The Hopeful Critic

The Underground is one of my favorite restaurants so it only feels fitting that I start my website by talking about them. They’re a restaurant and bar in Carbondale Illinois. More often than not they feature a seafood special on the weekends and this weekend was no different. I had the opportunity to try the wild sole, stuffed with crab/shrimp/scallops pan seared in brown butter, crispy yukon gold potatoes, tarragon buttermilk cream broth, wilted local spinach from Autumn Ridge Farm, pacific NW truffle/Morel duxelle cream sauce. This was decadence! The fish was firm and flaky, it was light and had a nutty flavor. It was stuffed with a good amount of shrimp, crab and scallops, and the sauce…oh the sauce! I doubted putting fish on potatoes but it worked so well. The sauce on the potatoes was almost as good as the fish itself. It all sat on a bed of spinach which kept everything feeling balanced, not too heavy not too light. This was one of the best dishes I’ve ever had earning it a solid 10/10 on the food scale. I simply could not fault it. I had to end the evening with one of their signature desserts. I had the berry cheesecake and it was a solid 8/10, all of their cheesecakes are always great. The best one I ever had, however, was a cookie butter cheesecake. But the berry sufficed and was the perfect cherry on top to an excellent meal. Oh I almost forgot the new appetizer! The Underground has a new appetizer “Gorditas de Carne Asada, a housemade blue corn masa gordita, citrus and achiote marinated and grilled arrachera steak, house made crema Oaxaca, queso fresco, charred salsa negra, house pickled red onion.” It was a great new appetizer! You only get two so we did have to cut it into thirds and though it wasn’t my favorite appetizer of all time it was a worthy of a try and I probably will get it again. However, you can’t go wrong with the pretzel and cheese. I would give the Gorditas a 7.5/10, if you’re just wanting a solid staple I would get the pretzel it won’t let you down. Until next time,

-Hope