Happy Anniversary to Us

No, not our wedding anniversary. That’s in February. Have we ever told you the story of our wedding day? It proved to be the coldest day—up to that point, because it got worse—of that winter. Chuck thought that he had cleverly hidden our car from his best man and groomsmen. He was wrong and they proceeded to write “Whoopee” on every window, spelling it wrong and differently each time. Given how cold it was, it was all but impossible to wash the soapy writing off the windows and we had to live with it until the first warming.

But I digress. It was on Friday, June 13, 2008 that we set forth on our six-year adventure. To all of our friends who asked “Are you out of your (expletive deleted) minds?” the answer is probably yes. But it has been a great six years. We have seen beautiful sights. We have eaten wonderful food. We have heard great music and met great people.

And most important, we have had the chance to visit with family and friends from South Carolina to Illinois to Iowa to Montana to Arizona and New Mexico and along the West Coast from as south as San Diego to as far north as Port Townsend, WA, with several stops in between. We have celebrated holidays and birthdays and have had the chance to just sit back and visit.

As Chuck wrote in a blog as we left Louisiana, we are slowly making our way north to Philadelphia to sell our house and move on to the next stage in our lives in Lafayette, LA. Because you’re never too old to have a new stage, and remember, I am convinced that I’m the reincarnation of Evangeline.

But back to the present—lunch in Ocean Springs, MS. Have you ever walked into a restaurant and immediately realized that you were way underdressed? That was our experience at Phoenicia Gourmet.

Somehow I didn’t expect a restaurant with falafel on the menu to have mirrored walls,

white table cloths with a flower vase on each table,

and Egyptian-looking figures and hieroglyphics on paneled walls.

“…this is a must try restaurant when in the Biloxi, Mississippi area…. (T)heir menu is both Greek and Lebanese cuisine…and traditional and Greek/Lebanese-infused dishes. It’s sorta upscale so you might feel a little uncomfortable wearing flip flops and shorts, but they will still serve you anyway. The décor is typically Greek…columns, white walls, mirrors, gold gilt…. (Y)ou know the look but think upscale….

“…We started with Hummus and Fresh Pita Bread which are complementary…. (T)he Hummus is the very best I have ever had in my life…. I am not kiddin’ you! I could lick the bowl…. (I)t’s that dang good!!! And the warm fresh pita bread…Lord have mercy…melts in your mouth…” (southernaccentswattitude.blogspot.com).

While I wasn’t wearing flip flops, we both were wearing T-shirts and I had on cropped pants.

And the hummus?

It was certainly smooth, but I found it to be a bit bland. It needed both some lemon and some garlic for punch. But the pita was extraordinary.

The restaurant did offer falafel, but didn’t have Chuck’s go-to when eating at a Mediterranean restaurant—a gyro. So, instead, he ordered “off menu.” The lunch menu listed chicken and beef skewers, but he wanted a shrimp skewer. No problem—but at rather a higher price.

Still, his skewer contained seven large shrimp that had been lightly brushed with seasoned oil and then grilled. He gave me a small—I repeat, small—taste of one, and my feeling that I prefer Gulf shrimp over the Royal Reds that I had at our recent lunch at Half Shell Oyster House was reconfirmed. There is just a certain crispness of texture that the Reds lacked. A second skewer contained yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, red peppers, and a mushroom—all of which were cooked crisp tender.

There were three specials that day. One was grilled salmon, one I forgot, and the one that I ordered—the grilled lemon fish with lemon and thyme sauce. I had never heard of lemon fish, so I spent some time interrogating our server about its flavor. I am not a fan of strong oily fish. But I was assured that this would be a light and mild fish and, with this assurance, chose that for my entrée.

My meal started with a cup of spinach and lentil soup that was barely warm (Grrr) and rather tasteless. It was followed by a decent and very, very large Caesar salad.

Chuck joked that the soup cup was barely half full but there was enough salad to feed half the diners in the restaurant.

The lemon fish—which had been grilled—was indeed a mild tasting fish with a texture that was not so much flakey as meaty. And the lemon and thyme in the sauce were sufficiently subtle so as to not overpower the fish’s flavor. My plate also contained a mélange of lightly sautéed zucchini, yellow squash, and red bell peppers.

Both of our plates came with a healthy servicing of rice that had been mixed with toasted vermicelli—kind of like Rice a Roni without the sodium, chemicals, and artifical flavorings. It was delicious. The rice may have been cooked with chicken stock and a little lemon, but I’ll never know. When I asked our server he indicated that the kitchen doesn’t tell them what goes into the food—they want to keep this a secret. Sounds kind of iffy to me.

And so ends our day in Ocean Springs, MS, with a good 4.0 Addie lunch.

To review the role of Adler, Kitty Humbug, and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.