Summer is here and outdoor patios are open, which means that if you’re a food lover and restaurant junkie like I am, you’ve entered your busiest time of the year at the office. No, not busy from actual work, but from more important things, like planning long, leisurely “business lunches” and advising co-workers about where they should take important clients. Fortunately, King Louie’s has simplified your workload this year. That’s right, after a hiatus, lunch service is back at 39th Street and Chouteau Avenue – and you should immediately add it to your arsenal.
On one of the first warm and sunny days of the season, I jumped at the chance to call some friends and head on over for a “stock club meeting.” Inside the restaurant, the enormous dark, oak bar and plush surroundings evoked images of the days of the three-martini lunch. Heck, why not immerse oneself in such an atmosphere? Very friendly bartenders jumped right on my order and delivered a bone-dry Gibson to me in a flash, ice-cold and with an extra onion.
Opposite this impressive bar is the jewel of King Louie’s: the patio. The Web site describes it as “an outdoor café overlooking a majestic train yard bending into the horizon.” Yeah, yeah, I snickered too. The reality is that it’s a wonderfully landscaped urban oasis, but to see trains, you’ll need to do some serious neck craning.
In terms of starters, prepare to be impressed. The calamari, battered and flash-fried, paired excellently with zesty Dijon-anchovy mayonnaise dipping sauce. Walnuts, poached pears, blue cheese and dried cherries in the lightly dressed King Louie’s salad mixed and mingled fantastically on the palate, while the Caesar tended toward citrus, with a delightful surprise mixed in – moist, seasoned croutons that reminded me of stuffing. House-made garlic sausage was also a spicy treat but could have used a little more of the coarse mustard, and the mélange of lentils, roasted vegetables and bacon was overburdened with lentils.
Pommes frites, dusted with herbs, a touch of seasoning and Parmesan accompanied by a truffle crème dipping sauce, were simply excellent. The basket of frites was, however, huge and the portion of truffle crème was not. Since you won’t want to scrimp on the crème, be prepared to request more.
Try to make it to the main course with some room left in your stomach. A roasted turkey sandwich arrived topped with a creamy house slaw, slices of Gruyère and perfectly cooked bacon (crisp enough to break off a small piece without pulling the entire slice out of the sandwich). The “grilled hamburger on brioche bun” was more impressive than the menu’s description, full of chopped onions and spices. Although ordering a “medium-well” burger often results in a hockey puck, at King Louie’s, even medium-well turned out to be a juicy treat. (Keep in mind that the menu offers a “hamburger,” so if you expect cheese you’d better ask.)
I always enjoy trying pasta where sauces and flavors skew from the usual marinara or cream, and so the abundance of garlic sausage in a spicy, slightly smoky ragù gave the tagliatelle pasta a nice kick. When it came to the roasted mushroom hearth bread (read: pizza), the earthiness of the mushrooms made a good counterpoint to sharp goat cheese and lemon. Sweet garlic jus matched well with the grilled Artic char served over an ocean of lentils. Once again, sooooo many lentils.
I must now interject a small point. The above are all very good choices, but if King Louie’s offers the braised pork sandwich special, there’s no need to consider anything else. The sandwich was melt-in-the-mouth succulent, doused in sweet ginger barbecue sauce and topped with that creamy house slaw. Although a fellow diner gave it a good home, the only regret I had throughout my visits was not having ordered this sandwich myself.
As for sides, King Louie’s continued to achieve. Potato salad was deliciously offbeat with smoked tomatoes and chipotles lending it some zing. Not nearly as heavy as anticipated, the macaroni gratin really grew on me. The more I ate the better it tasted, so I kept eating and it kept tasting better and … you get the idea.
Service staff was extremely friendly with excellent knowledge of the menu. The leisurely pace of the meal allowed them ample time to interact with diners and answer any questions. I am sure that, when necessitated, the pace can be picked up, but why? If you are in that big a hurry, Captain D’s Seafood, just down Chouteau, has a drive-thru.
Do keep in mind, though, that King Louie’s fairly isolated location combined with some extreme road construction nearby will probably blow your schedule. But if you have carved some time out of your day and are looking for a tasty meal in the great urban outdoors, this is your place.
This article appears in Jun 1-30, 2005.
