Masala House Indian Bistro opened a location along the Mileground in Morgantown.

"Masala House Indian Bistro has been serving delicious authentic Indian food to residents since 2018, and the success of our operations may be measured by our popularity among Indian nationals and other expatriates, student and natives, all of whom appreciate the fine taste of Indian food as well as the reasonable prices. ​ It's not just us saying that - our restaurant has received independent accolades and rave reviews from the press, notable the 'Editor's Choice,' 'Outstanding Indian, and 'Best Indian' awards from the largest expat magazines. ... Masala House Indian Bistro is your best destination for great tasting, authentic Indian food, with all your favorite Northern Indian recipes, highlights from the Southern Indian style of cooking. In fact, we have so many choices on our menu that it is sometimes difficult to decide what to eat! This makes our special-value lunch full meals a tempting option, and an excellent way for you to try a little - or a lot! The popularity of our food and service has allowed us to expand from our first small restaurant in Pittsburgh PA to the Morgantown WV area. ​"

"Indian" food can be a pretty broad term to describe a large variety of foods available across the country, which of course has variances depending on culture and location. Masala boasts flavors from both Northern and Southern India - but what does that mean? I turned to Food52 to get an idea of the differences between the two. 

North:
Prominent dishes: You’ll find lots of breads and curries in the North. Much of what you eat in the restaurants in the West—such as naan bread, rotis, samosas, curries such as palak paneer (spinach and cheese) and aloo ghobi (potato and cauliflower), and the like—is North Indian.
Spice mixture and powder: Garam masala is the predominant spice mixture used.
Sour ingredient: Sourness is a prevalent flavor in Indian food. Amchoor (dried mango powder) is used as a souring agent in curries.
Dried herb: In the North, some sauces are accented with the use of dried fenugreek leaves.
Hot drink: In the North, you finish a meal off with tea or chai.

South:
Prominent dishes: Generally speaking, South Indian cooking is based around rice, lentils, and stews. Dishes such as dosa (a lentil and rice crêpe), idli (steamed lentil rice cakes), saaru/rasam (tomato, tamarind, and lentil soup), and huli/sambar (spicy lentil and vegetable stew) are all from the South.
Spice mixture and powder: Huli pudi (sambar powder) is often used to spice dishes.
Sour ingredient: Tamarind is used in stews.
Dried herbs: Dried curry leaves flavor some of the soups.
Hot drink: You’d finish off the meal with a special type of coffee made with chicory.



So, back to Masala House - there's plenty of parking, and while the space inside isn't huge, it wasn't busy when I stopped by so we were able to spread out a bit. They have a buffet table, but it was not operating while I was there. 



Masala offers a special thali meal at lunch and dinner, which affords the opportunity to try a little bit of a few different dishes. Thali the meal refers to many different dishes (both vegetarian and non-vegetarian), served in small bowls called (Katori in Hindi) arranged on a Thali, or a platter. A flatbread, rice, pickle, salad, and dessert are also included, as is bread (like chapatis).



So while I absolutely love eating like this, I am the worst at writing down what things were. I know the goal is to have white rice, an appetizer, naan, vegetarian curries, meat curries and daal. So there was a mix of salty, sweet, sour, spicy flavors. And no, not all Indian food is spicy. I'm mostly a wimp when it comes to spice, and the folks are more than happy to make the dish according to the spice level that you specify. 

Everything I had I enjoyed - but I especially loved the pea and mushroom dish, as well as the tandoori chicken. So much flavor. Plus kheer - one of my all-time favorite desserts. Have you been?

Grade: A

Stewart's Country Kitchen & Bakery in Point Pleasant is moving soon, so I wanted to be sure to showcase them before they do so. 



The homestyle restaurant isn't going too far, though, so no worries. I was excited to check this place out because they have a pick-up window, which makes it easy for me to check them off my list while passing through the town.



The menu features favorites like smothered chicken, burgers, and one of my personal favs: meatloaf. I got it with spuds two ways: mashed potatoes and potato salad. It was a bit dried out and I would've liked three times the amount of sauce - but the mix of onions and peppers inside was good and well-seasoned. A serving of bread pudding was pretty dense and could've benefitted from some sauce or fruit inside. Again, though, I enjoyed the flavors.

Grade: B

I had never heard of South of the Border before, but when I was driving south I stumbled upon it along the trip.



It's hard to miss really. I saw some giant signs and sculptures from the road so I knew I had to make a stop. It certainly is a tourist trap and has questionable characterization of folks. But I wanted to see what the hubbub was all about.  

South of the Border has been a landmark of the southeast for nearly 70 years, and we see no end in sight! Our trademark has always been a value-oriented service ~ we provide a clean, safe & fun environment for travelers of all types to visit on their way to or from the southeast. Our attitude is our philosophy – take it easy on the road of life! In 1949, Mr. Alan Schafer built a simple 18 x 36 foot beer stand known as South of the Border Beer Depot. As it adjoined the North Carolina counties, which were dry of alcoholic beverages, business boomed. A few years later a 10-seat grill was added and the business was re-named South of the Border Drive-In.

In 1954, Mr. Schafer added 20 motel rooms. Materials for the addition were shipped to “Schafer Project South of the (North Carolina) Border”. Mr. Schafer shortened the name of his business to South of the Border.

Business was steadily expanded with Mexican trinkets and numerous kitsch items imported from Mexico. The site itself also began to expand to include a cocktail lounge, gas station and souvenir shop. In 1962, South of the Border expanded into fireworks sales, potentially capitalizing on the fact fireworks were illegal in North Carolina. In 1964 it was announced that the route for I-95 would pass right by South of the Border, and the facility would be next to two exits and within view of the highway. By the mid-1960s, South of the Border had expanded to include a barber shop, drug store, a variety store, a post office an outdoor go-kart track complete with other outdoor recreational facilities and the 104 feet (32 m) tall image of the mascot, Pedro.One may ask, “How did Pedro come about?” Well, Mr. Schafer went to Mexico to establish import connections and met two young men. He helped them get admitted to the United States, and they went to work at the motel office as bellboys for several years. People started calling them Pedro and Pancho, and eventually just Pedro.

What about those signs? They are all designed by Mr. Schafer himself. Around 175 billboards are north and south from the Virginia/North Carolina state lines to the South Carolina/Georgia state lines. (At one time there were more than 250 different billboards from Philadelphia, PA to Daytona Beach, FL.) Many of these billboards are on I-95. They are also north and south on Highway 301/501, east and west on Highways 9 & 17. There are a few billboards on I-20.



South of the Border has a few different restaurants -  one of them being Pedro's Hot Tamale. They serve breakfast, Tex-Mex food, and even beer. I went with an odd combination of both a cheeseburger and a pork tamale just to try the range of food they had available.



Both of these I actually thought were fine. The cheeseburger had plenty of cheese, which is always my favorite part of the sandwich and the tamale - while I don't know enough to know whether it was traditional or not - it was tasty. So it was a quick easy stop that filled my belly and a check mark off the list.



Grade: B

I’ve never been to a Church’s Chicken until this past year. There aren’t any - to my knowledge - in West Virginia, and while traveling, I like to try local places. 



But I found myself hungry in the southern part of the country and a Church’s nearby. The fast food chicken company features fried chicken, chicken strips, chicken sandwiches and sides like fries, corn, okra, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes and cole slaw. Bonus: banana pudding! 



I ordered a simple chicken tender box with honey biscuits and jalapeño poppers. I was mostly thinking about what could be the least messy to consume while driving. 



So, my major takeaways were this: The strips were not super moist, and the batter was not especially crisp. But was it a solid tender I’d be happy to chow dow on? Without a doubt. Biscuit was a bit too dry, and the jalapeño poppers were fine. 



I think folks gravitate toward whatever chicken chain they grew up with - whether that’s Popeyes or KFC or Raising Canes or what have you. For my money, Dairy Queen has my favorite chicken strip basket. 

Z Brick Oven Pizza in Huntington offers salads, pasta, calzones, subs, and, of course, pizza. 



The Huntington pizza shop has some specialty pizzas that are fun: buffalo chicken, Hawaiian, Greek, taco, etc.



I ordered the "Loaded Potato Pizza," which had like a béchamel sauce, sliced potatoes, bacon and cheese, and it was so good! 



Think delicious scalloped potatoes - all on a pizza. I'm a fan.

Grade: A