The article on Instapundit caught my attention because the place is named King Tut. Come on, who can resist? The Instapundit piece is about EPA killing another small business and it refers to this article on Knox news. The story is about EPA requiring a grease interceptor for a struggling small business down on its luck that already has a grease trap. All the discussion is about that. Commenters are mostly unsympathetic. A surprising number of them have experience with grease disposal.
But I'm disgusted with the restaurant by the photos posted to Yelp. You'd have to drag me into a place like this. I'd have to be starving and too weak to resist.
First, I'd be disappointed upon entry because the only thing King Tut related is the few 2 dimensional representations of Tut's burial mask, arguably the most recognizable thing about Tut. After that, nothing else about the place refers to Tut, to Egypt, or even to the Middle East. All the interior decoration is junk collected over a decade or so. Things you can pick up in any second hand shop, any Goodwill, any auction in just a few hours. Christmas lights strung around. Framed pictures that are not Egypt related.
I could do a lot better with just a few objects around my apartment.
This is not somebody's vision. This is crap collected thoughtlessly here and there. One reviewer said, "eclectic" but that hardly describes the result of a hopelessly disordered mind.
And that shows in the food. Commenters to both articles said that they went here and liked this place. That's admitting they don't mind being served very bad food.
The menu is miserable. And the food even worse. Not a single photograph can make this place look good.
The owners brag "best Greek salad."
Good Lord.
Greeks should sue and put the place out of its misery. That is so far from a Greek salad that it isn't even funny. Greeks know salads. People come back from Greece and say uniformly, "Oh man, the salads they serve are incredible. "They're things of real beauty. Garden fresh, lovely and appealing. Generally simple and definitely NOT a sopping drooping pile of miscellaneous slop pouring over its edges.
Greek salads are perfect balances of color and textures with pleasant fragrances and simple appealing olive oil vinaigrette with fresh feta cheese. Look at images, here's one randomly selected.
Tomato, cucumber, purple onion, the best olives not from restaurant cans, green or red bell pepper, torn lettuce, feta cheese, fresh herbs, all light and fresh, nothing piled up, nothing processed, nothing from jars or tins, nothing dense or heavy. A light filling salad to have outside in warm weather. When you travel through Greece you see this salad form everywhere and everyone does it better than this Knoxville restaurant that really must close to business and not just because of a grease interceptor. Anything that comes after this restaurant will be an improvement.
6 comments:
That place reeks of small-town joint. Like, literally, I can smell it just looking at the photos. Smells like ... human grease and overcompensating bottom shelf body wash. If it's still in business it's because it has loyal patrons. They like the mayonnaise-based greek salad and the unegyptian decor and the unironic business name. They probably like the owner. The EPA can fuck off.
The salad in the upper picture looks like the after picture of the lower salad.
King Chip's. Has a nice ring.
Something tells me you're high maintenance, Chip.
I saw this same thing happen to two nearby restaurants. The owners became old and too tired to respond to changing challenges. But both of those were in good locations. This one is not. Having only 34 photographs on Yelp is the first sign that they're doing very poorly all along. The photographs show why. You don't have to be Gordon Ramsay on Kitchen Nightmares to imagine what the kitchen and pantry is like. When even the plastic plants are dying of neglect you know you're in trouble. They were both taken over and the influx of money and energy did wonders.
Greek salads are exceptional when done right. Simple. Fresh.
Chip has high standards. The King Tut should take his advice and save tons on the mayonnaise bill. The EPA should stay out of it!
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