Dining Review: City Market keeps it simple, local

Photo by Mike Maple // Buy this photo

City Market at 66 S. Main offers well-made sandwiches for both carnivores and vegetarians. All sandwiches come with house-fried potato chips, which you can also buy by the bag.

Photo by Mike Maple

City Market sells grocery basics in addition to sandwiches and hot meals.

Photo by Mike Maple

Chef Unza Taylor prepares the house-fried potato chips, a sandwich side done just right.

Photo by Mike Maple

City Market offers soups, wraps, simple breakfasts and a number of locally made food products.

At City Market, you can dash in for grocery basics such as a loaf of bread, eggs, a limited selection of produce and so on. You can also grab convenience-store staples: a cold soda, a six-pack of beer or a bottle of aspirin. But while you're there, you can also load up on local food products and even leave with a meal under your belt.

A nice selection of made-to-order sandwiches and salads join a smaller lineup of grab-and-go items, and several hot meal options are available daily.

There are six panini, including the excellent Blue Goat. Grilled portobello mushrooms and onions join up with goat cheese, blue cheese, red peppers and sun-dried tomatoes to make a hearty and delicious sandwich for vegetarians and, well, just about anyone else. It's a nice combination — the earthy mushrooms and onions against the creamy, slightly tangy cheeses, lifted a little from the peppers and tomatoes.

Another good choice is The Tuscan Powerhouse: chicken with provolone cheese, pesto, mushrooms and onions grilled between potato-rosemary bread. The onions are lightly pickled and excellent.

All sandwiches come with house-fried potato chips, which you can also purchase by the bag. Plenty of places are frying their own chips these days, but the ones at City Market are a cut above most. They're hefty but crunchy, fried dark and just barely salted.

The Triple Decker BLT, from the nongrilled signature sandwiches menu, would do well to become a double-decker. The wheatberry bread is hearty, and the third slice is just too much. The filling of turkey, bacon, tomato, lettuce, onion and cheddar with spicy mayo seems on the skimpy side with the extra bread, though it's plenty when served as a traditional sandwich. We removed the center slice.

And the hot lunches we tried were uniformly good. The chicken curry was very good, and surprisingly spicy. A friend eating with me fanned her mouth after tasting it, though I found that the creaminess in the sauce offset the fire of the spices. The basmati rice also cooled things off a bit. The lunch special is one main dish and two sides, so with the rice I chose a very good medley of lightly grilled, still-crisp yellow squash, onions and peppers.

The chicken curry is a menu staple, appearing daily or near-daily. But each Wednesday, other Indian dishes are offered. The chicken tandoori recently served was tender and flavorful but not bright red as you often find it. It also came with basmati rice and a heady vegetable korma, a mix of cauliflower, potatoes, onion and peas in a sauce of warm and fragrant spice.

The store also serves muffins, wraps and simple sandwiches for breakfast, though I didn't try them. Starbucks coffee is served. There's at least one soup of the day, but these went untasted because of the recent heat wave.

We did not, however, skimp on the simple yet decadent desserts.

A selection of Sugaree's cakes are available, but we stuck with the house-made macaroon bar, the blondie, and a sheer delight named the Treasure Chest. Googled recipes for the treat turn up something with candied or maraschino cherries, which, blessedly, these don't contain. Instead they remind me of a Hello Dolly bar, though at least twice the thickness and three times as good. They're buttery, creamy, rich with brown sugar and topped with chocolate swirls. Split it, as all the bars are generously cut.

The store sells the excellent tortilla chips, guacamole and salsa from Las Delicias, Aunt Lizzie's cheese straws and other products, McCarter's coffee and Dinstuhl's candy among its local products.

And the hours make it convenient for residents to shop or for workers to stop in and grab dinner on their way home. They're even open for lunch on Saturday, when many places Downtown are closed.

City Market

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Service:

Atmosphere:

Address: 66 S. Main.

Telephone: (901) 729-6152.

Hours: Open 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

Reviewer's choices: The Tuscan Powerhouse ($7.29); Blue Goat ($6.79); chicken curry ($7.99 with two sides); Treasure Chest bar ($1.99).

Alcohol: Beer sold in store but cannot be consumed on premises.

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