LRP Redux* installment 7: Button Rock Bakery & Kenny Lou’s Deli

I had been to Button Rock a few times back when it was in its old location at 95th and Arapahoe, but it had been a while. It is now located in the District Mall at 400 W South Boulder Rd., Suite 2200, and has added the deli in the same location as the bakery. It has a wide variety of deli-type foods in addition to the baked goods—and sushi!

My friend Sarah and I had a lunch date last Wednesday, so I asked her to meet me at the District, and we ate indoors. The bakery has a little patio, but it was a chilly, snowy day. The indoor part of the mall has quite a few tables and easy chairs with small tables, and they are fairly spread out in the large open area.

While I was waiting for Sarah, the kind server at the counter answered about a hundred questions that I had about the menu and the pastries. I can’t remember them all now, but I appreciated the help.

I wasn’t planning to get sushi because I had my eye on some other menu items, but Sarah got an order of the crispy rice bites. They are actually served cold, and they had them premade in the refrigerator. I tried one, and it was delicious! For our main dish, we each ordered a breakfast sandwich. I got the fried bologna and cheese because I was intrigued by the combination with the potato latke (fried bologna, over-medium egg, provolone, arugula, giardiniera, and potato latke in a warm brioche bun). Sarah got the avocado and egg (scrambled eggs with feta & spinach, avocado, gochujang ketchup, and arugula in a warm brioche bun). These were both amazing sandwiches and extremely filling—so keep that in mind because you will need to save room for dessert! Fortunately, we had planned ahead, so we knew to pace ourselves. Although I liked the combo of flavors and textures very much, I could only eat about 2/3 of the sandwich because it was a lot. My egg was more like over easy than over medium, so next time I might ask them to cook it a bit more. 

For dessert, Sarah got a raspberry napoleon, and I got a chocolate cake bombe (a layer of cake topped with chocolate mousse and coated in chocolate). I am a fan of chocolate mousse in almost any form, so I thought the bombe was the bomb! G wasn’t with us for this meal, but I suggested that he pick up some bombes for him and a friend a few days later, and he also loved them. Sarah was happy with her napoleon, which I sampled and agreed was excellent. She said that she is always trying to match a napoleon that she ate 20 years ago, and this one came close. There are many more things to try from the deli and sushi menus and the bakery case, so we’ll be back!

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

I forgot to photograph the outside, so I borrowed this from the Button Rock FB page. 

Me with my fried bologna & cheese breakfast sandwich 

Sarah with her avocado & egg breakfast sandwich (we were dressed like twins, but it was totally accidental)

Top: Crispy rice bites. Bottom: avocado & egg breakfast sandwich and fried bologna & cheese breakfast sandwich 

Chocolate bombe and raspberry napoleon

B287RP installment 2: Sushi Aji

The restaurant project has been on hold since February, first because we were out of town and then because restaurants had to shut down their dine-in services. However, we decided that takeout should count even though I can't report on the ambience, décor, or service at the actual restaurant. The food is the most important thing, right?

We ordered over the phone shortly before 6 p.m. on a Monday night. The order was ready in 25 minutes, and G drove over for a contact-free pickup (he had to go inside and get the bag off the counter). If we hadn't been so hungry, I might have warmed up the gyoza, but they were good even lukewarm and had a nice dipping sauce, a little thicker than some I've tried in the past. I liked that because there was less spatter! The house salad was basic, just greens and carrots (no cucumbers even though they are in the menu description), but had a very nice ginger dressing.

All of the sushi rolls were delicious. I liked the simple yellow tail roll because the fish was fresh and delicious. The rainbow roll is basically a California roll with salmon, tuna, whitefish, and avocado layered on top. What's not to like? The demon roll has tempura shrimp and avocado inside and is topped with lobster salad, seared Cajun tuna, and spicy mayo sauce. It was just mildly spicy, and the combination was very good.

We'll definitely be returning to try more of the dishes from the extensive menu!

Since I didn't go in person, this is a photo by Adam Beck from usarestaurants.info

House salad, gyoza, and sushi rolls (rainbow roll, demon roll, and yellow tail roll) 

Happy

PRRP installment 19: Udon Kaisha

Udon Kaisha is technically not on Public Road, but since it is right next door to several other restaurants that are, we included it on the list. We have been here quite a few times since it opened and have always liked the food, but it had been a while since our last visit. We were actually there on Saturday, but it took me a while to get around to posting. 

We decided to try an appetizer we had never had before, okonomiyaki (sweet potato cakes with cabbage, green onions, and a crunchy flour-and-egg crust), and it may be my new favorite thing there. Next, we ordered some sushi rolls that were also new to us: spicy shrimp roll, crunchy tiger roll, and sweet potato roll. They were all good, but the sweet potato roll (tempura fried sweet potato with sweet soy and spicy mayo) was my favorite. 

Finally, G had a bowl of shoyu udon soup, which is an old favorite. I remember getting a takeout order of this soup and the spicy ramen once when we were both sick, and they were amazing then too!

Okonomiyaki. We broke up the round cake before I remembered to photograph it. It looks kind of greenish here, but I promise it is delicious.

Sushi rolls: sweet potato, crunchy tiger, spicy shrimp

Shoyu udon noodle soup