On our third day in Napa, at the suggestion of Cookie Monster’s coworker who happened to grow up in the area, we stopped into Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen for lunch since we had two hours in between wine tastings.
The place is adorable. It looks like the home of this so called “Cindy” and we are eating in her very large dining room. It’s very country cute. Take a look at a bookcase with all the various knicknacks located near where we are dining – it looks like what one might find in “Aunt Cindy’s” kitchen:
I’ve never been one of those people after a long night of drinking that suddenly got ravenous and needed to scarf food down at 3am when I got home. For some reason, alcohol makes my appetite go away (probably a good thing). Since we had just visited a vineyard, I wasn’t very hungry and decided to just get some nibbles.
I started with two Oysters Bingo which is oysters baked with cheese, garlic and spinach:
VERY garlicky. And that sauce definitely had a generous heaping of mayonnaise mixed in with the cheese. The sauce, although tasty, was quite heavy so I was glad I kept it to two (you can order as many as you want).
I also got the Tomales Bay Manilla clams with spanish chorizo, grilled bread and lemon aioli:
Me loves chorizo – spicy with garlic and other seasonings. However, the broth was quite sweet. I was surprised how sweet it was and unfortunately not so happy with that. Never been a sweet tooth kind of gal and I prefer my steamed shellfish in a more savory broth. The tiny clams were plump and juicy even for their small size. I didn’t touch the grilled bread with lemon aioli however – the Oysters Bingo sort of turned me off from anything mayonnaise for the rest of the meal.
The person who took us around the vineyard we had just visited had also recommended Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen and strongly suggested the Chinatown duck burger….which Cookie Monster ordered:
It’s served with fries and housemade shitake mushroom ketchup. Shot of the innards:
I thought it was very flavorful and pretty tasty but I only had one bite. Cookie Monster liked it but wasn’t overly impressed with it. He found it a bit dry. We definitely enjoyed the fries though. Crispy and delicious.
So the meal wasn’t out of this world but it was satisfying. Perhaps we didn’t get the right items on the menu – afterall, I only ordered appetizers. The menu is pretty cozy and looks full of comforting home cooked items. I can see the charm of this place.
Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, 1327 Railroad Avenue, St. Helena, CA
