On our second day in Nashville, we went to brunch at Mad Donnas. The initial appeal had been the 2-for-2 mimosas, but I knew that instead I was feeling a Bloody Mary that morning.There was actually a Bloody Mary bar for you to make your own. At first I was a little intimidated – I had never made my own BM before – but when I saw the extensive spread of ingredients you could add to your drink (3 or 4 types of olives, onions, spicy peppers, celery, etc.) and the crazy amount of hot sauce bottles available (I couldn’t even count all of them), any anxiety turned into excitement. I combined the house mix with the vodka in my glass, then added a dash of Worcestershire sauce, several douses of hot sauce, a lime, some olives, and a celery stalk. It hit the spot and definitely spoiled me when it comes to loaded Bloody Mary’s.
Our table shared an order of beignets. Having never been to New Orleans myself, I have yet to try the “real” (and famous) beignets from Cafe du Monde. Someday it will happen, I hope. Anyway, these beignets were essentially funnel cakes with powdered sugar and a berry dipping sauce.
This was a great brunch sweet treat. Warm and crunchy from being fried, lovely sweetness from the powdered sugar, and the berry sauce was a great accompaniment that added to the taste without being overly sweet.
For my main course, I ordered Donna’s Omelet – black beans and queso topped with roasted tomato salsa and guacamole, accompanied by rosemary potatoes.
I was surprised by the amount of heat in this omelet, but actually I think that was my favorite aspect of this dish. The omelet itself was well done. I could have done with a little more guacamole in my opinion, however. The potatoes were a nice addition, however there were some bites that I felt may have been a bit over salted. Nevertheless, this was a great brunch meal.
After brunch we decided to visit the Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Here we are in the Cascades section of the center.
The whole place was beautiful. I would describe it as a mix between the White House (the outside is all white), Disney Land (New Orleans quarter), and Las Vegas (the Venetian with the canal flowing through the hotel).
We passed a frozen yogurt shop and decided to stop for a bite.
I had a swirl of vanilla mixed with salted caramel popcorn, and a swirl of strawberry. Normally I don’t order strawberry flavored foods, but this frozen yogurt was surprisingly pleasing with a nice strawberry flavor that didn’t taste super artificial. The salted caramel popcorn literally tasted like salted caramel popcorn, and it was delicious. I topped my yogurt with toasted coconut, fresh strawberries, and yogurt chips. This was a wonderful refreshing afternoon snack to enjoy in the sunny, yet air conditioned, Opry Hotel.
