He Said: Get in and out in a jiffy with Blue Hound’s healthy and delicious lunch menu

Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails is continually revamping their menu to make sure it stays fresh and in season, but this season’s lunch menu also ensures you can get in and out in under an hour.

(Because what’s not to like about a seasonal menu with substance, but isn’t time-consuming to prepare?)

Blue Hound Chef Sean Currid incorporates his normal, southern style without being overburdened with items that take too long to cook during a typical lunch break.

We got to take a peek at some favorites and new items this week during a visit to the restaurant at CityScape’s Palomar hotel.

To start off, we chose the Corn Grit Fries. These polenta-based fries have thick, smoked bacon and white cheddar cheese mixed inside. They’re crispy on the outside but soft and savory on the inside, and they come with a side of Pomodoro sauce for dipping. We had a hard time deciding if we liked them more with or without the sauce.

On one side, you had a perfect starter all on its own that kept that southern focus. On the other side, you could dip them into the warm sauce and turn it into an Italian-style dish.

Personally, I ate most of mine without the sauce. The bacon pieces added so much flavor that I didn’t see the need to add anything else to them. Having to share this dish is a hard thing to accept as I would have happily eaten them all myself.

For our main dishes, we enjoyed the ham and cheese and crab cake sandwiches. The ham and cheese is a classic, served open-face on Noble bread and piled high with layers of fontina and Tillamook cheddar, belly ham, and beefsteak tomato.

In addition, Currid keeps the warm, good-for-the-soul feeling that comes with eating a beloved sandwich. The ham is tender, and yet, has a slight crisp to the edges after it is grilled. Pair this with their thick, house-cut fries, sprinkled with rosemary, Parmesan and chili flakes and you have a wonderful, afternoon feel-good lunch.

The crab cake sandwich can best described as — crabby. With no overpowering breading or thick-feeling patty, this mostly crab patty has wonderful seasoning and was topped with a celery root slaw.

As any crab cake sandwich should be, the crab was the main ingredient. I can’t stress enough how disappointing it is when you order a crab cake and get this bready puck. But there is no fear with Currid’s rendition, you will enjoy every bite. The bread can be the low point on such a sandwich, but placing it on a jalapeno tomato bun is a winning combination, and yet again, somehow manages not to overpower the crab.

I normally skip dessert at lunch, but the Blue Hound Cherry Pie sounded too good to pass up. There are fresh cherries cooked in a small tart-like size and covered in salted caramel ice cream and powdered sugar. The crust was flaky with just enough of a doughy consistency to bring smiles to the faces at the table. As with most items on the menu, this is a seasonal option so hurry up and get over there before they run out of a cherry pie unlike any you have tried.

For more information on Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails, including location and photos, visit WhereShouldWeEat.com.

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