to see if you are sitting on one of these "special" chairs on your visit.  When asked which celebrity visited the restaurant last, we were told it was Dog The Bounty Hunter.  When asked what he was like, we were told, "Orange."  Well played, people.  Well played.

There are several special meals and events that are offered at The Fort.  For example, Buffalo Prime Rib Weekends, Spring Specials, Mothers Day specials, Easter specials, and the Historic Tesoro Lecture Series focusing on the 19th century and early west.  Check The Fort's website to see a full list of events.

Prickly Pear Cooler

The Fort tries to serve the type of food that people ate along the Santa Fe Trail.  They serve a lot of game including buffalo, elk, and quail.  According to their website, they serve over 80,000 entrees of buffalo a year.  In the tradition of the Native Americans, they serve all parts of the buffalo including Rocky Mountain oysters, buffalo tongue, and the bone marrow which is known as "Prairie Butter". 

From the beverage selection, we tried the Prickly Pear Cooler, Colorado's first non-alcoholic drink served at the South Platte River fur trade ports.  Also, we ordered Big B's Spiced Apple Cider served hot with cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.  It was a great choice on a cold Colorado evening.
 

For appetizers we chose the Hot Sausage Bean Dip made with a delicious stout dark beer and Sam's Famous Guacamole which was listed as "Denver's Best Guacamole" on their menu.  Both were wonderful and we really liked the idea that you could either get a full order or a half order.  We haven't seen that option that often and we think it is a great idea that allows guests to try more of the menu.

Buffalo Sirloin and Quail

We each ordered our main entrees off the Restaurant Week Menu.  Not only does this highlight their most popular dishes but it also saved us quite a bit of money.  We cannot stress how awesome Denver Restaurant Week is.  One of these entrees, if ordered off the original menu, would be about $50.  However, since it was listed on the restaurant week menu, it cost us just $30. That is a pretty substantial savings.  The first dish was a 6oz. Buffalo tenderloin filet served with a dinner salad and glazed carrots.  Also, we ordered a 5oz. Buffalo sirloin with a Teriyaki marinated Quail also served with a dinner salad and  glazed carrots.  Quail is not a common item found at many restaurants, so we were excited about trying it.  It was tender and flavorful and is a must have when you visit.

Mac N' Cheese Pudding

In addition, we also ordered an extra side of President Jefferson's favorite Mac N' Cheese Pudding.  He served this dish at the White House in the early 1800's.  Hail to the Chief's....side dish!.

Dessert consisted of The Fort's famous Negrita - a whipped dark chocolate mixed with Myer's rum and served in a chocolate tulip cup.  This was also listed on the Restaurant Week Menu.  In addition, we ordered the Chocolate Chilie Bourbon Cake - an Aztec combination of dark chocolate, walnuts, and New Mexico red chilies.  It was drizzled with bourbon and topped with a homemade hot fudge sauce.


Our server, Stevie, was a lot of fun.  She was knowledgeable of the restaurant and the history behind it.   For a great meal and a wonderful evening, we gave The Fort a fork.  Thank you for a wonderful night.

The Officially Unofficial Voting Legend
Take it with a grain of salt, we're not professionals.
	Awesome place, we’ll shovel more food in our face!
	It was okay. Not our favorite, but we’ll take another stab at it.
	Didn’t make the cut.

The 9th Door

What's Behind Door Number 9?

We have tried many different restaurants since starting the blog, but The 9th Door is the first Tapas restaurant we have visited.  The 9th Door is located on Blake Street and 18th in downtown Denver next to the Vesta Dipping Grill.  We visited Vesta a while back and noticed The 9th Door at that time.  We have been looking forward to visiting the restaurant ever since.

Please note there is no parking lot for The 9th Door so bring some extra cash for street parking or any of the pay parking lots in the area.

The 9th Door is one of those adorable, smaller scale restaurants that are so abundant downtown.  Exposed brick, low lighting, and flowing fabric dividers stand out against the beautiful red and orange backdrop of the room.  The bar is simply beautiful being fully bathed in an orange glow.  There are two televisions at the bar allowing patrons to watch a game and eat at the same time; however, the televisions do not distract people in the rest of the space.  The dining area consists of booths and tables, and they do have a patio for the warmer months. 

As we stated, The 9th Door is a smaller space so if you are planning on dining there, we would suggest making reservations ahead of time to ensure you have a table.

Jamon Iberico

Tapas by definition are a variety of small plates, appetizers, or snacks in Spanish cuisine.  The basic idea of serving Tapas is to encourage conversations and sharing of the food.  Because people are not as focused on eating an entire meal, they can order more of a variety and try a larger selection of the menu.

The menu of the 9th Door is broken down into several sections which include Tapes Frias (cold dishes such as meat and cheeses), Tapas Calientes (hot dishes consisting of ham, beef, chicken, etc.), Postres (desserts), Vinos Dulces (sweet wines to be served with dessert), and Café and Te (Coffe and Teas).

From the Frias page, we ordered the Aceitunas Alinadas y Almendras or marinated mixed Spanish olives and toasted Spanish almonds; Pera Rollos which are fresh pears, arugula, and idazabal cheese rolled in Serrano ham; Tortilla a la Espanola a traditional Spanish omelet, and the Jamon Iberico which was a very interesting dish.
 
Jamon Iberico is the finest ham in the world and it just recently became available in the United States. These free-range pigs are raised in the oak forests along the border between Spain and Portugal, and are fed only acorns during the final period of their life. After slaughter, or “sacrifice” as they call it in the region, their legs are covered in Andalusian sea salt and cured for 36 months before being served.  This is a very thin, sliced pork and is very salty and rich.  It melts in your mouth and is served with slices of bread.  This was absolutely delicious as were all the Frias selections.  In fact, we don't have any complaints about any of these dishes.

From the Calientes menu, we chose one of the evening's specials, the Paella.  Paella is considered by many to be the national dish of Spain.  Served in a small, traditional Paella pan, it consisted of Spanish rice with pochero peppers, chorizo, clams, and mussels. We also ordered the Pollo Oloroso a sautéed chicken breast with Oloroso sherry mushroom sauce and manchego mashed potatoes.  The Filete con Cabrales - a beef fillet with Rioja wine reduction and Cabrales blue cheese sauce served with spiced potatoes is our favorite of the evening.  Although many of these dishes seemed to be traditional Spanish fare, the chicken and beef dishes seemed to be more of a "comfort food" dish than the others.

For dessert, we just HAD to have crème brulee.  As you know, it is one of our favorites and that being the case, if it is on the menu, we order it.  The 9th Door serves a Crema Catalana or cinnamon and vanilla bean Catalan-style crème brulee.  This was amazing.  The cinnamon was not overpowering and paired really well with the vanilla and custard.  We also tried their Chocolava or warm chocolate cake with a rich ganache center, served on an orange crème angelaise.  Probably the most interesting dessert option was the Higos Rellenos or chocolate covered, almond stuffed figs with candied orange.  These were chewy from the figs, crunchy from the almonds, sweet from the chocolate, and even finished with a slightly sour taste from the oranges.  We loved this very interesting dessert and it's many textures.  This is a must try when you visit The 9th Door.

In addition to the food, we tried some wine from Chile and for dessert had a glass of their tawny port.  Very tasty!

We really like The 9th Door.  It is a fun and economical way to have a high end dining experience without breaking the bank.  Not only is this a great place to dine on your own because of the small portions, but it is also a great place for a large group because you can order many different things and try a little bit of each.  We also like the fact that the food was simple and straight forward.  The dishes had only a few ingredients but were combined really well. 

Another interesting thing about the 9th Door is the fact that they serve many dishes with ham.  Most of the places we visit have the usual chicken, beef, and fish options but very few places serve ham.  Of course this is because ham is such a large part of the Spanish culture, but it was a nice change from our typical selections.

Our server, Lydia, was very accommodating and offered many suggestions for our first trip to The 9th Door.  They are participating in Denver Restaurant Week which is from February 26th to March 6th this year.  This would be a wonderful time to give them a try.  For a wonderful experience we give The 9th Door a fork.  We'll be back for sure!

The Officially Unofficial Voting Legend
Take it with a grain of salt, we're not professionals.
	Awesome place, we’ll shovel more food in our face!
	It was okay. Not our favorite, but we’ll take another stab at it.
	Didn’t make the cut.

Mercantile

From Farm To Table...Act II

We love it when friends have birthdays.  Not only do we get to celebrate a special occasion and spend valuable time with them, but we also get an opportunity to try the higher end restaurants that we have been drooling over for the past year or so. 

Last year, we took our friend to Fruition and it was an excellent experience. This year, we took the same friend to Fruition's sister location, Mercantile Dining & Provision.  Alex Seidel is the executive chef and proprietor of both locations so we knew our group would love the Mercantile.

The Mercantile is located inside the Union Station building in downtown Denver at 1701 Wynkoop Street.  First of all, it is a beautiful setting.  Especially right in the middle of a successful Denver Broncos run.  Union Station was lit up with orange and blue lights and were highlighted with white motion lights.  The Mercantile has a subtle sign outside and it does have a large sized patio space that would be wonderful in warmer months.

Inside you will find tall ceilings with grand chandeliers and the low lighting adds to the ambiance.  They have an open kitchen and a marketplace where you can purchase most of the ingredients found in the dishes they serve.  In fact, our server Jim explained to us that if you absolutely love a certain entrée, you can get a list of ingredients and the recipe so you can recreate the meal yourself at home.

You can request to be seated at the bar in front of the chef's line.  That way you can ask questions, watch the preparation, and enjoy a more interactive dining experience.

We began our meal with starters suggested by our server.  First, we tried the Market Provisions which showcased cured meats and cheeses from the Fruition farms and local artisans.  This also included wonderful pickles, rillette, jardinière, homemade mustard, and two wonderful preserves - a berry kumquat jam as well as a blood orange jelly that was absolutely delicious.  We also tried the Canadian Mussels with toasted fregola, garlic, fennel sausage, and tomato butter.  These were tasty; however, the tomato butter sauce was the best part of the whole dish.

It was garlicky, slightly spicy, and very tasty.  The Hamachi Crudo was their newest starter on the menu so we decided to give it a try.  It consisted of Hamachi fish sliced very thin and served over a black olive sherry emulsion, pickled turnips, sheepskyr, pistachio vinaigrette, and brown butter.  Honestly, we aren't really fish people so the texture of the fish (Hamachi is served in certain Japanese sushi) was a textural challenge for a few of us; however the rest of the dish was delicious.

Mercantile has their menu  broken up into four areas:  pastas, vegetables, seafood, and meat/poultry.  They change their menu often based on what items are ready from the Fruition farm so you could possibly have a different meal each time you go which makes it exciting and interesting.

Adel, the service director, came by the table to chat with us about our experience and suggested a few dishes for the main course.  We went with the Acquerello Mushroom Risotto served with a truffle brined egg yolk and parmesan truffle sabayon.  This was very rich and creamy and the truffle sauce added a great flavor boost.

We also opted for the Creamed Kale Agnolotti with white beans, roasted pepper, and preserved tomato.  This was a type of kale stuffed ravioli with a really delicate, slightly spicy red sauce.  We were surprised how much we liked this meal.  Kale is an acquired taste, but all the flavors meshed so wonderfully in this dish that we actually didn't notice the tough, bitter taste of the Kale.  Good job, Mercantile!   You surprised us. 
The Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast was a pan seared breast served with confit root vegetable cassoulet, duck leg sausage, crispy lentil vinaigrette, and cracklin' bread crumbs.  Simple and straightforward, although a little rarer than we had ordered.  It was a good presentation and had a great flavor.  Probably the most underwhelming dish of the evening, but it wasn't bad at all.  The best and most unique dinner option was the Boulder Natural Crispy Half Chicken.  Adel basically told us to order this or nothing.  The lady knows her stuff.  A crispy half chicken served over heirloom grain porridge, foraged mushrooms,

parsnip emulsion, and a chestnut vinaigrette.  This is a roulade style chicken wrapped in the crispy skin.  Served in three parts or "rolls", it contained both white breast meat and dark thigh meat.  The porridge was amazing and the emulsion and vinaigrette were savory with just a hint of sweetness.  This was without a doubt our favorite dish of the evening.  Amazing and so incredibly delicious!

As a side note, The Mercantile does offer family dinners for larger groups of people.  They do ask to allow at least up to an hour to prepare them but it is an interesting idea.

The dessert menu includes varied options and includes after dinner cocktails and digestif options like port, Laguvulin, and Underberg as well as espresso & milk, coffee & tea.  They also offer a unique coffee tasting & pairing option.  We have seen wine pairings, whisky pairings, and even beer pairing but this is the first ever coffee pairing.  We are already planning a visit simply for the coffee pairing.

We decided on four desserts which was so incredibly difficult.  People, you don't even know how hard this was to choose.  We went with the Carrot Cake served with a valrhona dulcey ganache, cream cheese mousse, rum raisin compote, and candied walnuts.  Also, the mil chocolate Pot de Crème with salted cardamom caramel, chocolate sable, vanilla chantilly, and topped with fudge covered tapioca.  The winner of the most unique dessert goes to the Shepherds Halo.  This is a cocoa beet cake served with pickled beets, navel orange, walnuts, and a triple cream cow's milk cheese.  If you got the perfect bite of cake, orange, cheese, beets, and walnuts it truly was an amazing combination. We are so glad we tried this one!

However, our favorite dessert of the evening was the palisade Apple Fritters.  These were lightly battered fritters served with vanilla bavarios, a toasted almond cookie, and crème fraiche sorbet.  Our usual experience with apple fritters includes a very crispy, deep fried pile of dough with gooey, super sweet apples that are mushy and overcooked.  This is the complete opposite.  The apples and fritters were lightly battered preserving the texture of the apple and the cookie and sorbet were light and refreshing.  Very tasty!

They allowed us to go down the chef line to take pictures and ask as many questions as we could think of.  Our server Jim, was attentive and very knowledgeable.  The thing we like about both the Mercantile and Fruition is the fact that although they are higher scale restaurants, the people are not pretentious or snooty.  Because of the delicious food, wonderful atmosphere, and friendly staff we award The Mercantile Dining & Provision the golden spoon.

Thank you to all for a wonderful birthday celebration dinner.

Also, happy birthday to Bob, the unofficial third member of MenuManiacs.

The Officially Unofficial Voting Legend
Take it with a grain of salt, we're not professionals.
	Awesome place, we’ll shovel more food in our face!
	It was okay. Not our favorite, but we’ll take another stab at it.
	Didn’t make the cut.