I love Fusion – Greenwood SC

Jul31

Fusion Thai and Japanese cuisine in Greenwood SC is one of my favorite restaurants. They serve (as the name implies) Thai and Japanese food.
From the Japanese menu, I like the hibachi chicken, fried rice, and fried vegetable mix (mostly cabbage though). During lunch, the entrée comes with soup and salad. It is not anything too special but it is really tasty. The portion size is also good for me. When I am really hungry, I can eat the whole thing. But on a normal day, if I eat all of my soup and salad, I can eat about half of my chicken and rice. I do not know if they make their ginger dressing, but it is good. The balance of flavors work very well together. I usually ask for extra so that I can put ginger dressing on my hibachi vegetables. Don’t knock until you try it .

From the Thai menu, I usually get one of the various curry dishes (see picture). When I have Thai food, I get white rice. The picture show the dinner portion. I was eating off of this plate for days. I did not realize so much rice comes with the meal (in the silver dish with ladle). When asked how spicy I want my food, I usually go for the medium hot spice. For anyone that eats Thai food knows, Asian spicy can cause a sneaky-take-a-minute-for-your-head-to-catch-fire feeling. And I like it!!! But if you are not used to spicy, let the server know. I do not want you to ruin your meal because you cannot eat the food if it is too spicy. Depending on who you ask, you might not get a real understanding how spicy the food is until you begin to eat it and you are sweating profusely while your nose is running and your tongue goes numb. For me, I like a little foodie torture while I feel the heat.

If you live in Greenwood and you have not been by Fusion, you are missing out on some really delicious food. If you live out of town, do yourself a favor and pass through Greenwood and visit Fusion. You will not be disappointed.

Omega Pancake House – Myrtle Beach

Jun26

Going to Myrtle Beach means eventually ending up at one of the many pancake houses. Unfortunately for us, we went to Omega Pancake House on Kings Hwy near the Convention Center. The fact that there were only 4 cars in the parking lot should have been a clue that we should have went elsewhere. But it was 1:00 in the afternoon. I was thinking that we arrived after the brunch/lunch time rush.

In any case, we entered a nearly empty restaurant.

I ordered French toast, bacon, and 2 fried eggs. Dave ordered chicken sandwich and fries. I did not take a picture of our food because it was kind of sad. Scratch that. It was very sad. I only took a picture of the sign on the outside after I left because I realized that I need to tell people about the disappointment they should expect if they decide to dine at this restaurant.

1. The French toast was Texas toast that has not been fully coated in the egg mixture. It was more fried Texas toast than French toast.

2. The eggs were supposed to be fried hard, but had a very liquid center. I don’t like liquid center.

3. The chicken sandwich was inedible because the chicken was so tough. Dave tried to cut the chicken with a steak knife with little success.

The service at the restaurant was okay and our server was friendly enough. We did not send our food back because we were doubtful the cook would be able to bring us something better. I felt like we were on an episode of Restaurant Impossible BEFORE celebrity chef Robert Irvine shows up. I wanted to go Hell’s Kitchen on the cook and yell “What the #$%* is this mess you are trying to pass off as lunch?” But I did not feel like getting arrested.

I realized the best word to summarize the food was MEDIOCRE

Overall, unless they appear on Restaurant Impossible for a total makeover or have a change in management, I doubt the food will improve. Better to go to IHOP than this pancake house (and that is saying something because I don’t like to recommend chain restaurants).

Farmer’s Shed – Lexington SC

Feb8

Farmer’s Shed is another triple D (Diners Drive-Ins and Dives) pick located in Lexington, SC

This is a Southern food joint with different meats and sides for each day Monday through Friday. The allure of this place is that it is located next to their farm where a lot of the vegetables are grown. I was fortunate to have a vacation day on a Wednesday and was able to visit. The food was so good!!!!

I ordered the cranberry pork chop because I like all things pork. I was served a thick cut pork chop with cranberry/meat broth drippings. I do not even think that is the proper way to describe it. The cranberries were not too sweet or too tart. In any case, the pork-cranberry flavors worked very well together. After I finished my plate, I wanted more. The collard greens were some of the best that I have tasted in a restaurant. I think they might even have rivaled Daddy Dz (Atlanta, GA) and that is saying a lot. Their cornbread has a little sugar on top before they bake it and so there is a little crunch on the top. It went very well with the collards. The hint of salt from the collards paired with the hint of sweet from the cornbread had my taste buds performing gymnastic flips of

joy in my mouth. At one point, I had to close my eyes to fully enjoy the experience.

If you have read any of my other posts featuring restaurants that have been featured on TV, you know that I hold the restaurants to a higher standard than normal. If a place is rumored to be so good that it is on TV, the food quality has to be perfect. Sometimes Southern food restaurants fall short because the food is not as flavorful as it appears to be on TV. I can say that is NOT the case with Farmer’s Shed. This restaurant is worth all the accolades they have received. I wished that I lived closer so that I could go there every day. I am already trying to figure out how I can get there on a Friday. There Friday menu

looks really good too.

Overall: Farmer’s Shed is definitely worth a trip! Check out their menu beforehand so that you can decide what you want to eat. Otherwise, you
might to order one of everything 😀

Cafe at the Corner – Hapeville, GA

Dec16

Café at the Corner in Hapeville GA is a small French bistro that is open for lunch only. Hapeville is a little town near the Atlanta airport. You know that the food must be good when a small town restaurant on Main street is only open for a few hours each day. When I arrived at the restaurant with my lunch group, the line was snaked around in front of the food counter. There were so many delicious choices that the 10 minutes waiting time was almost not enough for me to make up my mind. And most of that time was spent trying to decide what dessert I wanted.

I decided to order the tomato bisque, spinach quiche, and cheesecake topped with cherries. This was some of the best tomato soup I have ever had. It was creamy. The coarse cracked pepper on top added a little crunch and explosion of pepper flavor that goes well with the tomatoes. The spinach quiche was well put together and the crust was flakey with the right amount of cheese sauce.

All of the meal was leading up to my favorite part: dessert <insert applause and cheers here>. The cheesecake was rich, smooth, with perfect texture. It was not too sweet. There were more cherries than the cherry filling, which was a plus in my favor.

One of my lunch companions ordered the cake topped with frosting and almonds (seen in the picture at the top). I wish I could have tasted her cake because it looked so scrumptious when she was eating it. And it did not help that she was making sound effects like "Mmmmm this is so good". I thought about asking to taste her cake, but I did not want to offer a taste of my cheesecake. I decided to leave that alone and the next visit here I will try the Almond cake (don’t know the name of it but that is what I am calling it).

Overall: I really enjoyed eating at Café at the Corner. I did not expect such delicious food in this small town next to the airport. But now that I know about it, I am glad it exists!

Filippi Pizza Grotto – Napa CA

Dec9

Filippi Pizza Grotto is an Italian food restaurant with 14 locations throughout California. We chose the Napa location because we were going to Oxbow Market across the street but wanted more filling food than a taco. And we did not want something as ordinary as a hamburger. Filippi was across the street and we decided to give it a try after looking at their menu and prices. Their prices are comparable to Olive Garden, but the food tastes way better. The amount of food that they give is also a bargain. They are serving family size dishes here. There is enough food for two especially if you do not want to have a carry out box of leftovers.

We shared the spaghetti with marinara sauce and sausage ($9.45). All the pasta dishes came with Italian rolls. The Italian roll was about the size of a hoagie roll, crusty exterior with soft white bread on the inside. They brought it to the table warm and I ate two slices before I had a chance to butter the bread. It was that good. I am a sucker for good bread.

They make their own sausage and I could taste the effort that was put into it. The casing was a little chewy, but the meat inside was well seasoned and tender. The marinara sauce was thick and chunky with a lot of tomato pieces.

Overall: This was a hearty Italian meal served with friendly service at an affordable price.

Filippi Pizza Grotto 645 First Str Napa CA

707-254-9700