Voyager Ferndale

The weather is nice outside, which means it’s time to venture out and try all the new restaurants.  Ferndale is becoming one of my favorite places to head with Mom for an impromptu dinner.  Voyager is located in a slightly off the beaten path warehouse style building and is one of the newest additions to the dining scene.

The restaurant is lively, noisy, and bright.  I loved the brightness of it.  So many restaurants are dark, so dark sometimes you can barely see your food, but not Voyager.  I felt happy just being in there.

The waitress was nice and brought my fun, colorful mai tai quickly.  It was a good drink, but maybe a little strong for my taste, and not quite as refreshing as I anticipated.  This was my first experience with a mai tai, though, so maybe I just didn’t know what to expect.

After ordering, we were warned that food would come out as it was ready and in any order.  This is my pet peeve about restaurants.  It’s not hip and cool.  It’s annoying and signifies a lack of the ability of the kitchen to coordinate.  Basically, it’s an excuse, and I don’t like it.

The crispy whitefish sandwich was the best thing we ate, certainly the best fish sandwich we’ve ever had, and one of the best things I’ve had in a restaurant.  First, it was steaming hot.  Then there was the perfect bread to fish to topping ratio with super crispy fish, bright slaw, and an intoxicating spice that was almost too much but really just enough.  The pickle didn’t hurt either.

After that the house salad was delivered.  I’m a salad girl and this one was really nice.  Beautifully presented it featured super fresh greens, tons of cheese, bright lemon zest, and a lovely green goddess style dressing.  My favorite part may have been the breadcrumbs, something I’ve never had on a salad but added great crunch.

I tried the sweetbreads and scallops for my entrée.  I’d never had sweetbreads before and always wanted to try them, so this was my chance.  Again, the plate came out super hot, and the crispy on the outside, succulent on the inside sweetbreads were perfection.  I loved the scallops too; they almost melted in my mouth save for a few chewy bits which made me think they forgot to remove the foot.  The hollandaise was a bit of a disappointment since it really seemed more like mayonnaise.

The spring vegetable soup arrived last.  Again, it was so hot, the steam poured off of it, and it stayed hot quite awhile.  I’m guessing they warmed the bowl.  The cod dumplings weren’t our favorite, but the vegetables weren’t overcooked and the broth.  Oh, man, let’s talk about the broth.  It was rich and flavorful and supremely comforting.  All broth should taste like that forever and ever.

They only have one dessert, pineapple upside down cake, which has never been a favorite of ours, so we headed to Dairy Deluxe in Birmingham, a place I’ve been dying to try for a soft serve ice cream fix.  I can’t wait to go back.  I had vanilla with blueberry and Mom had vanilla with butterscotch and pecans.  Need I say more?

It was a super fun night and Voyager is a good restaurant with the potential to be a great one.  I’m sure they’re still getting their footing and tightening up a few things would go a long way.