Sushi with Al

Al and I had lunch at MF Sushi today. He had never been, I always crave sushi, and I owed him lunch.

It was good! Mike and I went there on our first date, and it was very romantic. And expensive! Be prepared for the prices if you go for dinner. For lunch, however, it's quite reasonable. Al and I concluded that that's how they rope you in. You go once for lunch, and when you find out how good it is, you go for dinner, and then they get you!

I digress.

They have sushi lunch specials that range from $10-20. And each one comes with a bowl of miso soup and a generously-sized ginger salad. I loved the salad -- the ginger dressing is very salty and yummy. The miso soup was typical.

The fish itself it very fresh. No complaints. I will definitely come back here for lunch.

Oh, one other thought: I tried, at an earlier date, to order takeout from here, and was unsuccessful. I called their number twice, and both times, was disconnected. Strange.

OK Cafe's mac and cheese and squash casserole is out of this world!

Yesterday, Mom met me out at Lenox to go shopping. Afterward, we went to OK Cafe, one of our favorites. It's so freaking good. It's over in Vinings, but since it's on the way home for Mom, it makes a good stop for her.

The decor inside is fun and kitschy. There's a money tree inside, for example. You know, it's just fun. Interesting artwork. Total diner feel. And hella good food.

OK, OK, I have fallen victim, once again, to ordering only one thing on the menu. But once you know something is good, why would you stray? It's the veggie plate. You get to choose from four of the items on their veggies list, and the options that I always go for are: green beans, steamed cabbage, mac and cheese, and squash casserole.

OK, the green beans and cabbage are your basic run of the mill. But the mac and cheese and the squash casserole is so good, it'll make you cry. The mac is made with several cheeses, not sure which ones, and the squash casserole is also made with cheesy goodness. It's southern cooking like southern cooking should be.

Sunday grub

On my last day in Charlotte, Mike and I finally went over to Mac's Speed Shop to try out their BBQ. It was good! I'd definitely go back there. We each got a pulled pork BBQ sandwich, which comes with slaw and a side. Then we decided to split a veggie plate so we could try out additional sides. So, the sides we had were:

• Mac and cheese: Good, but nothing exceptional.
• Onion rings: Greasy goodness.
• Hush puppies: Heavenly, but they only gave us three! WTF! Don't be stingy!
• Collard greens: That was all Mike. But he seemed to enjoy them.
• Green bean casserole: I wanted to like it more than I did. It was good with the cheese that was baked on the top of it, but not really without it.
• Slaw: OK. Your basic slaw.
• BBQ: Yum!
  

They also have a HUGE beer selection. I was a tad hungover, so no beer for me. Could be a good place to grab a beer or two on the weekend, even if it is a restaurant first and foremost.

I'd definitely go back here.

For dinner, we were not very hungry since we snacked at the mall, so we just got the Insalata Carrabba from Carabba's, as well as a bowl of a lentil soup that we split. It was yummy! We also got a strawberry cheesecake, because we are gluttonous. Note to self: be sure to check the bag before leaving the restaurant. We ended up with a small bowl of minestrone instead of our strawberry topping. Mike also asked for them to add chicken to the salad, but they didn't. Booooo.

They did include some crusty bread, which was nice. Even though we didn't eat it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mike and I finally got to celebrate V-day by going to Lulu's, a small restaurant over in Elizabeth. Mike had gotten the idea to come here based on the recommendation of a foodie he knows. Specifically, she noted that the cheese that they serve on the antipasti plate was yummy, so we ordered that to start. It was very tasty! The star of the plate was these little pepperocini peppers that were stuffed with a meat and cheese. Mike loved those. Quite tasty.

Dinner was good, although nothing fantastic. Mike ordered a steak and fries dish. The steak was fine, but nothing special. The sauce he had was good. The fries were overcooked. I ordered a veal special that was served with a shrimp risotto and asparagus. It was good to me, but the sauce they had was a bit bland. Mike hated it.

The dining experience was nice, but not really romantic. We had a somewhat snooty French waiter who was damn near impossible to understand. But I did like the space. It would make for a good first date spot, I think.

After dinner, Mike and I headed to a wine bar called Dolce Vita Wine Bar. This was a neat space. It was a young crowd, probably college students, and wasn't too crowded, so we were able to get a table to watch the live music. It was a mix of good talent, and others with not as much talent but plenty of charisma. It must have been an open-mic night. We were certainly entertained. The wine was nice too. Check out Mike's review of this place on Yelp.

We then went to another bar after that. Too drunk to recall the place, sadly. It is probably a good place for a casual night of beers.

Back in Charlotte

I'm in Charlotte again this weekend. I was supposed to go last weekend, but came down with a nasty flu, so Mike and I had to postpone our Valentine's plans until now. I left the office at 5:15PM, and arrived at Mike's at exactly 9:15PM. With it being a rainy Friday afternoon, I think that four hours is pretty good timing!

Mike and I went over to Nikko's for dinner, and boy, was it a party over there or what! I expected this place to close at 10 or so, but it was open until midnight. We attempted to order something that we saw someone else order last time we were there. We chose poorly. What we ended up getting was some sort of salmon roll that was deep fried. It wasn't very good at all. The rest of our meal was the basic stuff we've gotten before. Nothing much worth mentioning again. Except that I thought our first time there was better than this time. This time wasn't bad. Just not as good.

This morning, after being abruptly awoken by a construction worker continually making a banging noise, we decided to grab bagel sammies at Owen's Bagel & Deli. The guy making our sandwiches was really nice and helpful. There are about 10 types of bagels -- and they call "everything" bagels "combo". Whatev.

Mike got a bacon, egg, and American on an onion bagel. I got a sausage, egg, and Meunster on a combo bagel. Verdict? The sausage wasn't very good at all, and I found myself enjoying my bagel more when there wasn't a bite of meat in it. Mike's was great. The bacon is definitely the way to go.

Oh, and the bagels are steamed! It's good. They're not mushy like I was expecting them to be. They're good! Just don't get the sausage.

I'm done with the Subway at 10th and Piedmont

I used to love going to this Subway. I know that they are all about the same, but at this one, I could:
a) order online
b) get to it easily
c) get in and out quickly because it's ready when I get there
d) pay with a debit card
e) the sandwiches were always made well
f) the guys who ran it were super nice and knew me by face.

So, now?

New owners.

How could it be that bad? Well, for one thing, they only accept cash. I mean, come ON. Really? REALLY?? In this day and age, I can't use a debit card at the local Subway?!

OK, so my list again:
a) order online
I can still do this.

b) get to it easily
No longer -- not with the construction on 10th AND on Piedmont

c) get in and out quickly because it's ready when I get there,
There's never any parking anymore, probably related to the construction

d) pay with a debit card,
Nope. Cash only.

e) the sandwiches were always made well
The last sandwich I got was so poorly wrapped the food partially fell out of it in the plastic bag.

f) the guys who ran it were super nice and knew me by face.
The new woman sneered at me, and didn't appear to know more vocabulary than the words "Cash only" and a couple of gesturing grunts. But I'm assuming that she is indeed literate because the last time I stopped by, there was a sign on the locked door saying that they had to close temporarily, with no further explanation, despite the fact that there was no warning of this when I ordered online. I understand that the application might not be built to handle this, but it does ask for my cell phone number, which they could have called to save me the trip.

Unfortunately, that was the most convenient Subway to me, so I'm going to have to find a replacement store. Sigh... I really liked those other guys.

Chicken and Brie: nom nom nom

I met Kelley out for dinner at 97 Estoria. This place is just a stone's through from her place, and is quite great. It might be a tad intimidating for the yuppy-at heart -- you'd almost think it'd be a pre-req to have a tattoo before stepping into this place -- but the food is delicious, and the beer is cold. And I'm sure my boyfriend would like me to note: they have pitchers of PBR.

I always get the chicken and brie sandwich when I go here. It's so freaking good. I mean, really. Even now, after thinking about it, I want to go over there and get a sammy to go. Alas, I am at home on the couch with the flu. Bugger!

They also serve potato chips with blue cheese on top. That's quite delicious too, although I couldn't see making a whole meal out of it, and it's a gigantic serving. But a good idea if you have a group.


One final thought: this place is hella smoky. Don't plan on wearing anything that can't easily be washed.