I have spent much of my adult life roaming the Penn Square area of Oklahoma City. I’ve lived there, hung out there and, most notably, worked there. At 50 Penn Place, I’ve seen a few shows there, went to a film discussion group there, and even met Bruce Campbell there. But, in all those many years, I have never once eaten there, particularly at the Belle Isle Brewery.
Last week, however, I decided to change that when I attended the British Invasion Group’s concert performance, stopping by a couple of hours early to grab an Oklahoma invasion of dinner with a friend.
With the pandemic almost a near memory in the lives of many decent Oklahomans, more places are starting to fill up with patrons and, on this night, the Belle Isle Brewery was no different, with many tables packed with families and friends that had, apparently, not seen each other in a while. It brought a slight sliver of a broken smile to my face before I looked over the menu and ordered...
The appetizer that caught my immediate attention, Belle’s Bruschetta ($8.39), showed up at the table after a few minutes of deep conversation with my friend. Featuring toasted flatbread that was created to be drowned in the incredibly delicious mix of roma tomatoes, minced garlic, feta cheese, olive oil, basil and a few other spices, it was the perfect preamble to our dinners that were coming around the corner.
My friend had the Veggie Flatbread ($7.39), substituting the flatbread with a pretzel roll. As the scent of the sandwich lifted us up where we belong, melted provolone spilled out of the sides and onto the plate. The arugula, roasted bell peppers, and other vegetables held firm, with a helping of a fine flavored chipotle mayonnaise to deliciously cement the sandwich.
While I’m sure that the mindless minions of factory food would probably mock this sandwich for not having a single slice of meat, I have to say that it really needed none; with every chomp and chew, the rich green and red flavors made for a delectable meal, with the sweet potato fries being the perfect side.
I, on the other hand, asked for the resplendent-sounding Raspberry Chicken ($11.29), mostly because it reminded me of a slight meal that Prince might have enjoyed; it was a charbroiled chicken breast doused in a spicy raspberry sauce, with blue cheese crumbles and, most surprisingly, sugared pecans, the kind you’d buy at the candy store.
Throughout much of my meal, I felt as though I was dining on the head chef’s private experiment and a winning one at that. A juicy cut of chicken bled nothing but flavor, mixing remarkably well with my sides: steamed broccoli, rice pilaf and the brewery’s own honey blonde beer muffin, one of the most wonderful specialty breads this boy has ever had, slowly enjoying every bite to the woeful end.
As my guest and I sat there, sharing a dessert of a homemade Lemon Square ($2.50), taking turns sparring with our spoons, I regaled her with somewhat silly, mostly youthful tales from this part of town, of terrible punk shows, parking garage fights and sneaking into the old Belle Isle Power Plant to watch the fiery flame that burned all night…as an adult, now I guess I can add this dinner to the list. Cómpralo ya!
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Follow Louis on Twitter at @LouisFowler and Instagram at @louisfowler78.
