The latest restaurant to sprout up along the rejuvenated South Limestone corridor, House Food & Wine (or just House) is another notch in the link between the University of Kentucky southern campus and downtown. With its casual, but upscale menu, atmosphere and price points, the cozy eatery should have the ability to attract sensible students and “grown ups” looking for a place to dine near the city’s center.
House, the restaurant, had been a true house, a residence, for a long time (the structure was built in 1900), but was recently rezoned to accommodate the project’s commercial needs. The quaint building fits snuggly on the west side of South Lime among a row of other businesses, and diners, if the place is crowded, fit snuggly inside among a handful of tables. House also has a great (but small) patio with a few tables, which is a nice setting especially now that things are beginning to get cooler in the evenings.
My guest and I got a table outside on a recent Tuesday evening. On Tuesdays, House offers a special prix fixe menu which includes a bottle of wine, two entrees (from a limited selection) and a dessert for $40 – and appetizing, and affordable, deal, but since we were eating on the company’s dime, we decided to forgo the special and began looking over the menu.
Much like the establishment, the menu is small, but tasteful affair, with about a half dozen appetizers, sandwiches and entree options. The appetizers (priced $8 - $9), Italian pork, as well as Buffalo chicken, meatballs, tostones, sliders, a caprese salad, and mahi ceviche boats. Paninis and burgers (served with home-made fries) are priced at $10 - $12 and include a cajun chicken sandwich, an angus burger, a buffalo chicken club, an Italian sausage, a caprese sandwich and the “Classico” – a meatball sandwich. Entrees (priced $12 - $17) include a cajun chicken and roasted veggie pasta, citrus chicken (served with fried plantains), pan-seared salmon, carne asada, a grilled steak salad (with chimichurri dressing), mahi-mahi (topped with tahini sauce), and a pear, strawberry and arugula salad (which can be topped chicken or salmon).
The wine menu includes a few bottles of wine, all priced at $18, and a house red and white available by the glass.
For starters, we selected an order of the tostones (fried green plantains) and the mahi ceviche boats, which came with lots of mango chunks, but the lettuce “boats” were too large to be manageable vessels; the plantains, which came topped with queso blanco, were crisp and delicious. For dinner, I opted for the carne asada (grilled flank steak accompanied by an assortment of oven-roasted vegetables), while my guest ordered the arugula salad with salmon. Both dishes were prepared very well, and I was hard pressed to articulate any criticisms.
Our bill, prior to taxes and tip, came to $78, and included two appetizers, two entrees, a dessert and a handful of beers and glasses of wine. House does not have a liquor license and only serves beer and wine. Parking is available in the lot to the left of House, as well as across the street behind Soundbar after 5 p.m.
House Food & Wine
207 S. Limestone St.
(859) 379-8207
www.housefoodandwine.com
5 - 10 p.m. Tues. - Sat.