It’s that time of the month again when I get real cranky and sensitive. That’s right: it’s Monthly Features.
Yes sirs and madams, Monthly Features is the monthly feature featuring all the monthly features at your favorite restaurants available only this month. But it’s a lot of work putting together the monthly Monthly Features feature, so it takes me until almost halfway through the month and it gets me a little ornery.
Regardless, it’s March, I ate some food, let’s do this.
Have a monthly feature I don’t know about? Send me an email at greg@iateoklahoma.com and I’ll add them to the list.
Tokyo Japanese Restaurant
Fried Crispy "Spring" Rolls - $16
What happens when the roll of the month isn’t a sushi roll? This month the mad sushi scientists at Tokyo opted for a crispy fried “spring” roll to celebrate spring which has...sprung? It still feels mighty wintery out here, but I’m not about to complain about the dish.
Wrapped up are fatty tuna, avocado, cream cheese and green onion. Then they fry ’em up, cut them in half and serve with a spring mix salad, balsamic soy sauce and kimchi sauce.
It’s a sweet and savory blend, avocado-forward flavor with a lovely crisp, flaky wrapper. I like to mix the salad into the sauces and then pile them on the roll for a balanced bite with both the freshness of the greens and the sumptuous fattiness of the tuna and the avocado in every bite.
S&B’s Burger Joint
Avocontrol Burger - $13
In a rare move, I’m going to recommend you make some changes to the Avocontrol Burger if you decide to order it. And the problem, I’m sad to say, is with the meat.
The Avocontrol Burger comes with a half-pound beef patty of filet and Angus beef blended together. That sounds wonderful, but in practice, I found the burger was tough. Filet doesn’t have a lot of fat and a really tender burger needs fat. If you order this, I’d request a regular burger patty, because everything else was great. Smashed avocado? Great. Crispy bacon? Great. Cotija cheese, tomato, red onion? Great. Even the fried stuffed green olive on top was tasty.
Fried Avocados - $7
You know how people look at you weird if you just eat slices of fresh avocado with your fingers? If you dip them in beer batter and fry them, then dust them with a Sriracha seasoning, people will still stare...but in envy. These are very rich and while Sriracha usually doesn’t light me up, the seasoning had my taste buds sizzling. Dunk one in the cilantro cumin aioli for an added boost of flavor.
Pie Junkie
Almond Joy - $4.50 per slice, $24 whole pie
This pie is so rich, I saw it testify before Congress about a series of banking irregularities. Folks. It’s not messing around.
March is Almond Joy month at Pie Junkie and, good lord, this thing packs a wallop.
Atop a graham cracker crust, you’ll find a layer of chocolate, almonds and toasted coconut soaking in a pool of sweetened condensed milk. When it bakes, everything comes together to make a pie so rich it gave full-sized versions of itself to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Bring a friend. You'll need help.
