Wholly Cow that’s good cobbler

We were recently given a wonderful gift: a deer! We had it processed at Glenn’s Processing in Moscow, TN, so we ended up out there Saturday at lunch when we went to pick up Bambi. We had read about The White House Restaurant in Moscow and were all worked up to try it, but we couldn’t seem to find it. We did find the Charleston House Restaurant, but it appeared to be closed long-term. So there we were in Moscow, and we were hungry. We thought about turning around and heading back to Collierville, but we decided to be adventurous and head the other way with our trunk full of hard-frozen Bambi bits.

We were starting to think we had made the wrong decision when we saw a little diner on our right. Wholly Cow. And they took Visa! We had to stop.

At first glance, the menu was typical deep-fried diner fare, but there are gems lurking there. We decided to start with an order of corn nuggets. Now, these corn nuggets weren’t hand-crafted crusts of perfection filled to bursting with decadently rich corn veloute a la Manresa, but they didn’t have any pretensions of being that. These were simple batter and sweet corn perfectly fried and not greasy at all. I think all three of us could have eaten them by the basket load.

Squirrelly, Jr., chose a cheeseburger and seasoned fries since he wasn’t in that adventurous of a mood. Papa Squirrel and I decided to skip the fried stuff and chose from the home-style dinner selections. I chose meatloaf with creamed potatoes (that’s Southern talk for mashed potatoes except when it means boiled new potatoes in cream sauce) and gravy and fried okra. Papa chose the pork chop with potatoes and gravy and purple hull peas. Neither one of us was disappointed. The meatloaf was fresh and juicy with lots of onions, and it wasn’t coated in sweet ketchup sauce. Instead, the tomato flavor was baked in throughout the loaf. Papa’s pork chop was battered and fried to perfection. The potatoes were smooth and the gravy was rich. The okra was crispy and well-seasoned, and the purple hull peas were actually purple hulls and not just black-eyed peas trying to pretend. Each meal came with a fresh cornbread muffin that couldn’t have been better if I had made them myself. We were more than a little pleased.

We had noticed on the menu that Wholly Cow serves the owner Betty Jean’s fried pies when available. We had our fingers crossed that they would be today. Sadly, Betty told us that she didn’t have any. Our disappointment must have been obvious, because she threw us a lovely bone. She had just pulled a blackberry cobbler of the oven. Would we like some of that instead? Oh, would we! No offense to my mama, but that was the best blackberry cobbler I have ever put in my mouth. Each bit of crust was coated in sweet berry juice, but instead of being soggy or doughy, these crust bits were light and flaky. The berries were sweet with the perfect touch of tangyness. The ice cream on top was the only thing that saved us from blistered tongues. That was pie heaven.

Would it be worth driving an hour to go back? For those desserts? You bet.


Wholly Cow Restaurant
15830 Highway 57
Moscow, Tennessee 38057
(901) 877-3805

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