Memphis Nosh: South Of Beale (Downtown Dining Week)

Downtown Dining Week is the best.

I'm not kidding.

It's one of my favorite weeks of the year.

Basically a ton downtown Memphis restaurants have specials - either 2 or 3 courses, or 2 dinners, or some variety of that - for $20 and change. In 2012 it was $20.12, in 2013 it was $20.13, etc.

Kirby and I decided we wanted to go places we don't usually go, and try something new. So we went to a super fancy dinner at Paulette's (so good - but too fancy to take pics!) and to a local favorite, South of Beale (S.O.B.).

*via www.memphisflyer.com.

*via www.flavortownusa.com.

They've even been on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives!

The special at South of Beale was a choice of appetizer, entree, and dessert.

But we started out with wine (of course!) and that amazing popcorn:

*Also, we didn't have a reservation, and were looking at a pretty long wait, but we were asked if we'd like to sit at the bar facing the street. People watching and awesome food? Yes!

For my appetizer, I came really close to getting the Oxtail Wontons, but decided to go for the Duck Fried Rice instead: 

*Duck confit, fried rice, scallions, five spice, and a sunny side up egg. Fantastic. It also went bizarrely well with the Malbec I ordered. Maybe I just like wine enough that I can make anything go with anything.

I love eggs on pretty much anything, and I'm a huge fan of rice, duck, and scallions, but putting all this together was genius. Seriously, I could just make a meal out of this. And, for an appetizer, it's HUGE.

For my entree, I got the filet with gouda mac 'n' cheese:

*Cooked perfectly, and some of the best mac I've ever had. I seriously contemplated making a life with this steak. 

For dessert, we had mini milkshakes with Guinness. I was too busy savoring to take a picture. 

Downtown Dining Week is such a great event - not only do you get to try new things that may usually be out of your price range or that you weren't sure about, but also it's a really good way to support local restaurants, and Downtown in general. See everyone at Downtown Dining Week 2014 in November!