There are no lengths I'm not willing to go to in order to try a new (to me) restaurant. Such is the case when I had a craving for Chinese food, but I could only justify it if I could produce new content for my blog. And since I've tried all the Chinese restaurants in the Charleston area, I was led to Montgomery.



China House Xiu Hunan is the only, I believe, Chinese restaurant in Montgomery, so it has the market cornered. It was previously named Potamkin and has had decent reviews over the years. During COVID-19, they do not have indoor dining, so it looked more like it was used for storage and it had dim lighting. 



I had put in an order online, and when I got there, they said it was ready. But then I waited another 15 minutes or so. Once I got my bag stuffed full of food, I sped home (not literally, in case there are any cops reading) to try it out.



Let's start with the pad thai. This is one of my favorite dishes, but I just have not found a good version in the Kanawha Valley. It's a bit bland, the texture overall is just a bit mushy, and I'm looking for the nutty, sweet, chewy dish I love. And this just wasn't it. 



Next up, I tried honey chicken. I probably ate the most of this - it has the sweet tangy flavor of a General Tso or Crispy Chicken entree you might expect. It's not all white meat, though, which I was hoping for. I also don't think this one exactly agreed with my tummy.



Finally, we also tried the coconut shrimp. The coconut sauce came on the side, which was nice. But the breading for the shrimp was soft and mushy. So, I tried to pick off most of that and just dip the shrimp in the sauce. It wasn't too bad that way.



This place did have a few different items - like a crab eggroll. This had a stick of crab in the middle and like stuffing filling up the remainder. I really liked it. 



Then, of course I had to try whatever a cheese eggroll is. And, it's essentially the cream cheese in crab rangoons enveloped in a spring roll wrapped. I liked it!



And to top things off, I tried the crab rangoons. I think I liked the eggroll one better, because the rangoons are super hard around the fried edges. But the filling - always good.

Grade: C

Gino's Pizza and Spaghetti House has a number of locations throughout West Virginia, and while they may not be quite as ubiquitous as Tudor's, they're probably not far off. In fact, they're usually attached to one another.



The locations do vary slightly from one to the other. Some have independent owners (I believe), which means they can switch up some of the menu items. In this case, I went for a calzone with cheese and mushrooms. You can see it's a litttleeee extra done, especially on the bottom. And I would not have hated some more filling, but I still ate every bite. 

Grade: B

Camp Virgil Tate is a 4H Camp in Charleston that also hosts a variety of events, like meetings, retreats, and even weddings. 



They have partnered with Turnrow Appalachian Farm Collective to provide some of their delicious baked goods for sale. They have pepperoni rolls, pierogis, quiche, and breadsticks available. So, I put in an order for some pierogis and pepperoni rolls. Unfortunately, the pierogis were delivered to a different location, so I didn't get those. BUT, I did get the pepperoni rolls!



These are packed full of pepperoni and cheese - no giant air pocket here. They're dense and have this garlic herb butter sort of wash, and they are pretty tasty. Have you tried?

General Steak & Seafood, located on Quarrier Street, is like an expanded version of Joe's Fish Market.



The once-fish market now has a meat counter, as well, and the famous Yugoslavian Fish Stew is still a staple.



So, walking in, you have a fresh seafood counter to the right. A meat counter - all sourced from Buzz - to the left. And a few cooler items straight ahead. 

Folks here are super attentive and willing to help. I had no idea what I wanted to get, really, so I looked up and down the coolers a bit. I have to give a shoutout to Becca for being the absolute best. She immediately welcomed me as soon as I walked in (so I wasn't standing there awkwardly trying to figure things out), she let me have some time to browse, she was right there when I had questions and helped me pick out the best filets. Plus, I think there's something to be said for seeing another woman there - it's comforting when I was the only other woman there.



I ultimately went with the filet mignon (how can you say no when seeing these beauties??), plus some crab cakes, then crab dip and tartar sauce. Becca gave me a tip for the crab dip - while you CAN enjoy it cold, try it warmed up with some hot bubbly cheese on top. Yum. Everything was delish.



Grade: A

I think it's important that every town has at least one solid pizza joint.



And, it's usually the tiny, little, hidden pizza joint that has the best pizza.



So, I'm always on the hunt for good pizza when traveling.



Parkersburg is no stranger to pizza, but now that I've hit up the most popular places, it's time to check out some of the more off-the-radar spots, like DM's Pizza Shop. Which, I think, stands for Donnie Mozzarella's.