Bento is a typical meal common in Japanese cuisine. Many Bento consist of rice, fish or meat, and pickled or cooked veggies. The containers can be pretty cool looking. Many of the local Asian restaurants in Morgantown have a lunchbox special. Morgantown Magazine recently had a photo of Volcano's lunch box.
You can get your own Bento box, laptop lunch box or others easily online. I've been thinking about getting one recently, but there are a lot of little containers to clean! This tumblr inspired me - it documents this person's lunch. It's pretty awesome.
Anybody have one? Thoughts?
My friend, Ben, and I went to the Regatta Bar & Grille located at the Waterfront Place Hotel to celebrate my birthday. It's a higher priced restaurant, typical for most located inside a hotel, but for a special occasion, I splurged. I think their menu changes occasionally, so be aware of that.Parking is available in the neighboring garage, and the restaurant validates it so you don't have to worry about paying. However, when I went this time, our dinner lasted about two hours today. That's fine, because we were chatting. But apparently 2 hours is around $4, and the validation is only good for $3. So I had to call for help, as I was already at the gate with cars behind me. I was disappointed that there's a pretty short time they allow you to park. Luckily, the parking attendant let me go, not that he had another choice, but I'll keep that in mind for next time.
We were served a small basket with two dinner rolls and some breadsticks, along with some butter and a cream cheesey butter. Basic flavors here. Looking over the menu, the first thing that caught my eye was the "Spicy Chili-Garlic Seared Atlantic Salmon." It was served with a house salad, as well as sweet mirin rice and julienne vegetables on the side for $18. The suggested wine pairing was a MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir '08 ~ Sonoma, California, which was a tasty, smooth wine.
First, though, the house salad came out. I wasn't expecting much, since it was packaged with the entree. But it was something, alright. Packed with iceberg, romaine, spinach, bacon, gorgonzola, red onion, roasted tomatoes, all in a white balsamic. This was phenomenal. Creative, delicious, yet simple.
My entree was out not too long afterward. A long, white plate housed a large, pink filet of salmon, coated with a red chili sauce, all on top of that sticky rice and julienne veggies. I took for granted their definition of "spicy." I took a bite, and my lips were warm and tingly. But the flavors were powerful. The fish was tender, delicate even, and the spicy sauce added a nice kick. I paired it with the rice to add a base so I didn't get too heated. It really was delicious; it wasn't just hot for the sake of being hot. The chili flavor was fantastic, and the heat only enhanced the flavors of the salmon. The sides were a great pairing to keep the spice from overtaking my tastebuds.I'm two for two on dishes so far, so I ordered dessert: World Famous "Carnegie Deli" cheesecake. Large: check. Creamy: check. A couple strawberries and whipped cream were nice. I think some stripes of strawberry or caramel sauce could have done wonders, but it's hard to mess up a cheesecake. Pretty tasty.
While I'm usually skeptical of hotel restaurants, this one did pretty well with my meal. I'd be happy to check it out again.Grade: A
Driving back from the mall one day I noticed the sign for the Shape Shop. In a Westover plaza, the outside had a red/white checkered theme that was reminiscent of a picnic. It sounds like a weight loss shop, but after some research, I found out it is, indeed a small restaurant. How had I not heard of this before?
Apparently the Shape Shop opened in 1976 in Charleston, WV. It's based on the idea of making healthy, delicious food in portion-controlled sizes available to the community. In 200, a second location opened in Huntington, WV. And eventually a Morgantown location was opened. This restaurant has a few tables, as well as some grocery items for purchase. It's like a store/restaurant combo. They even have some refrigerated and frozen items. When we walked in, there were more employees than diners. In fact, the whole time we were there, we were the only diners. Guess I wasn't the only one who didn't know about this place.
The employees were genuinely friendly and wanting to help. It was, however, a little overwhelming to have so much attention right on you when you're just trying to figure out what to do. But they were kind and helped us out. We looked over the menu, and I decided on a Greek in Spinach Wrap ($5.50) that was a spinach wrap, lettuce, black olives, onion, feta, tomatoes, pepperocini and caesar dressing. I also got a cup of stuffed pepper soup.
They made the wraps right off to the side, in front of you. And before I knew it, I had a fresh, delicious wrap sitting in front of me. It was more flavorful than I had anticipated - all the ingredients were flavorful, fresh and combined beautifully. I did take out some of the pepperocinis - a little too spicy for me. But overall, it was very tasty. An extra something would've really punched it up though.
The soup was also hearty. Warm and different, the soup was tasty. It, too, could've used some more spice to really punch up the flavor, but it was still good. If you want to try a new, healthy place with very friendly, knowledgeable staff, this is the place.Grade: B
I saw a sign for Milano's Pizza II pop up at the Northpointe Plaza. I have never been to Milano's Pizza (the original), but it does seem to exist. Don't worry, I'll be trying that one soon. A friend and I decided to check this new pizza place out. Thoug hit's tough to make a left turn into this plaza, I like that there is ample parking. When we walked inside, I was surprised to find such a comfortable atmosphere.
It was bare - nobody was sitting at the booths that lined the walls or the tables inside. But the cook was slaving away in the kitchen. They must have a lot of to-go orders. The cook was warm, welcoming, inviting. He greeted us in his thick Italian accent. That was a good sign. We looked over the menu - I ordered breadsticks, a small pizza and a drink. This man didn't write down a thing - he had it all, as well as my friend's order. I went to pay, but he hushed me. He wasn't concerned about me paying. He was concerned about me having a good experience. He said for me to pay later.That was sweet of him, I thought. I sat back down and watched the TV they had on overhead. He had some orders he was fulfilling. The oven is right there in front of you, so I'd watch him toss the dough by hand and sprinkle the cheese. It was a really cool experience. It felt authentic.
When our pizzas were ready, I walked back up to the counter to grab our dishes. I went to pay again. He turned me away again. He told me later. I laughed it off then went to enjoy the pizza. The breadsticks were thick, fluffy, tasty with parmesan cheese generously garnished. The marinara was thin, but hearty. The pizza was fantastic. Classic New York style - these large slices were overwhelmed with oozy, greasy cheese, the crust thin and the tomato sauce robust. I love it. I love the atmosphere. This guy knows he has a good product, and he wants you to enjoy it.
Tons of people came in and out for their to-go orders. They know it's good, too. And super cheap.It wasn't until I cleared off my table and took the trays back to get to-go boxes that he let me pay. I'll be certain to go back. And I definitely need to try the other location. I gotta say, it's within my top five - up there with Pizza Al's and PeppeBroni's.
Grade: A
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