"Carmella L and I visited Packrat Louie several years ago; her original review covers the disappointment of that visit... Today's was a much more satisfying encounter, a redemption. Via Groupon, we had the Chef's Tasting menu. We started with the bread du jour, a whole grain rosemary bread. Finely ground, delicately seasoned, I was reminded of a savory pound cake. So compelling that we both ordered the chicken marsala pierogis appetizer are a clever, perfectly executed, fusion of Indiana and Ukrainian. Every flavor from the beautifully sweet caramelized onions to the nuanced marsala came through without stepping on each other. Would love again : The lemon pizza delivers what it promises, a pizza with lemon flavor throughout and a lemon slice atop. I liked it, but would have liked a bit more complex flavor profile. Not completely satisfying. We shared our mains. Honeybunny went with the walleye with green beans and bulgur wheat. The fish was great, excellently seasoned and perfectly cooked. No way to improve on it. Green beans excellent too. Bulgar wheat wasn't bad, it just isn't my favorite; we both thought of risotto as a more fitting companion. Would order again. The other main was the striploin steak with Brussel sprouts, root veggies, and mashed potato. Wonderfully cooked, seasoned nicely, the steak delivers. The sprouts veggies were grand; both of us kept reaching to savor them again and again. Mashed potato darned good. A side of sauce would improve the plate. Would order again. We also shared our desserts. Hers was the chocolate brownie with ice cream. Very dense, darkish chocolate brownie with a vanilla ? ice cream. Good dessert. The other dessert was a rosemary lemon crème brûlée, Chantilly cream, and a sugar cage. I was skeptical about the flavors, but it worked. Would definitely order again. The bottomless coffee was tasty, rich, not acidic, not thin; would absolutely order again. Packrat Louie's location, just off Whyte Avenue, is perfect for an after meal stroll, a movie, etc. To finish, a mention about the quantity of food: too frequently restaurant meals skimp on portion size to increase the profit margin, and doubly so of tasting menus. I was hungry walking into the restaurant. Packrat Louie's tasting menu is just the opposite: the portions were ENORMOUS and halfway through the pizza we realized we'd have to take home half, same with half of each of the mains. Kudos to the chef and the wait staff for a serious redemption Packrat Louis is once again in our good graces and we'll be recommending them. Side note, as it happened another Yelp élite diner was in the house. I'm looking forward to their review..."
