Food Hidden Under A Rock (Ceci’s Chicken And Waffles/ Table 28)

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  Arkansas River

  

  CeCi’s Chicken And Waffles Exterior

  

  CeCi’s Chicken And Waffles Interior

  

  CeCi’s Waffle And Chicken Interior

  

  CeCi’s Waffle And Chicken Interior

  

  Strawberry Shortcake Fried Chicken And Waffles

  

  Red Velvet Fried Chicken And Waffles

  

  Fried Chicken Gizzards

  

  Table 28 Exterior

  

  Table 28 Interior

  

  Table 28 Interior

  

  Table 28 Interior

  

  Table 28- White Chocolate Martini

  

  Table 28- Starters Bread Chipotle Hummus

  

  Table 28- Quail Bird Lollypops

  

  Table 28- Shrimp and Grits

  

  Table 28- Duck Breast With Bacon Brussel Sprouts

  Travel Review : Fun Fact….. Little Rock and North Little Rock are technically two different cities. (Can you imagine if those two high schools were rivals?  The conversations would be hilarious) .  Oh, another fun fact, I didn’t know Bill Clinton was from Arkansas and has an airport named after him.  How is that relevant to this food blog? (Don’t answer that).  What can I say about Arkansas?  It’s very country but has alot of character.  When you go or if you’ve ever been you know exactly what I’m talking about.  The airport was very small, it seemed as though as soon as I stepped off the plane I took ten steps and was being picked up by a taxi.  Most of my time was spent being hot.  I wish someone had told me how hot and muggy it was in Arkansas, I would’ve better prepared myself, lol.  I spent most of my time in North Little Rock where I was able to spend my time viewing the city.  I was always told if I had nothing nice to say then don’t say it right?  Well.. I told you the city had character.  Let’s get to the real reason why I came…

• Restaurant Review : (LUNCH) First stop, CECI’s Chicken-N-Waffles.  Don’t judge a book by its cover, how many times has your raised told you that?  (Special Note : “Raised” means whoever raised you from childhood to adult.  I don’t generalize it because everyone may have different people raising them from the typical mom and dad’s).  The outside of the restaurant looked like a beat up old corner store with a Chicken and Waffles sign on it.  It didn’t look appeasing at all.  The whole time I was thinking to myself, why am I here?  Well.. That’s why they say don’t judge a book by its cover.  The food in this restaurant is AMAZING!  I walked in and you could tell that it wasn’t your typical dine in restaurant.  They had maybe 10 tables and could sit 30 people in the restaurant.  It was very small, no bigger than a hotel lobby (and by hotel lobby I mean holiday inn because yall are rich and stay at places like ALoft).  The specials of the day are written on a big chalk board behind the counter and the kitchen is literally to your right.  I would say it’s no more than 200 square feet, but that’s where the magic happens!  I always enjoy giving places a new try so I was excited about this one.  I love soul food and have yet to go to any as I traveled.  I noticed that the highlight of the menu was chicken and waffles, duh, the place is called “Chicken-N-Waffles”.  They had about 9 options for the type of chicken and waffles you could get ranging from red velvet to strawberry shortcake.  I ordered the strawberry shortcake chicken and waffles with a side of macaroni and cheese and collard greens.  I also saw they had chicken gizzards on the menu which I’ve never had so I figured I’d give it a try.  I grabbed a seat and my food was brought out in less than ten minutes.  The presentation of my chicken and waffles was beautiful! I almost shed a tear, that’s how amazing it looked.  It was accompanied by two small dishes of macaroni and cheese and collard greens and a basket of chicken gizzards.  I took one bite of the waffle and instantly fell in love.  It was nice and fluffy and they didn’t hold back with the strawberries or the strawberry syrup.  The chicken was presented on top of the waffle and covered with small strawberry chunks.  The chicken was perfectly fried, perfectly seasoned, and perfectly crisp.  The macaroni and cheese was ok, it wasn’t a favorite due to it not having enough cheese.  The collard greens were very good.  The greens tasted like they had a hint of sugar in it but it wasn’t too sweet at all.  I ordered the sides just to have a taste because everyone makes their side dishes a little differently.  The chicken gizzards were ok.  I think I would’ve enjoyed them better if they didn’t have the word “gizzard” behind it.  Food names have a hidden effect on you, I couldn’t tell you how many people said they wouldn’t eat calamari because it’s “squid”. The gizzards tasted like liver and chicken mixed together, it had a small after taste.  Would I get chicken gizzards again?  Probably not but I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone who drops by Little Rock Arkansas.  Ceci’s Chicken and waffles was one of my favorites restaurants thus far.

(DINNER) : I decided to choose Table 28 because from the research I did this was one of the best restaurants to go to for dinner in Little Rock.  The restaurant was inside of a small hotel that looked as though it could’ve been a condominium previously.The restaurant looked as though it could hold no more than 199 guest at a time.  It had a nice modern interior and wasn’t too flashy with its decor.  One of the other reasons why I chose this restaurant was because of the options it had, ranging from duck to quail to beef tongue.  I opted to try two out of the three I mentioned and wasn’t disappointed.  For appetizers I had the Creamy Gulf Shrimp with Bacon Grits and The Quail Bird Lollipops.  The shrimp was amazing and it was devoured within seconds.  It was exactly like the menu described; creamy.  The shrimp were a nice size and it was topped with it’s sauce and surrounded by a bed of grits.  It wasn’t filling so it’s ok to order two appetizers if you want to try something new and something you’re used to.  I ordered the quail bird lollipops because I never had quail.  It tasted like buffalo chicken, but maybe because it was surrounded by buffalo sauce .  The presentation was great for both dishes and both had a taste that we all could fathom regardless of its name.  For dinner I ordered the duck with bacon brussel sprouts.  I ordered the duck medium well because I normally don’t eat duck but wanted to try it.  When I order a meat and they ask how I would like it prepared I always say medium well until I’m comfortable enough to eat it medium.  The duck had a blood orange sauce which tasted a little sweet but seemed to accompany the duck very well.  The brussel sprouts were very good too, but I thought they were a little stingy with the portion side of the brussels.  It’s not too much to say about this restaurant, it wasn’t too impressive and it wasn’t bad.  Overall I would give it a 3.5 out of 5.

                                                     RATING

CeCi’s- Stuck On The RunWay

Table 28- Stuck On The RunWay

• Where to Next?: Dinner Reservations in Tennesee at 5 p.m. tomorrow.  Road trip! Well, it’s only a 2 hour drive so we’re leaving in the morning to see what the city has to offer before we enjoy lunch and dinner. See you then!