easy bar & bistro

I went to Tennessee this weekend to attend a wedding, which was freakin awesome. Of course while there I was able to eat a couple great meals. One of those was at Easy Bistro & Bar.

First a little about my first impression of the place. 

It is located on a cute little corner in downtown Chattanooga. One of the two streets is littered with places to eat but I am confident our choice was the best. 

We looked at the menu online before we chose so I was somewhat familiar with the logo otherwise I may have missed it. But once you are inside you won't miss a thing. This place is super cute. Not all weird and white table cloth fancy but definitely modern and chic. The weather was incredible so we asked for a spot outside and had a drink at the bar while we waited. 

The cocktail list did not disappoint. They make their own infused liquors. I am a total sucker for cucumbers and gin and they had a cucumber infused gin... so I went for some fancy cocktail made with that...it was bomb. 

They had cute little eye dropper things for their drinks kind of like I mentioned seeing at Patterson House, however this place was lay less pretentious about their drinks which I like. 

The bottom left photo is our little outdoor table. A small round table is kind of an insane choice when you are with this group... we all four like to eat, drink, and be merry and that table was not ready for it. 

Luckily our server was super supportive of our over ordering and our table choice so he staggered our food so it was manageable (even still Raven's filet almost ended up on the floor but she is like a ninja and recovered it effortlessly). Although, due to the staggering of dishes my favorite eating partner, who is basically a machine, left dinner slightly "hungry" which was mind blowing for everyone. 

We ordered....

The bread assortment and a meat and cheese plate

and of course OYSTERS.... 

You know how I feel about oysters and oyster shoorters. I have no desire to do another oyster shooter... but Rob had other ideas... Oyster backs? Yeah that's a thing now. So Raven ordered four chilled shots of some fucking amazing tequila and we all got an oyster ready as a chaser. Apparently the trick to it being good is making the oyster super spicy. I am still not in love with oysters so mine was on a big ass saltine cracker.

The tequila was great and put just the right amount of pink on my cheeks... and I have to admit the oyster was tolerable with the cracker, siracha, and chili flakes. We moved on to the next round of apps.

Steak Tartare, Cobia Belly, Pork belly, and a side of trumpet mushrooms. 

The top two did not blow my mind but don't judge them based on that because everyone else was mind blown. I ate some bitter leaf with the piece of cobia I had and it was not the best. As for the steak... I feel some kind of way about steak tartare just not into raw cubed steak...yet.

Moving on to the dish that always makes my heart skip a beat (and might make it stop beating one day) PORK BELLY. This one was an itty bitty little thing but it was over this amazing slice of watermelon with all kinds of other edible garnish. Honestly I probably could have ordered 4 of those but the nice gentleman who picked up the tab is probably very glad I did not. 

We added a side of trumpet mushrooms to the mix and they were incredible. 

The entrees followed and while Rob and Raven ordered heavy here we did our damage early on so we ordered the Mussels and fries to share.

The mussels were super good... I even got blamed for eating too many? whaaat? me? 

Rob ordered the duck and Raven ordered the filet. I did not get pictures but I did get bites... delicious... heavy, but delicious. 

When Walker went to order a SECOND round of the mussels our server informed us that sadly the kitchen was closed... however they were still serving dessert. 

Raven ordered a chocolate cake thing that was very good and I ordered the Macaroon assortment 

I have heard all the hype about macaroons and this was the first time I actually had any. Well my friends they lived up to the hype. I am not typically a big dessert person but these delicious little cookies hit the spot!! I also love the idea of having some variety.

We had a great experience at easy. Our server was awesome and the food and drinks were killer. I highly recommend this place to anyone visiting Chattanooga. It is basically right across from the Tennessee Aquarium, which I did not visit, but I hear good things about. But if you go for dinner they close at like 10 on the weekend which is kind of weird and apparently even earlier on some days so check out the hours before you go.

I would highly recommend all of the items we ordered and next time I am able to stop into Easy I think I will be trying the trout, it is local and sounds super good.

Another delicious meal with some amazing people.

#eatwelltraveloften