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/

Review of The Green Leafe

765 Scotland Street,
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(757) 220-3405
Good beer, Good food, Good people. Voted a Top 10 Bar by USA Today.

 

Mindy’s Review…

What two things do the Green Leafe and Williamsburg have in common? Well, they are both old and they both have character. The “woodsy” and rustic interior of the Green Leafe with its wood paneling and booths let you know this place has been here awhile. I still remember my first time visiting the Green Leafe downtown before we headed off to a W&M football game years ago. I enjoyed the character and food then and knew one day I’d be back. It’s the perfect place to grab a bite before any W&M activity since it’s walking distance from the school. You can tell it’s a popular place by its close proximity to the college, the number of beers on tap, and the fact that they have over 3,000 Facebook fans. Oh, and did I mention they were featured in USA today as one of the top 10 places for holiday cheers? I’d be surprised if you lived in Williamsburg and didn’t know about this great place.

The Green Leafe menu is filled with good old American favorites and some twists on the normal pub fare. We began our meal with their soup of the day, which was Chipotle Chicken and Corn Chowder. It was served in a soft wheat bread bowl. The soup definitely had a kick to it, but the bread balanced it out perfectly. The next dish we tasted was the Aussie Chicken Sandwich. How can you not like a sandwich built on a pretzel roll? If it weren’t for two other dishes coming our way, I would have eaten it all right there. But since I was excited to taste the Kitty Hawk burger (our next entree), I held back. The burger was topped with lobster and crab dip and it was delicious! The dip on top was not overpowering and it mixed beautifully with the other flavors of bacon, pickle, cheese, onion, and lettuce. Our waiter said it “ruined” him for any other burgers. I can see why. Our last entree was their Fish and Chips. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a slab of fried fish that big in my life. It was huge! This is no dinky little frozen fish stick for sure. The fish is served on a large bed of regular fries, sweet potato fries, and hush puppies, along with coleslaw. Talk about a “stick to your ribs” meal! That’s some great comfort food right there. Each entrée we tasted was good and had something slightly out of the ordinary to make it unique. I was so full by the end of the meal that I didn’t even need to eat dinner that night. And I always eat my dinner. However, I did keep thinking about my Aussie Chicken Sandwich leftovers, which I gladly ate the following day. I’m sure I’ll be visiting the Green Leafe again, along with the locals and students that know it so well.

My Favorite Thing: The Aussie Chicken Sandwich – “Grilled chicken breast topped with cheddar and provolone cheese, crispy bacon and honey mustard on a pretzel roll with lettuce, tomato & red onion”. My favorite part was the taste and texture of the pretzel roll and how it melded so well with the other ingredients. Nothing super fancy…just really good.

What I would like to try next time: Kona Cakes – “Two pan seared 4oz lump crab cakes topped with pineapple salsa and siracha aoli, finished with jasmine rice and broccoli”. Who knows what siracha aoli is, but it just sounds good!

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Eddie’s Review…

History Within History
Williamsburg. Just say the name and one word comes to mind. History. Williamsburg is all about history. It’s why most people come to visit this town, and why many come to live here. You see it, you hear it and yes, you even taste it. With all that history though, there’s only a handful of restaurants here that have survived long enough to be considered a landmark. Especially those outside of Colonial Williamsburg. The Green Leafe is one.
The Green Leafe has been around since 1974 where it first started out as a fine dining restaurant. It was later bought in 1989 by now owner Glenn Gormley who decided to change the image of the Green Leafe. He transformed it to a more casual and friendly bar/restaurant where locals, tourists, college students and professors can come in and have a drink. He focused on offering a wide selection of great beers from both local brewers and others across the country. And, uh, he succeeded…big time. The USA Today voted The Green Leafe as one of the Top 10 Places to Go for Cheers. That’s impressive, and I’d have to agree with them. The Green Leafe has one of the widest selection of beers we have here in Williamsburg. You realize that once you step in the door. The inside is dimly lit and clothed in dark wood. EXACTLY what you think of as a historic college town bar. The top of the walls are decorated with lines and lines of  beer taps from every age. A chalkboard with FANTASTIC specials and old posters of annual beer tastings adorn the middle of the walls reminding you of what this place is all about. Look a little closer though and you’ll notice the history here. There’s interesting stories in every square inch of this place. For instance, the bar itself is made from an old bowling alley floor that was used in the exact same building years before it was ever a restaurant. I had a blast just chatting with Glenn and some of the staff about that and the many different stories that have helped add to the character of the Green Leafe. It’s just a fun place to hang out, have a drink and a grab a bite to eat. So we did…

We started with their Soup of the Day, which, um, changes every day. It was a Chipotle Chicken and Corn Chowder. Slightly spicy with great flavors. We had it in a bread bowl and ate the whole thing. Next came their Beer Flight which is 5 different beers of your choosing that come in smaller glasses. I had an IPA, Imperial Stout, Hennepin, Hard Cider and a Black IPA. The Black IPA was awesome. The Aussie Chicken – “Grilled Chicken Breast, Swiss, Cheddar, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion and Honey Mustard on Pretzel Bread.” came next. This was really good. I loved the soft and chewy pretzel roll. It also came with a few rather large perfectly coated and fried onion rings. They were delicious. Then, the Kitty Hawk burger came – “Lobster and Crab Dip, Bacon, Cheddar Cheese”. Wow. This is one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. A shiny, golden, butter-bathed bun teetering on top of lettuce, bacon, cheese and that delicious burger with just the right amount of Lobster and Crab Dip added. They didn’t put a big glop of dip on there, which you might think you would want. But no, too much of it would have taken away from that great burger. This way, it just added to the taste. They then brought us this huge ark of Fish and Chips – “11oz Haddock Filet with Fries, Hushpuppies, Cole Slaw and Tartar Sauce.” It was big. A mound of fries, half regular and half sweet potato, created a nice crunchy mattress for the entire perfectly fried filet of fish. They know how to fry their food.

This was a great review. I really enjoyed everything about it. The history, the people and the food. Just like they say – “Good Beer, Good Food, Good People”. They opened up a new location in New Town in 2007, so maybe we’ll “have” to do a review of that restaurant as well. It’s technically a different restaurant, right? Not much history though, so I guess we’ll just have to spend a lot more time eating. Shucks.

My Favorite Thing: The Kitty Hawk. Didn’t you hear my description? It was pretty obvious.


What I would like to try next time: Basil Pesto Steak and Fries – “6 oz. Certified Angus Beef Sirloin with fries tossed in our garlic butter and basil pesto sauce, topped with diced tomatoes and asiago cheese”. Man, steak and fries by itself is pretty good, but add garlic butter, basil pesto sauce and asiago cheese, and that’s going straight into my mouth.

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

Review of Taste of Williamsburg by EatPlayWilliamsburg

(757) 634-3602
Offers walking food tours of select local establishments in Williamsburg, VA.

 

Mindy’s Review…

There’s something exciting about going on a food tasting adventure and not knowing exactly where you are going or what you’ll be eating. If you’re wondering where you can experience this, look no further than Taste of Williamsburg. Its a unique concept to the Williamsburg area which takes you around to multiple establishments while trying a variety of different foods. I love the idea of combining little tastes from different restaurants, as opposed to one huge meal where you are stuck at just one place. Taste of Williamsburg’s tours are the perfect outing for people who don’t like to plan because they can sit back, relax, and let someone else plan their eating adventure for them. Taste of Williamsburg currently offers 4 different tours to choose from. For our review, we went on the Colonial and College Tour, which took us through the Merchant’s Square area and also through parts of William and Mary.

We began our tour by tasting some ribs that were quite flavorful and I’d have to say worth getting messy for. After the ribs, we headed over to a fun candy shop where we were sent off with a little goodie bag of candies. Soon after the candy shop, we visited a store lined with shelves of different spices, sugars and teas. We were able to smell as many spice jars as we wanted to and also tasted one of their recently made sugars. This was one of my favorite stops along the way. After our noses settled down a bit, we ate some yummy fried pickles at another spot. Next, we took a break and sat down at the next restaurant to eat some gourmet mac n’ cheese. It was a simple dish served steaming hot with crispy and bubbly cheese oozing at the top. After eating all that food, we walked it off by taking a tour of William and Mary. I really enjoyed all the educational tidbits about the college and getting to walk around a part of Williamsburg I had never explored before. We worked up a a small appetite from the walking, so we ended the tour by sitting down for the “Hot Holly sandwich”. This was nice and toasty and had a good combination of flavors. The whole tour was a fun way to try multiple dishes from multiple restaurants. I enjoyed it very much.

My Favorite Thing: My favorite thing was the educational tour walking around William and Mary. I had actually never been around those specific areas before, so it was interesting to see and learn about them. I really enjoyed the Wren building and all the history involved there, as well as the sunken gardens. It’s beautiful over there and I look forward to bringing friends and family back to those spots again.

What I would like to try next time: Dessert Attack Tour – “Let us guide you on the stairway to dessert heaven in this visit to four to five establishments, where you will savor their most delicious desserts. Items on the tour will include an amazing seven-layer chocolate cake and a bag of candy. In addition, the tour will feature a combination of four of the following: creme brulee, cheesecake, mousse, fondue, warm fruit cobbler, smores or fondue, bag of candy, spottedick, and more! “- Um, need I say more?

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Eddie’s Review…

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That.
With so many places to eat here in Williamsburg (at last count there were over 300), I sometimes find myself wishing that I could somehow more efficiently satisfy my culinary cravings of this great town of ours. I’d love to be able to sample dishes from Williamsburg’s many different chefs, or to experience the vast array of eating atmospheres we have here all in one outing. I mean, wouldn’t that be great? To just pay one price to tour around Williamsburg and taste it’s array of flavors? Wouldn’t it? Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to leave that to wishful thinking, right? Well, as you probably already know by reading the title (or Mindy’s review first), there’s a way to do just that.
Taste of Williamsburg opened their doors about a year ago offering locals and tourists a culinary tour through Williamsburg, VA. They currently offer four different tours (Dessert Attack Tour, Colonial and College Food Tour, Merchants Square Food Tour and William and Mary Food Tour). During their tours you visit a number of local eateries, sample one of their dishes and then depending on what tour you go on, take a guided historic walking tour of some of the sites of Williamsburg.

For our review, we took the Colonial and College Food Tour. We started off the tour in Merchant’s Square, a charming retail village directly adjacent to Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area. It offers a wide range of shops along with some of the best restaurants in town. It’s one of the top areas to come to when visiting Williamsburg. While there, we visited our first restaurant. It’s an established restaurant in town known for good food and fun decor. We tasted a sampling of their award-winning barbecue ribs. I’m pretty picky when it comes to ribs, so I wasn’t sure what I would think of these. I was very pleased though when I took the first bite. The flavors were awesome. The sauce is what really stands out. Very distinct and very delicious. After the restaurant, we walked through a few stores sampling many of their fine products and receiving a few goodies to take home ourselves. One of my favorite places to visit though was a tiny tea and spice store. It’s walls were packed with custom blends of teas and spices from around the world. We then visited a couple other restaurants, one with a “gourmet” mac and cheese which was very good. After this we went for a nice stroll through the College of William and Mary and learned about it’s history and the many famous people that walked it’s halls. We ended the tour at a typical college town bar/deli right across the street from the football stadium. I love these kind of places. Nothing fancy, but the character and history of the many students that have walked through it’s doors is something you can just feel. All in all, I think the tour is a great way for any visitor of Williamsburg to experience not only some of the tastes we have here, but also a bit of the history that has decorated so many of its restaurant’s walls.

My Favorite Thing: The Barbecue Ribs. That sauce was delicious.
 
What I would like to try next time: The Dessert Attack Tour. I mean, come on.

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

Review of The Crust

249 Richmond Road, Suite 103,
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(757) 603-6981

A specialty casual dining concept with a creative, innovative menu that showcases a wood-fired oven and hand-spun crepes.

Mindy’s Review…

The Crust is a cozy little pizza and sandwich shop just steps from William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg. It’s built with college students in mind, yet anyone would feel comfortable here. The interior of the building is rustic with its chalkboard walls, concrete floors, and thick wooden tables. There is even an open wood-fired oven behind the bar where you can watch your pizza being made. What I think really makes The Crust unique, though, is that they encourage leadership/participation in their restaurant by the local W&M students. Their website describes it this way “The Crust is not just a new restaurant concept. It is a new concept based on student leadership.” It’s exciting to see a restaurant embrace students like this and allow them to learn hands-on how to run a business and come up with new ideas to help it succeed.

As always, we talked with our server about what items would be the best to taste and photograph. Our server suggested a variety of items, one of them being the Tomato and Cheese Soup. When she first mentioned it, I couldn’t see how it would be anything special, but we ordered it anyways. I was more than pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was. It would be great as a stand-alone light meal or alongside a sandwich. Our next course was the Avocado, Mozzarella and Tomato Salad. The flavors were bold and very tasty with sweet pesto, balsamic reduction, and a citrus vinaigrette. My favorite part of the salad was the sweet pesto. It was so good that I was dipping my bread into it to get every last drop. From there we moved on to The Griffin sandwich. This was a really good, simple, fresh sandwich with a generous portion of meat inside. We could not leave without sampling some pizza, so we ordered the Buffalo and Tomato pizza. They import their buffalo mozzarella from Europe to get the most flavor and then top the pizza with fresh basil growing in a little garden they have in the front patio. I guess you should have a pretty good pizza crust if you’re going to call yourselves “The Crust”, so it’s not surprising how authentically Italian the crust tastes. It’s thin with just the right amount of “chewiness”. Just when we thought we were done, our server suggested one of their hand-spun crepes. We couldn’t resist, so we tasted the Diablotin crepe, which had chocolate mousse, strawberries, vanilla sauce, and whipped cream. The mousse was light and the strawberries were a perfect addition to it. This was a very satisfying meal from start to finish.

My Favorite Thing: Tomato and Cheese Soup. This was the best tomato soup I have ever eaten. There’s something unique about it that makes it stand out from any other tomato soups I have tried in the past. And either their bowls are insulated really well, or I just ate it too fast, but the soup managed to stay piping hot down to the last drop. It would be the perfect soup on a nice fall day.

What I would like to try next time: Wild Mushroom & Arugula Pizza – “Wild mushrooms, house-made mozzarella, Pecorino Romano,  garlic, Fontina, arugula”. Mushrooms are one of my weaknesses, so this one definitely stood out to me.

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Eddie’s Review…

My Favorite Part of a Pizza.
The crust. This often discarded and unappreciated final act of a pizza slice is, in my opinion, the most important part of a pizza. Quality ingredients, the right oven and a good baker’s “touch” is the beginning and ending to a really good pizza. Thankfully, we have that right here in Williamsburg at a fairly new café appropriately named “The Crust”.

The Crust opened a little less than a year ago in an ideal location off of Richmond Road right across from the campus of William & Mary. It serves wood-fired pizza, sandwiches, wings, crepes, soups, salads, and more in a casual dining café with a relaxing, yet fun atmosphere. Chalkboard walls covered with different colored specials and events throughout the restaurant help achieve this. As does their creative and thoughtful business strategy of bringing on students to help run the business. That’s right, like Mindy said, The Crust is a student-led business which trains and supports students by allowing them to be apart of the managing and operating of the business. The students are paid and have played a major role in the business decisions and the promoting of the restaurant. I love that they do this. It reveals their creativity, business sense and character; just like their food. Which is awesome. They only use top quality ingredients imported from Italy or found locally to make their own cheese and bread in-house. The owners and baker (from France) traveled around the world studying and researching the various pizzas of the world to help them create a pizza that they are proud of. And man, does it show. Let’s start with the first course though…

We started off our meal with the Tomato & Cheese Soup. This was delicious. It was like drinking liquid pizza. It came with two very simple, but extremely tasty bread rolls that were nice and crusty on the outside yet soft, chewy and moist on the inside. Perfect. Next we had the Avocado, Mozzarella & Tomato Salad – “Avocado, House-made Mozzarella, Tomato, Sweet Pesto, Balsamic Reduction, Citrus Vinaigrette, Mixed Greens”. This was really good. I enjoyed the flavors in this. The sweet pesto and balsamic reduction together with the house-made mozzarella and tomato are making my mouth water right now. And this too came with those delicious rolls We then moved onto the main course with one of their signature sandwiches entitled “The Griffin” – “Chicken Breast, Romaine Lettuce, Vine Ripe Tomatoes, Fontina, Avocado, Herb Mayonnaise, Multigrain Bread”. A good, clean and “healthy-feeling” sandwich. I loved the multigrain bread in this sandwich. It was very tasty. Then came the pizza. Their pizza is wood-fired in a special European stone hearth oven to give them that fantastic crust and chew. We tried their Buffalo & Tomato – “Crushed Tomato Sauce, Italian Buffalo Mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, Basil”. Amazing. One of the best pizzas in Williamsburg. The Buffalo Mozzarella is imported from Europe and has a nice creamy and rich flavor to it. And as previously mentioned, the crust is fantastic (I’m not going to say “no pun intended”). It’s slightly charred from the stone hearth oven with a nice thin and chewy center. Just like I like it. We ended our meal with one of their hand-spun dessert crepes, The Diablotin – “Chocolate Mousse, Strawberries, Vanilla Sauce and Whipped Cream”. That vanilla sauce is delicious. It’s nice to have a place in town that serves really good crepes… and pizza.
 
My Favorite Thing: The Buffalo & Tomato Pizza. Like I said, one of the best in Williamsburg.
 
What I would like to try next time: Spinach Pizza – “Pecorino Romano, Garlic, Gruyere, Mozzarella, Bacon, Spinach, Olive Oil”. I’d like to try ALL of their pizzas, but this one is the first on my list.

For more Williamsburg restaurant reviews, visit www.EatPlayWilliamsburg.com

Review of Sal's by Victor restaurant

1242 Richmond Road,
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(757) 220-2641
Family run restaurant specializing in both Southern and Northern Italian cuisine and serving Williamsburg since 1974.

Mindy's Review...

I don't think you can possibly live in Williamsburg and not know about Sal's by Victor. This is definitely a local's favorite and has been voted best Italian restaurant by the VA Gazette every year since 1996. Because of this, we've already visited Sal's by Victor a number of times. We were more than happy though to visit them once again for the review because it was such a favorite of ours. Since the remodel a couple years back, we hadn't even seen the left side of the restaurant yet and had only sat on the right side of the restaurant. The right side has more of a "cafe" feel and is perfect for eating a pizza or sitting with friends. This time we were able to sit in the middle of the section to the left. It has a very "Italian" feel with arches, lovely Italian paintings filling the walls and Italian music playing in the background. Even the ceilings give it an authentic Italian feel with beautiful chandeliers and hanging lights. No matter what side you sit on though, you will be eating great food.

Since literally everything on the menu looked good to us, the chef choose what he thought were the best dishes for us to try. We started off with Insalata Di Mare. It is a refreshing seafood salad with a lemon sauce. When the plate was first brought out, I expected the calamari to be tough, but it was tender and soft. The various types of fish almost melted in my mouth. I really enjoyed this dish. Next up was the Involtini di Melanzane, which was an eggplant stuffed w/Mozzarella, Ricotta and Grana Padana. This is a step up from the traditional eggplant parmesan I am used to. The manager told us that the Grana Padana had been imported from Italy, along with various other ingredients on their menu to ensure quality and authentic Italian flavors. The main dishes we tasted were the Cavatoni Alla Capri and the Veal Saltimbocca. The pasta in the Cavatoni Alla Capri was delicious and unique. I loved the taste of the tomatoes, garlic and olive oil that was mixed in with the shrimp. The Veal Saltimbocca was also very flavorful. It was veal topped with w/a slice of Prosciutto di Parma and a slice of mozzarella cheese. I love how some of the traditional dishes are given a twist at Sal's by Victor. The sauce that was drizzled over the dish was so flavorful that I told Eddie I could eat a soup of just that sauce! One of the things we noticed was that Victor offers a variety of different sauces for his dishes. He does not take the easy way out by only making one red sauce and one cream sauce. You'll notice sauces like vodka sauce, Victor's meat sauce, lobster cream sauce, and white wine butter sauce, just to name a few. So, you'll get a unique combination of flavors in your sauce, depending on what dish you choose. We ended our meal with two desserts. The first one was their house-made Cannoli. You get little bursts of chocolate in the filling because of the mini chocolate chips mixed in with the creamy center. The crust of the Cannoli was very crunchy and sweet and reminded me of a waffle ice cream cone. We also tasted their Imported Orange Sorbet. This was soft, creamy, and had a nice strong orange flavor served in a frozen orange shell. Our entire visit was enjoyable, from the atmosphere to the food. You can bet we will be here again.

My Favorite Thing: Cavatoni Alla Capri - "Victor's special pasta served with jumbo shrimp, sauteed with extra virgin olive oil, garlic & fresh tomatoes.". The sauce tasted so fresh with the tomatoes and the flavors in it were not your typical red sauce. It had its own flair and that's what I really liked about it. I was savoring each bite.

What I would like to try next time: Lobster Ravioli - "Ravioli stuffed with lobster & crab meat, in a lobster cream sauce". This item caught my eye when we first sat down and looked at the menu. Though there were lots of other dishes that looked appetizing, I think this is one I would want to try the most.

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Eddie's Review...

Mangia! Mangia!
Every town needs a good Italian restaurant. And we here in Williamsburg have a GREAT one. In 1974, Sal's by Victor opened in Williamsburg under the name "Sal's", named after the original owner "Salvatore". In 1990, Chef Vittorio Minichiello (Victor) purchased the restaurant from Sal and chose to keep the name, but added "by Victor" to the title. The rest, as they say, is history. As Mindy noted above, Sal's by Victor has been voted Virginia Gazette’s “Best in Williamsburg” for the Italian Restaurant category every year since 1996. They've become a staple here in Williamsburg and is widely known as one of the best restaurants in town.

One of the main reasons for their success is Chef Victor's incredible attention to detail and extreme pickiness in making sure they use only top quality ingredients. Most of them directly imported from Italy. This not only includes the ingredients in their food, but also the products that they offer, such as their fine selection of wine and coffee from Italy. The decor also reflects this as the restaurant is filled with beautiful artwork from Italian artists mostly depicting the beautiful countryside of Italy. These were added to the restaurant as it was completely remodeled following a fire in 2009. It was great to see the community rally around Victor, his family and the restaurant during this time and celebrate with them during their opening of the newly remodeled Sal's by Victor. Talk about turning a tragedy into a blessing. It has been remodeled beautifully inside with a classic Italian feel. Large paintings, standing columns, arches and Italian music in the background help set the mood for a wonderful meal.

We started off our meal with a couple of appetizers. The first was the Insalata di Mare – "Mixed Seafood Salad with Lemon Sauce". This was incredibly fresh and delicious. A nice cool Seafood Salad with large portions of seafood inside. The lemon sauce is very subtle and not too overpowering. This is a great "light" way to start a meal. Our second appetizer was the Involtini di Melanzane – "Eggplant stuffed with Mozzarella, Ricotta and Grana Padana cheeses". The cheeses were wrapped by thin strips of eggplant as opposed to most eggplant dishes where the eggplant is in the center. If you don't like eggplant, try this one. It's flavor is subtle here as the cheese is the highlighted ingredient. I loved it. On to the entrées. Our first entrée was the Cavatoni Alla Capri – "Victor’s Special Pasta served with Jumbo Shrimp, sauteed with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic & Fresh Tomatoes". This was awesome! The jumbo shrimp and surrounding flavors were very tasty. For me though, the highlight of the dish was the pasta. It was thick and chewy. Almost doughy. Not the typical pasta your used to. I just kept wanting to eat it. Then came the Veal Saltimbocca – "Tender Veal topped with a slice of Prosciutto di Parma and a slice of Mozzarella Cheese. Served with a side of the Vegetables of the Day". Amazing. The flavors here are SO good. The veal, prosciutto and mozzarella combined with that delicious sauce are making my mouth water right now. And I have no more Veal Saltimbocca in front of me to quench that desire. Agonizing. For dessert we had their homemade Cannoli and then an Imported Orange Sorbet. The Cannoli was very good. Large and beautifully made. The Imported Orange Sorbet was fantastic. The REAL orange flavor coming from a REAL orange is nice to experience. It was delightfully presented inside of a frozen orange and held in a sleek glass container that seemed to be made specifically for this dessert. And thus ended another great meal. The only disappointment was not adding their pizza to the review. It's one of the best in Williamsburg.

My Favorite Thing: This was another tough one. I really loved the pasta in the Cavatoni Alla Capri, but the amazing flavors in the Veal Saltimbocca gives it the trophy.
 
What I would like to try next time: Smoked Chicken Ravioli – "Fresh Ravioli filled with tender Smoked Chicken. Served with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Asparagus & Basil in a rich Cream Sauce". There's a zillion dishes to choose from off their menu, but this one is the one that sticks out to me the most.

For more Williamsburg restaurant reviews, visit www.EatPlayWilliamsburg.com

Virginia is for [Wine/Food/History/Nature/etc.] Lovers

Being the product of a childhood spent in a military family, I am no stranger to moving from one place to another, often on short notice. I suppose that upbringing has instilled in me a strong wanderlust, and there is nothing I love more than hitting the road to explore some new terrain. I’ve lived all over the eastern seaboard and called Belgium home for many years, but I have never found a place quite like Virginia. At first glance, to those of us who have spent decades or more here, Virginia seems commonplace and just…Virginia. What does it mean to be a Virginia resident, really? There’s a longstanding debate over whether or not we’re in “The South”, with some people saying we are because we’re technically south of ye olde Mason-Dixon Line, but there are others who refer to us as “Mid-Atlantic”. So we’re Southerners? Mid-Atlanticites? (I think I just made up a word!) I guess both are true. I don’t know, and I don’t really care, because neither one changes the fact that Virginia is an awesome place to live. If you take a minute to think about what it really means to live here, I can totally understand why “Virginia is for Lovers” was craftily chosen as the tourism slogan for our Commonwealth.

Virginia has the best of everything. For starters, we have these things called “seasons”, which are pretty well-defined between being snowy and cold (for the most part) in the winter and blazingly hot in the summer, with spring and fall being just short of heavenly, temperature-wise. We have beautiful mountains that are flecked with breath-taking waterfalls, streaked with hiking trails, and brimming with nature. We have beaches that families flock to as soon as Target starts selling bathing suits (i.e., late-February), we’re in close proximity to Washington D.C., and there is history dating back to the birth of our Nation nearly everywhere you look. We also have an impressive collection of dynamite, chef-owned restaurants that are artfully crafting some delicious nom-noms using locally grown ingredients. Now what goes best with artfully-crafted nom-noms? If you said, “HEY! I know! Artfully-crafted wine!” you would be correct.

Did you know that there are 208 wineries in Virginia? Did you also know that we have 6 distinct AVAs (American Viticultural Areas), 9 Virginia Wine Regions, with 24 Wine “Trails” that have been identified by ViriniaWine.org?  With all of this wine greatness in the area, you could be really ambitious and do 2 different trails a month and it would still take a year to see every existing winery in Virginia!

I happen to live on the outskirts of the Monticello AVA, right smack in the middle of the Central Virginia Wine Region, so you can imagine how many times I’ve been to the wineries that make up a large part of the landscape in the Charlottesville area. Some of Virginia’s best wineries are here, including Barboursville, whose wines have seen national and international recognition twice since early 2011. (The Barboursville 2008 Reserve Cabernet Franc beat out 97 entries for “Best in Class” at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, which is the largest wine competition in the nation.) Bleinheim Vineyards, owned by Dave Matthews, is a perennial favorite among wine and music lovers alike and boasts some of the most beautiful wine labels I’ve ever seen.

Lately, I’ve begun to explore wineries outside of my local area and have come across some very pleasant surprises. To supplement my exploration of Virginia’s wine industry, I checked out this amazing documentary that focuses on the industry’s growth in the Commonwealth. Here are some of my favorites with notes on each winery by region and wine trail, in alphabetical order:

Central Virginia Region, Monticello Wine Trail

-          Barboursville Vineyards Barboursville, Virginia

o   The Octagon takes the prize for me here. We always keep a bottle of it on hand to serve with robust dishes, such as braised beef perfumed with rosemary and thyme. Think “slow-cooked comfort foods” with this one, like Osso Bucco or Boeuf Bourguignon.

o   Fun fact: The atmosphere here is wonderful, with the grounds including a Virginia historic landmark. The tasting room is large with a distinctly European feel. Barboursville is also one of the few wineries I’ve been to with a full-service restaurant, so you can truly make a nice afternoon or evening out of your visit.

-           Jefferson Vineyards Charlottesville, Virginia

o   There are really no wines here that I dislike, but the standouts are the Cabernet Franc and the Viognier. The Cabernet Franc has that dark fruit intensity that I love in a red wine, reminiscent of cherries, along with spicy notes that make it a favorite of mine for sipping alone or with a nice steak.

o   Fun fact: The grounds here are the site of Jefferson’s original vine plantings, so it’s almost like you’re getting a sip of history. Nice tasting room, to boot, and the last time I was there, the tasting glasses (that you get to keep) were Riedel. Not bad for $10.

-          King Family Vineyards Crozet, Virginia

o   Wonderful wines and atmosphere, and the Meritage is my favorite of their offerings. The wonderful woodsy, dark fruit, and mocha notes make this one a favorite to sip and enjoy with a meal of grilled game or red meat.

o   Fun fact: On Sundays, visitors can pack a picnic, grab any of King Family’s stellar wines, and enjoy a live polo match on the grounds. Wine + ponies? Isn’t that every girl’s dream?

Northern Virginia Region, Loudoun Wine Trail

-          Breaux Vineyards Purcellville, Virginia

o   Breaux is a stunning estate with over 100 acres of vines. Their Nebbiolo, made from the namesake grape that is a hallmark of the Piedmont Region of Italy, is a delicious catch that is not seen at many Virginia wineries.

o   Fun fact: Breaux often has “Gumbo Saturdays” where visitors can enjoy a steaming, fresh bowl of the traditional Cajun fare along with their wine. Would you expect anything less from a winery whose owner has deep family roots in Louisiana?

-         Dry Mill Vineyards and Winery Leesburg, Virginia

o   You will notice that this is the only entry where the winery name appears rather bloated. That’s no accident – this is by far my favorite winery in Virginia. Tucked away on a nondescript road just outside of the town of Leesburg, Dry Mill is easy to miss, but so worth the stop. Two words come to mind when I think of Dry Mill: Cabernet Franc. I am a huge Cab Franc fan to begin with (it is the star red grape of Virginia, after all), but this one has captured my heart, so much so that this is the only winery where I have joined their wine club, and it’s over two hours away from where I live! The Cab Franc is luscious and is absolutely delicious on its own or paired with a steak (are you noticing a pattern here in my eating/drinking habits?). It is so good that my husband called and emailed the winery trying to get his hands on a case of the 2008 vintage, but they are sadly sold out. Lucky for us the 2009 is a good one, too!

o   Fun fact: Dry Mill does live music almost every weekend during the summer and invites their Wine Club members to participate in the annual crush and harvest. Once you’ve gone to crush, you can say you’re a winemaker! Sort of…

-          Notaviva Vineyards Purcellville, Virginia

o   Notaviva’s wines are all wonderful, and the winery takes the cake for most unique pairing options. That’s because they pair their wine with music! At first, I thought, “Wow, that’s interesting…and a little ridiculous”, but after having the Ottantotto (Viognier) and encouraged to imagine sipping this wine while listening to a beautiful piano solo, it totally made sense. Maybe it’s because you are forced to use your imagination with these wines, but I definitely could picture myself listening to Chopin with a glass in hand. Anyhow, regardless of whether you think the Ottantotto goes better with Chopin or Metallica, mixed greens or chicken, Notaviva is worth checking out. Your palate (and ears) will thank you.

o   Fun fact: The tasting room is literally in the kitchen of the winery/homeowners. But this is no ordinary house: it was featured on HGTV’s “Dream House” and it’s easy to see why!

While I have been to many more than 6 of the wineries in Virginia, I really felt the need to include these in my first post about Virginia wine. Barboursville has the distinction of being the first winery I’ve ever been to with the sole intent of tasting wine, so it will always have a special place in my heart. Dry Mill was the first to completely blow me away with a totally unexpected, totally delicious Cab Franc, so it too will always be a special place for me that I will visit again and again. But each time I visit a winery, whether I enjoy the wines or not, it renews that sense of adventure in my soul to seek out another winery or two, to take a spur-of-the-moment detour in my travel plans, in the hopes that I will find another hidden gem out there in the countryside. Just having that as an option is one of the many reasons I am so glad to call Virginia my home.

Review of Williamsburg Cupcake

Williamsburg Cupcake

4917-A Courthouse Street,
Williamsburg, VA 23188
(757) 603-6633
Gourmet cupcake bakery in Williamsburg, Virginia

 

Mindy’s Review…

Williamsburg Cupcake first opened as a catering business where owner Tania Slusser would make cupcakes out of her home. After the encouragement of her friends, family and customers, she decided to open up her own shop in New Town. The location is great and just steps away from the movie theater. It’s a cute little shop that is very cheery with it’s pink and brown color scheme. When you walk in, you immediately see the glass case displaying the cupcakes ready to be eaten. They are beautifully decorated which makes them hard to resist.

When we visited for the review, we tried some mini and full size cupcakes, but we were also sent home with a dozen in a pink box to try over the next couple days. I love the fact that even the take home box is a fun color. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that many cupcakes in such a short span of time, but I certainly didn’t mind. We brought along our 3 and 1 year old daughters and they definitely didn’t mind either! Our 1 year old was especially excited. I think I heard the word “more” at least a hundred times!

I really enjoyed the cupcakes we tasted during the review. Williamsburg Cupcake has a great buttercream frosting, which is so important if you are going to sell cupcakes. There were multiple flavors built on this base and they all tasted delicious. One of the flavors built with buttercream frosting was the “Birthday Party” cupcake. When I saw it I figured it would be a little too “childish” for my taste buds, but I actually really liked it. One of the special cupcakes that day was “Strawberry Rhubarb”. I was extra excited for this one because it’s my favorite kind of pie. My mom actually makes if for me almost every year for my birthday. The rhubarb flavor was perfect in the cupcake. Sometimes rhubarb can be too tart for some, but this was just right. Another flavor we tried was “Salted Caramel”. My absolute favorite part of this cupcake was the chocolate covered potato chip sitting on top of the cake. I love the combination of sweet and salty, so this was a treat. We first tried a MINI “Coconut Dream” and then the next day I tried a full sized one. I’m so glad she sent us home with a full sized one because there was a huge heap of coconut/frosting on the full sized one that just wouldn’t fit on the mini one. It was light and fluffy and made me want to eat the whole thing all by myself. I am a huge peanut butter and chocolate fan, so I couldn’t wait to try their “Peanut Butter World Cup” flavor. It was smooth and creamy and I loved the peanut butter frosting.

My Favorite Thing: Margaritaville – “Lime cupcake made with fresh lime juice and zest topped with a margarita buttercream frosting, lime zest and sparkle sugar“. This was SO good. I love how unique this flavor was and how prominently you could taste the lime flavor. I even loved it down to the sparkle sugar that gave it just a slight crunch on the top. I would no doubt want to eat this one again.

What I would like to try next time: The King – “Banana cupcake topped with a peanut butter buttercream frosting and bacon”. I was going to say their new flavor, “Pancakes and Bacon”, but I just saw “The King” listed and it changed my mind, though I’d REALLY like to try both of them next time.

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Eddie’s Review…

Have Your Cupcake and Eat It Too. Then Have More Cupcakes.
The cupcake. An ENTIRE cake, just for you. What a great invention. No sharing of uneven cake slices with either too much or too little frosting being sloppily globbed on a paper plate. With a cupcake, you get your very own packaged, frosted and sometimes sprinkled treat just for you. And you don’t even need a fork. Just your hand and your mouth will do. Cupcakes used to be a pretty plain dessert. It was either chocolate or yellow cake with vanilla or chocolate frosting on top. There wasn’t much variation or creativity aside from maybe a few twists during some of the holidays. But over the past few years, the cupcake has become a display of creativity around the world. Numbers of books, magazines and even a few tv shows are centered on this one dessert. The most impressive display of this sweet little success though is the countless amount of cupcake shops opening up across the country. And one of those in our own little cupcake of a town, Williamsburg.

Williamsburg Cupcake just opened it’s doors in one of Williamsburg’s most popular spots for shopping and dining, New Town. This fun little “cupcake cafe´” adds another flavor to the area increasing the many options that New Town has to offer. You can order a dozen and take home every flavor available that day or just order one and enjoy it outside. It’s nice to sit out there in the pleasant weather and munch on a cupcake. And that’s what we did. Plus we took a dozen home just to make sure we sampled every available flavor that day. It was a lot of work eating all those cupcakes, but we HAD to. It’s our way of serving you

They do a great job of offering lots of fun and inventive flavors to choose from. Splashes of colors and textures pull your decision making in every which way. The flavors that day that we tried were the Strawberry Rhubarb, Choc-A-Lot, Margaritaville, Toffee Crunch, Salted Caramel, Birthday Party, Peyton’s Fish Bait, Coconut Dream, Nana’s Red Velvet and the Peanut Butter World Cup. I’ll discuss my top three and then tell you my favorite. Let’s start off with the Strawberry Rhubarb – “Strawberry Rhubarb cupcake topped with a vanilla bean frosting“. My favorite part of this cupcake was the cake. It was very moist and dense. Almost like a bread pudding. I really enjoyed the texture and flavor of it combined with the vanilla bean frosting. Next is the Margaritaville – “Lime cupcake made with fresh lime juice and zest topped with a margarita buttercream frosting, lime zest and sparkle sugar“. Doesn’t that sound great? It was! I loved it. So creative and delicious. The tangy frosting on top was amazing. The final entry is the Salted Caramel – “Chocolate cupcake with a salted caramel filling topped with a vanilla cream cheese frosting, a caramel drizzle, a pinch of sea salt and a chocolate covered potato chip“. That chocolate covered potato chip did it. It was awesome. I wish they would just sell those in bags to take home. A sweet little surprise of caramel in the center of the cupcake was a nice little bonus as well. The rest of the cupcakes were also good, but I’d say those three were definitely my top three. And I can’t wait to go back and try some of their other flavors they have available on different days. Just looking at their list online is giving me a sugar rush.

My Favorite Thing: I’m agreeing with Mindy here. It’s the Margaritaville. The flavors and uniqueness of this cupcake put it over the top. Plus I love lime.


What I would like to try next time: Pancakes and Bacon – “Vanilla cupcake with bacon, blueberries and pure maple syrup baked right in and topped with a maple cream cheese frosting and bacon“. Are you serious?

For more Williamsburg restaurant reviews, visit www.EatPlayWilliamsburg.com

Waypoint Seafood and Grill Review

Waypoint Seafood & Grill

 

1480 Quarterpath Rd,
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(757) 220-2228
Where traditional cuisine takes a creative journey

Mindy’s Review…

Waypoint Seafood & Grill opened less than a year ago and just by watching how many people came in on a Wednesday night, I’d say the word is spreading quickly about this place. This is the kind of upscale restaurant that’s perfect for a special anniversary date or just getting dressed up for a nice night out. The decor is classy and calm with browns and blues as the color scheme. Our dining room had a fireplace and relaxing music playing in the background, which added to the warmth of the restaurant.

Our waitress started us out with their breads, which included soft and chewy focaccia, crusted artisan bread and sweet cornbread muffins. I can’t decide which one I liked the best because they were all equally tasty. Alongside the breads they served their own bread and butter pickles, whipped butter, and Edwards ham pâté. It was a perfect compliment for the breads.

Our next courses were the Artisanal Cheese and Meat Selection and “Waypoint Way” oysters. I am embarrassed to say I have only eaten oysters once in my life before this, which wasn’t the best experience. Needless to say, these were way better! The “Waypoint Way” oysters tasted like a fancy crab cake baked over an oyster. Edwards ham and spinach are mixed in with the crab meat, making it quite delicious! The cheese tray was generous with a variety of cheeses and condiments. It was very European and reminded me of a trip Eddie and I recently took over there. My favorite part of the tray was the pork rillette. It was wonderfully salty and moist.

Next for our entrées we tasted Oven Roasted Faroe Island Salmon and Parmesan Crusted Grouper. The grouper was their special that night. I wish the leftovers weren’t already gone because writing this makes me want to eat these dishes right now! I especially enjoyed the salmon. The outside was perfectly crusted and salted. The salmon sat atop a bed of asparagus hash, Dave & Dee’s mushroom salad, sundried tomato, and basil emulsion. The flavors and textures were so good. One thing I noticed throughout all the dishes is that Waypoint knows how to season their dishes well, particularly with salt. Everything popped with flavor because of this. The combination of flavors were well thought out and really flowed well together in both entrées. The grouper was also quite tasty. I really liked the ristotto that was underneath the fish. We ended the meal with one of their many mouth-watering dessert choices – the Snickers Torte. You’ll hear more about that in a second…

My Favorite Thing: After we finished dinner, I wrote down the salmon as my favorite thing, but after having their dessert, I had to change it to the Snickers Torte. It was absolutely amazing! The torte was creamy with a milk chocolate ganache’, caramel and peanut top and an extra crunchy crust on the bottom. I could have just eaten a sheet of the crust by itself! If this dessert was THAT good, I’m excited to try the others!

What I would like to try next time: This is an item off their lunch menu that sounded very unique. The “Virginianeer” Sandwich – “Shaved sugar and surry ham, granny smith apples, apple butter, cheddar cheese, batter-dipped and pan-fried french toast”

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Eddie’s Review…

Fresh Seafood, Local Ingredients, Fine Dining

One of the great joys in trying new restaurants is being introduced to the creativity and skill of the owners, their teams and specifically their chefs. I love how in just the presentation of a dish or in the tasting of a few bites, you can experience the flavors and cultures that have shaped a chef’s life. You literally get a “taste” of who they are.

Waypoint Seafood & Grill is a great example of this. They only entered the Williamsburg dining scene a few months ago, but have already made a huge impression. Their emphasis on fresh seafood, quality products and local ingredients along with the skill and talent to turn that into exquisite dining has made this happen. It’s no surprise how packed it was the night of our review.

To start off the review, I’m actually going to comment on their bread. That’s something that is usually left off, but with how good it was, I had to point it out. They brought us three different breads – House-made Focaccia, Cornbread Muffins and a delicious Crusted Artisan Bread. This came with three different condiments – Fresh Whipped Butter, Pickles and a Virginia Ham Pâté. The Virginia Ham Pâté was awesome. I’d love to buy a bucket of that stuff and take it home with me. It’s what made the bringing of the bread so special. Okay, now to the rest of the meal. Our first “order” we tried was the Waypoint Way Oysters – “baked with lump crabmeat, Edwards ham, and spinach“. These were very good. I loved the Virginia Ham inclusion. We then were presented with what was to me the most interesting and memorable dish of the night – the Artisanal Cheese and Meat Selection. This is a nice array of cured meats, cheeses and a few other tasty samples that I’ve never tried or even heard of before. The waitress said that the selection changes constantly, so there’s no hard description of what specifically comes with this plate. I’ll list a few items that stuck out to me though. My favorite was the Pork Rillette. It’s similar to a pâté, but this one was more gelatin-like. Honestly, it didn’t “look” the most appetizing, but it had tremendous flavor. There were four cheeses (Morbier, Maytag Blue Cheese, Goats Brie, and a Honey Almond Goats Cheese) and a couple of meats (Speck Ham and Carabrese). These were all very good. I also enjoyed the Apple/Sage Gelée. It was sweet like honey, and was a nice addition to all the savory cheeses and meats. Next, we had the Oven Roasted Faroe Island Salmon – “Asparagus hash, Dave & Dee’s mushroom salad, sundried tomato, basil emulsion“. All of that accompanied a perfectly cooked Salmon. It was DELICIOUS. The crust was so crunchy, yet the inside so moist. And those accompaniments were amazing. It was simply an outstanding dish. We then had their locally sourced market fresh fish of the day – Parmesan Crusted Grouper. It sat atop a creamy risotto with sweet corn and basil and then a roasted red pepper purée under that. It was topped with a butter poached lobster tail and Manakin Town greens. I liked the greens. They had a very strong flavor that went perfectly with the dish. To end our meal, we had the Snickers Torte. This was so good. The bottom was a crunchy, crackly, crispy layer of fantastic texture and flavor that sits under a cool, thick and creamy chocolate filling. The contrast in texture is delightful. It’s definitely a dessert that I want to try again, and again, and again. And again.

My Favorite Thing: There were so many good dishes here, and while I loved the uniqueness of the Artisinal Cheese and Meat Selection, I’m actually going to go with the Oven Roasted Faroe Island Salmon. The flavors were just too good.
 
What I would like to try next time: The “Original” Virginia BLT – “Fried green tomatoes, local fried oysters, Edwards pepper bacon“. Now THAT sounds interesting.

For more Williamsburg restaurant reviews, visit www.EatPlayWilliamsburg.com



Busch Gardens Germany Review

One Busch Gardens Blvd.,
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(800) 343-7946
Fresh pretzels, delicious sausages, sauerkraut and apple strudel

 

Mindy’s Review…

As most people know, Busch Gardens is known for its beautiful theme park, and its Germany area is no exception. The main “hub” right now seems to be Das Festhaus, which is a 2,000 seat dining hall that really does transport you to another place. The incredibly tall ceilings and walls are decorated in 3D and make you feel like you are in the middle of a German town. There was even a little gingerbread house for the kids to look at.

Our first food stop in Germany was their pretzel shop. We ordered their Jumbo Pretzel and The Pretzel Sandwich. I have seriously never seen a jumbo pretzel that looked that good in my entire life. The pretzel was perfectly crispy, buttery, soft and salty. I don’t like a ton of salt on my pretzels, so these were just right. The Pretzel Sandwich was really good, too. It was piled high with a generous portion of deli meat that tasted fresh out of the deli. You wouldn’t expect this meat quality and generosity from a theme park. We also tried one of their pretzel dipping sauces called Beer Mustard. I used it for both items and it was a great addition. Later in the day we went back for another snack because we just couldn’t resist the Pretzel Nuggets. These were mini versions of the Jumbo Pretzel. It had all the same qualities that I liked about the jumbo one. We gobbled those right up.

For dinner, we visited Das Festaus and chose two dishes. One was the Mile High Corned Beef Sandwich and the other was the German Sampler. I already told Eddie that I would eat the corned beef sandwich, but I wasn’t sure if I would like it since that is not my first choice when it comes to sandwich meat. I was quite surprised though that I actually enjoyed it. They definitely do not skimp on the meat in that sandwich! “Mile High” is a fitting description. The German Sampler had smoked sausage, ribs and roasted chicken alongside a couple of sides. We ended the meal with two of their desserts. One was their strawberry shortcake, which tasted like something mom would make, and the other was their Torte Cake. The pictures do not do the Torte Cake justice. It is absolutely huge! We even had people comment on it as they walked by because it was layered so high. This was the most impressive-looking dessert that I saw. While we ate our dinner, we were able to enjoy the new show called “Entwined”, which is a combination of different storybook characters put into one show. Our kids liked it and were clapping along to the music. For the full experience of Das Festaus, make sure to go when the show is going on.

My Favorite Thing: By far this has to be one of the pretzel items that we tried, but specifically I would say The Pretzel Nuggets. They were so good! I would have to say that Busch Gardens makes the best pretzel I have ever tasted.

What I would like to try next time: Since I am in love with their pretzels, I think I would have to say their pretzel wrapped hot dog. I think I could eat almost anything made with Busch Gardens pretzels.

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Eddie’s Review…

 

Ich Mag Brezeln ! That’s German for “I like Pretzels!”. I really do. They are probably one of my favorite foods. Baked bread and salt is heaven to me. And when I knew that we would be trying various items at Busch Gardens Beste Brezeln und Bier (Best Pretzels and Beer) that just opened last year, I was very happy. This is a different type of review for us. This is more of an Eat AND Play review. We all know about Busch Gardens and what they offer “Play” wise – thrilling rides, entertaining shows and beautiful landscaping makes Busch Gardens one of the top theme park destinations in the country. Don’t forget about the food though. If you don’t know, Busch Gardens Williamsburg is comprised of seven European countries – England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, France, New France (Canada) and Germany which is broken up into two areas (Oktoberfest and “regular” Germany). With all of these countries represented here, you have a number of cuisines to choose from all in one place. That amount of flavor variety adds to the adventure of Busch Gardens. We’d love to try them all, but that would just be too much for one review. So we narrowed it down to one country – Germany.

Busch Gardens Germany offers a variety of attractions and places to eat for both young and old. As I stated above, it’s comprised of two sections – “regular” Germany and Oktoberfest. In Oktoberfest, you’ll find rides like Der Autobahn (Bumper Cars), Mäch Tower (240 foot Drop Tower), Der Wirbelwind (Swings), Curse of DarKastle (4D Motion Based Dark Ride) and coming soon, Verbolten (Roller Coaster). There’s also the Oktoberfest Games area with carnival type games where you can play to win different sized stuffed animals for your children, your sweetheart or I guess, even yourself. In “regular” Germany, you’ll find rides like Alpengeist (Roller Coaster), Kinder Karussel (Merry-Go-Round), Skyride and the Rhine River Cruise (Boat Ride along Busch Gardens river). There’s also the German Gifts area and Land of the Dragons (Children Area with Tree Houses and Children’s Rides).

For eating in Germany, the two main options are Das Festhaus and Beste Brezeln und Bier (Best Pretzels and Beer). Both of these are located in Oktoberfest. We started our eating adventure at Beste Brezeln und Bier. We ordered the Turkey and Cheese Pretzel Sandwich Platter with Homemade Chips and a Jumbo Pretzel with Sünner Kölsch Beer Infused Mustard as a dipping sauce. The sandwich was very good. It had a nice amount of carved turkey and cheese surrounded by a big and chewy pretzel. It turned out better than I expected it to. The Jumbo Pretzel was awesome. It was a humungous, puffy, soft pretzel with great flavor. We came back a few hours later after walking around the park and then tried their Pretzel Nuggets. These were good as well. Big airy puffs of pretzel dough sprinkled with salt that could be devoured in seconds. After exploring the park again, we went on to Das Festhaus for our dinner. Das Festhaus is BIG. You have tons of options food-wise. Plus, they offer a show to entertain you while you eat, which is always nice. Out of all the food options, we chose to go with the Mile High Corned Beef Sandwich, German Sampler, Strawberry Shortcake and Torte Cake. The Corned Beef Sandwich was good. They give you a generous portion of Corned Beef to fit their name “Mile High”. The German Sampler allows you to try three of their meats on one plate. They give you their ribs, sausage and baked chicken. Not bad for theme park food. The Strawberry Shortcake consisted of layers of sponge cake and whipped cream smothered in a strawberry sauce and real strawberries. I liked this. Then came the skyscraper of a dessert known as the Torte Cake. This is one big dessert. It towers above all the other desserts in the dessert case. It consisted of three fat layers of chocolate cake and whipped frosting, appropriately topped with a red cherry to finish it off. We left the park happy and full, enjoying the fun times and good eats we had with our two little daughters. Mia, the oldest (3 yrs), just told me a few hours ago while I was writing this review how she wanted to go to Busch Gardens again. Maybe Italy???

My Favorite Thing: The Jumbo Pretzel. This is one of the best soft pretzels I’ve ever had.
 
What I would like to try next time: Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Nuggets. A sweet version of the Pretzel Nuggets.

For more Williamsburg restaurant reviews, visit www.EatPlayWilliamsburg.com

Oceans and Ale Review

Oceans and Ale

5601 Richmond Road,
Williamsburg, VA 23188
(757) 253-2253
Oceans & Ale is a classic seafood and steakhouse that prides itself on the highest food quality and guest service.

 

Mindy’s Review…

Oceans & Ale is a classy, yet comfortable restaurant that has a laid back, intimate feeling. You’ll see a great bar separating the two cozy dining areas and a nice little seating area outside as well. They’ve got excellent specials for each night of the week (including $20 all you can eat crab legs) as well as some great live bands. As people file in for the nightly specials, you’re reminded that this is a hot spot for locals, yet is so close to the Outlets that visitors can’t help but visit, too.

Just as their name implies, this restaurant’s specialties are seafood and drinks. You’ll see traditional seafood items here like their Catch of the Day and Crab Cakes, but mixed in there are unique items such as Seafood Nachos, Seafood Mac N’ Cheese, and Seafood Pot Pie. This is not your run of the mill seafood place.
We started off the meal with their O&A Beer Flight, which included 4 samplings of any beers they have on tap. For appetizers we tried both the Seafood Nachos and the Island Fire Shrimp. The seafood nachos were huge, and I mean huge! You’d probably need a whole table full of people to finish it off! There were multiple layers of chips, cheese, seafood, lettuce, and tomatoes in a mixture of hot sauce and she crab soup. You wouldn’t think those items would go together, but they do in a pleasantly unexpected way. I really enjoyed the Island Fire Shrimp, too. I thought they were perfectly fried and their house made sauce reminded me of a sweet and sour sauce typically found in Asian food. I wanted to eat the entire plate of them, but I resisted the urge so I could leave room for our entrées. We tried the Seafood Mac N’ Cheese and the Tri Tip Chimichurri Sirloin. The Sirloin was rubbed in their own flavorful herb rub and was tender and very juicy. I loved how the Seafood Mac N’ Cheese was covered in crispy bread crumbs and how it oozed with lots of real cheese. It goes without saying that this was WAY better than the boxed mixes! The seafood was present throughout, but didn’t overpower the dish . We were stuffed, but after looking at the dessert menu, we had to give it a try. You’ll see a variety of dessert skillets to choose from. I’m a sweet tooth all the way so every one sounded amazing. We ended on the Turtle Skillet, which was a steaming hot macadamia nut cookie in a skillet covered with delicious walnuts, caramel and vanilla ice cream. This was awesome and I can’t wait to go back and try their other dessert skillets. What a great way to end a delicious meal!

My Favorite Thing: This was a hard decision, but I think I’ll have to settle on the Seafood Nachos because I could not stop eating it. It was addictively good and different from any other nachos I’ve ever had. The Turtle Skillet almost dethroned the nachos, but I’m going with the one that I just could not stop eating.

What I would like to try next time: Oceans Sea Stack- “Pan seared sea bass stacked over a garlic cheddar biscuit, mashed potatoes, and a shrimp and crab ragout.”

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Eddie’s Review…

Check the Chalkboards!
“Rotating Taps”, “Fresh Catch” and “Live Music”. The Oceans & Ale Chalkboards. These three beacons of colored chalk pretty much sum up what this restaurant is all about – Great Beer, Great Food and Great Music. That’s what the owners wanted to create when they started Oceans & Ale. A place where you can experience amazing flavors in the freshest of seafood right from the Peninsula’s backyard while listening to some good music and enjoying the perfect beer to complement your meal. The atmosphere fits perfectly here. It’s clean and modern, but not “stuffy”. Dark wood furniture and local vintage beach photographs hanging on the walls give the restaurant a classic yet comfortable feel that instantly relaxes you and puts you in vacation mode.
For me though, what separates Oceans & Ale from most restaurants in the area is the beer selection. Hence the “Ale” in their title. The owners really wanted to offer a nice array of unique and seasonal brews that most visitors have never tried before. And they offer a great way to sample a few without straining your wallet or surpassing your alcohol limit – The O&A Beer Flight. This is where our meal began. The O&A Beer Flight offers you the ability to try four different beers, each in a 4 ounce beer glass. You can choose from any of the beers on tap. I loved this. Especially because there were a good number of beers there that I haven’t tried before and was eager to experience. It was also great to taste them side by side and notice the difference in flavors from beer to beer more distinctly than when trying one alone. It’s like doing a tasting at a brewery.

Next came our appetizers. The first was the Seafood Nachos – “She crab soup, crab, shrimp, melted mozzarella cheese, lettuce, diced tomatoes & scallions with sour cream & hot sauce.” These were SOOOO good. Definitely unique. I’ve never had Seafood Nachos before and wasn’t too sure how they’d turn out, but I couldn’t stop eating them. That sauce mixed in there was very tasty. The second appetizer was the Island Fire Shrimp – “Hand breaded fried shrimp tossed in a spicy island Thai sauce.” I really enjoyed the creamy coating on the fried shrimp. It was sweet and slightly spicy. For our first entrée we had the Tri Tip Chimichurri Sirloin – “11 oz. hand cut marinated sirloin covered in a spiced rub grilled to your specification & finished with fresh Chimichurri.” This was delicious. Chimichurri is an Argentinean sauce made with a variety of herbs, and these guys do it right. They pour it over a perfectly cooked steak and the Garlic Mashed Potatoes we had as a side with it was awesome. Man, I’m craving this dish right now. Our next entrée was the Seafood Mac N Cheese – “Macaroni tossed with lobster, crab and shrimp in a creamy three cheese sauce.” Another interesting dish! Read those ingredients again. It’s not your normal Mac and Cheese. I really liked the crumbles on top and the nice warm filling. We finished off our meal with one of their dessert skillets, The Turtle Skillet. This was really good. A warm cookie in a hot skillet topped with a scoop of ice cream, sweet sauces and sprinkled with a ton of walnuts. Mmmm.

My Favorite Thing: I liked the uniqueness of each of the dishes, and the O&A Beer Flight probably sticks out to me more than anything, but I’m going with the Tri Tip Chimichurri Sirloin. The flavors here were just magnificent.


What I would like to try next time: Asian Beef Ribs – “Korean marinated beef short ribs served with choice of two sides.” I love ribs. And I love good Asian Ribs. So I really want to see how these guys make theirs.

For more Williamsburg restaurant reviews, visit www.EatPlayWilliamsburg.com