Entrees at the Brown Derby

Yesterday I wrote about a margarita sampler I tried at the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant and today I wanted to review the food we had there.  The Brown Derby has some really interesting offerings that are quite different from the usual theme park fare.  

Yesterday I wrote about a margarita sampler I tried at the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant and today I wanted to review the food we had there.  The Brown Derby has some really interesting offerings that are quite different from the usual theme park fare.  

For an appetizer, I wanted to try something different that I'd never had before and I settled on the squash soup.  It sounded interesting and the waiter recommended it so I figured I'd give it a try.

The squash soup was surprisingly very good. It had a flavor that reminded me of pumpkin but it wasn't overly sweet and really was quite good.  I found it to be somehing I'd definitely order again.

Next up was our entrees and I had always ordered the asian noodle bowl because it was consistantly good.  This time, I wanted to try something new.  I opted not to go fo rthe beef filet as I felt a steak was too predictable. I wanted something totally different so after consulting with the waiter once more, settled on the madeira Braised Lamb Shank with Creamy Goat Cheese and Rosemary Polenta with a Madeira and Root Vegetable Demi.  

The good part about the lamb was the meat was fall-off-the-bone and cooked to perfection.  Lamb is not an easy meat to cook and it often can be tough but I found the lamb to be cooked quite well.  The other issue with lamb is it's not as succulent or tasty as beef.  For me, what comes with the lamb is just as important as the lamb.  Sadly, I did not really enjoy the polenta and without it, I found the lamb a little boring in terms of taste.  I hesitate to say the dish isn't any good, rather, I think you need to be a polenta fan to really enjoy this dish.

Our other entree was the Cobb salad, which is always a good choice.  It's kind of weird to see a salad cost $15 until you see the size of the hting and you remember why it's completely worth it.

If you've never had the Cobb salad before, it comes looking like this and the waiter will offer to mix it.  Sometimes they tell you the story of how the Cobb salad was made and I wanted to hear it again so here's how the conversation went as our waiter prepared the salad in front of us.

Me: Do you know the story of how the Cobb salad came to be?
Waiter: Yes
<Long pause>
Waiter: Enjoy your meal

At any rate, the salad is a great choice and as you might be able to tell from the photo, you can have them not include one or two items if you don't enoy them, like sans bacon for instance.  Granted that would not make it a Cobb salad anymore technically, but it still tastes great.  Fresh ingredients and finely prepared have made this dish a hit at the Brown Derby for years.