Thursday, May 04, 2006

SOHO's So Smoking Hot!

I found a great Italian restaurant just two blocks from my hotel in WV called SOHO's. It's located in the Capitol Market and building was renovated from an industrial building, so there were tons of head spaces and sunlight inside the building along with an open kitchen to see how the chef was preparing your food. SOHO's was a smoking hot spot for dinner, and I didn't mean it in the literal sense because everyone in WV smokes. The restaurant had a great atmosphere and even live jazz on Friday! And the restaurant could be easily passed as one of the swanky restaurant opening in Short North. Needless to say, I was very pleasantly surprised.

The menu items had some ranges too, and you can clearly see the work the chef was putting in. One item on the menu caught my eye, which was a seafood stuffed cannelloni. The cannelloni was stuffed with crab, shrimp, lobster, ricotta and mozzarella cheese, finished with roasted pepper saffron sauce. The cannelloni was baked perfectly and was not dried out, and the taste of the sweet crab and lobster and the tender cheese truly separated this dish from any regular stuffed cannelloni. The roasted red pepper saffron sauce was creamy and delightful. The roasted pepper did not steal the show and the subtle sweetness accentuated the filling even more. However, the saffron was not very clearly shown in the sauce, which was a little bummer, but overall the dish was very good. I also tried their house gelatto, unfortunately, it tasted just like regular vanilla ice cream, so I thought I was being cheated from the dessert a little bit.

The overall experience in SOHO's was good, and the food ranked 3.75 out of 5 on my yummy scale. The food portion was ginormous, so you really get the bang out of your buck. But most importantly, I did not get sick at all eating seafood in WV! Wasn't that amazing?! There are some hope for WV food after all!

If you are ever in Charleston, WV and want to get away from Charleston, WV without driving, please go to SOHO's Italian Restaurant on 800 Smith St. @ Capitol Market, Charleston, WV 25301. http://www.capitolmarket.net/soho.htm

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

As many times as I've had saffron rice, I think I have yet to ever actually pick out the flavor that saffron brings to things. My palate's not the most sensitive, though, so maybe it's just me, but I think saffron goes beyond subtle and into food coloring.

Angry Asian Food Critic said...

Saffron doesn't really have a taste per se, but it should bring a almost floral fragrant to the palate. The smell is unmistakable, when it's there, it's there.

Anonymous said...

Next time, I'll stick my nose in. ;)