Lexington, KY - After many reincarnations, the restaurant and eating space located on the ground floor of The Woodlands condominium emerged earlier this year as The Julep Cup. With a formal dining area aristocratically decked out in equine paraphernalia and an aquatic-themed cocktail lounge (dubbed The Seahorse Lounge), the restaurant's interior environs are posh but inviting.
However, on a breezy early summer evening, the small, comfortable patio perched above the building's parking lot overlooking Main Street and Woodland Avenue is even more inviting, and that is where my guest and I set up shop.
The concise menu is a smattering of traditional regional fare mingled with a handful of seafood offerings, as well as an impressive assortment of salads. The appetizer options also shared this balance, with seafood selections such as oysters on the half shell or Rockefeller ($8 and $9, respectively) and smoked salmon ($12, served with salt-risen toast points and an interesting concoction called a tomato vodka shooter), and regional staples such as fried mushrooms ($8), chicken livers ($7) and a house-made Kentucky Ale beer cheese platter ($7).
Salads ranged from the typical (iceberg wedge, garden salad and Caesar) to the exotic (apple and goat cheese strudel, Roger's warm leaf salad - more on these two later - tropical pineapple salad and Caprese). Most salads are priced between $7 - 9 and can become an entrÈe portion served with salmon, crab cakes, hanger steak or chicken for an additional price.
With just over a dozen entrÈe items (not including the daily specials), the chefs at The Julep Cup have succinctly crammed the menu with some really daunting dinner choices: stuffed veal chop ($27), pork shoulder ($13), rotisserie chicken ($15), short ribs ($17), steak-frites ($18), lamb brochette ($22), veal liver and onions ($14), seafood pot pie ($23), vegetable cavatappi (with local vegetables, $12), shrimp and grits ($18), Kentucky trout ($17), a hot brown ($12) and a burger (organic angus beef, $13). The pairings with each option made the decision even harder, and there was much turmoil and deliberation over what we were going to order for dinner.
For appetizers, we ordered the fried mushrooms and the smoked salmon. The fish was fresh, and the mushrooms, with a Kentucky Ale batter, were a striking surprise; bereft of salt, which is so common in fried foods, the taste of the batter and mushrooms were front and center. For salads, we had the apple and goat cheese strudel, served on baby spinach, and the warm leaf salad, an interesting take on the wilted lettuce salad that will make your hair shiny, according to my grandmother.
After our waitress told me I could get the trout both fried and grilled, my mind was made up, and with shrimp and grits sold out for the evening, my guest went with the beef tenderloin. The fish came with caper tartar sauce and caper drawn butter, as well as grilled asparagus and roasted potatoes. Since the batter was so good on the mushrooms, I, fortunately, also put an order in for onion rings - a very good move. The tenderloin came with succotash, spoon bread and onion rings, all smeared in a Bordelaise sauce.
We were hard pressed coming up with some criticisms, evidenced by shiny clean plates our waitress removed from the table. If I had to say something: the drawn butter was a little overbearing and the roasted potatoes were kind of bland, but that's about it. By the time the desserts were brought out - hummingbird cake and bread pudding - the butter and potatoes were a fading memory.
Prior to tipping, the meal cost $125. A little pricey, but we did order two appetizers, two salads, two entrees, two desserts and a couple of cocktails - we went for it, and we weren't surprised when we got the bill. If you're looking to spend a little extra money on a dinner, this restaurant won't disappoint.