A 40-year old Fairmont dining institution suffered a devastating blow one year ago when its kitchen went up in flames, causing smoke and water damage to the rest of the restaurant. But the Aquarium Lounge took the past year to renovate and recently reopened, which I took as an invitation to make reservations for my first dinner - along with friends Geah and Kayla.



We had reservations for Friday night, and we ended up being delayed a bit due to traffic. Luckily, they were accommodating. We parked along the street and opened the front door. Surprisingly, it plops you out right in the middle of the dining room. There's not much of a waiting space, and there wasn't a hostess stand either. Geah and I sort of frantically looked around to find out which door we were supposed to enter, because we were sure it wasn't the one we just went through.



Spoiler alert: It was. It's just an odd entrance.



For starters, we ordered crab cakes. These were so tasty - a combination of being starving and all of the butter in these. Super rich, buttery, delicious.



Next - a spinach salad before my entree. Their spinach salad receives high praise from Aquarium-lovers, and it is good. It is a bed of spinach with eggs, bacon and sweet & sour dressing. A pretty good spinach salad - though I do think a few more veggies wouldn't hurt.



Oh my gosh, the bread. Ohhh myyy gosshhh the bread. I'm not too much for the cinnamon, but try that herbed garlic butter. Slather on a warm piece of bread. That alone could've made my dinner.



But, wait, there's more.



I ordered the scallops with a side of burgundy mushrooms. Butter, butter, butter, garlic. The scallops were few (only four), but they were super rich, buttery, and tasty. A little sear would've been nice. The mushrooms were tasty in a light wine sauce.


And I also wanted to try the hot peppers as a side because so many people raved. I don't quite get it - it's literally hot banana peppers. So meh.

But, overall, a really delicious meal. Very rich and heavy - but all so, so good.

Grade: A

Dragon Cafe is a new Chinese takeout restaurant in the Ashebrooke Square plaza in Cheat Lake. It replaced previous Chinese restaurant China Kitchen. If neither of those ring a bell, don't worry, you're not missing much.



Dragon Cafe serves the exact same takeout as most of the other Chinese restaurants in town. Typical Chinese-American dishes, check. General Tso's, check. Sesame chicken, check. Crab rangoons, check. But also with a little bit of pad thai and curry.


I'm not hating. I love Americanized Chinese food. It's like engineered to make my tastebuds happy. But I do want it to be done well with quality ingredients.



I ordered their general tso's, of course, because I want to be able to compare it to all the others in town. And my official word: Meh. The chicken isn't the greatest quality, and the sauce is too sweet. The eggroll was average.



Crab rangoons were on the heavy greasy side, but the filling inside was smooth.

I think the biggest selling point for this restaurant is the location. It is the local Chinese spot for those who live in Cheat Lake. And, it's not terrible, but it's pretty average. If I have my choice, I'm probably choosing a different Chinese restaurant.

Grade: C

I've heard good things about Smokin Jacks in Reedsville (Preston County). They've recently opened up a location in Morgantown called Smokin Jills. The two restaurants essentially share a Facebook page and a menu - one just calls Preston County home, while the other is in Monongalia County.



Smokin Jills is located out past Sabraton area toward Dellslow in the former Longneck Saloon space. Inside, there are a few long rows of tables with bar stools and a couple high-top tables.



Lisa and I happened to go on a Monday, which is 50 cent boneless wings night. I went with 12 boneless wings - buffalo style deep fried wings. Six are honey BBQ and six are the house special spicy garlic ranch. With 12 wings, you get two dips, so I tried both their ranch and bleu cheese.



Honey BBQ is kind of hard to mess up, right? I liked my honey BBQ wings. Nothing really stood out to me about the sauce - just a little watered down, maybe. But still not bad. Better than many I've had.

The house special spicy garlic ranch wings were heavier on the ranch, less so on the garlic. But not a bad flavor, but not a very memorable one either.

My favorite part was asking how much the orange sherbert cake was, and because it was served as part of a dinner, they didn't sell it separately. So, they gave us a piece for free! It tasted just like an orange creamsicle.

Overall, the food really wasn't bad. Better than average bar food, I would say. I liked the honey BBQ, and the garlic ranch was decent, too.

Our service was a bit off, as we were kind of ignored. And a bunch of guys came in at one point and sat at the bar and talked to the waitress, while we again were ignored. And then when the card machine wasn't working, our server was visibly angry. I think it was just a new waitress who was young and inexperienced. But, meh, a little unwelcome feeling. Except for the cake. Cake is always welcoming.



Grade: C

Firefly Farms is a goat cheese producer located in Accident, Maryland, but I discovered them right here in Morgantown. They've been a mainstay at the Morgantown Farmers Market for some time, and I've had just about every cheese they consistently sell at this point.

In fact, I visited their main location last winter, and I've been waiting to try that last cheese (Bella Vita) to post this blog. But, I found out they won't be producing it for some time, and I just didn't want to wait any longer!



Their location in Maryland is great - you can get all their cheeses, plus a variety of other kinds of cheese and accompaniments. There are cheese slates and other hors d'oeuvres. While there, I actually got a hunk of the Cabra LaMancha (my favorite), some caviar (because fancy) and had a wine tasting.



So, let's talk cheese! I mentioned the Cabra LaMancha is my favorite. It's this semi-soft cheese that has a lighter aged flavor.

I also love the Mountain Top Bleu, which is a softer bleu cheese. It's not too harsh if you're not a huge fan of bleu cheese. But if you ARE a big fan of bleu cheese...

Then the Black & Blue is for you. It's a harder, more aged cheese (on the right).

The Merry Goat Round is a bit firmer and is similar to a brie cheese, but with that stronger goat cheese flavor.

Then there's the Allegheny Chevre, which is good for cooking, as it's very soft.



Buche Noire is similar, and is good for crackers or other snacks. It has an ash rind from being coated in vegetable ash.

I've also tried their Cabrita, which is a French-inspired crottin. This one was a bit too much for me, but I'm sure others like it.



Like I mentioned, I've never had the Bella Vita, but as soon as they start producing it again, I'll be first in line! [EDIT 5/15/16: FINALLY tried the Bella Vita - so good!!]

AND the newest addition, and the reason I decided to post this now, is they are now producing TWO COW CHEESES. COW CHEESES. I bought both.

The Moo & Blue is a bleu cow cheese, which is a perfect combination between soft and hard. I have eaten about the entire thing just from snacking. It's so hard not to! It's the delicious flavor Firefly Farms is known for but in the cow cheese form - which I honestly love more. It's just a little smoother, a little cleaner. Goat cheese definitely has it's place, but cow cheese is more palatable.

The Bloomy Breeze is a brie, and it's so delicious. I am so happy Firefly has ventured into the cow cheese territory. I hope they keep it up and do even more!

The Morgantown Farmers Market is BACK, and there are two new vendors this summer! First, High Country Creamery is a cow cheese vendor. They were around during the winter markets, and they're sticking around for the summer! I've sang the praises of their cheese curds - so good. They now have dill and pepperjack curds!



Next, Patty's Pastries has bread, donuts, bear claws, pepperoni rolls and pizza crusts! I had to snag a bear claw - ribbons of cinnamon throughout were so good.



Be sure to check out the markets! Saturdays at Morgantown Market Place at 415 Spruce Street from 8:30 a.m. to noon!