Black sheep Cafe

I would like to thank those who voted for the next restaurant. The Black Sheep Cafe was a total success! Located at about 40 North University Ave, The Black Sheep Cafe is a relatively new restaurant that won my love with one dish. The idea behind it is a Navajo influenced South West/Mexican Cuisine, but I overheard the waiter saying that the head chef was trained in European and American cooking. Makes sense since this restaurant had burgers and I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't fine that in your average Navajo hogan. The venue is actually pretty awesome. It doubles as a native American Jewelry workshop, but it had this really nice modern feel to it. From the very beginning, I could tell I was about to have a food experience. (Especially since it smelled like one of the restaurants I worked in).

   

Food:

After we got our bearings straight that we were about to eat Navajo inspired food (which I have never actually had before) We decided on the Bleu-Fire Shrimp Appetizer. These shrimp were seriously good. Now that I think about it, they actually tasted a bit like fire. (I bet one in four people would say “oh right, you've tasted fire." Fine! It tasted smoky and almost earthy. Happy?)

 It was topped with a corn...pico de gillo...ish stuff, but without tomatoes. Sweet, Sweet corn though. All on top of a bed of cheesy blue polenta. I know! I'd never heard of blue polenta, but since polenta is pretty much just fancy corn meal, I guess it could be made just as easy with blue corn. This polenta was soooo good. I could eat a whole bowl of it, and just might some day. Some may think "Polenta?? that gelatinous stuff in a tube in the grocery store??" No no. This is made how God intended polenta to be eaten.

Bleu Fire shrimp on creamy bleu corn polenta

(Can I just say that I love reading a menu and feeling that discouraging feeling like I dont know what to get cause it all sounds so good.) And then … A TRIO! I got the taco trio, a plate of the other tacos that I was salivating over. The burgers sounded amazing, but I was really trying to go for somewhat of an authentic Navajo experience. (As much as one could have while drinking ice water, and snapping pictures on my smart phone)

Navajo Taco Trio

For the record, these were no ordinary tacos. Rather than a corn tortilla as I was expecting, they use fry bread (made in house and soo good). It was almost like eating a taco made with naan.

My three tacos were the Red Chile Beef, Green Chile Pork, and Black Sheep Pintos. These meats nearly melted to the touch. They were soooo tender and filled with flavor! I LOVED these tacos. The kind of food that makes you laugh because its so good.

Black Sheep Pintos

Green Chile Pork

Red Chile beef

Ash got the enchiladas, substituting the pork with chicken. I had a bite of that and thought it was amazing. Ash claims it was one of the best enchiladas she's ever had (coming from a girl who's spent nearly every winter in Mexico eating enchiladas). I have to question though how black olives made their way into southwest cuisine. Do they have those down there?

Enchiladas with Chicken

Dessert was the Orange-Habenero Creme Brulee. The orange flavor was definitely there, but the habenero not so much. By the time we got to this point, we were already too impressed for anything to convince us not to come back. The caramelized sugar was perfect! Some restaurants actually just put sugar on top and torch it till it's melted. This then results in a shiny charcoal on top that totally ruins the dish. Drives me nuts. Next time though, I'm totally getting the honey-butter FryBread. Mmmmmm....

Orange-Habenero Creme Brulee

Price:

I dont know what lunch is, but here's dinner:

Appetizers:

$7 - $8 (soups, salads, other small meal-beginning stuff)

Entree:

Burgers: $9 - $13

Tacos: $12 - $15 (totally worth it)

Overall:

Totally worth it. Go!

Going back to the food experience, These guys got it! Not only is it a family run restaurant (we saw three generations in the kitchen working) but time and effort was taken to make the food unique. This is the type of food that I feel is great by any standards. You put them just about anywhere in the country (or out) and it would do well because it's something that you just don't experience anywhere. It's a type of menu that hardly anyone is familiar with but you will not regret experimenting with it.


P.S.:
I went back there with my brother a little while later. He was excited to try out some of the stuff I've been writing about. I absolutely had to show off the taco trio, and decided that we should also try the bleu Goat burger since the restaurant holds it in such high esteem (and it totally delivered). We saw someone else drinking this radioactive looking drink and decided that rather than loosing out on our chance in getting super powers, we'd better try it out. Good thing too, turns out it was awesome ... no powers though.

Cactus Fruit Pink Lemonade

Bleu Goat burger with Sweet potato fries (not yam fries)

Bleu Goat burger with Sweet potato fries

Bleu Goat burger with Sweet potato fries

Spark

My brother called me up the other day and asked what I think about Spark. "Ummm, people kind of go there for the drinks, it's got a fun lounge feel with some cool virgin cocktails, but Ash and I have been there a few times and the food wasn't that great"

"Oh my gosh! CJANE MASTICATED them! I give them a month!" He said. (Its awesome having a brother that keeps up on blogs)

I got online to verify.

CJANE gets more than a million views per month on her blog, the author is the sister of Stephanie Nielson (another die-hard blogger with "Nie Nie Dialogues") and fortunately, she documented her experience. I say fortunately because I expected that I would have to do a review of them, which meant I would have to eat there. Now, I don't have to! Yes!!

Her words do a pretty good job to describe my feelings of that place. (Though thank heavens I didn't have her experience).

cjanekendrick

Guru's

It really doesn't fit the Provo mold, but somehow it has established itself here and has done really well. If you've never been there, at least I'm sure that you've heard about it. Located just East of University on Center street, Guru's attracts a broad crowd being somewhat chic, but also one of the few places that the hippies can eat and still feel good about themselves. First thing that Guru's does well: vegetables own a prominent place on the menu. Sometimes, I will be totally sick and tired of all the meat and potatoes and seriously just crave veggies. If that's so, Guru's is my go to place. Even though they have an amazing breakfast (cowboy benny, seriously worth waking up early for) I'm going to focus on the lunch/dinner stuff.

Food:
When Ash and I go there, we usually get Marco Polo pasta. It is a really down to earth, just plain ol' good pasta. With its creamy base, linguine, and tons of vegetables, it is a great cross between self indulgence and healthy responsibility.

But lets get real. The pasta, though it is fantastic, is more to justify our buying the sweet potato fries. For the life of me, I dont know why they are called sweet potato fries when they are actually yams (sweet potatoes are yellow, yams orange) but either way, Guru's sweet potato fries are the best fries that I have had anywhere. This includes Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake, anywhere. Battered in goodness, they're worth the trip downtown even without a meal to go with it. They are crunchy, savory, light, easier-to-justify-as-healthy-than-normal-fries, and always leave you satisfied.

Price:

Sides range from $3 - $6 

Main range from $9 to $15 depending on what it is and half/full size

Overall:

Highly recommended.

I feel like Guru's is just so different than any other restaurant in town. It has food that actually cant be found elsewhere, that is unique, and actually really good. It has kind of an Eastern influence, so the some dishes are a little spicier, but there is seriously a plate in there for anyone. I wouldn't necessarily go there on a formal date, but for some casual good food, Guru's wont let you down.