Review of Holy Mackerel

Holy Mackerel

July 25th, 2013 4854 Longhill Rd
Williamsburg, Virginia 23188
(757) 208-0222
Great service and awesome food is the Holy Mackerel vision.

Seafood can really stink, literally. If the dish that you order isn’t fresh, the chances of you patting your belly and saying “mmmmmm” after the meal are incredibly diminished. Likewise, if it’s not cooked right, then the excitement of texture, smell, presentation and taste has been eroded.

That’s why it is such a joy when a seafood restaurant comes along and does it right. Holy Mackerel entered the scene early this year and has been racking up good ratings ever since. We live right down the street, so for months we’ve heard and felt Holy Mackerel’s call to “Eat here! Eat here!”. We finally caved (which didn’t take much) after we saw the great things people were saying about them. I really like how Holy Mackerel has revamped the restaurant and made it clean, crisp and cutely nautical. (Is “cutely” a word? My spellcheck ignored it, so I guess so!)

We started off our meal with a handful of appetizers, including their “Pound O’ Wings”. Being that we were visiting a seafood restaurant one would assume that anything BBQ related would play second fiddle to their seafood. Holy Mackerel definitely proved us wrong on this one. They actually smoke their BBQ in house and it tastes reaaallly good! The flavors were excellent and had a nice little kick at the end of each bite. I kept grabbing for that celery since I’m a little “wimpy” sometimes with spicy food. Tuna Sashimi and Shrimp was the next appetizer in my mouth. I loved the combination of the tuna sashimi with their coleslaw and the added spice of a little hot sauce dripped delicately over top. The owner suggested we also try their fried oysters. I’ll admit, I am not a big lover of oysters because most have disappointed me and left me biting down with all my might only to realize I was eating a rubber shoe. But I was willing to give them another shot. So, I exercised my jaw muscles like Joey Chestnut* and got ready for war; when much to my surprise they simply melted in my mouth. I think I must have told four people that day how surprised I was at the tenderness of Holy Mackerel’s oysters! Our last appetizer was the Shrimp and Grits. This was one of those addicting dishes where you take one bite, then keep taking another and another until you realize that there will be no leftovers for tomorrow. The kicker was how they put andouille sausage gravy on the grits. Fantastic.

 Let’s move on to the main dishes, shall we? We received one order of Alaskan Crab Legs. We saved some of these to give to our daughters the next day for dinner and they absolutely loved them! Holy Mackerel actually has an awesome all you can eat crab leg night on Mondays, so you’ll have to plan for that. Our waitress highly recommended their Seared Scallops and said that was her favorite dish. Even though she praised them, I was completely unprepared for how delicious it was. I’m so excited about this dish that I can barely wait until “Mindy’s favorite thing” to tell you about them. Our last two entrees were the Chicken Norfolk and the Grilled Shrimp Wrap. The Chicken Norfolk was topped with crab meat and Smithfield Country ham. Needless to say, this was a unique and tasty chicken dish. I also really enjoyed the Grilled Shrimp Wrap. It reminded me of a BLT with shrimp because it was made with bacon, tomatoes, ranch dressing, and onions. I picture this as a perfect summer afternoon lunch item. Just when we thought we were done, the owner came out to chat with us and asked if we had tried their peanut butter pie yet. If you read our last review about The Surrey House you know there is no way I can resist a peanut butter dessert. I tried to contain myself as he described it as made in house with a chocolate ganache on top. I “served” Eddie by eating the remainder of the dessert that he was too full to finish.

Holy Mackerel has already established itself in such a short amount of time as a great local seafood restaurant (and BBQ too!). They try to get all their seafood fresh, and as much as possible, buy from local vendors, farms, etc. They also have some great hand crafted cocktails and very creative drinks. Their bitters and sours are made in house and they try to use VA based breweries for drafts. So, when you go to Holy Mackerel, you know they have put a lot of attention into giving you fresh dishes, hand crafted drinks and warm service. I’m excited for you to give them a try.

*Joey Chestnut holds the record for the most hot dogs eaten within 10 minutes at 69 hot dogs as of 2013.

Mindy’s Favorite Thing: As I sit here and think about the Seared Scallops dish, I feel like a little puppy with my tongue wagging in anticipation of some delicious dog treats to be placed in front of me. The scallops were perfectly, and I mean perfectly cooked. I can’t imagine the texture being any more soft and succulent. Their menu description is as follows: “Perfectly seared jumbo scallops, served with Jasmine rice, grilled asparagus, and lemon butter sauce.” That lemon butter sauce in combination with those ridiculous jumbo scallops was amazing. Any time I hear the word “scallops” I will think of this dish. Amazing. Just amazing.

What Mindy would like to try next time: Can I say I’d like to “try” the Seared Scallops again? No? All right, then I would like to try the Sockeye Salmon Wrap – “Grilled Salmon, field greens, tomato, cucumber, cilantro aioli”. I like salmon, I love cilantro, and I already know I liked the Grilled Shrimp Wrap, so I’m pretty sure this would be a winner, too.

Eddie’s Favorite Thing: Pound O’ Wings. “House-smoked chicken wings served hot, mild, or BBQ, and garnished with cucumber, celery, and bleu cheese or ranch dressing.” WOW. The flavor of the smoked wings combined with their unique and homemade BBQ sauce is incredible.

What Eddie would like to try next time: Smithfield Ribs. “Smoked in house and rubbed with our secret spice blend, then grilled and brushed with our sweet and tangy BBQ sauce. Served with fries and cole slaw.” Ribs from Smithfield and smothered in that delicious BBQ sauce that they used on their wings? I’m in.

For more Williamsburg restaurant reviews, visit http://www.eatplaywilliamsburg.com/reviews

Review of Surrey House Restaurant

Surrey House

May 24th, 2013 11865 Rolfe Highway
Surry, Virginia 23883
(757) 294-3389
Since 1954 the Surrey House Restaurant has been preparing down home country meals served with southern hospitality

Here’s a riddle: What restaurant allows you to begin and end your meal with peanuts and is located in a town that has a population of about 300? That’s right, the Surrey House. Maybe that big title at the top helped you out a bit.

The Surrey House in Surry, VA is a ferry ride over from Williamsburg and a popular destination for locals and visitors alike. Established in 1954, visitors come from across the world (one recent visit from Surrey, England – doesn’t that town sound familiar?) to experience the restaurant’s traditional, made-from-scratch Virginian cuisine and unique southern atmosphere. Make sure to read the little stories and “directions” in the menu as it’ll give you a feel for the personalities of the owners. See if you can figure out which one is the “mean one” and which one is the “nice one”. Honestly, we found them both to be quite nice!

The restaurant itself is unassuming and is decorated with wood paneled walls and dark booths, which takes you back to times gone by. The food is “country homestyle” comfort food and fits perfectly with its surroundings. When we looked up other reviews online people raved about the peanut soup and/or the she-crab soup. So we tried both. This was our first time eating peanut soup. It reminded me slightly of a peanut sauce you might find on a Thai pasta dish. Or you could describe it as liquid peanut butter. It was very good. The she-crab soup was unique too. It actually had a kick to it, which made it stand out from other crab soups I’ve tasted in the past. The flavor was incredible. Our next plate was the ham rolls. A classic southern favorite for this area. These were little soft homemade rolls with thin slices of Country Ham filling the center. The strong saltiness adds so much flavor in just a thin slice of ham. We had their signature apple fritters as a side (yes you can have them as a side item!). The fritters we’re used to are more like donuts, but this one resembled more of a miniature apple pie. The Surrey House fritter was an apple wrapped in crust and covered in powdered sugar. I’d say this is a must-try for the uniqueness factor! It went perfectly well with the saltiness of the ham to give you that sweet/salty combo. The last entree we stuffed in our face was the fried chicken. The crust was nice and crispy and both of us agreed there was a sweet aftertaste in the crust, which we liked. The inside was incredibly moist and tender, just like fried chicken is supposed to be. At around this point in the meal the owner asked if we needed a nap. With all that southern food, you might want to stay at their attached 10 room Inn after your meal. So keep that in mind To round out our meal, we ended with their Peanut Raisin Pie. I’m not a super big fan of raisins, so I was happy when I realized they were a subtle addition to this delicious pie. It was very similar in taste and texture to a pecan pie, but had the distinct flavor of peanuts. I really enjoyed this. Peanuts are one of my favorite foods, so to be able to start and end my meal with this made me happy. If you are in Surry, visiting the Surrey House Restaurant is a MUST. And even if you’re not in Surry, you should probably make the trip out there to experience this nostalgic little southern restaurant and town.

Mindy’s Favorite Thing: I like peanuts. I love pie. It’s only natural to combine the two into a Peanut Raisin Pie.  This was yummy.

What Mindy would like to try next time: I’d probably want to try their banana fritters. I’ve never had this before and if it’s like the apple one, then count me in!

Eddie’s Favorite Thing: The She Crab Soup. The flavors were amazing. I could gulp down a gallon of this stuff.

What Eddie would like to try next time: Crabcakes. With how fresh and delicious that She Crab Soup was, how could I NOT try the Crab Cakes.

For more Williamsburg Restaurant Reviews, check out EatPlayWilliamsburg.com

Peter Chang Williamsburg review

1203 Richmond Rd
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(757) 345-5829
"Chang, a native of Hubei province, was considered one of the top-ranked chefs in China when he landed the head chef job at his country’s embassy in Washington in 2001." Dave McIntyre

Mindy's Review...

Real Chinese Food…What is it? Have you ever eaten it? If you’re not sure, then you probably have not. A lot of what we know as Chinese food is not authentic Chinese food eaten in China. Strange, huh? Makes you wonder how these “Chinese” dishes that we know so well came to be. As you can guess, Peter Chang offers you “real” Chinese food. Keep reading to find out more about the deliciousness that we tasted there.

We heard some great rumors about Peter Chang’s restaurant before it even came to town so we were hoping eventually we’d get to review the restaurant. We recently came back from a trip to Hong Kong, so it made this visit even sweeter as we were reminded of our time there. However, Peter Chang offers Szechuan cuisine, which was different from anything we tried in Hong Kong (and different from any other Chinese food I’ve ever tried in the US, actually). The dishes are unique, flavorful, spicy and delicious.

We sat down with the couple who runs Peter Chang in Williamsburg and ate our whole meal with them at the table with us. This was unusual for our reviews. It was great to be able to talk with them about the history of Peter Chang’s restaurants and learn about the dishes we tasted. They planned out ahead of time what dishes they thought we would enjoy and what was the most popular. Everything sounded really exciting. We started off with what they say is one of their most ordered plates: Dry-Fried Eggplant. Sounds weird, but it was so good. Their appearance and texture is very similar to steak fries. This was spicy, as was almost everything else we tasted on our visit. My spice tolerance meter is not quite where I would like it to be, so I had to restrict myself on how much eggplant I could eat. I wanted to keep eating them, though! The other two appetizers we enjoyed were Cilantro Fish Rolls and Scallion Bubble Pancake. I love cilantro, so the fish rolls were right up my alley. The fish inside almost melts in your mouth. For the Bubble Pancakes, I was simply not prepared for how amazing they looked when they brought them out. They really are huge bubbles! It was definitely one of the most unique looking presentations I’ve ever seen. There was also this yummy curry sauce to dip your pancake in. Our next plate was the Crispy Pork Belly. This too was spicy, and ooohh so good. They called it Chinese bacon. You just have to try it for yourself. My favorite dish was the next one that came out, which was the Boneless Whole Fish With Pine Nuts. The presentation on this might make some squeamish (they leave the head on), but I thought the presentation added to the dish. The outside of the fish was crispy and super soft inside. This was one of the few non-spicy dishes we tasted, so I piled up on my portion. Another dish we tasted was Peter Chang’s Duck in Stone Pot. It had these really unique “tofu skins” in the dish that I had never seen before. They looked like strips of cloth. The texture was soft and spongy and really unique. One of our last dishes was the New Zealand Lamb Chops. They were generously crusted in a spice rub that was incredibly flavorful, while the meat was super tender. I'd say Peter Chang's is one of the most unique restaurants in Williamsburg. The food was so flavorful and different from anything I've ever tasted. I'm already itching to go back.

My Favorite Thing: There were so many unique and yummy dishes, but I have to say that the Boneless Whole Fish With Pine Nuts was my favorite. The fish texture was perfect and the sauce was really tasty. And I loved the presentation.

What I would like to try next time: Tea Smoked Duck With Deep Fried Onion. The "tea smoked" is what intrigued me.

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Eddie's Review...

"The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Fear Itself"
Those famous words were uttered by our 32nd President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. It's personally one of my favorite sayings of all time. And it's one that is helpful to us in almost all aspects of our lives, including eating. Yes, even eating.
Food can be intimidating. We like what we know, and we like to stick with what we know. It makes sense, but the problem with this is that we miss out on SO MANY new and interesting flavors simply because of that one word - FEAR. We can try to justify it and say that if we know what we like, then why would we stray from it. But just think for a second, what if you did that for your entire life? You would have never experienced the sweet joy of chocolate, or the childhood excitement of pizza, or even the wonderfully metallic taste of canned liver – well, maybe not that one. But just as you were taught as a kid to "try it, you might like it", we need to suck it up and try something new. We just might like it.

Okay, enough of my soap box. The reason I bring this up is because of the amazing new restaurant that I'm about to tell you about – Peter Chang. It's named after the famed chef, um, Peter Chang. He specializes in AMAZING and authentic Szechuan cuisine. Szechuan cuisine is a style of Chinese cooking that originated from the Sichuan province in southwestern China. It's known for it's bold and spicy flavors that comes from it's strong use of chili peppers, specifically the Sichuan pepper. Peter Chang has made an art form of this. His dishes are unique, incredibly flavorful and visually stunning. Plus, and this is huge, it's authentic. As Mindy noted, what many of us think of as Chinese food, is not real Chinese food. It's an Americanized version to help please the American palate. There are some similarities, but don't you want to try the real thing? I know you do, but fear might be holding you back. So let's dig in, start reviewing what authentic and delicious Szechuan cuisine is like, and hopefully start conquering that fear.

We started it all off with the Dry-Fried Eggplant. The eggplant was cut and fried like french fries, but were extremely moist and flavorful inside. No ketchup needed here. The Cilantro Fish Rolls were brought out next. The outside was nice and crispy while the inside had a subtle salty flavor to it. Then came the visually engaging Scallion Bubble Pancake with Curry Sauce. The only way I can think to describe them is to say that they were like two big thin pancake balloons. This is something that kids would love. You pop them, dip them in a tasty curry sauce and then eat. It's a must try for everyone. The Crispy Pork Belly was brought out next. For all of you bacon lovers out there, you need to try this. It's basically fried bacon. Almost a cross between a pork rind and bacon but with a really unique flavor. The next visually stunning dish was then brought out – the Boneless Whole Fish with Pine Nut. It's a fish fried whole and drenched in a tasty sweet and sour sauce. Again, the presentation alone makes this a dish you should try. We then tried the Stir Fried Fresh Mixed Mushrooms with Onion in Special Sauce. A nice variety of mushrooms filled the bowl, again drenched in a very flavorful sauce. I typically am not a mushroom guy, but I would order this dish again. The Bamboo Fish came next. These were slices of fried fish with cumin powder, pepper powder, green scallion and cilantro. Another incredibly moist and flavorful dish. The presentation was nice as well. And then came Peter Chang's Duck in Stone Pot. I LOVED this dish. It contained duck, tofu skin, mushrooms, leeks and szechuan chili peppers. What made the dish for me though, believe it or not, was the tofu skin. This is NOTHING like the typical tofu you might think of. Don't think of those mushy bland little cubes. This tofu looks and feels like thin strips of cloth, yet they melt in your mouth and have a very distinct and meaty flavor to them. I've never had anything like that before. Not even close. We ended the review with the New Zealand Lamb Chops. Oh man, the intensity of the flavor here was awesome. The lamb chops were seasoned so well and the meat was incredibly tender. This was a fantastic dish. And a great way to cap off a fantastic review.

One thing to note before we end here, please be aware that most of these dishes are very spicy. So if you love spicy foods, then you HAVE to come here. If you don't like spicy foods though or simply can't eat them, still come! They have plenty of dishes that don't bring the heat, but still bring the flavor. Just ask them to tell you which dishes are not spicy. So please give this place a try. And whatever you do, do not order the "norm". If you're looking for the old stand-by chinese food (i.e. Kung Pao Chicken, General Tso's, Fried Rice, etc.), you might as well go somewhere else and avoid the lines. But I strongly encourage you to take just one night off, and try something new. It's just one meal out of the thousands we have in our lifetime. You might discover a new favorite dish and at the same time conquer an old childhood fear.

My Favorite Thing: This was another tough one. There were so many unique and incredibly flavorful dishes. But I'm going to say that my favorite was Peter Chang's Duck in Stone Pot. It's the tofu. And I seriously never thought tofu would ever be a deciding factor. Ever.


What I would like to try next time: Beijing Smoked Duck. I'd like to try the flavor of something, especially duck, smoked Beijing style.

For more reviews, visit http://www.eatplaywilliamsburg.com

Review of the Virginia Living Museum

The Virginia Living Museum

March 7th, 2013
524 J Clyde Morris Blvd
Newport News, VA 23601
(757) 595-1900
Connecting people to nature through educational experiences that promote conservation.

Mindy’s Review…

If you don’t have kids, you can stop reading now…just kidding…still read the review! But seriously, The Virginia Living Museum is a great place to bring your kids. You might be a little confused seeing that The Virginia Living Museum is located in Newport News instead of Williamsburg, but trust us on this one. It’s worth the short drive out into its tucked away spot because Williamsburg has nothing like it. Actually, in 1987, the Museum became the first living museum east of the Mississippi, so you might not find this sort of thing anywhere close by.

When you walk into the museum, you see an aquarium in the middle of the reception desk area, a shark hanging from the ceiling, and lots of other fun things to grab the attention of your little ones. After checking in, you’re dumped out into an atrium with various paths to take on each corner and stairs in the middle leading you down to even more exhibits. There were also tables set up in the main area for kids crafts, temporary tattoos, games, and the like. On the day we went, it was Groundhog Day, so you’re probably not going to see the same activity tables we experienced when you go. They often have fun activities though, going on all the time. Make sure to check out their special events page on their website for information on other fun things going on when planning your visit.

I hate to repeat myself, but like I said, this is a great place for kids. We decided to take along our four and two year old daughters this time. It made the experience so much more enjoyable for me by getting to see a museum like this through their eyes of amazement. Both girls absolutely loved the activity tables they had set out and probably could have spent most of the day there. But alas, we had to pull them away to enjoy all the other fun exhibits. They both loved all the “fishy” exhibits, though it took a few minutes to convince our four year old daughter that it was OK to enter the room and that there was glass separating us from the huge fish in the tanks. Besides the fish areas, there were multiple “touch, look and feel” spots for the kids. There were drawers where they could pull out an animal skeleton to look at, a butterfly collection, or an animal’s fur. There were also stations where children could touch a live horseshoe crab, among other critters.

In addition to all the great indoor exhibits, there is a large decked walkway outside that takes you to see even more animals. It was a cold day when we went, so make sure to bundle up if you’re visiting in the winter. Out there we were able to see bald eagles, otters, a fox and a wolf. And as if this wasn’t enough, the Museum also has a garden-like outdoor space where you can see various types of plants. I really enjoyed the diversity of what the Museum has to offer and how it has both indoor and outdoor exhibits and animals to see. Both our kids loved it, and I’m sure yours will too! Including the kids in all of us.

My Favorite Thing: My favorite thing was watching my four year old enjoy her favorite thing, which was the otter. There was a large tank outside showcasing the otter swimming and twirling around like it was putting on a show for us. A picture really doesn’t do it justice, but I guess it will have to do since we don’t have a video for you. My daughter kept wanting to go back to it, so I think we ended up seeing it three times!

What I would like to try next time: I’d like to see one of the shows at the Planetarium, since we didn’t get a chance to this time. Or I’d like to see their upcoming “Bodies” exhibit about the human body.

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Eddie’s Review…

♪♪ So put your little hand in mine… ♪♪
Groundhog Day. That song is played over and over and over again in the movie Groundhog Day as Bill Murray’s character, “Phil” lives the same day (Groundhog Day) over and over and over again. And over again. Groundhog Day. Why do we celebrate this holiday honestly? As far as I know, businesses don’t make much money off of it. I could Google it to find out, but we’re not really here to talk about Groundhog Day, right? The only reason I brought it up is because, as you know by reading Mindy’s article, we visited the Virginia Living Museum on Groundhog Day. They had all sorts of crafts and games for the kids and a real live groundhog who had no idea this day was all about him (it’s “Phil”, right?).

The Virginia Living Museum is a living museum showcasing native wildlife, a botanical preserve and a planetarium. If you’re looking for a way to get a quick sample of what Virginia native wildlife is like, then this is a great way to do it. The museum is separated into different areas focusing on the specific regions in Virginia and it’s accompanying wildlife. It’s also an excellent place to bring your kids. Expand their knowledge and increase their education by taking them here for field trips, homeschool outings, or just a nice day out for the weekend. They have great events here throughout the year to help make learning about nature even more fun than it already is. As previously mentioned, we came here during Groundhog day. And that’s where our review begins…

We entered the museum and were greeted by booth after booth of Groundhog day related activities. I was hoping to see Bill Murray there, but alas, the only celebrity there was the groundhog in his lonely little cage. No matter, we were ready for nature. We brought our two little girls (2 and 4 years old) with us, which was good, otherwise I would have had to be the one getting groundhog tattoos, doing shadow puppets and coloring inside the lines. Don’t get me wrong, I like crafts… that’s not true. I don’t like crafts. My kids do though, and that was good enough. The museum is separated into two levels. You enter on the top level in the center area where you can experience some “hands on” activities such as discovering the many textures of the sea creatures they have in their Touch Tank or feeling the skin and fur of the mainland creatures in their Activities section. This was a great way for us to start off the visit and get the kids excited about the museum. After this, we moved into the Piedmont and Mountains Gallery. Here we were introduced to a display of the wildlife known for this region, such as bass, catfish and turtles. From there we entered into the cool mist of the Appalachian Mountain Cove, which was filled with trees, birds and fish swimming along in a little mountain stream. We next went into my favorite part of the museum, the Coastal Plain Gallery. Here is where you will get to experience a little glimpse of the Chesapeake Bay. They have a huge 30,000 gallon aquarium filled with various large sea creatures that have the kids and adults alike pressing their faces against the glass to get as close a look as they can. From here you take a step into the Cypress Swamp – “A re-creation of a vital and endangered wetland habitat.” Alligators, snapping turtles and massive cypress tress fill this area.

We proceeded down the stairs where you are greeted by a sculpture of a dinosaur that could be similar to what would have been found in our region during that time. We tried a few more hands-on activities here and then proceeded into the Virginia’s World of Darkness region where you come eye-to-eye with nocturnal animals such as tiny sharks, ghost crabs, flying squirrels and bats. Don’t worry, they’re behind glass… I think. From there we turned back to enter the Virginia’s Underground Gallery region. This is a cave with fossils, rocks, minerals and gems that could help ignite or spur on the careers of any future geologists out there.

We then had a tough decision to make – whether or not to go outside. I mean, come on, it was the first week of February. After I stopped crying and whining, we toughed it out, put on our coats and headed for the cold, yet intriguing outdoor area of the Virginia Living Museum. Here you get to take a beautiful stroll along their boardwalk which takes you over water and through forests to encounter various outdoor wildlife including otters, birds, wolves, beavers, foxes, turkeys and deer. They also have an amphitheater and a planetarium with various shows throughout the year.

It was a nice little Saturday outing. One that not only entertained, but also educated. And that’s great to have here in our area. Not just for the kids, but for the little learners in all of us. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) didn’t see his shadow. Which means an early spring. Woohoo! Especially for the winter wusses like me.

My Favorite Thing: I’m a marine life nut. I grew up in Miami and love the ocean. So my favorite part was by far The Coastal Plain Gallery. Especially getting to see my two little girls getting so excited about all the “fishies”.


What I would like to try next time: We didn’t get to check out the planetarium, and I haven’t been in one of those since I was a kid. I’d like to do that again.


For more reviews, check out http://www.eatplaywilliamsburg.com/reviews

Review of Buon Amici

5201 Center Street
Williamsburg, VA 23188
(757) 220-8188
Re-Inventing the "Neighborhood Italian Ristorante"

Mindy's Review...

Ah yes, Buon Amici. It means "good friends" in Italian. I met this restaurant of a "friend" about 6 years ago and I have yet to try a dish there that I haven't liked. Whether it's soup, pasta, pizza, sandwiches or a main dish, EVERY time they have delivered.


Last year Buon Amici underwent a makeover and the transformation looks great. They have moved away from the casual pizza café feel and transitioned into a full sit down restaurant with a bar. I really like the combination of colors and textures they used in the design. It's very romantic, classy and cozy.

This review was totally different from any other review we have done in the past. Instead of full servings off their regular menu, the chef prepared small portions from some of their specialty dishes. Everything we tasted had won some sort of award. The food I describe below may or may not be on the menu at the time you come, but know that they always have a great special to offer you and chances are you'll like it!

It may seem trite to talk about garlic knots, but I was actually impressed with the ones at Buon Amici's. I wouldn't mind having a basket of those in front of me right now. One of the "intros" to the main meal was this incredible Spicy Grilled Caesar Salad. I loved the unique way it was prepared. The lettuce was charred a little and there was this huge bacon-like crisp that worked so well with it. But I don't want to get too carried away here because this was my favorite thing and I'll expound upon it more below. Wild mushroom ravioli was next for us to taste. The ravioli was super tasty, but my favorite part was actually the little "garnish" of asparagus and mushrooms on the side. I expected them to taste like garnish tastes – completely tasteless. But it was actually really flavorful. The chef also prepared for us crab stuffed sole, rigatoni with ricotta and butternut squash. I totally underestimated the butternut squash. It looked like a pile of corn to me, but when I tasted it, I was really impressed. It had delicious flavor and texture. There was also this little rosemary and lemon lardo placed on the platter. I guess I hadn't learned my lesson yet because this too surprised me at how tasty it was. Who knew a little slab of pig fat could taste so good! I really appreciate how the chef puts such attention to detail into every side dish even if it's a small garnish. That makes such a difference. I really enjoyed this review because we were able to take a "tour" of the chef's best dishes. I'm pretty confident you will enjoy your next visit to Buon Amici as well. And remember, ask for their specials!


My Favorite Thing: Grilled Caesar Salad - This is certainly no ordinary Caesar salad. You have huge pieces of lettuce slightly charred with a crouton "disc", cream cheese-like dressing, and a crispy strip of meat (similar to bacon). I'm not one to gawk over salads, but this one was amazing. By far the best and most creative Caesar salad I've ever eaten.

What I would like to try next time: Dark Chocolate Raspberry Shake - "Chef Brian's decadent chocolate ganache blended into a creamy milkshake topped with imported raspberry sorbet ". Raspberry and chocolate...um...yes please!

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Eddie's Review...

Good Friends
As Mindy said, that's what Buon Amici means in Italian. And that's who you'll be wanting to take here – good friends. I mean, you could take your "bad friends" here if you want, or if that's the only kind of friends you have, but for me, I like to reward my friends with food comparative to where they fall on my "Friend Ranking Scale"*. You don't want to know where I take my bad friends.

Buon Amici is a multiple award-winning Italian Ristorante located in New Town off of Center St. You have to spell and pronounce it "Ristorante". If you don't, watch out**. It's won numerous awards, including "Best Italian Restaurant and Best Pizza" by the Virginia Gazette for 2 years running, Hampton Roads Magazine Platinum Plate Award Winner for 2009 - 2011, as well as a Triple Award Winner in their Online Readers Choice Best Of Contest for 2011. It has an upscale and classy feel and decor, yet the prices are fairy reasonable. Almost half of the restaurant used to be a café/take-out area, but they renovated about a year ago, eliminating the café and creating one unified atmosphere. They have live music on Wednesday and Thursday nights and a nice patio outside. Take advantage of their specials throughout the week, including their fantastic Two Course Prix Fixe Lunch special and their new Sunday Brunch from 10:30am - 3pm.

We arrived around 2pm during a weekday. Which was nice, because it was very slow (they're usually pretty busy). It was also nice because we were able to try dishes that are not normally on the menu. And we were delighted to hear that they were dishes that they've won awards for! Fear not though, they said that they have special dishes like this available all the time. You simply need to ask.
Our first award-winning dish was their Pasta Fagioli. A warm and comforting tomato based soup with vegetables, pasta and a magnificently crusted bread. I wanted to pace myself for the rest of the review, but caved in and ate the whole thing. Man, was it good. After removing my empty bowl, the waitress brought forth one of the most beautifully presented salads I have ever seen – their Spiced Grilled Caesar Salad. I've never seen a Caesar Salad like this before. One solid, slightly charred piece of Romaine lettuce sprinkled with shavings of Parmesan Cheese set to one side of the plate. Next to it sat a glorious tower consisting of a sliced tomato holding up a crouton and a thin slice of some cured meat held there by a dollop of a delicious cheese mixture. The cured meat "crisp" looked like one of those sea fans found in the...uh...sea. Except this sea fan was salty, crunchy, tasty and delicious. The flavors were tangy and exciting. This took the traditional Caesar Salad to another level. Note: this is not the Caesar Salad on their menu. This is a special dish. The Wild Mushroom Ravioli was brought out next with a nice array of mushrooms sitting in a tasty truffle cream sauce. The ravioli was generously stuffed with some sort of mushroom mixture that was very good. After this came the Crab Stuffed Sole. This was a slice of Sole Fish wrapped around a mash of crab meat. It was pretty much ALL meat except for a few peas in there. I love when they don't add unnecessary filler. It came with two small, but extremely flavorful side items of a Butternut Squash and Rigatoni with Ricotta cheese. Again, these were small, but packed a lot of flavor. A Braised Short Ribs with Yellow Squash Zucchini followed after. If you're hungry, order this. A thick and flavorful mound of risotto soaked in it's incredible juices held up a piece of perfectly cooked braised short rib. The flavors were strong, bold and very good. Our last dish was their Caramel Gelato with Cinnamon Sugar Zeppole and Spicy Apples with Pancetta. They have other flavors of gelato as well such as Blood Orange, Pistachio, Basil, Mango and Passion Fruit. Some are not always available though. Zeppole is an Italian pastry of fried dough similar to a doughnut. These warm and sugary little guys combined with the cool gelato and the salty/sweet apple with pancetta mixture provided a nice ending to our meal. So nice that I think I might have to come back very soon. "Good friends", be ready.

My Favorite Thing: No contest for me. It was the Spiced Grilled Caesar Salad. I'm an artsy kind of guy, and the presentation combined with those amazing tangy flavors slammed this home.


What I would like to try next time: I've had their pizza before, so I feel like I shouldn't say pizza, but their pizza is just SOOOOOOO good. And I haven't had every single one of their pizzas, right? So I'll say their Gorgonzola & Caramelized Onion Artisan Pizza - "Gorgonzola, caramelized onion, walnuts & fresh parsley". Seriously, you need to try at least one of their pizzas.
* I'm just kidding. I don't have a Friend Ranking Scale. Although I should.
** Again, just kidding. Or am I?

For more reviews and information about dining in Williamsburg, visit www.eatplaywilliamsburg.com

Review of Blue Talon Bistro

Blue Talon Bistro

January 4th, 2013
420 Prince George Street
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(757) 476-2583

Offering an innovative wine list, outstanding service and a warm and inviting atmosphere

Mindy’s Review…

So, usually Eddie is the one who comes up with clever titles for his reviews, but I just couldn’t get this tongue twister out of my head for Blue Talon…

Fancy, yet family friendly French food. 
Say that 10 times fast!

Honestly, my first choice when going out to eat is not French food. I think it’s because I get a little scared of food terms that I don’t use every day, like paté, escargot and foie gras. But since I know the Blue Talon has such a great reputation, I knew this would be a good review.

I always thought of the Blue Talon as being a fancy place to go and never put it in the “family friendly” category in my mind, but that’s a image that co-owner Adam Steely would like to change. He said the restaurant welcomes families and never wants to be too stuffy that families won’t feel comfortable there. Because of this, they offer options for kids during lunch and dinner. At lunch kids can get half portion, half price meals and at dinner time they can order off a special kids menu. So even though this is still an upscale dining experience, don’t fret about bringing the kids.

Our meal started off with their Country Style Paté. It came with with whole grain mustard, horseradish & mustard cured fruits. I actually enjoyed this, despite my fear of paté. I really liked the combination of the pate’ with the different sauce accompaniments. Best mustard cured fruits I ever tasted. Oh wait, that’s the only mustard cured fruits I’ve ever tasted. Still, they were good The Warm Goat Cheese was next on the agenda. It reminded me of white pizza or a slice of garlic bread, but a lot better. Our waiter recommended their Cheese Plate, which included croutons, different cheeses, candied walnuts (my favorite part of the plate) and other accompaniments. The “croutons” were not like any other croutons I had eaten before. They were actually thin, slices of crispy bread. I’m used to those pre-packaged little square things, so this was a treat. Before the meal even started I suspected my favorite dish was going to be the Chicken and Mushroom Crepes. I used to tell people that my favorite food was mushrooms, so I was glad our waiter suggested this. Sure enough, it was my favorite. You’ll hear more about it in just a moment if you are just patient through these last few lines. The last savory dish we tasted was their Soup and Grilled Cheese. I think this is up there for one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I have eaten in my lifetime. We rounded out the meal with a few desserts, including a giant cookie that was super soft and tasty and their Chocolate Mousse. The last time I ate dessert at the Blue Talon the Chocolate Mousse was bottomless, which meant our waiter kept scooping more into the bowl whenever we were running low. The fact that you can have as much mousse as you want was inconceivable to me. Eddie and I already planned to go back next time just for a dessert feast. Yum!

My Favorite Thing: Chicken and Mushroom Crepes – “Baked crêpes filled with creamed chicken, mushrooms & Herbs de Provence, topped with Parmesan cheese & served with field green salad”. I was so glad Eddie let me have the leftovers on this one. Yum! I loved the crumb topping on the top and the creaminess inside the crepes.

What I would like to try next time: Fried Salmon Cake Sandwich – “Spicy cake erved on a toasted bun with shredded lettuce slaw & French fries”. I’m always a sucker for trying crab cake sandwiches, so I’m very interested in tasting this different rendition using salmon.

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Eddie’s Review…

I Love This Job
I mean, come on. I get to partake of a zillion different dishes from some of the best restaurants in Williamsburg. Now, I know Williamsburg might not be as well known for its eateries as say New York or Paris, but quite frankly, Williamsburg has some culinary punch of it’s own. Williamsburg stands strong with it’s unique historical identity as well as being one of the most desired weekend getaways for some of the most important and well-known cities in the world (i.e. Washington D.C. and New York City). This, alongside with it’s desirable lifestyle, provides fertile ground for some outstanding chefs to grow their culinary roots.

Enter Blue Talon Bistro. A fun, yet comfortably upscale restaurant in the heart of Merchant’s Square serving some of the most bodacious food in the area. The decor is classic and fun with lots of blues and artistic displays of roosters everywhere. Trust me, it works. The classic architecture reminds me of restaurants in Paris. It accompanies the cuisine perfectly. The Executive Chef and Owner, David Everett calls it “Serious Comfort Food”. And he knows what he’s talking about. His resumé is as impressive as it gets, working in various high profile restaurants and featured in almost every food publication you can think of. I’m intimidated just reading his bio.

As impressed as I am with the chef, and as beautiful as the architecture is, I’m really excited to move on to the food. It’s just that awesome. So lets go. And please forgive me, we’ll be here for awhile…
We started by asking the waiter for recommendations. As he continued listing his favorite dishes, I started to realize that he was listing almost every dish on the menu. After looking at the descriptions, I can see why. They ALL sounded REALLY good. So we went through the painstakingly, tongue-torturing process of narrowing down the dishes to only those for the review. After a good five minutes of bitter tears for tastings lost, I got back in the saddle and prepared myself for an exquisite eating adventure. Right off the bat, came a doozy… The Country Style Paté – “Rustic house-made paté of savory pork and fresh herbs with toasted bread“. To call it just “toasted bread” is criminal. It deserves a fancy pants, french-inspired name with some sort of symbol on top of a vowel or something. I loved that stuff. Accompanying it was the paté. If you’re a little bit weary of the word “paté”, don’t be. It’s basically meat mixed with seasonings and squished into a bowl. A meat spread. And the one at Blue Talon’s is delicious. They serve it with three different sauces – Horseradish, Grain Mustard and an Italian Mustard Cured Fruits. My favorite was the cured fruits. It went great with the paté. Then came the Warm Goat Cheese – “Chèvre warmed on French bread with sliced beets, candied walnuts, Manakintowne field greens and herb honey“. Once again, a home run. I loved everything on this dish! The mixture of the salty cheese on a slightly spicy bread mixed with the sweetness of the sauce and walnuts along with the beets and fresh salad made this dish outstanding. The Cheese Plate – “Three cheeses with cider reduction, red grapes, walnuts, Granny Smith apples & croutons” came next. We were given three cheeses of which my favorite was called a Bauernkäse (Italian Cow Cheese). Oh how I love good cheese. A tip from the waiter was to dip an apple slice into the sweet apple reduction sauce and place it on top of the crouton with a piece of cheese. Worked perfectly. Following this came the Grilled Asparagus Salad – “A selection of vinaigrette dressed field greens with lightly grilled pencil asparagus, a toasted Brie crouton, smoked bacon lardons and a soft placed egg“. Wow, that was a lot. But it tasted really good. The bright yellow yolk oozing from the perfectly poached egg onto the crusty bread with cooked brie sitting atop of asparagus and fresh greens yield a fantastic contrast of bitter and salty flavors. Next on the list was the Hudson Valley Wings – “Crispy spiced NY duck wings with celery sticks, carrots and blue cheese dressing“. I’ve never had a duck wing like this before, but these were good. They put a ton of sauce on the wings leaving you licking your fingers for quite some time. Which is a good thing. Then came their Chicken & Mushroom Crêpes – “Baked crêpes filled with creamed chicken, mushrooms & Herbs de Provence, topped with Parmesan cheese & served with field green salad“. I feel like this dish personifies what “Serious Comfort Food” is. It’s comforting, but quite elegant in it’s flavor. Extremely creamy and tasty with that delicious sauce. I just can’t believe how many amazing dishes this place has. Our seventh and final entrée was the Soup & Grilled Cheese – “Black bean & chorizo soup with a grilled Spanish style, white cheese sandwich“. The bold flavor of the soup paired perfectly with the salty and crunchy grilled cheese sandwich. This is one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I have ever had, seriously. About ready to pop, we “wisely” chose to cram a few desserts down our throats. The cries from our taste buds silenced the cries from our painfully expanded stomachs. We first had their huge and chunky “Hooty Creek Cookie” with pistachios, white chocolate and cranberries. Then we sampled their Warm Bread Pudding with raisins, strawberries and a delicious warm sweet sauce. And we ended it all with their famous chocolate mousse which was very chocolaty. We rolled out of the Blue Talon Bistro extremely satisfied and honored to be allowed to review such a fantastic restaurant. Now, one of my favorites in Williamsburg.

My Favorite Thing: Country Style Paté. I really could have picked any of these masterpieces, but this one is the one I enjoyed the most.


What I would like to try next time: Brandade – “Classic Provençal dish of salt cod, whipped potatoes, cream and, in our case, white truffle oil – served with crispy croutons for dipping“. Sounds intriguing.

For more reviews and information about dining in Williamsburg, visit www.eatplaywilliamsburg.com

Review of MAD about Chocolate

204 Armistead Ave
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(757) 645-2995
A chocolate café by Death by Chocolate author Marcel Desaulniers

 

Mindy's Review...

WARNING: This review may induce drooling, cravings and jealousy. Those with a sweet tooth should proceed with caution...
I have a major sweet tooth. It's more like I have sweet teeth. So, when I found out that MAD about Chocolate would be opening earlier this year, I was really excited. I visited the first week they opened and have gone back multiple times since. When thinking about who would fill our review spot for this month, it was a no-brainer to ask MAD about Chocolate. Not only does MAD have incredible food, but their interior is one of my favorites in Williamsburg. It's funky, eclectic, and colorful. Connie Desaulniers, who co-owns the shop with her husband Marcel, is an artist and her work literally pops off the walls of this little shop. Connie's husband Marcel does not need much of an introduction, being that he used to run the Trellis and authored the famous "Death by Chocolate". He and Connie started MAD about Chocolate in April of this year after his 2 year retirement. They say he opened the shop because he just missed the chocolate too much. I sure am glad he did!

We started the review by tasting two of their staple cookies, "Mrs. D's Chocolate Chip" and their "Black Mamba". MAD's cookies are some of the best I've ever tasted. They are super chunky, soft, and full of "mix-ins". They certainly do not skimp on ingredients here. The cookies are so big you "shouldn't" eat it all at once, but so good you just can't resist. Our next taste was of their "MAD & Hot Chocolate". I'm pretty sure there was no powder mix from a package being poured in here. The hot chocolate is rich and makes you want to savor each sip. They brought out an ice cream sampler for us to taste next. You certainly wouldn't find some of these flavors at your local grocery store. We got to try corn ice cream, mulled wine serbet, white chocolate ice cream, dark chocolate ice cream, and Belgian beer ice cream. I loved the combination of the mulled wine with the dark chocolate. The other ice cream flavors were good and not too strong, which I liked. Next, so we wouldn't get a sugar overload, they brought us out some savory dishes. The first dish was Savory Bread Pudding. It had ham, tomatoes, and cheese inside. I loved the flavors and seasonings in this. Next was the Savory Cheesecake. You'd be surprised at how well a chocolate shop can make savory dishes. These were both delicious. We thought we were done until Connie saw us gawking over the dessert case. She then brought out their peanut butter truffle and Golly Polly Doodle. Both were peanut butter and chocolate, which I love. The Golly Polly Doodle was really good. It reminded me of the consistency of brownie batter or cookie dough, which is one of my favorite "desserts". I thoroughly enjoyed this visit (Can you tell?) and am sure I will be back again soon whenever I get another craving for some chocolate!

My Favorite Thing: Savory Cheesecake- I really surprised myself picking this one to be my favorite seeing how much I like sweets. It was just that good. The top layer of the cheesecake was soft and was similar to a light biscuit. The inside of the cheesecake was like quiche, but way better. I ate this about 2 weeks ago and I can still remember how yummy it was.

What I would like to try next time: MAD's Hot Pot - "Marcel's choice of fresh market ingredients". If this savory dish is as good as the other two I tried, I'm all in!

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Eddie's Review...

Chocolate Insanity
Deep in the darkness of many a mind lies an obsession, an almost carnal craving, for one particularly tasty bean. This harmless, yet addictive little guy has made quite an impact on human history. From Montezuma's daily slothful consumption to today's multi-billion dollar chocolate industry, the cocoa bean has played it's part in driving human kind crazy. Or shall we say MAD.
MAD About Chocolate opened in April of 2012 as a chocolate café featuring desserts by award-winning chef and author, Marcel Desaulniers. Marcel decided to open the café after selling one of Williamsburg's culinary landmarks, The Trellis. This is where Marcel created his famous Death by Chocolate dessert cake. I guess he couldn't hold down his "madness" for chocolate much longer, as his desire to create with the delicious medium spawned this wonderful gift to us. After hearing about this opening, we decided it was clearly our civic duty to check this place out and "serve" you by engulfing huge amounts of chocolate and other deliciousness on your behalf. I know, I know, we're pretty awesome.

We started our chocolate endeavor with a couple of their huge cookies. The first was their Mrs. D's Chocolate Chip – "The mother of all chocolate chip cookies". This enormous overstuffed cookie was packed with high quality warm and gooey chocolate chips. It was a fantastic cookie. The second cookie was the Black Mamba – "Killer combo of chocolate, chocolate chips & nuts". Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate – with some nuts too. Another really good cookie. Next came two little ceramic shot glasses of the best hot chocolate I have ever had. It was their MAD & Hot Chocolate – "Thick, dark & decadent". It tasted like they just melted straight dark chocolate in the cup, yet somehow kept it in liquid form. This was amazing. I wanted more. Following this liquid goodness came some frozen goodness in ice cream form. Their creativity and inventiveness really came through here. They provided us with five different scoops and flavors of their ice cream – Corn, Mulled Wine Sorbet, White Chocolate, Belgian Triple Beer and Dark Chocolate. Wow, were these interesting. You can taste that unique sweet corn flavor in the corn ice cream. It was very good. The Mulled Wine Sorbet was fantastic. A delicious sorbet with great combinations of fruit and wine. My favorite though was the Belgian Triple Beer. This one was truly unique. I don't even really know how to describe the taste, but I loved it. We then took a break from the sweets and tried a couple of their savory dishes. Yes, they also offer savory items here. And they're really good! We had their Savory Bread Pudding and Savory Cheesecake. The Bread Pudding had tomatoes, ham, cheese, spinach and a few other items. It was different having a bread pudding that was savory, and not sweet, but the tastes were very good. Same thing goes for their Savory Cheesecake. Simply awesome. It was very cheesy. Similar to a quiche, but still maintaining many of the characteristics of a cheesecake. This combination made for a very unique, yet delicious dish. We ended the review by trying their creamy and silky Mini Peanut Butter Truffles and rich and sticky Golly Polly Doodles. Both of these packed a lot of flavor and delightful textures in small little packages. Which was all we could take in at that point since we were filled to the brim with chocolate and sweets. And yet despite that, I still craved more. Mmmm, sweet insanity.

My Favorite Thing: MAD & Hot Chocolate. Again, the best hot chocolate I've ever had.
 
What I would like to try next time: Peregrino Cookies – "Dried Cranberries, Oatmeal, Orange Zest, Hazelnuts, Sambuca, White Chocolate". These aren't always available, so I have to hope they have them there the next time I visit. If not, I guess I'll have to suffer through one of their other desserts. Oh well.

For More reviews, visit http://www.eatplaywilliamsburg.com/reviews/