Marc on the Menu: Sweet T Kitchen, 35 Blackstone River Road
by Marc Kadushin
Scarlet Staff
In my culinary quest across Worcester, I have gone to many different types of restaurants. Now certain types of cuisine like Italian, Mexican, Deli,
Image courtesy of worcesterlocalfirst.org
Chinese, Greek or seafood are rather common for New England; but there are some sorts of restaurants that are far harder to come by. One of these is southern kitchens or soul food restaurants, which are unfortunately uncommon in the Northern states. When I discovered that there was such a restaurant in Worcester, called Sweet T’s, I knew that I ought to go there. When I found out they offer a Sunday brunch buffet, I knew I didn’t really have a choice in the matter – I was going.
The interior of Sweet T’s was a bit lacking. There was a lot of open space and very few decorations. The tables and chairs were rather plain and fairly fair apart from each other. The ceiling was made of plaster tiles, and the walls seemed to be made of different materials. The overall effect was like a summer camp’s food hall. That being said, it had a nice open feel to it. It was homey and had a welcoming atmosphere. Additionally, the staff was quite friendly. The chef, owner, and servers were willing, if not eager, to banter with everyone who walked in.
The brunch buffet costs $15 a person. This is a steep price for a student’s budget, but it’s quite cheap for a quality brunch buffet. Their normal menu offers $5 meat dishes and $3 dollar sides, with a variety of combination options available.
I started off with some of the more traditional breakfast items that were being offered. First up was the sausage. It was surprisingly tender considering how tough/chewy sausage often is. It also had a sweet maple element to it. This sweetness blended wonderfully with the savory pork.
There also were potatoes and onions, Sweet T’s version of home fries; the potatoes were far softer than your standard home fry. There were sizable slices of onions that added flavor to the mix.
The cheesy eggs were quite tasty. The eggs were hot, scrambled, and well seasoned. A thick blanket of melted cheddar cheese rested on top. Sure it’s a bit of a standard dish, but it still tasted good.
The corned beef hash, however, was lacking. In addition to the fine chopped potatoes present in hash, there were also potato chunks. It was sort of like potatoes with some meat and then more potatoes. The hash was bland and the meat didn’t have much flavor to it.
The grits were surprisingly delicious. I know what you’re thinking: grits, now isn’t that just course bland oatmeal? And normally I would tell you that you were right, but not today. Sweet T’s grits were phenomenal. They were hot and smooth, with surprisingly little grittiness for grits. Furthermore, they had a buttery sweetness that was tempered with pepper. Definitely the best damn grits I’ve ever had.
They also had a sausage gravy. It was thick and creamy, yet surprisingly light. Not only that, but there were chunks of sausage in every bite. The gravy went wonderfully on a variety of the other dishes.
They had home made biscuits, but I’m afraid I wasn’t much of a fan. They were hot and chewy, but sort of dull. They tasted like flour, baking soda, and not much else. Their only redeeming feature was an impressive ability to soak up the delicious gravy.
The mashed potatoes were quite served. It had a powerful tomato based sauce. The rice was firm, saturated with sauce but not succumbing to sogginess. There were peppers to give the dish a little bit of heat. It was finished off with chunks of chicken and spicy sausage.
Next up was the string beans. The vegetables in question were cooked up with onions and garlic. They were nice and juicy, full of aromatic flavors. I’m not a real fan of string beans but I certainly enjoyed these.
I also sampled one of Sweet T’s specialties, the fried chicken. The bird was crunchy on the outside, with a golden brown curst surrounding it. On the inside the meat was moist and tender. A bit of the gravy on top, and you had yourself something wonderful.
The mac and cheese was also pretty good. It was very rich and I finished things off with a slice of their bundt cake. This week’s flavor was root beer, though the chef and owner seemed to be in disagreement as to whether or not this was actually the case. The cake was fluffy and moist. It had a rich vanilla flavor, with just a hint of root beer. The icing was sweet, not too hard or runny. It also had the subtle root beer taste to it.
So all in all it was a rather enjoyable brunch. The food was really tasty, and there was plenty of it. Not every dish hit the ark, but there were a whole lot more that did. Sweet T’s has good food, friendly staff, comforting atmosphere, and pretty good prices. If you find yourself hankering for some soul food or are hungry and in the area, then Sweet T’s is a solid choice.
Overall: 7/10
