Which is better?

The "Cloverdale" area in Montgomery has proven to be a hot bed of great places to eat for me.  First, finding Sinclair's where I had a great hero sandwich; though they are best known for their salads.  Then across the street...there is Tomatino's.  They are known in Montgomery County for the best pizza around.  This neighborhood is packed with places that have been voted the "best of" for somethin' 'r other in the past year, and today I discovered another.  Derk's Filet & Vine.

The place was PACKED.  It was Thursday night at Filet & Vine.  To someone not from the area it doesn't mean much, but to the locals...that means "Wine Tasting" night!!  It started at 4:30, so by the time we rolled in at 5 it was well under way and people sounded....happy.  My Mister and I don't imbibe and we had our son along, or we'd have checked it out.  It looked like quite a nice representation of flavors; dry's and sweet's.  When I asked some of the tasters they had nothing but shining comments, no matter what they were trying.

 Info Board

 Hot Bar

Fabulous Condiments n Such

Wine Rack & Salad Bar

I checked out their menu online before I went in so I didn't hold up the ordering process for my Mister like I usually do.  Turns out, this is buffet style eating, so as soon as I knew what I wanted I was ready to roll.  I had it on good authority that the best thing to try out of all FOUR menus they offer was the Fried Pork Chop from the hot bar menu.  This came with two sides and my choice of cornbread or a dinner roll.  As I strolled down the line getting my food I asked to make sure I was eating somethin' great each time.  "Which is better?  The new potatoes or the mashed with gravy?"  The guy servin' it up didn't hesitate to reply "The new potatoes."  Great....and the next choice wasn't hard at all.  Corn.  I LOVE corn and theirs looked great to me!

I took a bite of their best offering first, the fried pork chop.  Now realize, I was not expecting this to be as great as it was built up to be.  Most fried meats end up over cooked and dismally dry.  Imagine my surprise when I started cutting into this with just a fork and SCORE....so juicy, tender and the flavor of the breading....FABULOUSSSS!  I LOVE it when people put black pepper in their breading and batters.  I despise food that has NO flavor after all the work is put into something to coat it.  The corn...was buttered to the hilt!  Love that too...  The new potatoes were so creamy and soft....this meal really hit all of my "comfort food" places.  This is a meal Paula Deen would adore!  Fried meat...tons of butter on the veggies and out of this WORLD creamy potatoes.

I of course made my way through the store area of this place to check out the shelves of goodies they had to offer.  I saw quite a few brands I didn't recognize.  That's a good thing...I really enjoy trying new things.  My Mister and I picked up a jar of their Bleu Cheese Herb Mustard.  Even that was phenomenal!  Great for pretzels or water crackers with some nice sweet meat.

At first glance when you walk in Filet & Vine looks like an average deli type eatery...order, made...eat-in if you wanna, etc.  But don't be fooled by appearances.  Filet & Vine is great food...like your mom would make for you when you come to visit.  I am going back again to try the fried....anything really.  With plenty of sides to choose from I left FULL, satisfied and enchanted.  All for just $7.95.  Can't beat the price, can't beat the food...can't beat the feeling.  Check them out when you can.