If you tell someone from the surrounding area that you went out for dinner in Thomasville, invariably they will ask was is to Jonah’s or Liam’s. They are, I suppose you could say, the stalwart, flagship, food ambassadors of Thomasville fine dining.
Of course, if nothing else, I hope you’ve seen that there are plenty of tasty options in Thomasville besides those two. But we’re only human, so when planning our anniversary dinner back in November, we figured it was as good a time as any to give Liam’s a try. (I also had a Groupon that I’d bought about 5 months prior, not realizing it’d take us this long to use it, so that was another deciding factor for timeliness’s sake.)
A few things about dining at Liam’s (or Jonah’s, judging by how often we see groups waiting outside): make a reservation and don’t be in a rush. The time spent (on both of those suggestions) will be well worth it as there’s really no room inside to wait, hence the benches outside.
While perusing the menu, our server (which may have actually been one of the owners, if I’m not mistaken–I didn’t come right out and ask as it really wasn’t important, just indicative of their hands-on approach to food and business) brought us a bottle of water for the table in what appeared to be a re-purposed alcohol bottle (I’m guessing). It was nice to look at than the standard pitcher or carafe, at least, and it allowed the waitstaff to top off our water glasses each time they passed. Todd ordered a glass of wine and I opted for their craft cocktail, the Red Medicine. In addition to the listed ingredients, there were ultra-thin slices (shavings, really) of something in the drink that I first thought might be radishes, but since none were listed in the drink description I decided it must be ginger, and that perhaps the ginger ale was house-made.
Turns out it was radish after all. That earned me a high-five for guessing correctly.
We shared the charcuterie board to start, with 400-day ham, prosciutto, and a house-made pork terrine served with toasted bread (challah, perhaps–I’m going by memory since their menu changes regularly and this is no longer an option per the website), whole grain mustard, and house-made pickles. Those pickles were divine! Everything was, really, thought I was a bit more partial to the prosciutto and Todd preferred the ham.
For our main course Todd ordered the quail served over spatzle and mushrooms in a rich sauce. I opted for the monkfish over tomato risotto and greens. My monkfish was better than a steak and Todd’s quail was quite tasty, too! I remember he had a bit of a pickle telling the sauteed mushrooms apart from the spatzle, but he managed. (He’s not really a fan of mushrooms, they taste bitter to him, but is always willing to pick them out of something he otherwise wants. The best kind of “picky” eater!)
The servings at Liam’s are plentiful but not overabundant, meaning we still had room for dessert! Todd ordered the creme brulee and I the panna cotta with cranberry compote and granola topping. I could really go for some more of that panna cotta right now!
When we arrived for our 8 o’clock reservation the restaurant was jam-packed. When we left just before 10 we were one of the last couples in the place. The relaxed pace of dinner gave us ample time to take in the rustic, homey atmosphere with it’s subtle 7 Deadly Sins edge. It’s definitely somewhere we’ll go again, though most likely save for special occasions (for the curious, our bill for all of the above came to ~$130, including tip and the Groupon value.). Still, it’d be quite tempting to come in and sample their extensive cheese options or just pop in for a late dessert.
Next time on Tasting Thomasville: Andy’s Wings and Q Cafe.
and am amazed at how thorough a reference it is, including helpful tips about which spices easily combine, what quantities to use with what sort of foods and what each is best suited for.