On a cold and rainy evening, the LRS bus had taken me and my fellow Spoon member to South Washington Street. There, not knowing whether to open up my umbrella due to extreme wind conditions, I trudged along the street to arrive at Whole in the Wall.
Unlike the name suggests, the restaurant stuck out in the street full of greyness, with its vibrant and eye-catching colors. It was almost as if I was walking into someone’s uniquely designed home.
The moment we walked into the establishment, a slew of beautiful decorations greeted me and my companion. From the little bulletin with newsletters and ads for local events to the nicely put piano, Whole in the Wall had a nice warm ambiance that fostered happiness all around.
Photo by Ki Chung
As soon as we sat down, the waitress introduced herself, and brought out a plate of biscuits with a dollop of sun-dried tomato cream cheese. Each bite of the crunchy biscuit accompanied with the mouth-wateringly savory cream cheese made us wait for the actual food in agony.
After a few minutes of awkwardly taking pictures of every corner of the restaurant, the meals we ordered had started coming out and we were ready to devour the food in all its three course glory.
The restaurant offers the traditional three course meal for $20 or a four course meal for $25. When you choose the three course meal, you choose three courses from a selection of appetizer, soup, entrée and dessert.
Appetizer
Mini Tempura Broccoli Florets – The broccoli was deep fried and was presented with Russian sauce to dip with. The light crunchiness of the fried part and the warm softness of the broccoli itself combined into a magisterial contrast of texture in my mouth. Especially when eaten with the Russian sauce, the broccolis were fantastic. It was so good that I even ate the sheet of lettuce that the plate was garnished with.
Mini Baba Appetizer – The menu for this item says that it has “lots of onion & garlic,” and don’t underestimate those words. The powerful taste of the garlic really is a marvellous thing, and when you dip the pita that comes with the dish into the dip, you’ll have one big, satisfied smile on your face.
Soup
Creamy Mushroom Soup – The creamy mushroom soup came in a pretty little bowl, and tasted delightful and homey. Each spoonful was a warm, comforting mouthful of mushroomy goodness.
Entrée
Enchilada Rancheros – There was an option to get ground chicken or beans, and as meat lovers, we had to get the ground chicken option. When the dish first came, we were a bit confused, because all we could see were sheets of lettuce, sour cream and tomatoes. However, when we dug into the plate in search of food, we struck gold and found the warm, soft enchilada. Traditional enchiladas are just wrapped tortillas, and this new presentation accompanied by veggies was certainly a fresh sight. The enchiladas alone were a bit too seasoned, but when combined with the fresh vegetables was a delicacy.
Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Pasta – This dish was rigatoni mixed with Whole in the Wall’s own sun-dried tomato pesto. Each bite we took were packed full of flavor, and this dish was an absolute beauty of an entree dish.
Photo by Ki Chung
Dessert
Raspberry Chocolate Chip Brownie Sundae Teaser – This was too good to even put in our mouths. The dessert was beautifully put together, and the coldness of the ice cream, the warmth of the brownie, and the sweetness of the raspberry jam painted a renaissance masterpiece in our mouths, and our taste buds were doing triple axels on the ice rink that the ice cream had made on the surface of our tongues. A visual delight, and definitely worth every bite.
Photo by Ki Chung
Overall, the Whole in the Wall meals that we had the pleasure and honor to put in our mouths were packed full of flavor, and the amazing atmosphere provided by the happy and kind servers only added to the fantastic experience.
Address: 43 S Washington St, Binghamton, NY 13903
Times of Operation: Wed-Sat: 11am – 10pm (but open everyday of Restaurant Week)
A special thanks to Whole in the Wall for providing us with a Restaurant Week tasting for this review.