A Chinese buffet is a guilty pleasure for everyone - admit it. They're disgustingly delicious. Full of calories and dripping in thick, flavorful sauces. They also have that kind of ick factor of it being a buffet. But alas.

The only Chinese buffet that I have discovered so far is one at the Kanawha Mall. My friend Matt and I were feeling some Chinese on this particular day and traveled across the river to sink our teeth into those troughs of food.

I think there were about three rows of islands full of sauce-drenched chicken, beef and pork. Fried egg rolls, chicken, and crab rangoons are also aplenty.

It seemed fairly fresh - they brought out a few new bins while I was at the buffet. They have a sushi portion, but I'm a little more hesitant to say that it's fresh as well. All in all, it is pretty good, but I think some more options, some fresher options and some made-to-order options would be killer. For what it is though, not bad. I enjoyed my go-to General Tso's, as well as the egg rolls and the crab rangoons.

Grade: B

Recovery Sports Grill seems to be a newer restaurant in town, and from what I gather, folks are happy to have a sports bar. It's located right on Virginia Street, and the lane in front of the building suddenly turns into parking around 6 p.m., which blows my mind. I was really confused to see a three-lane road become two lanes because the right-most lane became a parking lot. Bizarre.

There's something about a sports bar that turns me into a sports fan who loves nothing more than a beer, wings, and trivia. In this case, I just went for the wings because their menu said that "absolutely nobody does wings as well as we do." Ha!

Other menu items include burgers, sandwiches, salads, appetizers - your typical sports bar fare. I ordered 10 wings - 5 of which were buffalo bleu and 5 were sweet BBQ. I also got a side house salad because I was extra hungry.

The salad came out first. I was bummed they didn't have French because that makes a salad for me. Ranch had to suffice. It wasn't bad, actually. Some greens, onion, cheese, tomatoes and croutons. A little more to it than I was expecting.

I think whenever someone builds up an item like - "it's the best I've ever had!" or "no one tops our X!" it is instantly a failure to me. Maybe I should not put so much stock in others' opinions or maybe I think my mouth is going to melt from an overwhelming amount of amazing that I just consumed. But I feel like the more times someone talks up a place in such a way that is over the top, the more likely I am to hate it.

Sorry, Recovery.

Have you met Mario's Fishbowl's wings?

Maybe I'm too picky with wings. Here's the thing: I don't like when I feel like I'm chewing a giant piece of fat. That is a texture that is just not appealing to me. I understand its value in flavoring the dish, but skin/fat have to be cooked well done so I don't feel like I just ingested grubs. Blech.

So, I like my wing skin to be cooked well, well through. I don't want it to be slimy - I want it more crunchy. I want some bite. A couple of my wings had this - but the majority did not. Beyond that - I felt like the flavor was meh at best. Yes, 'meh' is an acceptable adjective now.

Too much build up without delivering. Wings need some extra kick. Give me some flavor, give me some spice. Maybe a different flavor would do the trick.

Dessert can redeem all. My friend ordered a cake of some sort, and I got a peanut butter pie. Both were good. That's all.

My bill came to around $25, so not bad considering the salad, the wings, a drink and dessert.

Grade: C

I only just recently visited Adelphia on Capitol Street, but I noticed this Adelphia Limited on my drive to work. It's a smaller lunch service cafe that's only a block or so from work, so it's a perfect location for me. Not only that, but it's also the opposite way of Capitol Street - which is usually where I find myself during my lunch break, so it's nice little change of pace -- not to mention a little less foot traffic in that area.

Their menu has a few gyros, quesadillas, wings, burgers, fries, and grilled cheese sandwiches. I ordered a Greek quesadilla, which is flour tortillas stuffed with gyro meat, feta, blended cheese, red onion, diced tomato, cucumber and served with Yia Yia's tzatziki sauce. I called this in, and they told me it'd be about 15 minutes.

A couple co-workers and I went to the building. There is some outdoor seating, but you go inside the actual building, and the first left is the restaurant. My total came to around $8, and I was on my way back to work.

After I opened up that styrofoam container, four small triangles stared up at me. It was a little on the spicy side, but not overwhelming. The flavors were a little muddled in the heat and spices, but it was still good.

It has the gyro elements, but I didn't realize how much the bread really pulls those flavors together and maybe the starch helps balance out those flavors. With a thin tortilla, I didn't quite get that same effect. For what it was, it was good. But I think the spices were a little heavy-handed, and I would've liked the tomatoes and cucumber to shine through a little more.


Grade: B

The Daily Cup apparently recently moved downtown. It's only a few blocks from work, so it makes for a good lunch break during the day. My coworker and I braved a rainy afternoon in search of coffee and quiche.

Located at 700 Virginia St. E., The Daily Cup is a nice, modern cafe that offers sandwiches made with cuban presses and lots of specialty coffee drinks.

I perused the case and a sandwich board that was outside before deciding on their ultimate grilled cheese sandwich and a side of spinach/ham quiche.

They pressed the sandwich, and handed me over a slice of quiche to take back to the office. The sandwiches are a pretty good size, and it was filled with four different types of cheeses, tomato and bacon. It was gooey, warm and the perfect comfort food for that gray day.

I was a little less impressed with the quiche - I wish it had set up a little more so the texture was a little stiffer. And it was kind of bland overall - no vibrant flavors. Just eggy with a little ham. A different flavor or more spices could amp it up.

Nice little cafe spot with a cool vibe. I could definitely see myself getting some homework done here.

They are open 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday & Tuesday; 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday & Thursday; and 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday.

Grade: B

So, Frutcake rounds out the Charleston trifecta in addition to Bluegrass Kitchen and Tricky Fish. They're all owned by the same folks, I believe. All of which I find okay, while I find Charlestonians tripping over themselves to compliment the places. I think they are good. Amazing? Maybe I'll have to test out some more dishes before I go that far.

Frutcake is only open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday 8 a.m to 2 p.m. So my friend and I went on a Saturday after the East End Yardsale. There are a few shabby-chic tables and chairs, but it seems as though most of the business is take out.

The place boasts organic pastries, pies, cakes and espressos. Since we got there late in the afternoon, many of the goodies behind the case were already nabbed up. But muffins, pies - which I will definitely get next time, and more were still options.

One item did catch my eye, though: A ramp scone. With parmesan cheese. Mmm. Since I didn't really experience the ramp phenom growing up that consumes the state, I'm trying to make up for lost time. I asked if I could have the last ramp scone, and the woman behind the counter said "good for you!" Apparently I don't look like the type to try different(?) foods?

For only a couple bucks, I took the scone, enclosed in a brown paper bag, and headed out. The savory scone was what dreams are made of. Crumbly chunks of the garlicky, pungent - in a good way - ramps combined with some sharp parmesan cheese was fabulous.

I ate every last crusted, flavorful piece. I'll have to try some of their other offerings soon, especially if they're as good as this was.

Grade: A