Henry's

After a full day of co-leading a professional development workshop, I was hunkering for some good food. We headed down to Henry's. Henry's is on the corner of Independence and Shipyard. You may be tempted to drive past this place on the way to the mall only because it is hard to see from the road. But that would be a mistake.

Usually I have their prime rib sandwich. It falls under what they call a 'two fisted sandwich.' My goodness this is a great choice. To my dismay, they changed the menu and offer this treat only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday while supplies last. Whew, I thought my hunger would never be satiated....I guess it means I have to go back soon.

Nonetheless, I was in the mood for chicken wings. I ordered them from the appetizer menu thinking I would get 3-5. Oh no! They delivered about 8 really plump, moist, and tender wing. They were fantastic. It really hit the spot. On Tuesdays, they offer $2.50 pints. Not just domestics, but imports too. Another Guinness please!

FYI - these are the same owners of Bluewater, Oceanic, Eddie Romanellis, and the soon to be completed Ale House on College.

Caribbay Soul

An octet of us booked a 6pm to try the Caribbean & Southern fusion place located at 35 North Front Street in downtown Wilmington. I had a hankering for this place ever since I walked by and noticed they had fried chicken and waffles. OK, to be honest the hankering started when I watched Throw Down with Bobby Flay on the Food Network when he did a cook off of this item with an old skool cook from Harlem.

Anyway, while my group thought and pondered, I knew what I wanted. So I just took in the atmosphere. The place is pretty groovy. The musicians at the front door really add to the vibe and make me think I am am in a hipper place where street musicians are viewed as adding cultural to a town. Anyway, I digress. The place does have that laid back, island feel. Our waiter, although not exactly prompt, was good and had the accent as if he was from the Caribbean.

I was rather dissappointed with the fried chicken and waffles. On the television, this looked like an amazing treat for my uncultured palatte. I was expecting greatness...or maybe I was expecting a little wow. The dish has the Southern twist so instead of a big hank of fried chicken, the dish is served with fried chicken wings. I was OK with that part. But the wings were barely palatable. They had almost no taste and one almost tasted, dare I say, a little rank. Ouch. The waffle tasted as if it was out of a box. Nothing special there. The 'real' maple syrup did not taste real at all. Failure on all three parts did not make me a happy camper.

Now with that said, my mates loved their food. They got dishes like Jerk Chicken which were just a popping flavor. Very tasty and very flavourful. The rest of the crew just ranted about their meals.

Since it was 7 good eating experiences to my 1 bad, I will have to give this place another try. Someday.

Asian Buffet

OK, so we broke down, skipped a sit down meal, and decided to try Asian Buffet on Carolina Beach Road near the intersection of Shipyard and Carolina Beach Road. The reason being I was in the mood for a variety of food versus just one dish.

Upon entering, we were asked if we wanted the snow crab buffet or the regular buffet. The crab buffet was the same as the regular but you got all you can eat crab legs for $15 more. We passed on the crab legs.

The variety was pretty good. I was impressed with the selection of foods and the diversity that seemed to include ethic food beyond Asia. For instance there were fried bananas, crayfish, and chicken wings. The food was not hot...if fact it was barely warm. That was the worst part of the experience. I think if the food had been warm, we would have thought it dandy for a buffet.

In all, this is not a great place for Asian food, but it is a decent place to 'fill-er-up.' The prices run around $8 Monday-Thursday and $10 Friday-Sunday. If you go for lunch the prices are slightly lower.

Lynn says........
It really seemed like an Asia meets Southern with a little bit of Hispanic thrown into the mix buffet. It was a decent buffet but not great by any means. Like Jayson said the food probably would have been better had it been hot. I don't think that I was expecting a lot out of an Asian buffet and it definitely was a fine place to grab a quick sit down meal but I think thought that I will try out a few more Asian restaurants in town. I hear there is a great one in the shopping center over on 17th and College. Jayson???

Fox and Hound

Last night a bunch of us went out to MayFaire Towncenter to take in the Music on the Town and grab a bite to eat.  We decided on the Fox and the Hound. The pub is located next to the movie theatre. The theme of the restaurant is a classic British pub. On that mark, it missed by a landslide. Having lived in London for two years, I can attest that this is no British pub. Sure, I am a pub-snob, so I will let that go....In short, it is pretty spacious, many tall tables, lots of big screen TVs, and a nice outdoor eating area. 

I had to order the classic fish and chips. At a pub, it is only natural! The fish is fried in a Newcastle Brown Ale beer-batter. It is served with fresh cut steak fries. The serving size was huge. I could only eat 2 of the 3 fish portions. We were in a group of about 12. The waitress was fantastic. She managed to get all the orders up at once and all brought out hot! Kudos to her. As fish and chips go, I would give this one a 7 out of 10. It is the best I had in town thus far, but not the best I have had in my life. The meal ran about $10.00. 

I am off to London in a few weeks. I am eager to see if my memory of pub-grub accurately reflects reality. Stay tuned!.

Surfs Bar and Grille

On a whim, and because we had a buy one get one for a penny coupon, we headed to Surfs Bar and Grille. It is located at 5550 Market Street. From the outside, you would not expect too much. But once you walk in the front doors, you are greeting with a really cool atmosphere. The decor makes you feel as if the beach is outside the door - lots of wood and lots of metal. It is really fun and relaxing. To add to the fun, there are lots of 'Surf's Facts' posted throughout the restaurant which makes going out an educational experience! ;)

We ordered the 12 oz New York Strip and the Teriyaki salmon served on steamed spinach. 

They started off bringing us a basket of sweet cornbread. It was baked to perfection. It was moist and tender. It was a really nice starter. The salmon was so fresh and sweet tasting. I could have eaten two of them. The portion size was great. I would definitely eat this one again. 

The New York strip was nothing special. In fact, it was tough, dry, loads of fat, and did not taste too fresh. I guess they do not sell enough of these to keep them fresh...who knows. It was not horrid, but I would have been really upset if we did not get that meal for a penny. It is normally around $19.00.

They had a wonderful selection of cheap sandwiches (around $7-$9) on the menu too. I think I might go back and try some of those. 

Los Portales - Mexican night!

On Friday night, prior to heading for a movie on the deck of the Battleship North Carolina (which is a fantastic event by the way) we had a hunkering to find some authentic Mexican food. I heard we should try Los Portales for 'real' Mexican food. Los Portales is located at 1207 South Kerr Avenue #B. It is just a hop and jump away from the UNCW campus.

Walking in, we knew we hit a local hot spot. The place is smallish but nice. In true Mexico form, music videos were playing on a television. It adds to the atmosphere. When we walked in, we noticed the menu is above the counter. So we figured out you had to order right there. The only issue is the entire menu is in Spanish. Good thing I can hold my own. ;)

We ordered two fish tacos and a chorizo taco to start. Wow...they were delicious. The tacos are much like you get in Mexico; small, fresh corn with only the meat on a soft shell. We had to go to the condiment bar to add a selection of fresh vegetables and salsas. The salsas were out of this world yummy. Of course since the tacos were tiny (only $1.75 each) we ordered a chicken burrito too. It was huge. It alone would have fed us both. We washed it down with a bottle of Jarritos. Jarritos is a mandarin orange soda that is just soothing on the taste buds. For three tacos, a drink, and a huge burrito our total bill was around $16.00.

You know this place is authentic when two vacationers came in, looked around, seemed confused, and walked out. I guess they thought it would be a more casual dining place. Here, you order at the counter, they yell, you pick up, you bus your own tables. For non-Spanish speakers, the staff speaks enough English to help out. 

For desert, we headed down to La Imperial. This is a Mexican bakery we heard about in the local paper. La Imperial is located at 4330 Market Street (in a shopping center at the corner of Kerr and Market). Walking in you are surrounded with the scent of flour and sweets. This experience too is a little out of our norm. You pick up a tray, some wax paper, and a pair of tongs. From there you search through tiers of trays filled with all sorts of sweets. There  are no names or prices, just sweets galore. We got  a strawberry jam thingy that looked like a baseball covered in coconut shavings and a pineapple sweet bread coverd in coconut shavings (notice my technical terms). Both were lovely. The sweet bread is not overpowering and not too sweet. A very nice taste. It would have been awesome with a cup of coffee! For two huge sweets we spent only $1.75. We packed the sweets and ate them while we watched Father Goose (an old Cary Grant movie) on the decks of the ship while overlooking the Cape Fear! 

I Love NY Pizza

Located at 28 North Front Street in historic downtown Wilmington is a small pizza place called I Love NY Pizza. They sell pizza by the slice or by the pie. 

With Lynn's family in town (they are displaced New Yorkers at heart) we had to try the New York style pizza. We ordered a 1/2 cheese and 1/2 Greek pizza to go. The pie was huge! Normally I am a gourmet style pizza guy and do not really dig on 'regular' pizza. But this was no regular pizza. It was fresh, tasty, and pretty cheap. For a large (which fed four and then some) we paid only $16. 

To top it off, when we called in the order they said park out front and they would run us out the pie. This was in the pouring rain! Now that is service. 

If you are in downtown and want only a nibble to curb anappetite or if you want to fill up, this is a good, inexpensive option. The inside atmosphere is not really sit-down-and-relax. It is intended to grab a quick nibble. So I suggest you get a slice and enjoy a walk downtown- with slice in hand of course.