Another Tudor's update? Yes, I have like 20 more to visit. I can say, though, that the Beckley Tudor's on Eisenhower Drive is unique. It's not a standalone location, rather it's part of a plaza. And the drive-thru is located to the right of the building.



Why does my photo look like this? No clue, sometimes my phone decides to take the photo .2 seconds AFTER I hit the button. Who knows. OK, the next biscuit on my list was the Rocket, which is steak, egg, cheese and hash brown on a biscuit. 



To be honest, I wasn't super excited about this. I've already determined I prefer my hash brown on the side. BUT, I'm glad I tried this because it has shot up to one of my favorites. First of all, the steak is more like a chicken-fried steak, so that was delicious. And the hashbrown stayed crispy here! I'm a big fan. V tasty.

There's a cluster of Tudor's Biscuit World locations around Beckley. Some I had been to before while passing through, others I hadn't. The Oak Hill location was next on my list to knock out. They were hoppin' when I stopped by, so I got in the drive-thru line.



Next on my list of biscuits was ...  The Duke, which is a biscuit with bacon, egg, cheese and hash brown. Think of it as a Mary B, with the hash brown IN the sandwich. So, this sandwich is not playing around. It is packed.



So, my choice of meat is not bacon. And, I've learned I like the hash brown on the side (inside, it gets mushy). So this is an eh on my scale.


Grade: B

There's not much getting out of the house these days, but I do try to build in something one a week that makes me happy. One this particular week, I made a little jaunt up to a Tudor's location that I hadn't been to yet - Sissonville.



Once I was was in the drive-thru, I already knew what I wanted to order. I have a list of biscuits that I'm making my way through. And, today, it was the Golden Eagle. I'm guessing that this is named in honor of the University of Charleston's mascot. This biscuit has Canadian bacon, egg, potato, and cheese.



So, it's a Mickey, add potato. However, on mine, if there was any potato - it was very, very minimal. But I do like this biscuit. I like Canadian bacon, so this one is a winner for me.

Grade: B

Next on my Tudor's Biscuit World list: Elkview. Even though this location is pretty close to me in Charleston, it's not one I have found myself visiting. Until now.



I'm writing this at the end of March, and I think it will publish around the end of April. I hope we're not under quarantine at that point, but at the time of this writing, we are, due to covid-19. So, drive-thru is one of the few ways to support local businesses - that and takeout and delivery. I made my way to Elkview and looked at the remaining kinds of biscuits on my list. There are a LOT of them.



Today, though, it was the Shaved Ham Melt. This brings the classic combination of ham and cheese with a delicious homemade biscuit. This is now one of my favorites - up there with the Politician. It had the perfect proportions of cheese and ham and biscuit to make it taste just like a ham & cheese melt - but better. Because it's on a buttery biscuit. V good.

Grade: A

Ripley is next on my Tudor's tour around West Virginia. At the time of this writing, I have 35 more locations to visit. And, while at each of these, I'm making my way through all the different biscuits.



Up next? It's the Thundering Heard. It's a sausage, egg, cheese and POTATO biscuit. So, think a "Ron," then add a hash brown right inside. This sandwich is large and in charge. It's a whole meal in one sandwich. In that sense, it's almost like a pepperoni roll - all rolled up into a single thing.



I do enjoy these flavors all together. It would depend on how hungry I am, but I don't mind having tater rounds on the side, instead of on my sandwich, because they can crisp up better. And ketchup. Still, I enjoy it.

Grade: A

It's time to head to the second St. Albans Tudor's location. This one, located along MacCorkle Avenue, was next on my list.



Here, I ordered a Mickey. The mickey has Canadian bacon, melted cheese and egg.



This is the first one in my series that has the "melted cheese," which is more liquid than the others. It tastes more artificial to me. But, I do like the Canadian bacon - something different. Maybe this with the regular cheese would be a win for me?

So, I recently made a list of all the remaining Tudor's Biscuit World locations in West Virginia that I have not yet been to. And, I plan to knock them all out ... eventually. And, while doing this, I figure it would be the perfect time to try each of the biscuits to be able to rank them.



Here's my first foray - the Cross Lanes Tudor's. I went through the drive thru and started at the top of the menu: The Ron.



So, the Ron has sausage, egg and cheese. The sausage always tends to be on the overly done side. But I realized the biscuits at this location are huge compared to the ones in downtown Charleston. So far, I like the Ron - I usually prefer sausage over bacon. But it's a large and in-charge sandwich.

Here's another Tudor's location off my checklist: Barboursville.



Just a quick drive-thru at this one - to get the new blackberry biscuit. This one was missing the granola on top - and the cream - but still had that super sweet, delicious blackberry sauce.

West Virginia is home to yet another Waffle House!

There are only a couple in the state - over in the Eastern Panhandle and one in Huntington. And, now, there's one even closer to home: in Barboursville.

I'm new to the Waffle House fandom, but I've learned my hashbrown order: smothered, covered, chunked and capped (onions, cheese, ham and mushrooms). The hashbrowns are really the star here, so that's most important. I got a double order.

PS Did you know they called it the WAFFLE house because the waffles had the biggest profit margin? And since it was in the name, that's what most people started ordering?


The hash browns and a slice of pecan pie? The best combo ever.

I'm on a slow journey to Tudor's Biscuit World domination.


As I'm making my way through all the various locations, I've also been tryin a good bit of the menu.


But on this trip, I went with my old stand-by: the sausage biscuit with grape jelly.


It always hits the spot. What's your favorite biscuit?

The Palace Diner is the oldest restaurant in Maine, and it is well-known for its breakfast and lunch specialties.


The restaurant is small and doesn't take reservations. So, Kaitee and I arrived early, put our names on the list and waited outside for a couple seats to open up.


My buddy Josh works at this restaurant, so it's been on my list to try for years. Not just because of him - though that's a nice benefit - but because it's also well-known for its simple - but perfectly executed - menu.


When we were called, our seat were available right outside the kitchen so I could catch a glimpse of folks hustling around.


And, it pays to have friends in important roles, because Josh sent out some caramelized grapefruit for our first bite. I can easily say this is the best grapefruit I've ever had. I'm not a huge grapefruit person, but this one was delish.


Then, I ordered the fried chicken sandwich (yes that's a lunch menu, yes this was at breakfast time - get over it). Warning: It is LARGE and in charge.


So I cut right into the meat of it to taste that delicious chicken. It was topped with a slaw and sesame seed bun, but I focused on that fried chicken before I got too full. Also, the light was shining RIGHT on me - almost to illuminate the meal.


As if that wasn't enough, Josh had one more surprise for us.


He sent out a piece of French toast  - my absolute favorite breakfast meal. Somehow, it was so sweet all on its own that it didn't even need syrup.

While driving through Virginia and searching for something to satisfy my sweet tooth, my friend found the "Balkan Bakery."

What is a Balkan bakery, you ask? That was my question, too.

First of all, the Balkans are a geographic region in southeastern Europe. This region includes the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Greece, and Slovenia.

So this bakery features pastries from this region.

That includes things like "burek," "strudla," "kifli," "ekleri," bread and crepes.

The Balkan Bakery is actually housed in the same building as another coffee shop, Zazzy'z.

When we walked in, I first saw the menu, and I was so excited to see lots of items I've never had before.

There was baklava, strudla (streussel), ekleri (eclairs), kilfli (croissants), bombinci (truffles), palacinki (Balkan crepes), and more.


Everything looked amazing.

I ended up trying a spinach and feta burek, which is a filo dough puffed pastry stuffed with savory ingredients.

And, I got a peanut butter balklava - which was easily the best baklava I've ever had. And it was all rolled and syrupy and amazing.

Do you have a favorite Balkan dessert?