First of all, I'm not quite sure why 90% of my photos of the outside of restaurants are messed up. I think I take the photo so quickly, my phone doesn't have time to really capture the whole thing. I swear this is not user error.

Secondly, I love Asian food. All kinds, really. Sushi. Ramen. Americanized Chinese. AND, I have many more restaurants to explore in Beckley. So when Yummi Japan popped up on my radar, it was a no-brainer to go check it out. 



The Philly Roll - crabmeat and cream cheese - is everything my basic heart loves. Guilty pleasure - but very tasty. 



Then, I did a shrimp teriyaki, which was just OK. It was really salty for my taste, and not a ton of sauce/flavor outside of that.



Crab cheese rangoons - always a treat. Maybe this means I should just stick to my guilty pleasures since they're my favorite?

Grade: B

I know it seems like I've been working on this Tudor's tour forever, and that's because I have. Am I tired of Tudor's? Yes, yes I am. But we have to go on. And this day, we visited the Tudor's Biscuit World in Ravenswood, which has a cute modern country exterior with fresh flowers.



The menu is the same, and I've now tried all the biscuits - including each of the different types of ham. So, this one is a shaved ham and cheese. Classic combo. 



It's good, but at this point, I'm allowed to be a bit more picky. I don't want a ton of meat, but I also don't love when it's not full enough that the top biscuit eclipses the bottom biscuit and it's just a big bite of dry biscuit. Not bad; could be better.

Grade: B

Mr. Choo-Choo's Hotdogs made an appearance at Charleston's most recent Food Truck Wednesday. I had never heard of them, so I made the trip to Slack Plaza on Wednesday just to check them out. They have a small cart setup, with a sign out front that led me to them.



They serve all beef hotdogs that are pretty large topped with anything you'd like. I ordered one with chili, slaw, onions and added my own mustard (which is why it's looking a little messy). 



These hot dogs are cooked perfectly where they have that slight char on the outside that makes the skin have a snap. It was also split down the middle, so easier to eat, and the toppings fell into the center. I loved both the chili and the slaw. I mayyy have put too much mustard, but still, really tasty overall. And a nice little change from the regular. 

Grade: A

During one of Hurricane's recent "Food Truck Fridays," I made the trip west to check out some new grub.



Saved by Grace BBQ is a Hamlin-based food truck that has been quite active in the Metro Valley area. I was excited to see them scheduled fairly close to me, so I made a beeline when I arrived. Apparently others had a similar thought, though, because they were running low on many of their regular items.
Fortunately, I was still able to try some of their BBQ. 



I went with the pulled pork nachos, which included nacho cheese, BBQ sauce and jalapenos. It's quite the sight. A huge portion, doused in BBQ and cheese, with a layer of pulled pork spread across the top. It was like a race to get a bit of each flavor in every bite before it all went soggy. It was tasty - though those jalapenos had some extra heat (there are some seeds there!). 



And, a side of pepperjack cheese bombs never disappoints. I love these things; they remind me of memories going to the drive-in theater. Fried cheese, what could be better?



To wash down all this heat, I ordered a fresh-squeezed strawberry lemonade from the booth next to the food truck. I'm not sure if there was an official name, but I couldn't leave them out. They rounded out this meal of deliciousness. The huge drink was $5, fresh and made to order. 



Grade: A

 

Okay, I don’t know what it is about the Gino’s locations west of Charleston (different owners?), but they are far superior.

Take, for example, their menu. One location in Huntington has gelato. And the one in Milton has two menu items you don’t typically find in Charleston: pepperoni bites & Tyler’s Breadstrips.



Tyler's Breadstrips: Our own french bread recipe brushed with garlic butter, flavored with Parmesan cheese, sprinkled lightly with seasoning salt and cajun spices cut into strips and baked to a golden brown, served with our own warm pizza sauce. These are different, and this batch didn't have a ton of flavor, but the next one I did had lots.



Gino's Tasty Pepperoni Bites: Our fresh dough wrapped around our tasty pepperoni then seasoned with garlic butter and sprinkled with Romano cheese. 18 to an order. I love these. Who DOESNT want bite-sized pepperoni rolls rolled in butter, garlic and more cheese? Yes, yes and more yes.

Don’t those sound like they should be on all menus? 

Grade: A