caiogirl's Profile
This summer in Asheville
Hi Teesh,
Check out Curate for awesome food with lots of vegetarian choices. Everything I have eaten there has been awesome and the service is impeccable. Book reservations EARLY they fill up very quickly. Miss Piggy has given some great suggestions as has Carolina Dog. I'm not a huge fan of Bouchon or the Admiral though...
Wonderful new French bakery near South Asheville, Old World bakery, fletcher,NC
Had a lovely cheddar jalepeno bagel from Old World yesterday. Quite tasty. I'll be back :)
Curate or Zambra for tapas newbies in Asheville?
Agree with Miss Piggy. I really love the ambiance of Zambra, but I have had some of the best food of my life at Curate.
My boyfriend and I usually get about 6 dishes at Curate but he is a big eater :) Some suggestions, get the eggplant (even if you hate eggplant!!!), I love asparagus so I think its amazing, the acorn fed pork, the croquets (chicken is better then pork) and if they have an oxtail special don't pass it up. I've found Curate seems kinda strange at first menu glance but everything magically comes together in total culinary perfection!!!
Get reservations far in advanced, allow about 2 hours for dining and enjoy!
Asheville, NC: Place for Casual Reception/Private Party?
The Junction! It would be perfect :)
Savannah seafood?
My boyfriend and I are taking a get away to Savannah in May. We are hoping some foodie worthy super fresh seafood. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)
Good Chinese Restaurant in Asheville?
Hi!
Just didn't want you to feel as though your post went unnoticed, but sadly I have no answers. Lucky Bamboo in Black Mountain is pretty good. By pretty good I mean its better then the slop you get on a buffet. Still not great though :(
Never Blue Asheville
I feel the Asheville Never Blue was hardly open! We tried to go last Thursday and it was dark. Sad as the menu looked great!
Asheville, NC, getaway
The Junction (Dinner is awesome, brunch on Sat and Sun is very good).
The Admiral (Dinner)
Curate (Its awesome)
Zambra (dinner cocktails)
Sunny Point (breakfast/lunch)
Tupelo (breakfast/lunch)
Well this is exciting- Asheville
This will be a lot of fun and a great way to try out a few new places :)
http://ashevillesmallplatecrawl.com/2011/12/website-launches/
The Ten Best Things I Put In My Mouthhole in 2011 (Asheville)
This is fun! I want to play :)
My Avl top 10 for '11 in no particular order:
1. Heirloom tomato and goat cheese salad from The Junction (summer menu).
2. Tempura cherry tomatos at with lemon aoli The Junction (summer).
3. Salted Caramel ice cream The Hop.
4. Guacamole at Chrizo (I seriously ate any entire bowl myself).
5. Eggplant at Curate'
6. White asparagus at Curate'
7. Huevos rancheros at Sunny Point (with extra goat cheese and salsa verde!)
8. Mahi Mahi fish taco special at Mamacitas (best super cheap and easy meal)
9. Pomegranat walnut dip with manchengo cheese at Enoteca.
10. Dirty Martini with blue cheese stuffed olives, extra dirty...well Im still looking, but I am optimistic...
Reviewing this list makes me almost look vegetarian. I guess this is a testament to the yummy fresh local produce and cheeses we in the 'ville. Starting my 2012 list now :)
Oh and I really must get to the Admiral...
The Junction = YUM (Asheville)
Miss Piggy! Sounds like you and your husband have great taste. That is exactly what my boyfriend and I ate. We intended to share but each liked our own so much we did not haha. I thought the short ribs were awesome and the truffles potatoes we very good. Service was a bit slow, through that has not been my normal experience. On New Years they were slammed and service was flawless so hopefully a fluke!
The Junction = YUM (Asheville)
Oh Lord forgive me. This Mississippi Girl just had the best shrimp and grits ever at The Junction. City Grocery in Oxford, Ms I am so,so sorry.
The Junction = YUM (Asheville)
Having some Low Country foodie friends in town over the New Years weekend, we wanted to take them somewhere that would compete with their beloved Charleston. The choice for us was an easy one and needed little discussion, The Junction. I called several days before and left a message. That afternoon, I received a phone call from the owner confirming my reservation and asking if we had any special need or request.
Upon arrival, we were promptly seated, given menus and a dazzling cocktail list. The restaurant was alive, full of everyone from the ultra hip and posh to the casual and relaxed. Being New Years Eve, The Junction had a marvelous buzz, wait staff dashing colorful sparkling cocktails, patrons necks snapping at each passing perfect plate, owners checking and double checking on each exceptional bite.
First up cocktail hour. The boys choice was a boring double shot of Makers. However, I had the “Piper” a beautiful sparkly peach colored cocktail served up. The ingredients included sparkling wine, vodka, Campri, St. Germaine and spiced pineapple. This cocktail was New Years Eve in a glass, I sadly was the DD for the night and could only go one round with Piper, but make no mistake, I plan to take her on again VERY soon.
After much soul searching our table of 5 was able to narrow to our final food choice, all making promises to share. I was the only one who ordered off the nightly menu and the other members of the party ordered one of three amazing specials. I had the pan seared gnocchi, it was accompanied by tender braised short rib, thick smoky sweet bacon, plump mushrooms and sweet potatoes. The gnocchi were potato pillows of goodness, the house cured bacon was perfection and I’m not really sure what they did to the mushrooms but I have never had better, they literally burst with wine, butter and lemon. Two of our friends had the Rib Eye special. When they saw they could cut the steak with their fork, all promises to share forgotten. Two days later they both continued to rave about not being able to remember a more “satisfying meal” and “I didn’t know steak could taste like that.” Yet another order was the quail special, it was filled with a maple and sausage stuffing and served with the best damn collard greens I have ever eaten braised in Pisgah Pale and what I suspect to be baby angels. I myself did not get to taste the quail (not a poultry gal) but again there was not a bite left over even if I had wanted one. The final dish was the burger special; now, I know you must be asking yourself, why save the burger to write about last? Well, just loosen your waistband and listen up. This Hickory Nut Gap beef was prepared very rare (at my boyfriend’s request) topped with a braised short rib, a GENEROUS hunk of foie gras and finished off with a spicy creamy sauce of deliciousness. I am not kidding when I say I had to stop him from licking the plate, one bite of that burger and I had to stop myself…
With fabulous service, food and atmosphere I really cannot recommend The Junction more. I was told they will be starting brunch this weekend, happy New Years to me!
Sushi in Asheville
I totally agree with the UMI recs. Also Zen Sushi on Merrimon is pretty good if you don't want to drive to Hendersonville.
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UMI Restaurant
633 N Main St, Hendersonville, NC 28792
Zen Sushi
640 Merrimon Ave Ste 205, Asheville, NC 28804
The Junction, Asheville
Man, I just can't get enough of this place! Have been 3 times in the last two weeks. 2 dinners and a lunch. Everything I've had has been delicious, and the cocktails are divine. I brought my friends from out of town for lunch. My friend kept trying to get Charles to figure out how he could ship the tomato sandwhich and salad back to Mississippi on a daily basis. I can't wait to go back yet again.
A few Hendersonville Updates (NC)
I went to Joeys this morning. They are working out the kinks for sure but over all it was good. I had an everything bagel and it was soft and chewy, the cream cheese was fluffy and tangy. Years ahead of the crap they pass off at Bruggers...
Charleston watering holes?
We LOVE the Gin Joint. It has everything your looking for but views...it does have a pretty banging menu and divine cocktails.
www.theginjoint.com
WNC Asheville Wine and Food Festival
Theres a champange and dessert expo Friday the 12th, its a few days before my Birthday. I think we are going to go to that...We had planned on going last year but just didn't make it.
Rocky's Hot Chicken Shack, Asheville
We went last night and have a pretty good experience. The boyfriend and I love, love, love spicy food. Often when something is tagged as unearthly hot, I ask for hotter. However, in the case of Rocky's Hot Chicken Shack, the xx hot is not something to be taken lightly. We asked for a sample of the XX hot, the seasonin/sauce was presented to us on a piece of bread, it was indeed VERY hot.
As I try not to eat fried food often, I wanted to taste chicken, not just heat so I went with a mild breast, my boyfriend got hot. For sides we got corn pudding and collards. To drink we each had a Pigsah Pale.
The chicken breast were HUGE! Mine was very mild in spice, slightly sweet and juicy. Quite yummy! The boyfriends hot became pretty spicy in such a large quanity. He enjoyed it but felt next time he would get a chicken combo mixing plain and hot. The sides were solid. Out of the two, the corn pudding was the winner, sweet and buttery. The collards were decent but a tad bland for my liking ( I am very picky about my collards...).
the owner spoke to us 2 times during our meal and was very friendly. The atmosphere was clean, cool and very casual. I believe with 2 breast, 3 beers and 2 sides we came out at about $25 dollars. Overall, we enjoyed Rocky's Hot Chicken Shack and will be back when a craving for good fried chicken comes calling.
Sorry for typos and spelling...Im in a bit of a hurry :)
Rocky's Hot Chicken Shack, Asheville
This evidently used to be a insitution, long before I was an Ashevillian. Now its back and reciving rave reviews. I think we are going to try to go tonight, anyone been?
Curras Nuevo Cuisine - North Asheville - Closed
Thats sad, though I agree they were overpriced. Still, I will miss their fabulous fresh magaritas, especially the jalepeno one.
White Duck Taco - Asheville
Great review and pictures! I agree with you on the fish, we found it a little bland about half way through. It would be amazing with some halibut and a squeez of lime. But I guess the tilapia keep them in the 3 dollar range.
White Duck Taco - Asheville
I don't have much to add to Scirocco's great review(and pictures!) but we too went tonight. We got there around 10 after 8 and were glad it was still open. Not only open but very crowded. They had sold out of many types of tacos ( their signs had been taken down). We waited in line to order for about 10 mins. We got 2 fish tacos, 1 jerk and 1 shrimp. All were different and very good. The shrimp had a sweet almost anise flavor, but mild and creamy. Sadly, they were out of chips so we were unable to get the salsa trio.
Since it was so crowded we decided to get our food to go, all the tables were full inside and out. It took quite a while for them to make our food, and the owner (male) brought us a couple of beers on the house. We really enjoyed this place and look forward to going back to try more,including the awesome sounding watermelon sangria.
Word to the wise, the restaurant is not air conditioned so it might be best for take out on these hot days, or just drink lots of cold beer :)
White Duck Taco - Asheville
I hate that it closes so early, but, we are going to try to make it tonight for dinner. I'll report back if we make it!
Storm Rhum Bar & Bistro, Asheville
We had such a bad experience, but its great to hear all the good ones. I'll have to give it another try, the mojito was out of this world.
