Restaurant Reviews Archives - Page 11 of 12

Zen Asian Fusion, Revisited

April 17, 2012

I’ve never done a separate “revisited” review for a restaurant I’ve already reviewed before (I mean, I wrote about multiple visits to Husk in the same article), but if any restaurant deserved a second review, it’s Zen. Not just for the fact that I’ve been there literally 6 times in the past month, but also for the fact that their menu just has so much to choose from, and I really love the way they make their food and the way they interact with their customers. I always feel welcomed whenever I walk through the door. I’m going to summarize a few of the trips I’ve made over the months since my original review. One of the big influences to my decision to go to Zen is that during the Lenten season, I couldn’t eat meat on Fridays, so I was always craving sushi, and when I crave sushi, I go to Zen.

I’m going to wear this hat every time I go eat sushi from now on. Classy.

One Friday, most of my friends were out of town and my boyfriend was otherwise engaged in extreme nerd activities, I decided I’d visit Zen myself and try out sitting at the sushi bar. I’m not sure that I’ve ever actually gone to a sit-down restaurant alone before, so I was both excited and terrified. I of course ordered my standard Tuna Tini, but instead of going with my usual King’s Speech order, I decided to try out the roll of the night, the Kracken roll, in addition to a few specialty cocktails, mango mojito and red sangria. I enjoyed the Kracken roll, although I wasn’t really blown away by it. I guess I’m just spoiled by how much I love the King’s Speech and the Paradise roll. But I really liked the cocktails. They definitely gave you your money’s worth of alcohol, and the flavors really complemented each other in each of the drinks. I also made friends with one of the sushi chefs, Andy, who explained to me what all the different rolls were I saw them creating that other people had ordered and all the different tools they used to create the rolls. It was a totally different experience than sitting at a table, and I highly recommend you trying it at least once.

It’s pretty much an unspoken rule that we go to Zen whenever my mother is in town, and we usually try something new (in addition to our usuals) every time we go. Right after Valentine’s day, we went and decided to try a roll on the menu called the Avatar roll that had no rice or seaweed and was basically tuna wrapped around goat cheese and lobster salad topped with different color caviars. I kicked myself after I was done eating for not taking a picture of it. It was one of the most interesting things I’ve eaten there. I didn’t even mind that it wasn’t crunchy, since it wasn’t really chewy without the seaweed. I love it.

For lack of a better picture, I present to you, SUSHI CAT

Ben and I ordered take out the Friday before I left for Alabama, which is probably the first time I’ve ever ordered sushi to go. I was interested to see how they made it work, especially since I was still going to order that tuni-tini (til the day I die! And even then, I’ll probably make sure they’re served at my funeral) and was unsure of how they were going to package it, and if it would be the same even when it wasn’t fancily plated. The tuna-tini came in a Tupperware container, and although I was sad to see it out of its happy martini glass, it still tasted just as good. The sushi was served in the same basic containers as you’d find them in the supermarket, which was pretty standard. It still had all the flavor and freshness as when it comes to you at the restaurant, which I was pretty impressed by. They even put the sauces that they’d usually decorate the plate with in a little plastic cup so you can still dip your sushi in it to get the full flavor profile the God of Zen intended.

I’m going to start demanding that all of my food be served in a martini glass from now on.

The most recent time we went was with both of my parents on Good Friday. I’d like to shout out to Cindy (I have no idea if I’m spelling that right, I’m so sorry), whose family owns Zen and who’s taken the time to come chat with me almost every time I’ve come in there since I posted my first review. She’s one of the few restaurant owners who’s actually taken the time to read my review (yay! I’m famous!) and talk to me about my comments. She’s always so courteous and personable and I really enjoy talking with her when I visit. She made a special visit over to our table to explain in-depth the different specials they had that night. It was pretty easy to talk us into ordering the specials, she painted a picture with words that I couldn’t resist. As appetizers (in addition to the tuna-tini), we got crab rangoons, and the special of the night, which was a twist on traditional Chinese egg rolls. The egg rolls were stuffed with the typical cabbage mix you’d find in egg rolls, only instead of pork, they used king crab and shrimp. It was served with this sweet and tangy sauce that was really, really great. The idea of shrimp and crab in an egg roll was kind of strange to me, but it worked really well. In fact, I think I might even like it more than the traditional pork. After being so pleasantly surprised by their egg rolls, I think I might give some of their Chinese food options (orange chicken, since it’s my favorite) a try next time I visit.

There were originally 4 pieces of egg roll, but my parents couldn’t wait long enough for me to take a picture, so they snatched them up. Vultures.

The crab rangoons were really good as well, and were also served with a sauce that looked like the one that came with the egg rolls, but was a touch spicier, which I kind of liked better. I really liked the stuffing of the rangoons, and would have liked them to be stuffed fuller than they were. I felt like they kind of skimped on the filling a bit, which is a shame, because it was actually really delicious, especially with the sauce.

As you can see I only barely managed to snap a picture before they were gone. Notice how my dad moved the garnish around to make the plate look less empty.

For my entrée, I tried the special roll of the night, the sunburst roll, at Cindy’s recommendation. I was not disappointed. The roll was basically spicy, crunchy yellow tail and cucumber wrapped in soy paper, topped with salmon, crab, and tuna, and a spicy honey sriracha pepper sauce and little white Chinese rice balls to add a bit of crunch. The roll was served more chilled than warm (which is different than most of the other rolls I order there that have tempura ingredients in them) which I actually found quite refreshing, especially since the rolls itself had a bit of a kick to it. I loved it. It would be the roll I ordered every time I went there, if it was a regular staple on the menu. Apparently the chef only makes a limited batch of the sauce, and I was lucky enough to snag the last sunburst roll of the night. Thank God for small miracles.

Thank you, God of Sushi, for allowing me to delight in this culinary masterpiece.

My mother got our standard King’s Speech Roll, because she loves it and also for just in case I didn’t love mine (which I did). I was glad because I still wanted a bite of the King’s Speech because it’s so delicious. The King’s Speech is Shrimp Tempura with Fresh Green Apple inside, topped with Alaskan King Crab Salad & Red Tobiko in Honey Wasabi, Eel & Sweet Mango Sauce. It’s amazing.

So good, it’ll make you stutter! (badumpshhh)

I also tried their white sangria during this visit, which is made with Yellowtail cabernet sauvignon, St. Germaine elderflower liqueur, and mangoes. I really liked it, and my mom got kind of obsessed, even going so far as to buy all the ingredients to try and recreate it for our Easter dinner (it didn’t really turn out anything like it, but it was still delicious).

Tina is photobombing my sangria picture, looking all crazy as per usual.

With the regularity that I visit Zen and their penchant for creating new and unique sushi dishes (and the sheer amount of non-sushi options I’ve yet to try on the menu) leads me to say with relative confidence that you should probably expect a third review in a few months. They’re just that good. Also, on a completely unrelated note, I’m in love with Instagram. I think it makes my cell phones pictures look 100% less ghetto. What do you think? (It actually doesn’t matter to me whether you like it or not… I like it, and I only just got it, so I’m going to keep using it, so there). Also, I love that when you google image search “Zen Asian Fusion,” the pictures from my first blog are on the 1st page of results. Ballin’

I’m not tech savvy enough to put my own face in there, so just use your God-given imagination.

Bottom Bottom Line: Get the sushi. TUNA TINI. Drink lots of white Sangria.

All these months and I still haven’t remembered to take a proper picture of the restaurant itself. #lazy

Zen Asian Fusion
2037 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard
Charleston, SC 29407-4601
(843) 766-6331

1 Comments

Restaurant Reviews

Heroes Sports Bar and Grill

April 6, 2012

This past week I had the pleasure of spending a few days on Dauphin Island, Alabama with Lauren. We basically ate nothing, drank beer, and lounged in the sunlight for three glorious days. Toward the end of our trip, when we were hungry, hungover, and sunburnt, we started hallucinating visions of cheeseburgers, and attempted to figure out how to use a grill in order to cook for ourselves. Unfortunately, neither of us have any knowledge of how to use a gas grill, and somehow managed to spray propane on the porch, which I’m pretty sure is a fire hazard.

Appendix A: What I was convinced was going to happen if I continued my attempt to turn on the grill.

Knowing we would be driving home the following day, we decided we would stop in Mobile to have the burger we’d been craving for a week. Our final night at the beach was spent thinking we were going to die from what I was convinced was a hurricane (but what turned out to be only a thunderstorm), and fighting to find enough cell phone reception to research what restaurants in Mobile (if any) had good cheeseburgers. I was able to stumble onto a blog entry highlighting the 19 Burgers To Eat Before You Die centered around Southern Alabama. Although I appreciate the variety of choices in the blog, I wish he would have just named his favorite and saved me a bunch of work. Since I’m lazy and got frustrated trying to contort my body in ways that would allow me to get cell phone service, I just decided to go with the first burger joint on the list, Heroes Sports Bar & Grill.

I STILL ONLY HAVE ONE BAR. DAMN YOU, VERIZON!

Now I don’t know if it’s because it was overcast, so no one was really walking around downtown, but Mobile seemed kind of creepy when we were driving around. On the walk to the restaurant Lauren and I were picking out what items we could use as weapons, just in case we had unwittingly stumbled into the zombie apocalypse. When we entered Heroes, we were a little unnerved by the fact that it was packed with people. And by “people,” I mean “men…” nary a lady in sight (other than our waitress, that is).

Apparently they’d already eaten all the womenfolk.

After we sat down and perused the menu, Lauren got really excited by the fact that they had fried pickles on the menu. They also had a lot of really good looking appetizers, like spinach and crawfish dip, mexican egg rolls, and waffle cut sweet potato fries. If I’d been with more people, I would have ordered another appetizer to try it, but I know Lauren would never eat any of the appetizers I wanted. We were a little disappointed when the fried pickles turned out to be fried pickle spears instead of pickle chips. They’re just so much harder to eat that way. They stay molten lava hot for about 45 minutes, and the breading falls off when you try to eat it, so you just end up getting third degree burns on your tongue from a pickle.

Try explaining that injury to your mother.

For my meal, I got the Hero Burger with American cheese and bacon. The burgers are served with 2 sides, so I got French Fries (don’t tell Jesus!) and baked beans. The burger was really great. It was thick, and tasted like it just came off of a grill. The only thing I had a problem with was that there was just way too much bread, which kind of took away from the flavor of the beef and overpowered the burger as a whole. But I did like that they supplied a generous helping of toppings (two slices of tomato, onions, lettuce, etc). The bacon was the perfect level of crunchiness. It was a really good burger, but by no means the best I’ve ever had. The fries were crinkle cut (my favorite) and delicious. The beans tasted homemade and were a perfect complement to the burger. Basically, I overindulged and enjoyed every minute of it.

“X” marks the spot where I’m going to start shoveling food into my face.

Lauren got basically the same thing as me, only she (of course) got a salad as her side instead of anything fun or flavorful. The salad looked basically like one of those ready-pack salad mixes with iceberg lettuce and shredded cabbage. They threw on a couple of pieces of vegetables and some croutons to make it seem like something other than rabbit food, but there was really no disguising it (props for trying, though). But, that’s what you get for ordering a salad from a sports bar.

Honestly, I don’t even know why I bother.

Bottom line: Get a burger. Add bacon. Skip the salad and the pickles.

Apparently Mobile is creepily deserted no matter what the weather is like outside.

Heroes Sports Bar and Grill
273 Dauphin Street
Mobile, AL 36602
(251) 433-4376

1 Comments

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

Bluerose Café – Closed

March 23, 2012

Update 5/10/18 – The Bluerose has since changed ownership and completely overhauled the menu and restaurant. It’s no longer Irish at all and is, in everything but the name, a completely different restaurant.

“Céad Míle Fáilte!” or “One hundred thousand welcomes!” is what greets you as you enter the door into the unassuming little eatery that is the Bluerose Café. I’d passed this spot about a hundred times before I actually ended up eating there with my family for brunch last Father’s Day. Until I saw the menu, I had no idea that it was an Irish restaurant. Having visited Ireland in the summer of 2010, I was overjoyed when I saw that they had Old Fashioned Irish Breakfast on the menu. I was skeptical, thinking that it wasn’t going to be the same as when I was in Ireland, but really the only thing different was that I was eating in Charleston instead of in Dublin. It was just as delicious as it was when I was in Ireland. From the first bite, I knew this would be one of my new favorite breakfast spots.

I mean, seriously. Do you see this??

I still get the Irish breakfast whenever I go to Bluerose for breakfast (which is more often than is probably healthy). For those of you who may not know, the full Irish breakfast consists of the following: Two eggs, Irish sausage, Rashers (which is pretty much bacon), Black & White pudding (because I don’t want to turn you off of this based on the description, I’ll just say that it’s like sausage. It’s delicious. Don’t Google what it is until after you’ve tried it), early morning potatoes, grilled tomato, and an Irish Scone (they might offer you toast or a biscuit instead, but get the scone. I’m obsessed with Irish scones, they’re so freaking delicious). I usually go with my dad whenever he is in town because he (like me) is obsessed. Last time we went, he ended up ordering the corned beef hash, because that’s pretty much his go-to breakfast order at any restaurant we go to. I think it’s gross, but hey, to each his own.

But he also considers SPAM to be “edible” sooooo…. it’s hard to trust his judgement.

I only recently went to the Bluerose for dinner. They’re only open for dinner Thursday-Saturday night, so you have to catch them when you can. We went on a Thursday around 7, and it was perfect. It wasn’t too crowded, and we even got a chance to talk to the owner, Denis O’Doherty. He’s pretty great—very funny and personable. He teased me about wearing a jacket in March, since it’s so warm out. When we went for lunch on St. Patrick’s Day, we even had the treat of hearing him sing “O Danny Boy” completely a cappella. It was quite moving. For dinner we started off with an appetizer of the Baked Brie. Usually when I order baked brie, it’s encased in some kind of dough that you have to dig through to get to the cheese. The Bluerose baked brie, however, is baked completely dough free…. Naked, if you will. It’s topped with cranberries and pecans and served with warm crustinis to eat it with. It was sooooo good that we fought over who got the last bite (I won. As usual).

I didn’t even need the toast. Just bring me a spoon.

For dinner, I got the Irish Chicken Curry sandwich, with a side of Irish potato cakes and vegetable beef stew with rice. I absolutely loved it. The chicken salad has chopped apples and raisins in it, which gives it a freshness that really complements the curry. The potato cakes are basically like spiced mashed potatoes that are pan-fried, so they’re kind of crispy on the outside. I love them.

or “Curry curry chick chick,” as Tom Haverford would say.

The soup was perfect. It was broth based, with chunks of beef and vegetables that went really well with the rice. It would have been the perfect complement to a grilled cheese sandwich, but it also went really well with my chicken curry, too.

Although I don’t understand why you need crackers for a soup with rice in it.

The prime rib is sautéed with mushrooms, peppers, and onions, and served with au jus for dipping. Normally I don’t like things with mushrooms in it, but this sandwich was delicious. He got it with a side of potato salad, which he didn’t really love, but still ate. And because I was dining with a friend who had a crazy sweet tooth, we obviously had to get some of the homemade desserts they bake and offer daily. My favorite is the buttermilk pie. I’ve always had a hard time describing the consistency of buttermilk pie (also known as chess pie)…. the closest I can say is that it’s almost a custard, but not quite. So yeah. Hope that cleared it up for you.

I almost ate the whole thing before I remembered to take a picture. But at least I cleverly hid that with whipped cream! You totally wouldn’t have known.

Bottom line: Get the irish food and buttermilk pie. Wash it all down with a traditional Irish beer.

I see no Blue Roses. I feel deceived.

Bluerose Cafe
652 Saint Andrews Boulevard
Charleston, SC 29407
843-225-2583

1 Comments

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

JB’s Smokeshack – Closed

February 29, 2012

Update 5/10/18 – It’s with a heavy heart I report the closure of JB’s Smokeshack. The owner retired and tried to sell the business, but no one bought it, so it’s officially closed up shop.

JB’s Smokeshack is the epitome of great barbecue, there are no two ways about it. It embodies all of the characteristics I look for when selecting a quality barbecue joint:

Sweet Tea. Homemade, Paula Deen sweet, and ice cold.
Baked beans with meat in them. Seriously. PUT SOME MEAT IN DEM BEANS.
Pulled pork that tastes delicious before you even put sauce on it. If your meat doesn’t taste like anything before you put the sauce on it, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG.
And on the subject of sauce, being a southern girl, I prefer my barbecue sauce to be mustard based. But I’m not opposed to vinegar or tomato based sauces. I just like to have the mustard base sauce as an option in case your other sauces suck.
A buffet, so that I am able to shove as much meat into my face as humanly possible… and then some (that’s what she said?).

JB’s does all of this exceptionally well. You know it has to be good for me to be willing to drive 25 minutes out into the middle of banjo country to get there. Their sweet tea is amazing. The perfect level of sweet, in my opinion. But then again, I subscribe to the Gospel According To Paula Deen (Our sacraments are butter, sugar, and butter….it’s pretty great), so to each his own.

You can’t argue with Paula, ya’ll

When it comes to baked beans, I’m pretty sure I’ve never eaten anything like JB’s. They have some of their pulled pork in the beans, so they’re beany and meaty and sweet and savory all at the same time. Their pulled pork is amazing all on its own. I’ve been to plenty of barbeque places that really rely on their sauce to give the barbeque all of the flavor. And while I agree that the sauce is an integral part of the barbeque equation, I don’t think it should be the main flavor factor. The flavor of the pork should complement the sauce and vice versa, each adding its own flavor profiles to the mix, so it’s like a barbeque party in your mouth. JB’s definitely does this superbly. I could seriously eat their pork without any sauce on it at all. But that would be unfair to their fabulous sauces, which I also love. I like to mix the mustard one with Mama’s Sweet and Spicy (which I’m pretty sure is vinegar based), and it’s AMAZING, trust me on this.

We’re gettin’ a little saucy up in here.

And finally, their buffet is outstanding. I love their beans (obviously), macaroni and cheese (although I’ve definitely had better mac n cheese), collards (spicy and meaty, just the way I like it), green beans, fried okra, and fried creamed corn bites (seriously, those are amazing… I could probably eat 100 of them in one sitting).

This is what I imagine heaven looks like.

They also have a meat station which they alternate the offerings of regularly. They’ve had brisket, ham, etc., which they carve for you right there.

Ron Swanson would get teary-eyed looking at this delicious hunk of meat.

They also have some salad on their buffet, which I’m pretty sure they put there just to taunt you. It stares as you judgementally as you load up your plate with meat and beans and macaroni and meat like “Hey fatty. You know you should just be eating salad. You know you’re going to hate yourself later” but I can never actually hear what it’s saying to me over the sound of my own chewing. I usually make three trips to the buffet, loading up on meat and beans, and then collapse on the table, praying for death….

Sweet, meaty death

So I’ve never actually eaten dessert at JB’s. But I’m sure it’s delicious, because everything else sure is. I really want to try the “pluff mud pudding,” which reminds me of the dirt pudding I used to eat when I was in kindergarten. You know, chocolate pudding, crushed up oreos (to look like dirt) and gummy worms. It’s awesome. Ben got the banana pudding but was unimpressed (but once again, CANADIAN).

Man, feels like kindergarten all over again.

So basically it’s awesome. I would recommend fasting for three days or so before visiting, so that you can truly appreciate the meat cornucopia that is JB’s Smokeshack. They’re also really great people who truly take pride in their food, so how can you go wrong with that?

The word “shack” is not an exaggeration.

Bottom line: Get the meat. And the beans. And everything else. DON’T. STOP. EATING.

JB’s Smokeshack
3406 Maybank Highway
Johns Island, SC 29455
(843) 557-0426

4 Comments

Restaurant Reviews

[CLOSED] Imane Moroccan Restaurant, Duluth, GA

January 8, 2012

UPDATE: This restaurant is now closed. Sad day 🙁

On what was to be our final day in Atlanta, we finally found a Moroccan restaurant that was open for lunch, even though we had to drive a bit out of our way to get there (and google maps was about 2 miles off from where the restaurant actually was). Tina’s been going on and on about Moroccan food forever. She likes to hold it over my head whenever I ask where she wants to eat (because she knows there aren’t any Moroccan restaurants in Charleston, thereby forcing me to pick a restaurant, which drives me insane). Tina was happier than a clam to be there.

This is what it looks like to be happier than a bivalve in a Moroccan restaurant.

So we finally make it to this restaurant, which only happens to be open for lunch on Fridays (what luck!) and it’s actually super cute inside, impeccably decorated, with a few women in the corner smoking hookah, speaking what sounded like Arabic. It was beautiful and orante without feeling commercial (it’s a very thin line to toe). With all the food that we’d eaten in the time we were in Atlanta, this was by far the best. To start with, we got the chicken briwates, which are like filo dough stuffed with chicken, but it was almost like a pastry, topped with powdered sugar. It sounds weird, and Tina wasn’t a huge fan, but I really liked it. We also got the falafel, which was the probably one of the best falafels I’ve ever had, but the hummus. Oh my God, the hummus. If you go there and get nothing else, get the hummus. It’s seriously the best hummus I’ve ever eaten, and I sincerely doubt you’ll find it better anywhere else. We also got babaganoush, grape leaves, and something called zaalouk, which was almost like tomato sauce mixed with babaganoush. I liked the grape leaves, and the zaalouk was ok but, once again, I’m not really into egg plant. We also got mint tea, which was really good. Like super sweet and minty and tea. I can’t describe it, but it was delicious.

And this was just the appetizer course.

For entree’s, Sean once again channeled his inner Ron Swanson and ordered a plate of meat, aka the kabob assorted platter–Kafta, chicken, beef, lamb chop, and merguez, which is a lamb-based sausage. I loved every single piece of meat on that plate (that’s what she said?). The spices were amazing, everything was tender and delicious, neither over nor undercooked. I thought the food from Lawrence’s was good, but this was completely out of this world. He also got Moroccan-style potatoes, which are kind of like a curry mashed potatoes that are fried. They were ok, nothing super special, but the meats were amazing.

The aftermath of the meat tornado.

Tina got this soup kind of thing, with giant vegetables in a broth that you pour over couscous. It also came with pretty much all the meats that Sean ordered, but they were served on the side instead of in the soup, which I thought was kind of weird. It was my least favorite of all the things we got, but it was still delicious, and Tina and I really liked it.

NO COUS FOR YOU!

What I got was amazing. I was kind of unsure of how to feel about it when I ordered it, because it was lamb shank, and I’m not usually huge on lamb (fatty, chewy, etc), but I went in with an open mind–I wanted to try something characteristic of Morocco. It’s called a tagine, and I got what was called “casablanca mrozia.” It’s lamb shank braised in mrozia spices, rasins and honey, garnished with almonds and sesame seeds. It was one of the most unique flavors I’ve ever tasted. But it was amazing. Apparently they’re really good at balancing savory and sweet in the food in Morocco. I was very surprised and delighted that I enjoyed it so much. It pained mentally to have to stop eating before I finished it, but the physical pain of being so full overpowered my mental strength.

“This is the song that never eeeeeenNOMNOMNOMS!”

Basically, if you’ve never eaten Moroccan food, you should make a trip out to Imane because it’s seriously my favorite restaurant now…. sucks that I live 5 hours away from it…

Imane Moroccan Restaurant
3455 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard #840
Duluth, GA 30096
(678) 638-7990

All in all it was a great trip, even though I ate too much and exercised too little….. although I did manage to plow through 2.5 seasons of 30 Rock. So, I was productive in that sense, at least. Plus, I love Atlanta! I could totally see myself living there someday!

Hope everyone had a fun and eventful New Year!

Restaurant Reviews

Eating in Atlanta, In A Nutshell.

January 6, 2012

HAPPY 2012 ERRIBODY! I hope everyone is excited for this upcoming year! I know I am…minus that tiny little detail where “The World Might End in 359 Days”… not that I really believe it. But, you know, it would be nice if it didn’t actually happen. I feel like I’ve almost gotten the hang of this whole “adulthood” thing or whatever.

This is the side of adulthood I’ve really mastered.

For New Year’s Eve, I travelled to Atlanta to visit my friends, “The Hungry People” aka Sean and Christine where I spent a wonderful span of days hopping from one meal to another. There’s so much ethnic food here. It’s kind of like how I imagine heaven. I was really excited to eat Lebanese food Wednesday with my mom and Sean, but on the way to the restaurant, my mom’s car broke down. So not only were we stranded by the side of the road, terrified that the tow truck would never actually come, we were also hungry because our car didn’t have the decency to wait til after lunch to die. Rude, right? So I’m stuck in Atlanta for another night (or three), and I thought this would be a good time to do a roundup review of all the restaurants I’ve eaten at in Atlanta. However, I’m going to break from my usual style and only do brief summaries of each restaurant, because I ate at so many, it got kind of hard to keep track of it all.

This has been me at every meal this week.

1. Cafe Bombay Indian Bistro

We went to Cafe Bombay on Sean’s recommendation–he’d been there with Thomas for lunch a couple weeks earlier. To be honest, I really hadn’t been in the mood for Indian food that day, but that feeling changed the second I stepped in the door. I could just tell by the scent in the air as soon as I opened the door, that this food was going to be delicious, and I definitely was not disappointed. We were there for the lunch buffet, and let me tell you, this is the biggest indian buffet I’d ever seen (and I’ve been to quite a few). We all know, however, that bigger does not necessarily mean better, but Cafe Bombay definitely knows what they’re doing. They don’t sacrifice quality for quantity even in the least.

Trip 1 of 8 through the buffet.

Their paneer tikka masala with their homemade cheese cubes was AMAZING. Usually I don’t care for paneer because it’s usually bland and tasteless, and reminds me too much of tofu, but if I ever go back there, I will order just the paneer tikka masala. Also, they made this chicken that they marinated in cream cheese. That was really good too. Basically everything they made was delicious, and I highly recommend you visit them if you ever have the chance. But, don’t be surprised if you leave never wanting to eat ever again.

#1 indeed!

Cafe Bombay
2615 Briarcliff Road
Northeast Atlanta, GA 30329-3112
(404) 320-0229

2. Sushi Kiku

So Sean went and woke up (ish) Raina on New Years Day to ask her about a sushi buffet place she’d talked about. She snored out the words “sushi kiku” and Sean decided that’s where we were going to eat for lunch. So Thomas, Sean, Christine, and I ventured out to Buckhead to shove some sushi into our faces. They made about two rolls of each type of sushi at a time, so they really weren’t out long enough to get gross or weird, and I’m pretty sure they changed them out at regular intervals. Every time I went up to the bar, there were different rolls out to try. I was quite impressed.

A very pleasant surprise!

I think they probably had a 9 or 10 rolls total to choose from, and you better believe I tried some of each, and then second helpings of the rolls I liked best. But be warned, their spicy mayo is super spicy. They also had a bunch of non-sushi items for those who aren’t really the lovers of the sushi–steak, salads, fried rice, chicken, pot stickers, cheesy scalloped potatoes (I guess for those people who don’t like japanese food either…I guess no one can say they’re not diverse!), and some dessert items that I couldn’t really look at without feeling nauseous because I’d eaten so much, but Sean assured me they were delicious. I found out that the apartment above Sushi Kiku was for rent, and I seriously considered moving in, dreaming of eating at Sushi Kiku every day…

Because sushi + cats = happiness.

You should definitely try Sushi Kiku if you’re into sushi and like variety. It wasn’t necessarily the best sushi I’d ever had, but it was pretty good, and it was cheap for a sushi buffet, like $12.99 per person for lunch. Which is great, because I definitely ate my money’s worth of sushi. Even though it wasn’t my favorite sushi ever, the quality was still very high, and it was good, and the value was great, so I would definitely recommend it if you’re into sushi.

Sushi-palooza

Sushi Kiku
2770 Lenox Road Northeast
Atlanta, GA 30324-6006
(404) 467-4544

3. Fat Matt’s Rib Shack

Wednesday was kind of a crazy day. Our original plan was to get some lebanese food with my mom when she came to pick me up, but then the car broke down on 85, which kind of threw a wrench in that plan. We’d had a crazy morning filled with running up an exit ramp against my mother’s wishes, waiting half an hour for Thomas to come rescue us, waiting for the AAA people to figure out what they were doing with the car (which they never ended up doing), etc., before we were free(ish) to FINALLY find something to eat. Only we were so far away from our original destination we were left to answer that age old question “What shall we eat?”

WHY, GOD, HAVE YOU CURSED ME WITH SO MANY CHOICES?!

After driving around for about half an hour trying to figure out what we wanted, Sean finally had the brilliant idea to try out Fat Matt’s, a place he’d wanted to try for a while. We all liked barbecue, and we were half starving to death, so we decided that was where we would eat. The restaurant itself is an unassuming little diner-type building, and the few menu items were written on a board near the ordering counter.

I’ll have….one of everything on the menu.

I ordered the chopped pork sandwich, minus the bun, with a side of macaroni and cheese and collards. Tina got a combo plate of chicken and ribs, with rum baked beans. Sean got ribs with macaroni, and Thomas got the combo plate, but I don’t remember what sides he got. The combo plates came with toast, and the chicken was delicious, as were the ribs. My pork was delicious, and the barbecue sauce was the perfect blend of spicy, tangy, and sweet. The collards were really good, but super spicy, and the macaroni was delicious.

This is some good stuff.

The food was delicious, the atmosphere was comfortable and homey, and the bathrooms were nice and clean. Also, it looks like they have a stage set up for concerts, which I think would be very cool. Check it out!

Fat Matt’s Rib Shack
1811 Piedmont Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30324
(404) 607-1622

Restaurant Reviews

The Boll Weevil Cafe and Sweetery, Augusta, Ga

December 18, 2011

This weekend, I travelled to Augusta, Georgia, to visit my dear friend Lauren “the salad eater” and her army of cats. We had a splendid time testing out the area’s bars and restaurants, as well as exasperating their local police force (try and tell me my ID looks fake, see if I don’t put up a fight. When a girl’s gotta dance, A GIRL’S GOTTA DANCE!).

I pity the fool who prevents Lauren from gettin’ her groove on.

After a fantastic night of Wobbling and singing onstage with cover bands, and a productive morning of worship (Lauren) and sleeping in (Sydney), the hunger pangs kicked in and we made our way to downtown Augusta for some lunch. Lauren recommended a restaurant near her office called The Boll Weevil (which makes more sense after you learn that the restaurant used to be a cotton warehouse). I was a little skeptical of the name (the word weevil doesn’t exactly do it for me), but it was a cute little cafe and I was way too hungry to argue about semantics. We sat in a little room with about 6 or so other tables, filled with families dressed in their Sunday best, while I stood out from the crowd in my shorts and tacky sweater (#noshame). Our waiter was funny and super attentive without being overbearing, which was refreshing. For lunch, I ordered the Curious George, which is turkey topped with spinach dip and provolone cheese on homemade honey wheat bread. It was pretty delicious. The turkey was thick cut, definitely fresh, and the toppings were not too heavy. It was perfect. I got the half version of the sandwich and their tomato apple soup, fire-roasted Fuji apples and carrots in a tomato soup. It was an interesting combination of sweet and savory and spicy. I liked it, which is impressive, because I usually don’t care for tomato soups.

It’s Mmmmm, good…. Also, I hate Campbell’s.

Lauren decided to branch out and get the greasy double fried lard burger with extra carbs on the side. hahahahaha, oh wait, who am I kidding? Of course, she got soup and a salad. No branching out for Lala, no way. Specifically she got the greek salad and vegetable soup. That’s right, she got veggies with her veggies. Oh, and how about a side of veggies? Yes. She’ll have them. She’ll have ALL THE VEGGIES IN THE WORLD!! MUAHHAHAHAHA!!!

She needs to start going to meetings. She has a serious addiction.

Cute waiter also guilted Lauren into getting a piece of cake, apparently because they do cake specials on Sundays, so it was only like 5 dollars for a monstrous piece of cake. She had a hard time deciding which one she wanted to get because she was “SOOO FUULLLLL! I FEEL SO FAT!! I’M GONNA THROW UP IF I EAT ANYMORE” (from a salad… A SALAD). She narrowed it down 3 choices–strawberry, red velvet, and coffee toffee–and told the waiter to surprise her and put a piece in a to-go box. “It’s like Christmas! I don’t want to know what my presents are before I open them!” I’m not one to ruin Christmas, but…

It was the Coffee Toffee. Spoiler alert.

Summary: Get a sandwich and some soup. Unless you’re addicted to salads like La. Also, cake is a meal in itself.

Turning the weevil into a cartoon does not make it any less gross.

The Boll Weevil Cafe and Sweetery
10 9th St, Augusta, GA 30901
(706) 722-7772 ‎

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

Five Loaves

December 2, 2011

I have no idea how many times I’ve been to Five Loaves (or 5 Breads as Tina calls it). It’s Lauren’s favorite restaurant and one of my favorite casual lunch spots in Charleston, as well. It’s simple, good food. Nothing pretentious or over the top—soups, sandwiches, and salads. For dinner they offer heartier options such as pastas and meat dishes. Everything I’ve ever had there is delicious. Their soups are homemade, creative, and just plain yummy. Lauren’s favorite is the broccoli, potato, cheddar which she couples with the half version of the tomato and mozzarella salad (although she always replaces the mozzarella with goat cheese, which is sacrilegious, in my opinion… She says “mozzarella doesn’t taste like anything” MOZZARELLA HAS FLAVOR, LAUREN. IT’S MOZZARELLA FLAVORED. IT’S DELICIOUS. HAVE YOU NEVER HAD PIZZA BEFORE?!). I tend to stick to the marinated chicken sandwich on baguette (which comes with the house-made mozzarella cheese, WHICH IS DELICIOUS, LAUREN) with a cup of the chicken chili.

The sandwich is quite delicious.

If they have a really good selection of soup that day and I have a hard time narrowing it down to just one, I opt for the 3 soup pours which allows me to sample three different soups. I strongly recommend this option if you are indecisive like me.

Om nom nom

If you’re going for dinner, I recommend the tri-colored tortellini in the cracked black pepper parmesan cream sauce. It’s amazing. I’ve also had the gnocchi, which is really good. I usually eat half of it and take the other half home to eat for lunch the next day. The portion sizes are pretty big, so you definitely won’t leave feeling hungry.

When food is this good, it’s hard to remember to take a photo before you eat half of it.

I’ve also gotten the chicken parmesan, which also comes with the house-made mozzarella cheese (PEOPLE LOVE MOZZARELLA CHEESE, LAUREN. IT’S NOT JUST ME. YOU’RE THE ONE WHO’S CRAZY), but I don’t really love their tomato sauce that comes on the pasta. I find it kind of bland. The fried goat cheese appetizer is really good if you like goat cheese (which I do). I’ve also had some of their other appetizers. Becca usually gets the turkey sandwich with the cranberry mayo on whole wheat. Tina usually gets the same thing I get (which drives me crazy. I hate getting the same thing as other people at restaurants. I don’t know why. I just do).

Lauren: This is what delicious looks like. Take note. There will be a quiz later.

Anywho. I love Five Loaves. It’s a great place to eat if you’re not looking to eat something super heavy. I love it, and Becca, I will always choose Five Loaves for our Mount Pleasant lunch dates. Just FYI. I’m so excited to go eat there with Lauren whenever she finds it in her heart to grace me with her presence (yes, DC is cool, I GET IT). Only maybe she’ll get something a little heavier so that we don’t have a repeat of Halloweekend (HINTHINT NUDGENUDGE, LAUREN. EAT SOME FREAKING BREAD).

Also, they’re closed on Sundays. Go figure.

Five Loaves Cafe
43 Cannon Street,
Charleston, SC 29403-6068
(843) 937-4303

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

Early Bird Diner

October 29, 2011

I’ve been to Early Bird Diner a few times, and each time it’s been delicious. I feel like calling it a diner is a little bit misleading, as this food is far and beyond anything you’d find at a typical greasy spoon. One of their breakfast items is curried vegetables and eggs. Try and find curry on a menu at some roadside diner. You can’t. I’ve checked.

This is a curry-free establishment.

I usually get the Country Scramble which is eggs, sausage, cheese, and potatoes scrambled together and topped with sausage gravy. It’s amazing. It also comes with toast/biscuit and a choice of one of their sides, of which there are usually 10 plus options to choose from. I like their fruit salad, it’s very fresh, and a good mix of fruit; not just sad pieces of mushy cantaloupe like most places. I wouldn’t recommend the fried green tomatoes (which is rare, as I love fried green tomatoes); they just don’t really taste like anything. But that’s the only thing I have a problem with at Early Bird.

Let’s put gravy on more stuff.

Last time I went with my dad, he ordered the fried chicken and waffles of the specials menu. The waffles come Belgian style, and they’re almost more savory than they are sweet, even with the maple syrup on top. They’re really good (and this is coming from a girl who doesn’t like Belgian waffles. So that’s really saying something). The chicken is batter-dipped and fried and topped with their house-made honey mustard. The sweetness of the honey mustard paired with the sweetness of the waffles…I don’t know what it is, but it just works. It’s so good. They fried chicken alone is amazing. Tender, juicy, white meat chicken fried perfectly to perfection. The batter that they use is delicious as well. You should definitely give it a try if it’s on the menu.

Gladys Knight would be proud.

Also, they’re open til 4 am on Friday and Saturday nights, so, if you’re like me and you crave really good, higher quality food at 2 am on a Friday night after the bars close, you’re in luck! We actually went last night after a long night of celebrating. Geoff got a club of some sort and, although he didn’t say whether he liked it or not, there was nothing left on his plate by the time he was finished, which is always a good sign. La got the omelet, which she said was probably one of the best omelets she’s ever had.

This omelet was EGGcelent.

Matty V ordered the pancakes. Only no one warned him that the pancakes are the size of dinner plates and they come out stacked three high. He was only able to eat maybe one of the pancakes before he threw in the towel. So a word of warning: Don’t order the pancakes unless you haven’t eaten in over 36 hours or you’re trying to feed your entire family on a budget.

More like MANcakes, amirite.

My new favorite thing is the fried pork chop with pepper jelly. It’s fried perfectly to a crisp and is seasoned excellently. The pepper jelly gives it a great amount of depth and tanginess and it’s a great mixture of salty and sweet.

I want to put this in my face right now.

Early Bird Diner
1644 Savannah Highway
Charleston, SC 29407
(843) 277-2353

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

Halls Chophouse

October 23, 2011

I first learned about Halls Chophouse in my Seminar in Entrepreneurship class where they came to speak to us. I admire that it’s a family run business that is based mainly on quality of service and building and cultivating relationships with their customers. A lot of places talk a lot about customer service, but for many, it’s just that—talk. Halls actually delivers on its promises. They give you great service and great food. Seriously good food. I’ve said before that Husk is my favorite restaurant, but if I’m craving steak, there is not even a competition. Halls would win out every time. Literally the best steak I’ve ever eaten. And this is coming from a girl who doesn’t actually like steak. (Ditto salad. I’ll talk more about the chopped salad later, but trust me—it’s as close to divine as a salad will ever get). I’ve ordered steaks at other restaurants in Charleston before—Peninsula Grill, Husk, Red Drum, 82 Queen, and Grill 225—and there’s no comparison. I haven’t been to Oak yet, and I have a feeling I probably won’t go anytime soon, either. I just can’t imagine they’d be better than Halls.

They’re better than you, Oak, and they know it.

I’ve been to Halls for dinner five times or so. The first time was with my dad and Shay to spend the gift certificate they gave out to my class (that’s good marketing right there. I saved $25 but probably spent 3 times that on the meal for the three of us. And trust me, it was worth every penny). We started off with the she-crab soup which was really good. I hate it when restaurants add too much sherry to their she-crab soup, but Halls does it right. The dominant flavor is the crab, with only a hint of sherry—exactly how a good she-crab soup should be.

Does this qualify as pornography? I hope so.

I then got the Halls Chopped salad, which is Uh- May-Zing. I live for chopped salad. If more restaurants had them, I’d eat salad way more often, and if they all tasted like Halls, I’d actually enjoy eating them. It has lettuce and tomato and celery and black-eyed peas, peppers and bacon and a whole bunch of other stuff in a buttermilk dressing. But it’s perfectly balanced with the dressing. I hate it when my salad is drowning in salad dressing, but the Halls salad is perfect in every sense of the word. I’d say I’d go there just for the salad, but I know there’s no way I’d go there for food and not get a steak.

Touch my salad, and you lose a finger.

Shay got the filet mignon, while my dad opted for the prime rib. This being my first time at Halls (not realizing how amazing their steaks are), I opted for the lobster. The lobster was about 4 pounds and served with plenty of butter.

As it should be.

Shay offered me a bite of her filet (which she’d gotten butterflied and cooked to medium well) and as soon as it touched my tongue, I knew I’d ordered the wrong thing. Don’t get me wrong, the lobster is delicious, but it’s nothing compared to the filet. Did I mention it’s the best filet I’ve ever had? Because it’s the best filet I’ve ever had. The prime rib was top notch as well. I’m pretty sure none of us spoke after the entrées had been delivered; we were too busy enjoying the food to carry on a conversation.

I’m gonna eat you, sucka!

They serve their sides family style, meaning that one side serves 2-4 people. They’re pretty big. For sides we got the asparagus with hollandaise and the pepper jack grits. Now, as a southerner, I am particular about my grits. Quaker sells this instant crap that says “Grits” on it, but trust me—those are not grits. Halls serves real grits. Thick and creamy and delicious. Not cheesy enough so that you lose the flavor of the grits themselves, but just cheesy enough to make the dish feel complete. They are all about balance at Halls. It just works perfectly.

How could you not want to eat that whole skillet?

The second time I went to Halls was for my mom’s birthday. It was my parents and me, and we went all out. We got spicy shrimp and tempura lobster as starters. I didn’t really care for the lobster, but my parents loved it. The spicy shrimp were pretty good, but I was expecting them to be boiled shrimp, like you’d find in a Creole or jambalaya, but they were just fried shrimp tossed in a spicy sauce. They were still good, I’d just had my heart set on non-fried shrimp. I once again got the chopped salad while Tina opted for the roasted beet salad (who orders things like that? Really, Tina? Really?). The chopped salad is better. I almost stabbed Tina for trying to steal a forkful of my salad. I don’t play around. For our entrées, I chose the filet.

Did I mention it’s the best filet I’ve ever had? I did? Ok, well I just want you to understand that it’s THE BEST FILET I’VE EVER HAD.

You can get sauces on the side with your steak, like Gorgonzola sauce, or béarnaise, but trust me—you don’t need any sauce. The meat tastes amazing all on its own (that’s what she said!). I can’t remember what Tina and Russ got, because I was too focused on my own food to take the time to care about their choices. All I know is that there was meat, there was a lot of it, and we ate it all. Ron Swanson would be proud.

MEAT TORNADO

For sides this time, we got the asparagus again, and the macaroni and cheese. Macaroni and cheese is one of my weaknesses. It’s the one thing I seem to be unable to resist. It’s my kryptonite. Even when I’m dieting, if there’s mac and cheese within reach, I won’t even hesitate. I just start devouring it without giving myself time to think about it. The mac and cheese at Halls is good. It’s not great, but it’s good. It’s more creamy than cheesy, and I prefer my mac and cheese to be extra cheesy. The waitress was raving about the mac and cheese (she loves it. It’s her favorite), so I guess it’s all a matter of personal preference. I do have to say that I’m a fan of the squiggly noodles. I’d just prefer more cheesy in the saucey pleasey! Next time, I’d just stick with the grits.

Macaroni skillets are what I dream about at night.

You may have noticed that I clarified both of my visits by saying “The first/second time I went for dinner.” This is because Halls has an amazing bar. Rather, they have one drink that I’m obsessed with called the 434 martini. It’s pineapple infused vodka that’s served ice cold and frothy. It’s not overly fruity, but it definitely tastes nothing like alcohol. Except for the fact that it’s straight alcohol. So you don’t realize how much you’ve actually had until you stand up to go to the bathroom after the 5^th one and you almost fall on your face (that’s actually a true story about my dad the night I graduated). The first time I had one was at a party hosted at Halls for my entrepreneurship class after our final exam. It was a 2 hour reception with free food and drinks courtesy of Tommy Baker (anytime there are free drinks involved, you can guarantee I’m going to make an appearance). I made Lily come with me and we started drinking martinis, excited for some free Halls food. We found out, about 3 martinis in, that the “free food” was actually a veggie tray. Don’t get me wrong, I love carrot sticks, but if I’d known that’s all the food I was going to be having, I would have eaten something hearty before I starting downing liquor. Needless to say, Lily and I had a great time.

Don’t be fooled by how pretty it looks. It’s deadly. And delicious

I took my mom to Halls for drinks before we went to Pantheon for the drag show, and we sat at one of the community bar tables drinking and hanging out. One of the Hall family members, usually Billy or Tommy, came by a number of times to make sure we had everything we needed and that we were enjoying ourselves (we were). We stayed for about an hour, and we getting ready to head out to go across the street to O-Ku (they make these habanero-infused vodka martinis with sugared rims that my mother is obsessed with) when Tommy Hall stopped us to ask why we were leaving so soon. My mother, being my mother, told him “We’re going over to O-Ku to get sugar and spice martinis. They’re my favorite.” Tommy Hall replied “O-Ku is great, but did you know we actually invented those? Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll bring you one.” So we sat back down and he brought us a round on the house. Tina was skeptical that they would be as good as O-Ku’s, so she was quite surprised to find out that she actually liked these more. Apparently the ones that Halls makes are spicier. I don’t really do spicy. I took one sip and then had to chug a gallon of water to be able to feel my lips again.

It’s easy to confuse this with the 434. But, you will know you made a mistake IMMEDIATELY after taking a sip.

I’ve literally never had a bad experience at Halls. Every time we leave, Billy is there to shake our hands, or give us a hug and thank us for coming. Once he even chased us down the street, to make sure he thanked us properly. The service continues, even when you’re not at the restaurant. They sent my mom a hand-written thank you note, telling her how much they appreciated her coming into the restaurant on her birthday. They even wished me a happy birthday on Facebook, even though I hadn’t been to Halls in over 2 months. They’re all about the relationships that they build with their customers. Pairing their outstanding customer service with their delectable food (did I mention the filet is the best I ever had??) and you have a recipe for an unforgettable night out.