A Charming Bistro

Yesterday, we made another trip to Lexington to see my cousin play soccer. He's on the team at Washington & Lee and they had their first game in the ODAC Conference Tournament. Turns out it would be their only game in the tournament as they lost 1-0, which ends the season. Following the soccer, he recommended we try a new restaurant and we hoped the results would be better than the game.

After reading previous reviews on Urbanspoon, I had high hopes for Bistro on Main. And from visiting their website, it seemed like a place that would have a nice atmosphere with quality food without being overly fancy. It didn't disappoint. If I had to describe it in one word, I would say "cozy." It's not a big restaurant, but it's not so small you feel claustrophobic. The lighting, service, and atmosphere combine to create an environment that is very welcoming, yet not overwhelming. It's casual and classy.

I was very impressed with the service we received. Our waitress was friendly and fun without being obnoxious or awkward, which can be a fine line with good service. She made sure our glasses were full, checked on us regularly throughout the meal, and brought our dishes at the appropriate time. I wish I could remember her name to give her the credit she deserves. She did an excellent job throughout the meal.

Grilled Salmon

The food was on par with the service. First, they serve homemade beer bread to your table before your food arrives. This beer bread was heavenly. A perfect crust with a sweet flavor that almost reminds you of cake. After tasting the bread and needing a second to return to Earth, I had a difficult time deciding what to order. The menu featured a variety of dishes I would have enjoyed, but I went with the grilled salmon. The salmon was topped with a mango salsa and served with sides of mashed sweet potatoes and cooked spinach. The salmon with the mango salsa was delicious. The combination of grilled fish and fruit (especially citrus fruits) is one of my favorites, and the Bistro on Main did a great job preparing this dish. Initially, I was skeptical of the sides when I saw them on the plate, but they won me over in a hurry. The cooked spinach had delicious flavor and the mashed sweet potatoes had very good texture and hints of cinnamon. Two sides I'd consider as perfect for fall weather paired with a fish and topping that reminds me of summer. Maybe not everyone's preference, but I loved it.

Near the end of the meal, I realized why Bistro on Main seemed so familiar. It reminded me of Last Resort Grill, one of the best restaurants in Athens. Both have a cool atmosphere and serve awesome food with fresh ingredients. To find a place in this area that would remind me of Last Resort is a huge compliment to Bistro on Main. After this experience, the other restaurants in Lexington have a very difficult standard to meet.

Try some Thai

I love Asian food. When you get past the american-ized dishes of general tso's chicken and random sushi rolls, Asian food features a ton of unique and fresh flavors. And while I'll always enjoy a good Chinese or Japanese meal, I think Thai might be favorite type of Asian cuisine. Good Thai is usually full or flavor, including various uses of nuts, citrus, and other spices and herbs, which make for some very interesting meals. So when I had a chance to try Thai Continental Cuisine a few weeks ago, I was very excited about it.

Thai Continental Cuisine is located in downtown Roanoke on Market Street, right across from the newly re-opened City Market Building. There's nothing flashy about the entrance and they don't really advertise, but don't let the exterior or lack of a marketing plan deceive you. The interior of the restaurant is very clean and the staff, who all appeared to be Asian, seem intent on creating an enjoyable experience by serving great Thai food. It's the type of place where your waiter might not speak in perfect English, which gives you confidence in the authenticity of the food.

Drunken Noodles

When we arrived for lunch around noon, there were a few open tables but the restaurant quickly filled up. It's obvious this is a very popular weekday lunch spot for all the people who work downtown. They offer a good variety of lunch entrees along with their regular entrees, soups, salads, appetizers, etc. and most of the lunch entrees are priced around $7-$9. All the entrees are also served with a small salad, making the price and value very reasonable. To start the meal, we ordered the pork dumplings as an appetizer. One twist I liked about the dumplings was the addition of fresh cilantro, which added another layer of flavor I wasn't expecting. While I had a tough time choosing my entree, I decided to order the Drunken Noodles with chicken - and I requested the dish be prepared with a mild amount of spice/heat. This dish was great! It was loaded with chicken and fresh vegetables (peppers, onions, tomatoes) and the Thai rice noodles were cooked perfectly. There was a good amount of spice, but not so much that I was unable to taste the rest of the ingredients. I'd highly recommend this dish, especially to someone who might be unfamiliar with Thai cuisine.

My only complaint about eating at Thai Continental Cuisine would be the amount of time it took us to eat there. As I mentioned, we arrived at noon and had a tough time making it out before 1pm. Although the servers were friendly, it took them a while to get our orders and our entrees seemed to be pretty slow getting to our table. I'm all about having freshly prepared food, but most downtown restaurants are really good about being able to move tables through in under an hour, which people need so they can get back to work. I'd think Thai Continental would be no different and we just happened to catch them on a slower day. It definitely wouldn't keep me from going back.

Thai food is so underrated. If you've never had it, you really should give it a try. I know there are a few other Thai restaurants in Roanoke and I look forward to trying them. If they are anything like Thai Continental, Roanoke is in very good shape.

A Pitt Stop

One of the nice things about all the daily deal companies that have become so popular is they feature businesses you might not have previously known about. For me, an example of this was Pitt Boss BBQ. I don't spend a lot of time in southwest Roanoke, and I rarely make it out past the corner of Brambleton and 419, so I'd never seen Pitt Boss before going a few weeks ago. Of course, we went a little overboard and had two of the daily deal specials, which led to eating there twice over the span of about a week.

The design of the building is interesting. I don't think I've ever been to a BBQ restaurant with a log cabin exterior - it seemed like the architect was a big fan of Lincoln Logs. And the aroma as you come into the parking lot is enough to make your stomach growl. The interior of the restaurant is divide into two parts - one as a sports bar and the other as a casual dining room. Both sides feature multiple TV's, which would make Pitt Boss a good place to watch a game - a relaxed atmosphere that wouldn't be too crowded or loud. The service was good and the kitchen seemed to be able to have the orders ready in a reasonable amount of time.

The two nights we went for dinner, they were running a special on half-price hush puppies and hot dogs. I wasn't interested in the hot dogs, but the hush puppies served as a good appetizer. They are served in a giant, hollowed out beer bottle with a side of butter, which makes for a cool presentation. The hush puppies are served piping hot, but have good sweetness and crunch along with a hint of onion (although not overpowering). The first time I ate at Pitt Boss, I ordered the smoked turkey sandwich on a pretzel roll. The meat on the sandwich is served dry because they offer a variety of sauces on the table, and I had a tough time choosing because I liked most of them. I can't remember the name of the sauce I had but it had a nice sweet and smoky flavor. The sandwich was also topped with lettuce, tomato, and cheese, but the best part about it was the pretzel roll, which gave it a nice twist a difference in texture. It also helped hold the sandwich together, which was loaded with meat and toppings. The sandwich came with a choice of a side and I picked the collard greens, which again had smoky flavor - perfect for a BBQ restaurant. The second time I was there, I ordered a platter with smoked chicken, cole slaw, and collard greens again. Again, the meat had good flavor and tenderness and I loved both of the sides.

The prices at Pitt Boss are very reasonable. Most sandwiches and entrees are under $10, which makes them cheaper than Blues BBQ and a menu that has more variety than what'd you get at Henry's Memphis BBQ. I don't think I'll become a regular at Pitt Boss because of the location, but it will definitely serve as a good change of pace from time to time.

Down by the Bayou!

Cajun cuisine has arrived in the Roanoke Valley and it appears it's here to stay. The Quarter is owned and was started by Chip Moore, who has already had great success with two of south Roanoke's most popular restaurants, Annie Moore's Irish Pub and the Brambleton Deli. Now, Moore is introducing a New Orleans-style menu and atmosphere to downtown Roanoke and it seems to be a big hit. The Quarter was recently voted as the winner of the best new restaurant in town in The Roanoker magazine's 2011 Readers' Choice Dining Awards.

I've been to The Quarter a couple times over the past month, and I like the addition it brings to the downtown dining scene. The atmosphere, while a bit cliche, is really cool. Lots of hardwood, an impressive chandelier over the bar, and a beautiful outdoor courtyard provide an enjoyable environment whether you choose to dine in-or-outside. The service has been good both times I've been there, once for lunch and once for dinner, and the servers were friendly and prompt.

The Courtyard

When I went for dinner, I was very impressed with the food. I ordered sweet tea to drink and thought it was great - sweeter than most people like but perfect for my tastes. For an appetizer, we tried the crawfish tails, which are fried and served with a remoulade sauce. The crawfish were nicely breaded and had a good salty taste, which paired well with the creamy remoulade sauce. I had the jambalaya as my entree, which had good spice (both heat and flavor) and a very generous portion. The jambalaya had shrimp (which were rather small), sausage, chicken, rice, and a variety of vegetables. The flavors mixed well together and I ended up taking half of it home. I scaled it back when I went for lunch and ordered a shrimp po'boy. The sandwich was decent but rather skimpy on the shrimp and the bread overpowered everything else. A few more shrimp on the sandwich and it would have been a winner.

The value for The Quarter isn't bad. For lunch, they have a good selection of entrees in the $6-$10 price range and dinner entrees fit more in the $10-$15 range. They also have a nice looking brunch menu, which is available on the weekend. The menu has a number of things I look forward to trying, whether it's for brunch, lunch, or dinner. After receiving a few less than favorable reviews when they first opened, I think The Quarter has been able to iron out most of the kinks and are now well on their way to becoming a downtown staple.

Don't Attend Church!

I'm long overdue with posting on the blog and I have some serious catching up to do. Lots going on in sports. Lots of food and restaurants to review. And lots of stuff happening in life. So, I'm hoping to get back into posting more regularly. First up, a needed review on a Roanoke restaurant.

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with a few people at 24 Church Avenue Italian Sideboard & Spirits in downtown Roanoke. Having previously checked out the restaurant's website, I was intrigued by their $5.99 Italian lunch buffet and their famous giant slices of pizza. I mentioned this to my dad and he rounded up some people from his office and we decided to make our way over to Church Avenue to give it a try.

I should have known we were making a mistake when we walked in the door. First, there was a sign on the door saying they could only accept cash - which isn't too strange but did seem rather weird for a place that also serves as a bar at night. Next, the decor and layout of the place was terrible. There is a pool table as you enter and a dimly lit dining area with basic chairs and tables, and on one side of the room is a bar that looks like it was thrown together with scrap pieces of wood from a construction project. As if these weren't strong enough hints, there was NO ONE eating in the restaurant when we walked in at a little after 12pm, which is the prime hour for lunch spots downtown. Again, it was stupid of me to not pick up on the warning signs but I told myself, "maybe the atmosphere is terrible but the food makes up for it."

Our group picked out a table and then made our way to the "buffet." It's difficult to describe the layout of everything because it was so ridiculous, but one side featured salad, the middle area featured "entrees," and the other side featured pizza. The salad was probably the highlight of the meal. It was just mixed greens, like the kind you'd get in a container at the grocery store, and the staff at 24 Church managed to get something right in just getting those into dishes for people to serve themselves.

The "entree" portion of the buffet was a disgrace. First, everything is protected by an enclosure - so you have to hand your plate over to a wonderfully friendly (NOT!) server who tells you what everything is and asks you what you'd like. At an ITALIAN buffet, he told me my choices were: lasagna, spaghetti, chicken parmesan, macaroni & cheese, beef & broccoli, roasted potatoes, and hot wings. Yes, beef & broccoli and hot wings. Although nothing looked appetizing, I tried the lasagna and chicken parmesan. Another mistake. The lasagna tasted crusty, old, and dry - I would say it was clearly frozen lasagna but that would be an insult to all frozen lasagna dishes. I'm really not sure how 24 Church managed to get it to taste so bad. As for the chicken parmesan, I'm still not sure what the meat was, but there's no way it was chicken and the marinara sauce was non-existent.

And I'm sure this is no surprise, but the pizza was another huge disappointment. The crust was paper thin - too thin to be able to hold any toppings, so the chef avoids this problem by not putting any toppings on the pizza. No sauce. Barely any cheese (or what seemed to be dried cheese powder). And toppings that fall off as soon as you try to pick up a slice. Of course, it had no flavor other than a slight hint of wax paper, which might have been used in the making of the crust. By the end of the meal, I was angry with myself for having stayed in this restaurant for longer than three seconds and really felt like throwing up.

I wanted to write a review about this place to get the word out, but it really is difficult to describe how bad it truly was. I've seen more appetizing food on the streets of Haiti. However, one of my favorite moments came from the people I was eating with who were also grossed out. At one point, one girl said, "I think that's a live wire that's just dangling over the buffet." She was right. And later we heard one of the servers get visibly angry when other people walked into the restaurant, which forced him to yell into the back, "WE NEED TO MAKE MORE FOOD!" I guess they only had one microwave available in the kitchen.

I've never said this about a restaurant, but I believe this place should be investigated. Promoting themselves as a restaurant that makes everything from scratch is a lie. They can't honestly be trying to make it as a dining establishment, because that's just unbelievable. There might be a lot more going on behind their black curtain to the kitchen other than serving up disgusting food. This is, by far, the worst restaurant I've ever been to in Roanoke. I don't care what your religion is, don't ever go to 24 Church!

Sabbatical

Without warning or planning, I seem to have taken a sabbatical from blogging. I wasn't tired of writing and I didn't run out of topics to write about - I simply haven't been posting on the blog lately. Our internet can be a bit tricky, which can make it difficult to get a blog posted. We have had a busy stretch over the past couple weeks with various things going on during the week and traveling a bit on the weekends. And, I have seen my responsibilities at work increase, which is a lot of fun, but causes me to have no interest in being on the computer when I get home. Not to mention, the weather over the past couple weeks has been absolutely gorgeous - seeing the leaves change in Southwest Virginia during the fall is one of the prettiest things you'll see. So, instead of just sitting around on my computer, I've been out enjoying life. So, my apologies for the lack of recent posts. I'm sorry...not really! :)

Week Five Football

There are some great games featuring Top 15 teams this weekend. As the college football season moves deeper into conference play, we'll begin to see the contenders who will compete for a spot in the BCS Championship game. I could have easily picked 3 intriguing games from the SEC this weekend, but there are a couple other match ups that could turn into instant classics.

#13 Clemson vs. #11 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. - It's time for the Virginia Tech football season to begin. After four games to start the season against cupcakes, the Hokies will face a different kind of test with Clemson. Finally a game Virginia Tech fans can be excited about. For Clemson, this is their opportunity to really prove something. Beating an overrated Auburn team and a beat up Florida State team on your home field  doesn't say a whole lot. The play of Tajh Boyd and the emergence of Sammy Watkins has been huge for Clemson and the play of these two will be critical to Clemson's success. If Boyd can run the offense and deal with the Virginia Tech crowd and Watkins can find some holes in the Virginia Tech secondary, Clemson could pull the upset. And if David Wilson can have a big performance for Virginia Tech, it could be a long night for Dabo Swinney.

#3 Alabama vs. #12 Florida, Gainesville, FL. - Alabama takes it's freight train of a team to a showdown in the Swamp against the Gators. Similar to Virginia Tech, Florida has been able to test drive its new offense against some weak opponents. Now, they get to see how it works against the Alabama house of horrors. I can't wait to see the head games that take place between Nick Saban and Charlie Weiss. Saban seemed to solve Bobby Petrino and the Arkansas offense with relative ease last weekend, so we'll see if the speed of Florida can make a difference. This will also be the first major test for Alabama's quarterback, A.J. McCarron. If McCarron can manage the game and avoid turnovers, Alabama can rely on Trent Richardson and the powerful Crimson Tide offensive line. And if Richardson gets going again, the Tide will continue to roll.

#8 Nebraska vs. #7 Wisconsin, Madison, WI. - This is quite a welcome party for Nebraska to the Big 10. Playing against Wisconsin for a night game in Madison is never easy and the Badgers have been playing at an extremely high level. To me, the key for both of these teams will be the play of the quarterbacks. Taylor Martinez has the ability to carry the Nebraska offense or run it into the ground. He needs to be able to make big plays without making big mistakes. On the other end, Russell Wilson just needs to keep doing what he's been doing for Wisconsin. If Wilson is accurate and effective with the play action pass, Wisconsin should be in very good shape.