Belle's Bread is one of my most favorite roadtrip discoveries of all time. Thanks to a head's up from my nail tech (and friend!) Christina, I stopped at the Columbus bakery and entered into a new world. The Japanese bakery & cafe is located in Kenny Centre Mall and draws on inspiration from France for its take on breads and pastries. It is family-owned and -operated. Takashi Takenaka opened the business after emigrating from Japan in 1972. There's the red bean roll, frank roll, and curry and boiled egg doughnuts. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The bear-shaped strawberry butter cream pastry was as adorable as it is delicious. I wasn't going anywhere without a ham & onion roll, which also had mayonnaise. All familiar flavors, but combined in the best way. My favorite of the trip may be the curry & boiled egg donut. Think sweet, fluffy exterior with an explosion of flavor inside. It is sweet and has some depth of flavor from the curry and also creaminess from the egg. Delicious. Their signature Caramel Almond Roll features a light, fluffy sponge cake with rich caramel and crunchy sliced almonds. There were a number of other unique options that I'll save for next time: tuna cheese, bacon corn roll, spicy tuna and more. If you've been, let me know your favorites in the comments below. Happy eating! Grade: A

Kumo Japan in Fairmont (White Hall area) is a casual Asian fusion spot located inside the Tygart Valley Mall that blends Japanese, Chinese, and Thai influences. First up: Cream Cheese King Crab Wontons - Four house made cream cheese king crab wontons, deep-fried to a golden finish and served with sweet chili dipping sauce. I liked the sauce here; a bit on the greasy side. Then, steamed pork buns with bbq pork char siu. Very tasty but the texture was a bit dense and dry. Finally, the Monster Roll - shrimp tempura, cream cheese, avocado, topped with crab tempura, eel sauce, lobster sauce, and sriracha. I enjoyed this, though I could have done without the double tempura. Have you been? Grade: B

Kashiwa Hibachi Express is a food truck in South Charleston focusing on hibachi favorites like chicken, steak or shrimp, veggies and rice or noodles.



I went the route of shrimp & scallops over noodles. Plus the veggies - because zucchini is one of my favs. The food was all good, but my main detraction is that everything becomes one soft texture. If there was a bit more of a sear, I think it would give the variance needed.



Grade: B

Sakura Mankai Café (which means cherry blossoms in full bloom) is a Japanese inspired limited restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, desserts, tea, coffee, and bubble tea.



I stopped here for a quick bite and started with a strawberry boba tea. Actually, instead of a smooth tea, this was more like an icy one. Like a step toward frothy, but not quite to milkshake level. The flavor was nice, but the texture I am not sure on.



I ordered a chicken teriyaki bowl with noodles, onions, and sesame seeds. I'm guessing they don't have a hot cooktop in the back, because the texture of this dish seem to suggest it had been reheated.



It was a bit rubbery and didn't have a depth of flavor that I was hoping for.



Grade: C

Mizu Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi in Buckhannon offers a variety of Japanese offerings: shumai and sushi to bento boxes and hibachi. I love all of those items, so I ordered a variety. Let's start with shumai. It's a little dumpling often found in Chinese cuisine with minced pork and onion. The Japanese version is more often a paste, but these are actually shrimp shumai that are just little flavor bombs that I love. It reminds me of a fish cake or krab. Then, a taste of the crab rangoons. I can't NOT order thesee. This version was OK, not great. Not a ton of flavor, a little cold, and I wasn't excited by tee dipping sauce. But it's kinda like when you had a REALLY good one at one point and all others are an effort to replicate that amazing one. Of course everything else is going to fall a little short. These were OK. For the main entree, I ordered a Rock N Roll (roll) - shrimp, mango, cheese inside topped w. crunchy spicy crab w. chefs special sauce. This was tasty, but I almost wish all the flavors were punched up x10. I want it to be spicier, creamier, sweeter. I think it's fine, but nothing I haven't had before. Grade: B

I am always happy to travel to Shepherdstown whenever I can because I know that good food will be in store.



Kome Thai & Sushi Bistro serves up both Thai cuisine, and Japanese cuisine, with a variety of entrées for each.



"The chef/owner, Kenny, personally selects and designs the very unique and special menu items and specialties. We use only the freshest ingredients including authentic spices from Thailand giving each dish its unique qualities. We work closely with distributors to make sure our seafood and sushi are freshly imported."



I ordered a few small plates so that I could sample a few things. I went with the crab puffs, which came with a yellow curry and cucumber relish. I liked that this was some thing a little bit different, but I do wish the entire was a bit more moist. Plus, I went with an always reliable California roll with some spicy sauce on top. Fresh, comforting, and expected.



My last app of thr trio was fun, simpler a veggies, which were all tasty. Overall, a tasty lunch, and I look forward to trying other items there.



Grade: A

Kita Modern Japanese restaurant is a new, flashy restaurant in Charleston.

The restaurant replaces a number of failed Asian restaurants in the same space.

There has been a great deal of turnover - from Red Fire Asian Grill to others that displayed business names that never even opened.

The interior is not unlike its predecessors. It's modern with some flashy details and a pretty open layout.


It wasn't long after they first opened that I visited. So I couldn't find a menu anywhere. But I arrived, pull up a seat to the bar and picked a few options to take home.

One of the first things I ordered was "Octopus" - brasied soft and charred, yuzu butter and tonkatsu grits.

This had some fantastic flavor. I really like octopus in general, and I appreciated the unique flavors here.

They were out of a few things I wanted - like bao buns and candied bacon. So I went with some other options.

Fried wontons are always an easy go-to for me. These little purses had a little sweet chili sauce underneath. A nice sweet and creamy combo.

We also went with an order of Kalbi, which is Korean BBQ short ribs. These had a good flavor, though the texture could use some improvement. A bit fatty and more bone than meat at some points. But the flavor was good.

Moving onto sushi.

We ordered the "Mango Madness," which had smoked salmon, cream cheese, avocado, mango and covered in shoestring potatoes.

Definitely different - and tasty.

Grade: B