I suppose my weekend was so relaxing that I completely forgot to write about my first visit to Lulu's in Shockoe Bottom, so here I am, four days after my brunch, making up for just that.
The interior was visually interesting if a bit disjointed; the jury's out on the pairs of close-set columns separating the booths between the bar and the rest of the main seating area. I did, however, like the bar, the open kitchen, and the spectacular back seating area with what must have been 30-foot ceilings and skylights. I'd really like to check the place out at night and grab some drinks (unless anybody has reason to avoid it).
The food, so far, is another story. Very little about my first meal there calls me back. I ordered the Pork BBQ with cheesy scrambled eggs (hold the slaw, please), but what arrived wasn't actually BBQ. Sure, it was tasty and spicy shredded pork, but it was clearly braised pork. Not smoked. The color, the texture, the flavor...no smoke at all, and perhaps not even liquid smoke. Additionally, there was half a handful of chopped red peppers and scallions scattered across the plate of food, something not indicated in the menu (or I'd surely have asked to leave them out as well). Finally, the gray-brown thinly sliced potatoes on the side were presumably home fries, but they were soggy, limp, and thoroughly unappetizing.
Better luck next time, whenever that is.
The interior was visually interesting if a bit disjointed; the jury's out on the pairs of close-set columns separating the booths between the bar and the rest of the main seating area. I did, however, like the bar, the open kitchen, and the spectacular back seating area with what must have been 30-foot ceilings and skylights. I'd really like to check the place out at night and grab some drinks (unless anybody has reason to avoid it).
The food, so far, is another story. Very little about my first meal there calls me back. I ordered the Pork BBQ with cheesy scrambled eggs (hold the slaw, please), but what arrived wasn't actually BBQ. Sure, it was tasty and spicy shredded pork, but it was clearly braised pork. Not smoked. The color, the texture, the flavor...no smoke at all, and perhaps not even liquid smoke. Additionally, there was half a handful of chopped red peppers and scallions scattered across the plate of food, something not indicated in the menu (or I'd surely have asked to leave them out as well). Finally, the gray-brown thinly sliced potatoes on the side were presumably home fries, but they were soggy, limp, and thoroughly unappetizing.
Better luck next time, whenever that is.