Saturday, November 5, 2011

Side Door at Liluma

Want to have some fun? Try Liluma's Side Door. We went there last night before the Symphony and tried a bunch of things on the Side Door menu. We had a blast.


First, the menu starts off with a statement by the owner, Jim Fiala : "'You really ought to do something with that back room' has been the suggestion of many caring customers at Liluma since we opened. Let's make it simple, fun and fresh. I have not described the dishes, so you must just trust me. I promise you'll like them all."

Well, we didn't try all of them, but we tried a variety and I'll tell you about the ones I liked. The menu is divided between "Bites" $4, "Pillows"$7, and "Snacks"$10, plus "Afterthoughts"$5.

From the "Bites" menu, I chose Shitake Custard and Crostini, which reminds you of the yummy Blue Cheese Soufflé at The Crossings. This was every bit as good, I loved it. My Honey had the "Fried Green Tomato" and pronounced it yummy. Friends of ours had "Squash and Bacon" and thought it was terrific.

From the "Pillows"(which turn out, not surprisingly, to be home made ravioli), I had "Squash and Nuts", a combo of butternut squash and pistachios, really good. Chuck had "Vichyssoise" a potato and leek combination with a pesto topping, he liked it a lot.

"Snacks" turn out to be slightly larger proportions and we tried"Surf and Turf", which was a large grilled scallop and spaghetti squash ( veggies come from the "turf", get it?) and that was quite good. We also tried "Fish and Chips" which was grilled Tilapia and homemade potato chips, also good.

There's a lot more to choose from, so go take a shot at it. You'll have fun and it's a great way to share. It's nice to be surprised, and the Side Door does that with a great deal of humor.

www.fialafood.com