Sometimes you feel like a nut. Strike that. Nuts are superfoods full of healthy oils, omega-3 fatty acids and enough protein to keep a body going through a long day. You should always feel like a nut. The Mayo Clinic, which never actually endorsed mayonnaise, now tells people to eat nuts for improved heart health. Salted and roasted, smashed into butter or eaten raw, nuts are a tasty source of fiber and vitamin E. Hungry for a taste? These Oklahoma City restaurants are cracking good places to try.
By Greg Elwell | Photos Garett Fisbeck and Gazette file
Café do Brasil
440 NW 11th St., Suite 100
405-525-9779
Vegetables rule the salad game with an iron fist and a head of cauliflower. But leave it to the rebels at Café do Brasil to switch things up with a salad filled with chilled seasonal fruits and berries and dressed in passion fruit and raspberry sauces. Its intensely fresh and light. Its almost too light, until you notice the generous garnish of chopped walnuts on top of the salad, giving it the staying power to keep diners feeling fine all day long. Its also gluten-free.
Pho Ca Dao
2431 N. Classen Blvd.
405-521-8819
Much like the rain forest or a middle school gym class, Pho Ca Daos vermicelli bowl is a delicate ecosystem. Remove an ingredient and everything is off balance. The base of shredded lettuce and bean sprouts gives the noodle bowl lightness that plays against the heavier ingredients diners can choose from: grilled pork, fried egg rolls, shrimp or chicken. Roasted peanuts and fried shallots on top give it an exquisite, savory crunch. Toss on the sauce, mix it up and enjoy.
Cattlemens Steakhouse
1309 S. Agnew Ave.
405-236-0416
What the?! How did Cattlemens lamb fries end up on this list? Sure, tender morsels of lamb are pounded thin, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried until the exterior is crispy and the inside is delicious, but its a little off-topic for this roundup. This is supposed to be about the most nut-rageous dishes in Oklahoma City, not the appetizer that helped make Cattlemens one of the best-loved restaurants in the metro.
Stray Dog Cafe
6722 NW 39th St., Bethany
405-470-3747
A cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal is no way to eat the most important meal of the day. Go nuts and head to Bethanys Stray Dog Cafe for a stack of nutty multigrain pancakes. The hearty sweetness of the flapjacks gets an extra textural boost from a mix of nuts incorporated into the batter, so each bite is fluffy, crunchy and delicious. Pour on the maple syrup and chow down while you check out the rest of Stray Dogs delectable menu.
Cajun King
5816 NW 63rd St.
405-603-3714
Plenty of Cajun and Creole foods are perfect for the buffet, where the steady heat keeps gumbo and crawfish étouffée the right consistency for diners. But theres one dish the owners of Cajun King want delivered to each table personally: catfish almondine. Using flour made from almonds, tender strips of catfish are fried until they turn a pale gold. The light, crispy exterior is unlike the heavy cornmeal-covered catfish served at most places. When the basket runs out, dont worry another one is on the way.
Golden Phoenix
2728 N. Classen Blvd.
405-524-3988
Its not clear where, exactly, evolution hit a fork in the road that sent walnuts and shrimp down two different paths. One began growing from trees, and the other started swimming in the ocean, perhaps never to meet again. Or so it was until Golden Phoenix began serving walnut shrimp. An addicting dish of shrimp glazed in a creamy sauce and topped with walnuts and broccoli, walnut shrimp is proof that decapod crustaceans and tree nuts belong together.
Sids Diner
300 S. Choctaw Ave., El Reno
405-262-7757
The ice cream guy showed up late to the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups commercial. You got chocolate in my peanut butter! You got peanut butter in my chocolate! But the man with the ice cream was busy enjoying a burger and a shake at Sids Diner in El Reno. Years later, Sids brought the trio together with its incredible chocolate peanut butter milkshake. Thick and sweet, its a perfect complement to Sids famous fried onion burgers and slaw dogs.