I found myself in Wayne (rarely) and craving Chinese (always).
I was in luck when I saw China King Buffet. Despite the name, I went with a takeout order so I could get back on the road.
Simple order: sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, egg roll, crab cheese rangoons.
These were OK - more hard-fried than I appreciate and a bit on the oily side. But, I won't ever be too mad at a crab rangoon.
The chicken here was fine - larger pieces than normal. Fried rice was fine too - just the taste of oil dominated most of the flavor here. The eggroll was similar, but I appreciate the harder fry here.
Grade: B
I recently visited Oceana solely to see their Gino's. Is that a little crazy? Some may say yes, but I am a woman on a mission.
They have an old-school menu board, which I always think are fun. I did find it interesting that they had a "deep dish pizza" on the menu, but was told it might take a bit longer. So I went with a regular pizza instead.
They were generous with the cheese on this one, which I was thankful for. It made it a bit messier, and I definitely had to fight a few slices to keep some toppings on, but I enjoyed the proportions. Basic sauce, tons of cheese, and a lightly browned crust made for a decent pie.
Grade: B
Backwood Ramblings in Spencer is an "Amish Heritage Bakery" plus specialty foods.
Walking inside, I immediately saw the grocery items, like old-fashioned candies and dry pasta.
At the back, there is a counter with some fresh-made pastries and other goodies.
Here's what I got into:
A strawberry and cream turnover pastry that was pretty tasty between the sweet strawberries and abundance of cream, but it was just a touch too creamy for me, as it gets a bit soggy.
I also had to try a pepperoni roll. This one had a bit of a blowout in the middle, but I did enjoy how thin the pepperoni roll was so there was a decent bread to pepperoni ratio.
Grade: B
Mochinut is a brand of Mochi donuts I found that delivered to my location when I was out west.
"Mochi donut is a donut that originated from Hawaii which is a combination of American doughnuts and Japanese mochi. Mochinut is gaining popularity owing to its unique shape and wonderful texture; light crispy coating with a soft chewy inside."
"Mochi Donuts are made with rice flour. The rice flour makes Mochi Donuts stretchy and chewy. There is a sticky addictiveness to each bite, a textural element that is completely different from yeast or cake donuts." The 8 dough balls came in regular, fruity pebble and taro. These were light and airy and delicious. I love the texture variation with the dough balls; it's kinda like both donuts and donut holes mashed together in a different way. Fun.
Grade: B
T&L has a number of locations in the northern part or the state, including at the mall in Bridgeport. I'd ultimately like to stop by each spot.
So the hot dog counter is pretty straightforward, and I kept it sinple with a dog complete with mild chili, slaw, mustard and onions. A tasty, quick, simple snack. A bit on the soggy side.
Grade: B
Do you know what sometimes just hits the spot? A big ol' plate of spaghetti.
To be honest, spaghetti is probably my least favorite pasta shape. But, the Gino's locations don't have a ton of variety when it comes to pasta, and the spaghetti at the Craigsville location caught my eye.
It comes with meat sauce, which was well-seasoned. The spaghetti could've been far less well done. But, it filled my tummy with nostalgia.
Grade: B
Pulp Juice and Smoothie Bar has locations across Ohio, one in South Carolina and a new one in Barboursville, West Virginia.
The restaurant features smoothies, bowls, shots, juices, wraps and salads. I'm not into the shots or juices, but I am into delicious things.
So I ordered a tropical smoothie - "Elite Eight," which has strawberry juice, pineapple juice, strawberries, peaches, mangos and orange sherbet. Sweet, fruity, refreshing.
I also ordered a Buffalo Chicken Wrap on tomato basil - tender chicken breast, shredded cheddar cheese, hot sauce, ranch dressing, shredded carrots, romaine lettuce. This was fine. A little watery and a bit flavorless, save for the hot sauce. Of course, it's a cleaner meal, so none of those extra calories that make things taste really good.
Grade: B
I've kinda lost track of which Mexican restaurants in the area have the same owners and which are local chains, but for the most part, there isn't a ton of variation between the menus.
I visited Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant in Cross Lanes and basically ordered a mini buffet to take home, which included: Queso, Mexican Street Corn, "Pork Daddy," and Ensenada fish tacos.
So let's take a look at this spread, starting with queso. This never photographs well, but it's a crucial part of any Mexican meal for me, unless I'm trying to save a couple bucks. Cheesy and thick and delicious.
The Mexican street corn - yessss - can we have this standard on every Mexican menu? Sweet, popping, creamy, acidic, just yes.
Moving right along! The Pork Daddy is a jumbo burrito stuffed with carnitas, cilantro lime rice and black beans. Topped with cheese dip and salsa verde. Somehow, this was a bit on the dry side for me. Despite. having a pool of sauce around it, the interior was lacking a bit.
The fish tacos had lettuce, pico, cheese, purple cabbage and chipotle sauce. These weren't bad, but I've been chasing the high of a delicious, crispy. fish taco that I had in Morgantown - and this didn't live up to that level, but it was still decent. A nice texture variation would've made the difference here for me.
Grade: B
I went to Mannington for New Year's to see the pepperoni roll drop.
And, while driving through Clarksburg, I decided to stop at Teddy Bee's Bakery to treat myself.
I saw they recently posted that they are closing up shop, unfortunately.
So I wanted to share a little bit about them first. On this particular holiday, they were beginning to run low on items - but they did have a special pretzel they were selling.
I ordered one of those, and the little silver decorations were adorable. It had a sweeter icing, but the pretzel itself was a little mushy. Part of that I'm sure was due to it being pre-made and stored. I just wish I had the opportunity to try some more.
Grade: B
BowlesBoyz BBQ has a location in Sissonville and a newer location in Campbells Creek.
The BowlesBoyz BBQ Up The Creek has many of the same menu items as the Sissonville location, from what I can see, which include fried appetizers, bbq pork, bbq chicken, sausage, wings, ribs, sandwiches, and sides.
I placed a to-go order for Maw Maw B's Pork Sammich, which is "our famous pulled pork piled high on a toasted bun with our WV gold sauce and Grandma Bowles's chow chow." This was nice and on the tangy side. The sauce was pretty thin so it was hard to cling to the meat sometimes, but flavor was still good.
I had a side of potato salad, which was also a little tangy - but also creamy and pretty tasty. I wished it was a bit colder because it was more room temperature.
Each of the sauces are decent for different reasons, but my favorite is always a tomato-based sweeter sauce.
My favorite fried app of all time, though is hot pepper cheese balls. This version was OK - maybe cooked a touch too long because the cheese wasn't oozey and gooey; it was a bit sunken and deflated.
What's your favorite thing here?
Grade: B
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