Kelsey's on Main - Review

Friday, August 7th 2015, at around 4pm, my family and I decided to dine at "Kelsey's on Main" in my hometown of Jackson, Kentucky. One of the members of my group had previously eaten at this establishment on a few occasions and spoke highly of the food. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be anything grand, since my experiences dining at places of a similar nature didn't bear anything to be heralded.

We walked in found a table, and were promptly greeted by one of the waitresses who took our drink order. It was no time before she was back with our drinks. We needed some time to decide what we were dining upon. She was courteous and gladly allowed us to comb over the menu without the ambient tone of pressure that I've felt in other places. The menu had several items to choose from. Steak, Chicken and Fish that could be prepared a few various ways; salads, hamburgers, sandwiches, and a few other items that memory fails to recall.

I finally decided upon a fried chicken sandwich with French Fries and buffalo sauce on the side. I considered trying the steak, but settled on my chicken mood.  My wife chose the Cajun Catfish with Mac-N-Cheese and Mashed Potatoes, and my mother chose Southern Fried Catfish with Cole-slaw and French Fries. The fish dinners come with two sides; sandwiches and burgers come with one side.

As we waited for our order to be cooked and brought to us, I looked the building over, as it was the first time I had been inside. It had a nostalgic-modern feel to it. The building was first opened in 1914 and served as a pharmacy for many, many years before it closed. Today it is true to its original form - the crown molding, high vaulted vintage tin ceiling, and hard wood floors, as well as several decorative turn-of-the-century elements, while embracing a touch of the modern era. The building was clean, in good order, cozy, comfortable and welcoming. The menu also contained information about the history of the building.

The music that played while we were there added  a very nice touch to the atmosphere of the building. Jazz, lounge, R&B and Swing - Music that would have been number one in the charts and fresh out of the studio when the building was in its hay day. 

Our food didn't take too long to arrive at our table - around ten minutes or so. I didn't time it, but it was at a very acceptable and pleasing duration from order to table. The first thing I did was inspect my sandwich. As I sat there looking at the piece of chicken on my sandwich, I was taken by surprise. Much to my delight, it was way off base from my expectations. I expected a piece of meat that had been made up in some distant factory, frozen and delivered in bulk by freight, stored in a freezer and in turn thrown into a deep fryer and then rushed out to me. What I saw was an in-house, hand-made, breaded fillet of thick, juicy, premium chicken on one bun, and the other bun dressed with lettuce, onion, tomato and mayonnaise.  It was brought to me open so that that I could see inside the sandwich - a nice touch that many places fail to do. But looks can be deceiving, as has been the case in many of my past ventures.

 But in this case, it tasted as great as it looked. It was everything you could want from a breaded and fried chicken sandwich. After taking in the initial taste of the sandwich on its own, I applied the buffalo sauce. We all know that buffalo sauce is a great fail safe to (chicken) sandwiches. If it doesn't taste all that great, then buffalo sauce will cover up any undesirability. This sandwich didn't need that masking. I could have eaten it without the addition of the sauce and still had a very enjoyable and memorable sandwich. Most breading is bland, but this was seasoned nicely. However, I do actually enjoy buffalo chicken immensely, so I glazed my sandwich with it. It was spot on with the buffalo. One of my favorite chicken sandwiches is the buffalo chicken sandwich from Chili's, and Kelsey's sandwich with buffalo beat it hands down. The bun was very nice too. The tomato was garden fresh. If you have never had an honest to goodness garden grown tomato, then you do not know what a tomato tastes like. Those bland hydroponics  "store bought" "styrofoamy" tomatoes are mockery of a good fresh tomato. From top to bottom, from presentation, appearance and visual appeal of the chicken to taste, it was a great Chicken Sandwich.

I didn't know that the fries would be crinkle cut. I'm not a fan of crinkle cut fries. I personally prefer smaller, almost shoe-string cuts of French Fries. Typically, crinkle cuts are too large and too dry in the center for my liking. Another surprise came to me in the form of these fries on my plate. They were perfect. Not too big, not too small. Perfectly crisp on the outside, and perfectly soft and not dry on the inside. I rarely use ketchup on fries. I'm not a ketchup fan. If you have to cover up fries with ketchup, then something is wrong with the fries. This is why I am picky about my cuts of fries. However these did not need any dipping sauces. Even so, I dipped some of them in the remainder of my buffalo sauce. Excellent paring. Since I've never had any others like them, I assume they were made in-house and didn't come out of a bag. They were too fresh, too good to be anything else. 

Fried Chicken Sandwich with Fries- Image taken with Iphone 4s:

After I finished my meal, I sampled the menu choices of the other meals that my family ordered.

The mashed potatoes were not instant, nor did they come out of a can or bag. They, like everything else in-house, were home/hand made. I don't like (any) mashed potatoes (thus the reason I didn't choose them as my side and went with fries instead) - I believe with gravy these would have been pretty good. If one liked mashed potatoes then I'm sure they would have pleased your pallet.

The Mac-N-Cheese is also another side item that I generally do not like. However, once again these were made in-house and made the way any good Mac-n-cheese should be made. I found no fault or reason to complain about them.

I did not try the Cole-slaw, but it looked visually appealing and the person who ordered them spoke greatly in favor of it's flavor.

The catfish came with hushpuppies, but my wife did not eat them. This is not due to the restaurant or to the nature of these hushpuppies. She just doesn't eat them. So I ate them. Hushpuppies are good when they are good, and bad when they are bad. There is no in-between in my opinion. These fell on the good side, and added a nice attribution to the meal.

My mother ordered the Southern Fried Catfish - the only difference in this catfish and the Cajun Fried is the batter/breading. The Southern Fried is just what one would expect in southern fried fish, cornmeal based. Cornmeal based breading isn't my favorite choice for any fish, but that doesn't mean this cornmeal based breading was bad. It was good and if you like this style you would agree that it is perfectly done. However, my personal tastes lead me to other styles such as The Cajun Catfish, which was hands down the winner as per my preferences. It wasn't too spicy, although I wouldn't have complained if it were. It had a great taste and is high on my list of things to order the next time I visit. While I only had a small sample of each, I tasted enough and saw enough to declare them both as very excellent menu choices.

Cajun Fried Chicken, Mac-N-Cheese and Mashed Potatoes. Image taken with Iphone 4s:

Considering that our meals were exquisite thus far, we had to see if the sweet end of the menu could live up to the entrée. We had returned from New Orleans a few weeks earlier and having dined in a French/Italian bakery and coffee shop that was one of the best I have visited, the bar was quite high. How does a little restaurant in Jackson, Kentucky compare to one of the best places in the U.S. for desert?

Before desert we ordered coffee. I take mine black - no cream, no sugar. It was a great cup of coffee. As the waitress told us the deserts they had for that day, it was a really hard decision, because everything sounded good. Anticipations were high, considering how great everything else was... I finally decided to go with the Italian Crème Cake... Disclosure: I don't like (most) Italian Crème Cakes. However, this would be the test. If they could pull this desert off and have it please my tastes, then they have something here. Most places fail at the Italian Crème Cake... The two other deserts ordered in my group were the Hot Fudge Cake and the Cheesecake.

The sweets were delivered promptly and by now I was no longer surprised. Everything was above and beyond. I had expected the deserts to be on par with everything else, and they were... They were visually appealing and most excellent in their proportions.

The Italian Crème Cake was 3-tiered, not too thick, not too thin - the perfect size to be moist. Having sampled a very good Italian Crème Cake in New Orleans, this one may not have been as visually masterful as it's NOLA counterpart, but I found it to be better tasting, cheaper, and way greater in portion than its 'Big Easy' cousin. An excellent dish. If I had both in front of me and could only pick one, Kelsey's Italian Crème Cake would be my instant pick.

I only sampled the other two deserts. The cheesecake was smooth, not too sweet, and exactly what a "real" cheese cake is all about. It was glazed with raspberry syrup that included pieces of real raspberry. The cheesecake was one of the things I was debating on ordering myself. I may order it the next time. Superb dish.

The hot fudge cake was topped with ice-cream, whipped crème, a cherry and hot fudge, with a fudge cake in the bottom. It was delicious.

Each desert had a different appeal than the others. For that reason there wasn't any one desert that was better. Although my wife and mother agreed that the hot fudge cake was their favorite, I find that hot fudge cakes in general are quite basic and require no extensive expertise to make them, unlike many other crafted deserts such as the Italian Crème Cake or Cheesecake. Each dessert did have its own attributions that make them stand out on their own and make them worthy of trying at least once.

The staff were friendly, checked on us regularly, kept our drinks topped off, made us feel welcomed and did not rush us. The total cost of our bill was one of the best things about the experience. I've had (way) worse one-course meals with a much higher bill at more renowned places. To have such a great dining experience with two courses for three people and for under $35 bucks... That's an added perk.

I made a comment after our meal that it appeared that someone at Kelsey's on Main had culinary school experience... As it turns out, that is the case. It shows, and it paid off.

I really tried to find something discernible that I didn't like, but I was unable to do so. I give Kelsey's on Main a well-earned 5 Star rating that can go dish to dish with any other establishment in and out of the state of Kentucky. The owner and proprietor uses her Culinary School knowledge and her own creativity to deliver meals that are not only beautiful and delicious but feel like they belong in 'Some Big City' instead of a small Eastern Kentucky town.

If you haven't graced Kelsey's on Main yet, why not?!?

Kelsey's on Main is closed on Mondays but open during these days and hours:

Tue-Fri:	11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sat:	4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Sun:	12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Delivery and Catering services are available, as well as a buffet on Sundays.

To learn more visit Kelsey's on Main Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/kelseysonmainrestaurant


---Bon Appétit---