The Shelby

12:45 - 1:53

For those that do not know of The Shelby, please get acquainted. The Shelby is an American style restaurant, serving brunch, lunch, and dinner to anyone with a reservation (hint, hint get a reservation before coming here). While they go outside of our typical “diner” realm, a meal at The Shelby is worth every dime. We have gone countless times and have yet to be disappointed with their unique menu options (American with Asian and Mexican influences), delicious drinks, and upscale casual environment with lots of greenery. If you are in the Hamilton Crossings area, please make it a point to come and grab an amazing meal here.

We got two appetizers in addition to our meals (reviews below). We ordered one sweet and one savory.

We got sweet ricotta with thick sourdough bread to dip in it. The ricotta was whipped and smooth, covered in blueberry compote (which we wish there was more of) and some crunchy nut pieces (again, more please). The bread was too thick and crunchy, it made it difficult to eat. But honestly, the ricotta itself was outstanding.

The savory appetizer was crab arancini (which is typically a fried rice ball). It felt more like a crab cake, definitely did not have enough rice. They were small and not super crunchy. It was served with “Nonna’s” red sauce, which had a good flavor, and a lemon aioli on top, which again was good. It just did not meet our expectations for “arancini”. We wanted a big ol 'ball of rice. Good flavor, not great execution.

Bethany

The decaf coffee was outstanding. It was super smooth and went down easy enough to have two cups. The water is not chlorinated and chilled to perfection. So I definitely ventured into the “beyond” category today with my brunch choice of Morning Ramen. It is ramen in a bacon, tonkatsu broth with pork belly, bok choy, soy soaked egg, and micro cilantro. OH MY GOODNESS I DREAM ABOUT THIS BOWL OF RAMEN. The broth is so rich, salty, and full of flavor. The pork belly is to DIE for, with deep flavor and crisp even though it's in a bowl of soup. It is also super tender but not fatty and gross. I will definitely be leaving off the cilantro next time (where my “tastes like soap” girlies at?). The soy soaked egg was a bit overcooked (bummer) and it honestly does not even need the soy because the broth is so freaking flavorful and salty on its own. The noodles are bouncy and chewy, not overdone at all. It is such a perfect mix of sweet and savory. Outstanding breakfast option.

Ben

I've always felt that “Eggs Benedict” is such a pretentious and foo foo name. Maybe the standard diner eggs Benedict could fare better with a name like Eggs Benny (which we’ve seen at a lot of places). At The Shelby, however, it is an “Eggs Benedict”. It's not necessarily a compliment, just more of a reflection of its upscale-ness. The egg was cooked perfectly. The toast was brioche which was light but almost too light. It was very buttered and toasted on the grill. When I heard pork roll I was assuming thick slices, but it was very thin to the point of almost being shaved, which was a nice change of pace. The greens look unnecessary, but were actually a nice break to handle all of the heaviness. The hollandaise didn't really show up too much but that is probably because the dish already had all of the other buttery flavors. The tater tots seemed like standard restaurant tater tots, but were cooked long enough to be really crunchy and delicious.

Rating

Not a diner, but worth it every time