Ramsi's Café On The World

Ramsi’s website

1293 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY 40204

I attended a wedding for my former roommate Adrienne.  She shared a room with me in Paris for a year.  The wedding took place in Indiana just across the river from Louisville, Kentucky.  After the lovely wedding, I didn’t have anything planned so I ended up going to a restaurant with my new friend Zoë for dinner.  We drove into Louisville and got a recommendation from a local for a favorite local restaurant.  He pointed us to Ramsi’s Café On The World.  When we arrived, we had the option of waiting for an inside table or sitting immediately out on the patio.  We were hungry and so decided to sit on the patio.  (Though this would later prove to be a mistake since Louisville was experiencing a heat wave complete with over 100° temperatures and thick humidity.)  The patio was very charming and made with red brick.  We were seated next to a gurgling wall fountain.

The menu at Ramsi’s is very impressive.  I wanted to move to Louisville just for the chance to try every item listed.  Zoë and I decided to start off with an appetizer so we selected the Tomato Cilantro Salsa.  This had bell peppers, red onions, tomatoes and cilantro in it.  Served with tortilla chips of course.  That was $5.50.  It was fairly typical salsa but tasted very fresh.  I also started with a drink called Sri Lanka iced tea.  I can’t remember all of the ingredients but I believe it had tea, mint, honey, and Kentucky bourbon. 

Despite the fact that I was sweating buckets down my face and back, I ordered a hot meal.  I chose the Duck Molé: House made duck confit, Mexican molé with Torta de Elote (sweet corn cake) and queso blanco for $18.15.  I have a love affair with duck so I couldn’t resist.  I was not disappointed either.  The duck confit was tender and shredded.  Duck is a rich meat but it went well with the flavorful molé sauce.  The saucy duck was served on top of the sweet corn cakes.  They were indeed sweet and also tasted like there was quite a bit of cream involved in their creation.  The loaded plate also had zucchinis, tomatoes and onions cooked in a tomato sauce. 

Zoë couldn’t decide between three different dishes on the menu so I helped her decide on the Pork Port and Pears.  This was pork scallopini, with pear slices in a port wine sauce for $17.65.  It was served with Basmati rice and stir-fried vegetables.  She let me taste it and I found it to be a sweet dish but not overly so.  Both dishes were amazing and affirmed my desire to try the whole menu.

I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone going through or in the area.  It is completely worth it.  Though, I would suggest avoiding it during summer months... or perhaps being smart and waiting for an indoor table.