Lunch Wasn’t DIY

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Sweden

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It realized today I had missed one obvious (but not until it occurs to you) place to dine on a country’s cuisine.  From the title you’ve probably already guessed I trekked to north Charlotte and had lunch at IKEA.

This was my first trip to an IKEA and honestly my life will not be diminished if it’s my only trip to IKEA.  The store and the way it’s laid out to keep traffic flowing is actually ok and the products were worth checking out but the people, oh my goodness at the people.  There were just so many and quite a few had no apparent agenda except to wander slowly from side to side in the aisles.  It was like trying to navigate a moving slalom course.  I did however make it through the people maze to the restaurant portion of the store.

If you haven’t ever been to an IKEA either it’s set up cafeteria style except they have these cool carts you can put multiple trays on and have meals on wheels.  Since I just had the one tray I opted for the slide and carry option.  Apparently the Swedes like their deserts quite a bit since that’s the first section you pass followed by a case with salads and cold dishes, including a nice looking salmon dish.  Somehow a slice of Swedish apple cake found its way onto my tray.

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The entrée options are limited but I knew going into it I was going for the Swedish meatballs which came with steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes & gravy plus a little lingonberry jam.

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The standard $4.99 meal came with 8 meatballs and you could get 4 more for just a dollar.  I know this because of the upsell pitch the cafeteria lady made to everyone who ordered meatballs from the petite teen in front of me to the half-giant a couple of people behind me.  I stayed with the normal since I had the apple cake.  The next station had some additional sides & soups I skipped.

Finding a seat was easy, even with half of Charlotte milling around in the store, because they have more seating than most restaurants in town.  Not fancy but able to accommodate a ton of folks.  It was well lit by the floor to ceiling windows on two sides.

Now on to the food.  The meatballs were, for sure, the star of the meal and were the most flavorful of the four items although the lingonberry came a close second.  While the flavor was good the texture was a bit spongy which I’ve seen with most mass produced meatballs.  The vegetables were bland but cooked just about right, not too crunchy & not too mushy.  The potatoes and gravy were not bad but not worth spending more space on.  The apple cake was good and worth snagging.  The apples were tasty and tender and the cake had a bit of cinnamon but not a lot.  The part that looks like a pie crust was like a dense cake rather than a pastry like pie crust.  Overall I’d say this would be 3 stars out of 5, competent and filling but I wouldn’t make special plans to have it again.

I’m sure Swedish home cooking is probably better and you can find an apple cake recipe on the Tell Me More page.  There is also a video worth checking out if you have never seen a nyckelharpa.

 

Breakfast in Bern

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Not-Switzerland

This weekend had me hauling the culinary passport to the northeast.  Ok it was North Carolina, the eastern part, but still northeast of Rock Hill.  The occasion was a family celebration with great home cooking and would have been worthy of a blog entry on its own but I forgot to get pictures of the food ’cause I was busy eating it.

After that great lunch I didn’t want to settle for some old fast food biscuit for breakfast on the way out of town.  I was in New Bern (named by the Swiss settlers for the Swiss capital and there’s a bear on the city symbol so there’s your connection with the title) and their downtown has a number of little restaurants and a few serve breakfast.  I chose Baker’s Kitchen on Middle St and I’m happy I did.

The restaurant is in an old storefront and they kept some of the brickwork exposed as you can see below around the second story windows and wall.  The cozy little corner they put me in was warm and homey as you can see from the shot over my shoulder in the second picture.

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They had a lot of standard breakfast fare but I found something you don’t find everywhere.  It was called Eggs in a Frame.  In the photo you can see they cut a hole in the bread and cook the egg in the cavity.  This I’ve seen before but these folks take the cutouts and make French toast from them.  I opted for sausage & their Dutch Potatoes for my meat and other starch.

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The egg / toast combo was good but it needed a bit more salt & pepper to suit me.  The Dutch potatoes turned out to be essentially hash brown casserole and unlike some places I’ve been where the casserole was obviously frozen and reheated this was hot and tasted fresh.  The sausage links were nice size links not those wee little brown and serve jobs.  They had a decent amount of sage and enough pepper to let you know it was there without making you sweat.  The French toast cutouts were sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar and came with a little tub of a melted butterlike substance to dunk or drown them in should you choose to.  I didn’t.

Overall it was a happy way to start the drive home and if you live in the area or are passing through I’d recommend giving them a try.

Ye Olde RenFest

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Carolina Renaissance Festival

This week instead of a new country it was a trip to a different time.  On a beautiful fall day that was supposed to be sunny and 65 it seemed like a perfect day to pack up the passport and trek north and back in time to the Carolina Renaissance Festival.  Normally this is a trip I take with friends but circumstances made it a solo adventure.

Arriving just after opening I got a sweet parking spot right on the lane and far enough out to get a few steps on the old Fitbit.  It was pirate weekend and there were tricorner hats and bustiers as far as the eye could see. Keeping in theme I enjoyed a musical interlude with the Rambling Sailors   then headed for the food.  There are a lot choices but I had to go with the turkey leg and a Foothills Brewery Cottonwood Pumpkin Ale to wash it down.

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That was a tasty turkey leg.  I’ve had some that were cooked so long they were closer to jerky on the bone than a good drumstick.  In this case though it was moist with a touch of salt and smoky flavor.  It was also quite filling as there was a lot of meat on that leg.  The pumpkin ale was subtle on the pumpkin but did have that taste of fall that paired with the turkey.  I was not the only one enjoying lunch today as the raptors were having hunks of meat for lunch as well.

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A little strolling around and then it was time to grab a drink and head to the arena.  Since I don’t get it often anywhere else I opted for a Chaucer’s Mead as my libation of choice.  I had to hear the bar maiden’s tale plus pony up $4 but what are you gonna do, it was Chaucer’s mead.

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The mead kept me fortified while hanging with the king and court during the jousting tournament.

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Finally after visiting a number of shops with Armory, Forge & Leather in the names it was time to call it a day and journey back south.  To make sure I was prepared for the trip a stop by the jerky stand was in order.

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I have to say that is some of the best jerky I’ve had in a long time.  Great flavor, a bit sweet, a bit smoky, cut thin and not too dried out.  I’m saving some of that for a mid-game snack tonight.

If you’ve never been to a Renaissance Festival it’s a fun afternoon with a lot of things to do for both kids & adults so find one and make it a family day out.

 

Pumpkin Head

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Pumpkin Carving

This weekend it was neither restaurant nor food truck that had me on the road it was an annual pumpkin carving/decorating event hosted by one of my cousins.  She & her fiancé not only provide a fantastic setting for this gathering but put on a spread some restaurants should be envious of.  The lucky guests need bring only a pumpkin and whatever their adult beverage of choice is.

For me this is an opportunity to see a couple of my oldest friends in the world who happen to be my cousins too.  I saw one of my sisters and took my mother to the event as well so it was a day of family and friends of family.  Did I mention the food yet?   There were two buffet lines, one with BBQ and sides and one with hamburgers and hot dogs that were cooked up fresh and pulled off the grill as people were arriving.

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I snagged a plate of bbq, hash & rice, beans & corn and found a spot in the shade to enjoy my meal.  I had a Hell or High Watermelon beer to go with it.  This was my introduction to the beer and I tried it based on hearing positive reviews on several different podcasts I listen to and honestly I was expected more.  It’s a wheat beer made with watermelon as the name suggests.  It does have a slight hint of watermelon both is smell and aftertaste.  It wasn’t bad and certainly light and perfect for hot days I just didn’t see what all the hype was about.  That disappointment didn’t deter me trying other stuff as there was a table in the vicinity that featured items brought by the guests such as the mummified pepper poppers & pumpkin spice cupcake which somehow found their way to my plate as you can see below.

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After lunch while the gourd gutting, carving and decorating continued I took a stroll around the garden and snagged a shot of the early finishers.  The food was great, the weather cooperated and any weekend you get to spend with family and friends is a win.  Can’t wait until next year!

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Ooo Wee

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Food Truck Friday

This weekend was the last Friday this year for the Food Truck Friday at Fountain Park in Rock Hill and I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.  It actually turned out to be quite a cool windy evening so a stop at one of the beer trucks seemed like a good place to start as I strolled and perused the menus.  I went with Legal Remedy’s The Executioner Imperial Pumpkin Stout.

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It is 10% alcohol and quite the hearty beer.  The pumpkin taste wasn’t that prevalent which was ok with me but that alcohol content was pretty noticeable.  As I was strolling around listening to the opening act belt out Wagon Wheel I sort of had my choice made for me when I got to the Ooo Wee BBQ truck.

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If you click on the picture with the menu board you can see they have an item called a BBQ Sundae that is a layered concoction similar to the Pig in a Jar my sister saw earlier this week at the NC State fair that I said I would absolutely try.  Well here was a chance to try something very similar so I had to keep my word.  Warning to those who can’t stand for their food to touch, scroll fast past the picture or you’re liable to get woozy.

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I’d say this was superior to the one from the NC fair because in addition to the baked beans, meat, sauce and slaw there was a scoop of smoked mac & cheese.  While I wouldn’t choose to have all my meals served this way it was not bad at all.  The top layer is a just a bit of slaw, more like a token, followed by a bit of meat (you had the could select from any meats available you weren’t limited to just the pork) then the smoked mac & cheese and finally the baked beans as the foundation.  Every bit of it was good but I wouldn’t have minded trying some of the mac & cheese just by itself.  The stout paired well with the sundae and both were finished in quick succession.  I needed something else to occupy a hand as I walked around and at the other beer truck I found a Naked Apple Blackberry Gold hard cider to fit the bill.

My plan had been to hit one of the dessert trucks for something sweet then grab a spot to listen to the next band for a bit.  With the cider I decided that was dessert enough so all I had to do was grab some bench and enjoy Chicago Reloaded.  Overall it was a good way to spend a Friday night and it was also nice to see how food brought out a diverse cross section of the community to mingle and enjoy the evening together.  I hope they continue this event in 2017.

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Tapased Out

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Spain

spanish

For Spain I wanted to go to a Spanish restaurant for tapas.  There are a number of tapas places in the area but Miro Spanish Grille in Ballantyne, NC has Spanish in the name so it was a no brainer.  Tapas is more enjoyable with company and not just because you can order more dishes to share (that is a huge bonus though).  In this case it was a great opportunity to catch up with a former colleague, friend (current not former) and fellow food lover.  Thanks Jody for joining me.

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Miro is in a little shopping square and would be easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it.  I don’t know if they do all the time but this evening they had tables outside with a few patrons enjoying the fall weather and outdoor dining.  It is not a large place but the tables and booths are roomy and the booths were comfortable with high backs that muffled the sound and made conversation easier.  They take reservations so I felt compelled to wear my good jeans and something other than a t-shirt and that turned out to be a good choice.  It’s not fancy but it’s definitely a few steps up from Chiles.

The waiter, Jay, was quite helpful and tried to entice us with 2 seafood specials and a rack of lamb special but I had a plan and didn’t want to be swayed.  He almost had me with the halibut special that came with a chorizo stew but I remained resolute to the tapas.

We started with 4 dishes, 3 of which are pictured below.  The 4th came a bit later and I was otherwise occupied and forgot to snap a shot.  Pictured are empanadas, gambas al ajillo and patatas bravas.  The slow dish was pinchitos morunos.

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The empandas were nice and crispy outside and the filling was beef and vegetables nicely seasoned and pretty mild.  Gambas al ajillo is garlic shrimp cooked in that clay dish and you might notice  it was still sizzling when it arrived.  It was cooked with olive oil, garlic and had some peppers but it wasn’t spicy at all.  The shrimp were cooked perfectly to be tender and delicious.  The potatoes had what was described as a slightly spicy aioli.  They did have a nice taste but I wouldn’t call it spicy at all.  They were cooked soft but not mushy and very thoroughly coated with the aioli sauce.  Pinchitos morunos was grilled pork skewers with a chimichurri sauce.  They were tender and the sauce was understated.  I washed mine down with a Railhouse K-bar Brown beer that was pretty good and was a little bitter and a little sweet so it paired well with all the dishes.  We had one more plate that also didn’t get photographed because I was too busy talking.  It was the queso del dia, which was thick slices of tetlilla and manchego cheeses and a small variety of olives.  This was where we tapped out since we didn’t finish all the cheese and when Jay came back around asking if we wanted dessert there was no hesitation in passing it up.  Now if we had seen him pass by with that tray of dessert samples before (wow they looked great) the cheese likely never would have made it out of the kitchen.

Overall I’d definitely recommend Miro Spanish Grille to anyone as the staff is very friendly, he atmosphere was comfortable and the food was great quality.

If you’re interested the Tell Me More page has a gambas al ajillo recipe and more little tidbits.

Feeling Cheeky

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Taqueria Celeste

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Today was just about as perfect a day as you could ask for to dine outdoors.  That being the case and continuing the segue to food trucks being added to the international restaurant theme of the blog I decided to hit up the food truck closest to me.  The Taqueria Celeste is just about a mile from my house and within walking distance if I wanted to risk my life crossing Celanese Rd.

It’s located in the back corner of a gas station parking lot and is a semi-permanent fixture.  They drive the truck up to a covered area with some picnic tables, fire up the generator, hang the signs and they are good to go.

They specialize in tacos (duh), tortas and burittos among other things.  Here are a couple of the menu boards in case you were wondering what kind they have.  In case you didn’t know, and I’ll admit I didn’t until a couple of years ago, a torta is a sandwich.

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After deciding on a cabeza burrito and a campechano taco I placed my order with the elementary school kid working the window who was quite polite and helpful.

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After a short wait enjoying the wonderfully cool fall weather (finally) my food was up.

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The tacos here come standard with onions, cilantro and radish on a soft tortilla.  The ground steak taco had plenty of meat and was ok but nothing to make you go out of you way for.  The beef cheek burrito comes with the titular beef cheek and Mexican rice wrapped up to make the burrito.  This was my first beef cheek and it was not bad if a little fatty.  It wasn’t spicy at all and the rice had decent flavor so it also wasn’t special other than the fact I got to use it in my title.  The mango drink was probably the most interesting item I had.  Although not Mexican it did have an international component being made in Korea.  I was surprised on my first sip to find it had bits of mango floating in it kind of like pulp in orange juice and there was some in every sip.

Overall if I hadn’t been here before and tried one of their sandwiches and a different taco only their proximity might get me to come back but I know the chorizo torta with the load of jalapenos they use is muy bueno.

 

Food Truck Friday

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New Direction

When I started this blog the focus was, as the title indicates traveling to other countries via my taste buds and sharing the experiences with any who chose to read it.  Well I am just about out of unique country / restaurant combos and the couple I have left are so much better with groups that I’ll have to do some actual planning to make it happen.  At this point I assessed my choices to be; stop doing the blog, only blog if I come across a new restaurant representing a country I hadn’t done, repeat countries with new restaurants or change the focus of the blog.  I don’t want to stop the blog so that left the others and after evaluating them I decided to serve up a combo.  If I find new restaurant /country combos they get added along with a Tell Me More page.  Visiting new restaurants representing old countries will help fill in some weeks and offer a comparison to the already visited restaurants so that will fill in some weeks.  The new part is an additional focus rather than a complete change and as the title didn’t have spoiler tags you probably figured it out.  I’m going to chase down food trucks and check out what they have to offer so I’ll be looking for meals on wheels, roach coaches, street meat, whatever you want to call them and I’ll let you know what I think.

I couldn’t think of a better way to kick it off than Food Truck Friday in downtown Rock Hill.  I only wish I’d started coming out earlier because there’s only one more Friday left and I will be there.  I got to the area just after 6:00 and parking was pretty easy to find within short walking distance.  There was already a nice group of people there and the live music was going.  Yep, dinner and a show.  They cordon off a couple of blocks around Fountain Park and the food trucks park along the streets.

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My first stop was the Beer ID & ticket tent because you can’t walk around trying to make decisions on which mobile kitchen is going to be your source of sustenance without a proper drink.  They beer trucks have some local microbrews and some wee little bottles of wine.  My first try was a Beneford Brewery Irish Honey which was quite tasty and kept me going as I walked up and down in a first pass to see what options I was presented with.

After walking the area I decided to start with a couple of Jamaican Me Crazy Sliders from Street Spice.  I got the pictures of the truck but ate the sliders before I remembered to snap a shot.

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This particular mini burger came with ghost pepper cheese and was on a bed of pineapple slaw and was quite good.  I also got some mac and cheese bites which were the best version of those I’ve ever had.  The outside was a thin crust and inside the cheese was gooey and the noodles were still soft and al dente.  The few other times I’ve tried fried mac and cheese they had been fried so long the noodles were hard and chewy or harder rocklike.

A stop at the beer tent to pick up a truly local Legal Remedy Double IPA and I was walking and enjoying the music and looking for a truck with just a little something to sample and not a full meal.  Hiya did it for me with their fried dumpling special.

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I got 4 kimchi dumplings and 4 fried chicken baby dumplings (I don’t think they were made with baby chickens).  Both were delicious but the kimchi dumplings paired well with the double IPA.  Overall this was a nice experience and I would certainly encourage any of you who can to think about going to October’s Food Truck Friday, I know I’ll be there.

 

Calm in the Chaos

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Turkey

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It’s been a couple of weeks since the last activity.  One week was due to DragonCon and one to UGA football but I’ll have the blog back on track for a while now.

While in Atlanta for DragonCon hanging out with 70K other folks indulging their geeky fandoms I was looking for a place that wasn’t packed to the rafters with con goers and remembered Truva, a Turkish restaurant I’d visited during a previous con and Turkey was a country I hadn’t done yet.  It’s easy to walk past the place as the signage is fairly muted compared to say the Hard Rock & Hooters just a block away.  When you go in you are directed by sign to ascend the stairs.  The stairwell is dimly lit but they’ve conquered this challenge by placing two battery powered candles on the left and right edges of every other stair.  These aren’t those little tea light flickering candles but those that look like about 4 inch candles with a flickering light.  It’s not an inspiring first impression but once you get in to the restaurant proper it is a nice looking place if also very dimly lit.  Every table has one of those battery powered candles, I assume in this case for ambience rather than safety.  (I hope they’re using rechargeable batteries)

Truva turned out to be just what I was looking for, a brief respite from the crowds and not a line in sight.  It took just a minute looking at the menu and a short conversation with the ethnically appropriate waiter, Ekmel I believe his name was, and I went with the Kuku Sis Kebap.  That’s lamb shish kebabs for those without the benefit of the menu translation.  I ordered a local IPA to go with it that was pretty good but I can’t remember the brand.

Ekmel brought warm bread and dipping oil and vinegar along with the beer. That was a great start to the meal.

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The lamb came with rice, grilled tomato & pepper and a green salad.

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The lamb was marinated in olive oil, yogurt, garlic and other spices and was very tender and flavorful.  The vegetables were ok but the real meal was the lamb and rice plus the yogurt mint sauce which went down quite well and was just about the right portion for someone who was going to be doing a lot of walking after lunch.  I couldn’t resist finishing off the meal with a nice cup of Turkish coffee.

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Nice strong coffee in a fancy little cup or as one friend correctly pointed out a demitasse.  Overall this was a great place to get away from the general nerdery and enjoy a few quiet minutes to plan whether to go see Mideval Mythbusting, visit the Art show, learn how writers figure out how to write alternate history, or just go hang out somewhere and watch all the interesting costumes.

 

 

Rendang That Was Good

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Malaysia

This weekend took the passport to the opposite side of the globe from the Irish but just a short jaunt to Charlotte for me.  Malaya Kitchen was the stop this weekend.  It’s on Providence Rd in south Charlotte and in a strip center that’s like the UN of restaurants.  There are 9 restaurants sharing a parking lot and I wrote them down because Wow; Pizza Hut, Cherry Blossom Chinese, Acropolis Café, Charlotte Café, Sushiya Japanese, Malaya Kitchen, Bella Fresco Italian Mediterranean, Qdoba Mexican, & Chile’s.

Back to Malaya Kitchen.  The place is a restaurant and lounge and they have pretty subdued lighting suitable for a lounge so it wasn’t surprising most people were asking to be seated in a brighter area near the front window.  The bar part of the main seating area rather than a separate section but the whole thing seems to work.

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The menu has a lot of things you find on most southeast Asian fusion restaurants but they did have a few things identified as being Malaysian so I went with the popiah appetizer and beef rendang from the lunch menu.  The rendang came with a salad, the first of 3 surprises, so I basically had a small 3 course lunch.

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The salad was unremarkable but the popiah was interesting.  It was a shrimp spring roll with a plum chili sauce over it.  I got mine steamed but they also offer it fried.  Oh yeah there was shredded lettuce and carrots on the plate too like some mini salad, surprise #2.  It was still there the waiter took the plate away.  The beef rendang was next.

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Surprise #3, the rendang came with broccoli too.  I know you’re thinking “look at all that broccoli” and shuddering kind of like I did but I have to say it wasn’t that bad.  They were pretty tasteless but they were firm and a little crunchy so they had texture going for them.  I got white rice but brown rice is an option as well in case you were wondering.

OK so the rendang is basically like a really really thick beef stew.  This one had some potatoes in it and big chunks of beef that had been simmered in what the menu called exotic spices and coconut milk.  It was a bit sweet and a little savory with no heat from spices.  Personally I think it should have had some and based on the research for the recipe on the Tell Me More page it traditionally does bring the heat.  In spite of that lack it was quite tasty.  That pineapple slice was a fine garnish as well.  It served to drive out the taste the broccoli did have plus was a nice palette cleanser at the end of the meal.

This is a decent place and the staff was very professional and the food tasted good.  If I lived in the area I could see dropping by fairly often to dine or lounge.