I recently went to Tennessee (Pigeon Forge, specifically) to visit my parents while on vacation. Pigeon Forge is a very tourist-heavy town, so it was tough to scope out restaurants that got to the real culture of the town instead of tourist traps. But we tried.


The Old Mill Creamery - We went here mostly because we had a long wait for our dinner. But there were a dozen or so options in the form of bowls, cones or shakes. I got a two-scoop cone with a peanut butter moose tracks sort of ice cream and another that I can't remember. But overall, pretty tasty!

Grade: A










The Old Mill Restaurant - This is where we chose for dinner my first night there. While our wait was incredibly long, once we finally got in, service was quick. A house salad and some corn fritters were rushed to our table. I ordered the meatloaf, with a side of macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes (which were served family style) and a pecan pie. The price was about $20 all inclusive. It comes in a nice set. And it was also pretty tasty. The meatloaf was ground pretty fine, so it was crumbly. But the top had a nice tomato flavor. The corn fritters, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese were all good. Average-ish. The pecan pie was good. Overall, a decent meal. Love comfort food, but the wait was so incredibly long. And nothing was totally mind-blowing.

Grade: B



Alamo Steakhouse - This is one I wanted to go to because I heard really good reviews. In an act of luck, we ended up going for lunch, so it's a good bit cheaper. I ordered the horseradish-crusted sirloin with a side of mushroom risotto and their potatoes. I ordered it medium, and it was definitely overcooked. I saw no pink. BUT flavor was on point. The horseradish-parmesan crust wasn't so much a crust as it was melted cheese with just a tiny tang (don't be scared by the horseradish - not potent). Mushroom risotto was flavorful, and the fried potatoes were average. Overall, though, very good lunch.

Grade: A

Grade: B
Smoky Mountain Brewery - I was anxious to try some local beer, so we stopped at the Smoky Mountain Brewery for a snack. And beer, duh. We ordered their eggrolls, and I have to say I'm disappointed. They were just bland, and the sauce was overpowering. But I was a fan of their beer. So, maybe something else would be better.

Grade: B
Dixie Stampede - I don't have better pictures of this because we weren't allowed to take any. But this is the first time I did a dinner/show combo thing. It was pretty exciting. There's a constant horse show (and a really heavy focus on north vs. south - I thought we were over that). And it's quick! They bend our tickets depending on what kind of drink we want. I went with lemonade. Then in rounds they bring a creamy vegetable soup, a biscuit, an entire rotisserie chicken, pork loin, corn on the cop, a potato and a final pastry. I couldn't even finish the pastry, I was so stuffed. But it was awesome.

Grade: A


So, those are all the main restaurants we visited. BUT we also went to some other cool places, like the Smoky Mountain Opry, the Old Forge Distillery (where I bought chocolate moonshine) and two different candy shops: The Old Mill Candy Kitchen and the Smoky Mountain Candy Makers. Lots of taffy was had. And is still being had.

The Wonder Bar has a spectacular reputation in the state. It's known as one of the best, and since it's located right in Clarksburg, Vicki and I saw it fitting to try it for a celebration dinner. The restaurant is located atop a hill bearing its namesake, giving it a beautiful view of the city.

We arrived for our reservations around 6:30 and were seated in a back room. I noticed the dark, old-school interior and how the part we were in looked like it was an addition. The main area had dark red walls, and the ceiling was slightly different.

Our waiter brought us out menus, and we ordered a special appetizer - crab-stuffed shrimp. There were only a handful, but they were good. Some melted butter on the side.

I ordered the petite filet mignon (6 oz.), which came with a house salad. Our waiter got a little confused. I asked for blue cheese on mine with their house dressing, but somehow ended up getting the blue cheese dressing with mozzarella cheese. Vicki had an incorrect salad altogether, but when they brought out the wedge, it looked great. Mine was tasty, despite it not being exactly what I had ordered.











We were served some bread along with our entrees.

We had the option of adding onions or mushrooms to our steak, so I got mushrooms. Plus cheese melted on the top of the steak. For my side, I got pasta with their blush sauce. The steak came with bearnaise sauce, and it was just truly delicious.

It was cooked to a perfect medium, the cheese was amazingly rich, melty and creamy. Mushrooms added a nice flavor, and the sauce was just a different level of rich. The meal overall was spectacular. Nice attention to detail and additions to make the meal customized.

The pasta on the side was an after-thought, and I mostly ate this leftover since I had so much for my entree. But the sauce was a good - a nice mix of their red and white.

At this point, I was super pleased with our meal. From start to finish, I had great food. The appetizer was good, the salad was good, the entree was incredible, and the sides were all great. So, I figured I'd top it off with dessert.

I ordered this mousse for dessert. By this time it was around 8:30. We didn't eat especially slow, but we had a few different courses, and they weren't always the quickest to come out. But I noticed that we were literally the only table left in the dining area. They had pushed all the tables to the edges and literally began sweeping right beside our table.

If there's a more blatant way to say "get out," I think it would be to verbalize that statement. There were people coming in and setting up. Apparently they booked that room at 8:30 for some event. If that's the case, I'm not sure why you would sit someone in there at 6:30. Unless they assume we would get an entree and leave. But they also weren't quick to deliver each dish.

Regardless, it really left a sour taste in my mouth. The dessert was great. I could've probably bathed in it. And I highly recommend it, but if I'm paying in the three-digits for a meal, please don't be sweeping literally right beside my table, urging me to leave, as all that dust is flying into my $13 dessert.


Grade: B

All of the sushi places in Morgantown probably know me by name now, so my friend Afton and I decided to get out of town for a bit and try something different.

We ventured out of Morgantown, through Fairmont and landed in Clarksburg at their resident Japanese restaurant: Shogun Japanese Steak House.

Rather than go through the hibachi show, we sat in the sushi bar area. Unfortunately, they sat us right beside the door and every time new people would come in, not only did they gawk over us and our food, but they also let in this chilling puff of air. Bleh.


The menu is very visual, but none of the rolls really spoke to me. So I looked over the accompanying chef special rolls (all of which were $11). I had the TNT roll, which was spicy tuna, crab, avocado, deep-fried and topped with spicy mayo, eel sauce and masago. I also ordered the Shogun Crab Roll, which was crabmeat and cucumber wrapped in seaweed and rice, topped with shredded crabmeat and Japanese sweet mayo. Afton ordered the Tokyo, which was two pieces of shrimp tempura, topped with spicy tuna, crunch and eel sauce.

Our waitress was incredibly sweet and accommodating. Our food came out fairly quickly, despite them being fairly busy on a Saturday night.

The TNT roll was good. I think they forgot my masago, but it was fine, regardless. Maybe this is me being bratty, but when it's deep-fried, I kind of like the tuna to still be raw on the inside, which probably isn't easy to do. But I've had it before and now prefer it that way. So this was fine. Not super flavorful - quality could've been maybe a little less than extra fresh.

The Shogun Crab roll was pretty simple. The sauce on it, which ended up being this white/cream/yellow sauce was just ... not appealing. I think if it were totally white, like a mayo, or totally yellow, it would've been a different story. But it just looked goopy and yucky.

The Tokyo roll wasn't bad either. I hate having to rip apart a roll to take the tail off in tempura rolls because it just becomes a mess, but it was fine.

I just keep finding myself saying that these items weren't bad. They were kind of right down the middle average. I wouldn't seek this place out again, but if it were convenient, I wouldn't be opposed to going.

Grade: C

When I have intentions of trying a new restaurant, it's usually quite deliberate. I have heard about it or saw its new opening, and I venture to try it.

That wasn't the case with Charleston's Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse. Nothing about it stuck out to me. Probably because I have seen about 1,000 other restaurants with this exact name, so it has taken on a sort of generic feel. But I passed it quite often considering it's near Target. And one day, while hungry and out and about, my friend and I went here instead of the couple of fast food places nearby.

It was nice inside, from what I saw - minus a few glitches, like an oddly placed sink and trash near the entrance. But the interior was clean And service was okay. We stood around looking puzzled for a minute when no one was at the front reception area.

Instead of hibachi, we just sat in the dining area for sushi. So this may be a different experience than had we been getting the full experience.

I ordered an appetizer - the eggrolls, which came out entirely too greasy and just unappealing all together. It felt like grease just spurted out when you tried to take a bite. Just no.

I got two rolls Salmon Dynamite: deep fried salmon, crab stick, avocado and spicy mayo on top. And a Special California Roll: crab, cucumber and avocado which is topped with baked crab and eel sauce. Not sure why I wanted to get the two most unhealthy rolls that day, but whatever.

The Salmon Dynamite was my favorite. The deep-frying was only on the outside, so the salmon inside is still mostly raw, save for the end pieces. But it's good. I appreciated the crunch on the outside with the spicy mayo sauce.

The Special California Roll was served hot, really. Which was interesting but different. It just simply had too much crab topping on top. It dominated the whole flavor of everything and made whatever was under it soggy.  Just meh.

However, I think it is less pricey than comparable places, and when I went, it wasn't too busy. So, not too bad of an option.

Grade: B

Friend and journalist superstar Ashley B. loves her some hibachi. Specifically, the Fujiyama Japanese Sushi and Steak House is her go-to. I accompanied her one Friday evening.

I ordered a chicken teriyaki hibachi dinner as well as West Virginia roll - which made me entirely happy. I love the West Virginia roll at Volcano in Morgantown, and it's essentially the same thing here - shrimp tempura, cream cheese, avocado, crab. Divine.

The soup and salad were the same as every other restaurant. The soup is a light broth; the salad has that awful ginger dressing that I abhor.

The actual hibachi portion was fun. Instead of shrimp, the chef tossed zucchini to each member at the grill. I - because I'm crazy - sometimes feel anxious about this. But it was good fun, and I was able to catch it so it didn't mess up my makeup like usual.

Anyway.

The chicken teriyaki was tasty. Your usual. The noodles, as usual, were tasty. And the vegetables were all great. I can't complain about my meal - just that it was exactly what I expected because I've had the exact same thing at every hibachi restaurant. It's like McDonald's, you can get the same burger all over the country.

With that said, it was still very good. Just nothing different, nothing surprising. I do love love the sushi roll, though. And I will probably go back for that alone. I haven't found that anywhere else in Charleston.

Grade: B

I went to Fujiyama in Fairmont a while back because I just wanted a change from Morgantown sushi joints. It seems as though there's a small chain of Fujiyama Japanese Steakhouses, but this one looks to be unrelated.

Located at 422 Marion Square, the restaurant instilled some trepidation in my veins upon approaching it. The area doesn't seem to have been updated very recently, and the building? Looks like a solid double-wide trailer.

Walking inside, though, is a different story. The decor is sleek and elegant. Not something I was expecting. But it is modern and made me feel more at ease.

I ordered crab rangoons that were out. of. this. world. I really have developed a preference for the super creamy, indulgent ones. Most takeout places have this blocky, chunky mixture inside, but this was the opposite. Something about the crunchy exterior and the smooth center does something to my tastebuds. This just got all sorts of romantic novel-like. Moving on.

I ordered two rolls: a boring Hollywood Roll - cream cheese, avocado, crab roll. I tend to do these "buffer" rolls in case I'm not a fan of the other. Can you go wrong with crab, avocado and cream cheese? Not in my book. It's always a solid choice.

 The other roll I ordered was the Bayridge Roll, and it included salmon, asparagus, crab, and cream cheese, and was topped with masago, eel sauce, spicy mayo and house mayo. It was different, but also tasty - maybe the combination of a thousand sauces making it sweet and tangy had something to do with it.

Grade: B

Of the two hibachi restaurants in Morgantown, I had only gone to Fujiyama until recently. That needed to change before my time in Morgantown expires. Hibachi Japanese Steak House is located along University Avenue, and the exterior has probably seen better days. But don't let it discourage you.

Walking inside, you can see some age on the walls. I know the restaurant has been around since I've been here - so 6 years at least. But it's cool and that they have little eclectic momentos and decorations that they've gathered over time. We actually opted not to do the hibachi show and instead just took a table. We were seated right in front of the sushi bar, which was great to see the fresh fish and chef making rolls right in front of us.


The menus were kind of overwhelming, to be honest. While they were interesting - it was slightly difficult to navigate, and I felt like I had to look at three separate places for the kinds of sushi. Or maybe I'm stupid. I decided on the chicken teriyaki dinner and an order of pizza rolls. Pizza rolls? They're a specialty sushi with crab, shrimp, avocado, spicy mayo, crunchies and smelt roe.

They first brought out the salad and miso soup. While the soup was on the more bland side, the salad was better than I've had before. I typically don't enjoy the ginger dressing, but this was smooth and more like Thousand Island dressing.


Next was my sushi. It was very tasty. Fresh ingredients, good flavors, firm texture. Definitely good. It was even in a cute little flower arrangement. Side note: I noticed the sushi chef was not Japanese. And, he's also the head sushi chef. So that was interesting. You don't see that every day. But he seemed really good and really sweet, too.

After sushi, my plate of noodles came out. That's not typically how it's served - usually all three portions of the combo meal are served together. So it was weird to just have the noodles, but soon after the chicken and the veggies came out, too.

The noodles were tasty, as were the veggies. The chicken was pretty average. I was really looking forward to the "yum yum" sauce, but in fact, no sauce was in sight. We asked about the sauce a little later, and our server apologized and brought it out. Might I add our server was actually great - super helpful, super kind.

But the sauce we got, I wasn't super impressed with. It wasn't the creamy "yum yum"; it was more tangy - more of a bite to it. So, it was okay, just not ideal.

Overall, I liked the service, the sushi, and the noodles. The chicken itself wasn't super flavorful, and the sauces didn't help a whole lot. But it's still a fun environment. And if you're into getting pieces of seafood chucked at your face, you might want to hit up the kitchen. If you're one of those guys who is gifted with that, I'm envious.


Grade: B