IKEA was a big deal when it first came to Charlotte, but my abbhoration of crowds prevented me from going to the opening. I’ve finally made it, and I can report every piece of furniture would look great in a college dorm room. If you are currently living in a dorm, go.
If you like cheap food, go. I’d long heard about the wonderful Swedish meatballs served and they really are good! But. They taste and look like they’ve been mass produced and frozen. But that’s kind of IKEA’s deal, right? They’re still good. You get 15 meatballs, mashed potatoes (real!), cream sauce and lingonberries for $3.99. For real.
But what is even better? The North Atlantic Saithe crusted white fish served with mashed potatoes and carrots. It’s a buck more, but I so dig fish, I didn’t care. It is NOT fishy tasting in the least. I felt like I was eating all healthy and it was delicious.
Now, you are energized to go shopping in the biggest store I’ve ever been in. Get your Swede on.
P.S. Sorry about the crummy pictures. I got the camera at IKEA 😉
I prefer my bakeries to be in a quaint little house with the smell of vanilla wafting out of the door when each customer leaves with their bags of delicacies. Polka Dot Bake Shop isn’t like that. It’s in a strip mall, but I can forgive that because the cupcakes were so yummy!
Inside is a smallish space with the baked goods case front and center, as it should be. They had a modest offering the day we were there, but that’s just fine. You don’t want a lot of mess just sitting around getting stale. We went on a Friday about 1:30 and we had a line behind us out the darn door. People love this place!
We sampled 3 varieties on our visit. The first was a salted caramel cupcake. The cake was moist and delicious, the buttery frosting just sweet enough to balance the little bite of salt from the caramel. Topped with a dollop of caramel and a salty cashew makes it the perfect dessert. This one has very little that isn’t perfect. We gave it 9/10 stars!
Next up is the chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting. This one was good, but my least favorite of the three. The cake itself was a little on the dry side and the buttercream, while rich, was pretty overpowering. A nice contrasting vanilla buttercream might have been a better choice. And I could have done without the sugar crystal sprinkles altogether. Don’t mess up my creamy dream. 7/10 stars
Back to the good stuff…Red Velvet cupcake was moist and delicious and we loved the bite from the cream cheese icing. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too sweet. Red Velvet cake can be either Ronald McDonald red or cloyingly sweet and be messed right up, but not so with this cake. It was perfect. nearly. I gave it 8/10 because it just wasn’t as luscious as the salted caramel. I’m the customer, I can do that.
If you love cupcakes, and nice people, stop by Polka Dot today.
Fran’s Filling Station is another restaurant resting in a strip mall, but what a little gem it is! They have a handful of tables outside, but the view is of the parking lot, so I elected to sit inside with my party. The eclectic art hanging on the walls and the funky furniture made me glad I did. I will note that the handicapped access is pretty poor here. It is to the right of the front door, and people park right up on the ramp. Also, as you can see, the tables are crammed onto the narrow sidewalk, so good luck getting a wheelchair through there without asking diners to move.
We visited for lunch and was it ever crowded! Of course, we were there on a Friday at noon, so that can’t be that unusual or unexpected. Our waiter was a bit overwhelmed and not as attentive as I’d have liked, but the other staff members were pleasant and perky.
Behold the reason for our visit! The Thanksgiving Everyday is possibly the best turkey sandwich I’ve ever come across. This overstuffed sammie is full of goodness: house roasted turkey (not from the deli!), cranberry, stuffing, and sage mayonnaise on house-made bread. Just look at this house-made bread; nutty and substantial. Nothing is escaping, not one scrap of turkey. That darn thing was so big it was held together not by toothpicks, but by dowels. It was heaven. I have to rate it 10/10. No way to make it better. Yep, it’s that good. If you’ll have a look at the tiny cup of potato salad, you will see hunks of potatoes mixed with creamy, perfectly seasoned mayo. It was wonderful, and I’m not even a potato salad fan. I give it 9 out of 10 stars.
I got the worst of our sandwiches, the real Croque Monsieur. I make my own, so maybe I’m a snob, but the bechamel sauce tasted like wallpaper paste. It was terrible, and fraught with nutmeg. The ham and Gruyere were perfectly fine, and I should have just asked them to leave the bechamel off, which I would surely do next time. I got mine with chips. Out of 10 stars, I’m going to give it a 5. And that is being nice.
My sister got the Cold Meatloaf sandwich. It comes with marinated onions, russian dressing, lettuce & tomato. Now, if you like cold meatloaf, this is the best cold meatloaf sandwich I’ve had. The dressing and onions make it sloppy and delicious, and give it an unexpected tang. This was served with homemade potato chips that were crispy and salty.
El Cerro Reyes has been on my “to try” list for a while. My hubs and I visited the other day after another assignment I was on (Small Fry Diner) was discovered to be closed. I was so pleasantly surprised! Like many delicious Mexican restaurants , this one is tucked in a strip mall, but don’t discount it because of that. The inside is pleasant, roomy and the wait staff is right on the money.
The menu is pretty standard Mexican fare, but everything was seasoned perfectly! After being seated, we were brought complimentary chips and salsa. The chips were crispy and warm and the salsa was just spicy enough. We ordered a cheese dip and it was creamy, thick and deliciously smooth. It is white, which is my favorite, not the processed yellow.
I ordered the lunch Chicken Chimichanga which came topped with cheese dip, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole and sour cream. It is served with a side of rice. The tortilla was nicely crispy and the chicken inside was pulled white meat chicken, juicy from being boiled in a spicy tomato sauce. The rice has a little cheese dip drizzled on it from the chimi, and that is fantastic!
My husband got a combo which came with a taco, chile relleno and beans. He was not as impressed with his haul as I was, but I’m writing that off on him being grumpy. He said the beans were kind of pasty, and there was no pepper in his chile relleno. He deemed the taco just “alright.” Whatever.
It isn’t ranked #6 in all of Mooresville for nothing. Get yourself over there.
This article focused on finding sandwiches in the city that broke out of the traditional mold. And you know girls, we love a frou-frou sandwich. Zada Jane’s is near my sister’s house, and after getting my new cast the other day we picked her up for a lunch at this hipster hangout. I quickly realized that 1. Charlotte magazine isn’t always right and 2. I am way too uncool for this place.
I’m told that Zada Jane’s is a popular brunch and breakfast spot, and on the weekends the outside eating area fills up in nice weather. The inside is funky and everyone who works here is, too. As we sat down in our casual clothing, I began to look around and realized that while I wasn’t cool, neither was everyone else in there. We sat amongst hipsters, artists (I assume) and even a few suits. It was cozy!
The waitress we had was a little on the surly side, but I noticed she was a bit friendlier to the artsy types in there. Were we too vanilla or am I overly sensitive? No matter, she was very efficient and met all of our needs. I opted for the Druther’s Clucker as recommended by Charlotte Magazine.
The Druther’s Clucker is a grilled chicken sandwich deluxe. It comes with grilled chicken, fresh basil, caramelized onions, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomato mayonnaise on rosemary foccacia. It is also served with a side of your choice: chips, black eyed pea salad or a green salad (for $2 more). I opted for the green salad, hubby opted for the black eyed pea salad.
The sandwich, much heralded by Charlotte Mag, was just ok. I mean, I ate all of it, but it was really no better than any grilled chicken sandwich I’d had anywhere else. It wasn’t packed with flavor like all of those bold ingredients would lead you to believe. I think if they would take better care in seasoning the chicken breast itself, and not just piling on ingredients to the sandwich, the outcome would have been better. Both my husband and I agreed we’d get something different next time.
The green salad was delicious. It was full of delicious fresh veggies like peeled cucumbers, tiny diced tomatoes, sprouts and sweet shredded carrots. The greens were a mesclun mix and it was topped by homemade croutons. Served with a homemade dressing of your choice: I chose Ranch. I tasted my hub’s black eyed pea salad, and found the black eyed peas to be a little underdone for my taste. Also, it was in a sweetish vinegar dressing that desperately needed some acid. I smirked because mine was clearly better.
Now, the “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” was my sister’s order. She got the grilled chicken nachos and if she weren’t carrying my niece, I might have smacked her and stolen in, like in our childhood days. These nachos were served in a bowl, so you could have eaten it like a salad, but the crispy chips lined the bottom of the bowl instead of lettuce. The chicken had a yummy chargrilled taste and it was loaded with cooked veggies. Homemade salsa, guacamole and sour cream topped all. Perfection.
If I’m perfectly honest, I was a tad disappointed by Zada Jane’s. Maybe I had too high hopes for a humble chicken sandwich? Next time, if there is one, I’ll get the nachos.
I have been meaning to go to the OPH for YEARS, but good lord, who gets up early enough to drive an hour to go have breakfast in Charlotte? It just so happened that I had an early appointment with my surgeon, and my mom and I decided we needed breakfast after that painful experience. OrthoCarolina Foot and Ankle Institute happens to be right around the corner from this joint, so it was a no brainer.
When we walked in, I noticed immediately the high ceilings. It makes me feel like I have plenty of space around me, even in a crowded restaurant. We were seated immediately at a booth and a waitress came by quickly to take our drink order and drop off the menus. They also sat down crayons for my little one, for which I was grateful.
The menu had so many things I wanted to try, namely that Dutch Baby everyone talks about, but I just broke right down and got the mushroom omelet with a side of pancakes. I must tell you that they were both just pretty average. Breakfast is not that big of a deal to fix, but the sherry/mushroom sauce that accompanied my omelet was just wrong on top of that omelet. The omelet itself was enormous and very fluffy and actually cooked well. So there’s that.
The pancakes were just alright. Nothing special, and I had the buttermilk pancakes with the plain old maple syrup, nothing fancy. Sometimes going with the basic dish is a beautiful thing, an unspoiled classic; this was not so with my pancakes. They lacked flavor and the syrup was just..there. I would go for that Dutch baby next time, or maybe even a blintz if I was feeling really crazy.
OK, so I’m being a little snobby. The fact is my mother and little girl loved their food. Mom got a sausage omelet with the pancakes and loved them. My little one got a grilled chicken sandwich and hashbrowns, and gobbled it all up! I stabbed one of the potatoes, which turned out to be more like homefries than the shredded hashbrowns she is used to, and sprinkled with Cajun seasoning. They were tender and delicious!
I will return. We had fantastic service and weirdly enough, the Coke was fab..really strong. Burn your nose kind of strong. I adored it. Next time, however, you know..the Dutch Baby. I’m beating a Dutch Horse, aren’t I?
It’s been a long time, what with the accident and other life events, since Dustin and I have been out to a nice restaurant, let alone a whole weekend getaway! Yet, that’s exactly what we did this past weekend.
We took a trip to Highlands, NC which is so beautiful! We had a few culinary clunkers along the way, but the ONE restaurant that made all of these misses worthwhile was Wolfgang’s in Highlands. I should also disclaim all of the photos that follow because my husband would not allow me to take pictures of our food because he was embarrassed. What a sissy.
Wolfgang’s Restaurant
Wolfgang’s is an unassuming place in downtown Highlands, located right across from the Old Edwards Inn. I was nervous about the dress code because I had on a dress with my boot and my high top tennis shoe. Now, the boot is self-explanatory (oh, she got hurt) but the high top tennis shoe just makes me look like an idiot. At times like this I wish it were appropriate to wear a sign on my back that states boldly “I WAS HIT BY A DRUNK DRIVER WHO BROKE BOTH ANKLES/FEET/LEGS.” I digress.
We must have looked fine, because several people on their way out thanked us for a lovely meal. Hey, I’m okay with being mistaken for a server/hostess over people staring at me because I’m dressed like a yahoo. When the maitre d’ came back to escort us to our table, we were seated at an intimate table by the bar. The table and chairs were lovely, and had a tree limb motif. I was charmed.
Yeah, yeah, it looked great…you want to hear about the food. Our server brought us a basket of warm homemade bread with soft butter pats. After our drinks were delivered, the server brought us an amuse bouche from the chef. Tonight it was a cherry pepper stuffed with creamy goat cheese and topped with a chiffonade of basil. All of this served in a nice, tidy white spoon. It was a delicious beginning to an even better meal.
For starters I had Escargots Au Gratin. These snails were tenderly baked in garlic butter sauce and then topped with a light Chardonnay sauce. Dustin had the Shrimp and Lobster Bisque, which was listed as a specialty of Chef Wolfgang. The soup was velvety smooth and full of flavor. It was better than any I’d had in Charleston, SC, the former champion of bisque.
Our entrees were absolutely spectacular. Both were served with a small salad of mixed greens, lightly dressed with a vinaigrette, roasted potatoes rubbed with sea salt and grilled asparagus, served al dente and perfect. I ordered the fresh fish of the night, which was a rockfish served “Oscar” style. My broiled fish was perfectly cooked and topped with a perfectly lemony beurre blanc sauce and lump crabmeat. Dustin ordered one of Chef Wolfgang’s Signature Specialties: Veal Medallions “Wolfgang”. These tender discs of veal were sliced thin and cooked to perfect tenderness. They were settled on a beautiful Cabernet sauce in addition to a béarnaise sauce that topped it with crawfish tails. I think the decadence got to Dustin’s head as he declared it the best thing he’d EVER eaten and you all know he eats my food nightly so that can’t be true.
We were bursting, but there was no way I was leaving there without tasting the strudal of a German chef. Dustin and I shared an apple strudal a’ la mode. Now, Dustin hates nuts. He inhaled this tender pastry, filled with chunks of apples, raisins and walnuts, swimming in our melting ice cream. While we were enjoying dessert, Chef Wolfgang came out to make sure all of his diners were enjoying his creations. A perfect end to a perfect evening.
Among Chef’s Wolfgang’s many accolades are his stint cooking for Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, write-ups in Southern Living, a ten-year run as excellence awarded by Wine Spectator, and a top choice at OpenTable.com.
Now, if you are a wine drinker, you should know that Wolfgang’s won some pretty fancy awards, and their wine list is extensive, and servers most knowledgeable. Dustin had a Cabarnet that night that was wonderful, while I had to forego the alcohol because of my pesky pain meds.
Also, I don’t know if you use OpenTable to make your reservations, but it is awesome and painless! Yes, you’ll have to register, but it’s minimal. On Wolfgang’s site there is a quick link that allows you to make your reservations quickly!
I made these reservations about a week before traveling, and I am now amazed at how many people know and love this restaurant. If you are in Highlands, NC or anywhere close, don’t miss it.
The hubby and I went to dinner at Luce for Valentine’s, and we were a bit disappointed. I can see where this restaurant might be a great place to go back on a night that isn’t so hectic for them, though timing wasn’t the problem. We were just so underwhelmed with the food!
The best part of the meal was the free bread they brought us to begin! It was crusty on the outside, soft in the middle and served with a white bean soaked in olive oil and vinegar topping that was out of this world! I could have eaten that with a spoon! For starters, Dustin had a salad of tomato slices and buffalo mozzarella stacked up and drizzled with a balsamic olive oil reduction. It was merely ok. The tomatoes were not in season, or flavorful, so I’m surprised that item made it on their very limited Valentine’s Day menu.
I had a bowl of lobster bisque for my starter and it was delicious, if a bit watery. The flavor was nice, but not special. Our main meal is where the disaster occurred. Dustin got seared scallops over mushroom risotto, and while it was fine, he got 3 scallops on a bed of creamy rice. And these weren’t big scallops! That was roughly $10 a scallop. They were cooked perfectly, but not worth $10 a scallop.
I had 2 entrees (and didn’t eat either one). My first was a pan seared Chilean Sea Bass on a bed of lentils. The fish was gelatinous, and the lentils looked unappetizing, but were actually quite flavorful. The waitress noticed I wasn’t eating my entree and insisted on bringing me salmon. The salmon itself was nicely cooked, but just plain and underwhelming. It sat atop a mixture of what I can only describe as warmed up and thickened Pace Picante Sauce. I couldn’t eat it either, as I was waiting on the second entree for a while and I simply lost my appetite.
The service was spotty, as well. They serve drinks in small glasses and were not on hand for refills of water or drinks, so we sat dry for a bit. The dining room was a bit bland and our table was in a corner next to a drink station (water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink). I just did not have a good experience at Luce. If you decide to give them a try and have a different experience I’d love an email!
Mexican food is my family’s all time favorite. We actually have a very good Mexican restaurant in Lincolnton that serves up freshly made food (no preservatives!) and makes a killer margarita. Taco and Tequila is run by Lucy Dorantes who comes from Mexico City and has made a name for herself in Lincolnton by serving up great food and a great price and treating her customers like family.
I’ve never had anything that wasn’t good at Taco and Tequila, but my all time favorite dish is probably the chicken chimichanga. It’s heart-cloggingly delicious with chicken wrapped in a flour tortilla, deep-fried and then smothered in cheese sauce. The tacos are pretty great here, too. If you are no good at making up your mind, come on Sunday when they have a lunch buffet and sample a little of everything!
creamy goat cheese and topped with a chiffonade of basil. All of this served in a nice, tidy white spoon. It was a delicious beginning to an even better meal.
served “Oscar” style. My broiled fish was perfectly cooked and topped with a perfectly lemony beurre blanc sauce and lump crabmeat. Dustin ordered one of Chef Wolfgang’s Signature Specialties: Veal Medallions “Wolfgang”. These tender discs of veal were sliced thin and cooked to perfect tenderness. They were settled on a beautiful Cabernet sauce in addition to a béarnaise sauce that topped it with crawfish tails. I think the decadence got to Dustin’s head as he declared it the best thing he’d EVER eaten and you all know he eats my food nightly so that can’t be true.
barenakedchefsaidso.com 