There's a comforting, soothing element to ice cream. It's rich, it's indulgent, and it's special - a treat.

My love affair with this confectionery creation began when I was young. Growing up in a lower middle-class family, we pinched pennies whenever possible. And ice cream, well, it's not a necessity. So when we were able to get it, it was special. It was a treat.

I didn't realize the sense of comfort it brought me until I first moved away from home at age 18 to attend West Virginia University. As a freshman, I was required to stay in a dorm, and the nearest dining option was the beloved Cafe Evansdale - otherwise known as going to eat at Towers.

They had a pretty simple ice cream machine there that I would treat myself to every so often. And it reminded me of something special at home. Now, it still holds that meaning to me. It's this kind of reward when I need a pick-me-up or a celebration.

After a long and trying week, Pufferbelly's Ice Cream Station was calling my name. This restaurant features old-school, hand-dipped ice cream in an old train station-themed building at 1024 Fairmont Avenue.

All Aboard Appetizers, Station House Salads, Steam Engine Soups, Signal Crossing Sandwiches, Round House Wraps and Paninis, and Cattle Car Burgers are just some of the items featured on the menu. They even had a display of a Turkey dinner in honor of Thanksgiving that customers could order.


The ice cream, though, is the show stopper. Not to be outdone, they too bear train-themed names like the "train wreck," which is their version of a s'mores sundae. The one that caught my eye was their "locomotive," which has pretzels, caramel and fudge.

You can choose if you want hand-dipped ice cream from their freezer or soft-serve from the machine. I went with a soft-serve twist so I could get both chocolate and vanilla. They put the toppings down first, then the ice cream, then reverse the toppings so you essentially get an ice cream sandwich in sundae form.

The dining area is deceptively large, with a dozen or so tables to rest and enjoy a hot meal or cool treat. The restaurant has a laidback vibe with relaxed lighting and warm colors.

Oh, and the ice cream? Pretty tasty. It was filled to the brim with ice cream, hot fudge and caramel while small pretzels toppled over the edges. If you're a fan of that sweet and salty combo like I so enjoy, this is a good option for you. I only wish that it was a little lighter on the fudge because it could tend to take over the flavor. Still, tasty.

Pufferbelly's Ice Cream Station is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday. It is located  at 1024 Fairmont Avenue in Fairmont, West Virginia.













Grade: B
 

I went to Schmitt's Saloon when they FIRST opened - like had a limited menu and everything - and it was one of the worst dining experiences I've had in Morgantown - maybe anywhere. So much so that I debated how to write my review until so much time passed that I probably couldn't have even written an accurate one. It just wasn't even clear in my memory anymore.

I can tell you the service was atrocious - I waited more than an hour to get my bill. The food was awful - including a fly in a cup of ranch dressing, wings that were undercooked, and a burger that was supposed to have cheese in the middle but was instead burnt and all the cheese had seeped out.


Since then, I've had friends tell me it's gotten better and I should try it again. So, I did.

Schmitt's Saloon is positioning itself to be the premier country bar in town. There was a lot of press (and here and here and here, just to name a few) about it opening because WVU football standout Owen Schmitt is the mastermind behind the restaurant/bar. They frequently have live music, including the Davisson Brothers, with whom they headquarter.


It's located across from the Glenmark Center, so there is some parking available. Inside, the wood comes from reclaimed church benches, which I was told my first visit. There's a bar and stage area. They serve drinks in mason jars. The girls wear short short jean shorts - denim panties really - with flannel and cowboy boots. A jukebox in the corner plays country hits on repeat - sometimes too loudly.

And the menu? Well, seems like something that a football player created: fried pepperoni rolls, bourbon glazed deviled eggs, deep-fried pizzas, funnel cake, deep-fried Snickers, deep-fried Oreos, etc. Lots of shock value, novelty items.

To start off, we ordered the Schmitty Sampler: Jammin Fries (sweet potato fries topped with peanut sauce, bacon and banana chips), bourbon deviled eggs, fried pickles and fried pepperoni rolls.

Jammin Fries - What an odd assortment of stuff. The peanut sauce was fine, I think. But the bacon wasn't nearly as crispy as it should've been. And the banana chips were nonexistent. But the fries themselves were okay. Seems like an ambitious idea that just didn't pan out.

Bourbon deviled eggs - These are okay. My mom makes a killer deviled egg, so this has nothing on her. The filling was fairly flavorless, and I like mine to be much more tangy. The bourbon glaze added a little sweetness.

Fried pepperoni roll - good. It's a good pepperoni roll, filled with pepperjack cheese, so it's all nice and melty inside. And the outside is just a little crispy instead of soft dough. Tasty. I was also a fan of the marinara.

Fried pickles - Fine. I dipped them in the honey mustard, which had a little kick to it. But I think if these were chips, they would've been better. The batter fell off most of it so meh. Kind of flavorless.

For my entree, I went with the deep-fried pizza - because where else can you get that? They're personal sized pizzas that are deep-fried and topped with sauce and cheese. You can add mushrooms, onions, olives, pepperoni, peppers and sausage. You get two small pizzas for $8.79.

This isn't really as exciting as it sounds. It's just a puffy dough with some sauce and cheese on top with three or four of the toppings you requested. Maybe if you like really thick, pillowy crust, it would work. Otherwise, it seems like a recipe gone wrong.

Dessert was fried Snickers and fried Oreos. Because fried.

The snickers was just lovely. It had a little blueberry drizzle over it. There's just something lovely about a hot chcocolate, caramel and nut candy bar covered in a batter. Good.

Oreos - here's their description on the menu: "The best tasting cream and goo you'll ever have in your mouth." Blech. But I'm not a big fan of Oreos to begin with - the snickers definitely wins out for me.

Grade: C

I've followed Smitty's to three separate locations now, despite its glaring betrayal to the English language with the words "Kountry Kreme." But where there's good ice cream, I follow.

Smitty's Kountry Kreme used to be located past the University Town Centre, but then it opened in Sabraton. The Sabraton location is still up and running, but they've now opened a dine-in location in the former TCBY in Suncrest. If you can stomach their Facebook page which often goes on religious rants or passive aggressive jabs, it's a good place to get new info.

The new place has a good bit of parking and a small dining area, which is perfect for chillier weather. There are two kind of separate menu areas. There's one behind the main counter listing  ice cream options and another to the left that lists food.

I ordered a banana split and two hotdogs with chili, slaw, mustard and onions. You know you're back in northern West Virginia when  you are charged extra for chili and slaw.

I didn't wait long before my banana split was delivered. I started jabbing at it while waiting on my food. But it was so good. 

Large scoops of ice cream drizzled in strawberry glaze or pineapple with whipped cream and slices of banana. This was lovely.

The hotdogs fell short of my expectations. The sauce tasted like an actual chili. Not hotdog chili. Like actual chili. So it was weird. The slaw wasn't good. Large pieces without much flavor. Kind of limp. Meh meh. It had a side of ruffles potato chips. I mean, it' a hotdog. But I was really hoping for some good sauce and slaw.

As a side, I was not impressed with the loud giggling girls who were working that night. One was talking over the counter to a friend in the dining room for the majority of my visit. They were young, and probably wanted the attention, but it was difficult to enjoy a conversation with my own friend with that commotion going on. 

Grade: B

While in Clarksburg for some sushi, we decided we needed some post-dinner dessert. After a quick look on Urbanspoon, we discovered Almost Heaven Desserts and Coffee Shop wasn't too far away and happened to be open pretty late.

It seems their main bakery is actually in Clarksburg, but it's only open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Coffee Shop, however, is in Bridgeport and is open Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The coffee shop wasn't tough to find, and there was parking along the side. As soon as I walked inside, I felt at home. It's this very cool, very hip vibe - but not in a pretentious way.  It's homey, and I instantly knew this would be my home-away-from-home if I lived in this area.


On the walls are chalkboards listing different coffee, bagels, cookies, shakes and a few select food items. But the large, lit cases of desserts were stealing my attention. It's cheesecake heaven.

Any kind you can think of. And pies and cookies and just amazing.

I asked the girl working what her favorite one was because they all looked so good, and she told me she was sick of all of them. So. That was pleasant.

But I went with the caramel crumble pumpkin pie as well as a slice of the peanut butter cheesecake. Each slice was about $4, but whatever. It's like a little cheesecake castle in there, and I splurged.

I couldn't really tell there were traces of caramel in the pumpkin pie, but I still love pumpkin pie, so it was great. The peanut butter pie was too good. I mean,  can you really mess these up? Probably not. But regardless, these were tasty.

Grade: A 

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