Brasserie Montiel & Coffee House

Brasserie Montiel & Coffee House
2001 Commonwealth Dr.

Charlottesville, VA

Brasserie Montiel: well lit and well decorated.

This coffee house and restaurant is a superb place for breakfast, brunch, and lunch. The place is rather new but there is no learning curve necessary for the chefs here. Well decorated with bright colors and filled with light, Brasserie Montiel is just a really nice spot for a leisurely or fast meal. Here, my companion and I tried the crepes and we were not disappointed. The Nutella and banana crepes are terrific. The crepe itself is soft and well made. Some places just don’t care about the batter but these guys know how to make a good crepe that is soft, not burnt, not greasy, and tasteful. The crepe can certainly hold its own without any toppings like Nutella. My dining companion had the orange crepes and they were just as good. Another plus is that these guys use actual fruit. None of that slimy, overly sweet preservative! These are fresh fruits that really mix well with the crepe.

Tasty crepes: orange on the left and bananas with Nutella on the right.

The coffee here is also very good and I’ve enjoyed more than a few tasty cups. But what about the other breakfast items? The three-egg omelet is great too. You have your choice of cheeses: Cheddar, Mozzarella, or Boursin. Add to that chopped tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, spinach, peppers, bacon, or ham. The omelet comes with toast and hash browns. Now, are they too heavy and greasy like at most breakfast joints and diners? Not at all. These omelets are gourmet. They taste good and they’re not greasy. I don’t know how they do it but these guys have made a terrific meal that isn’t too heavy and leaves you feeling very good. Here, I’ve had an omelet with Mozzarella, spinach, onions, and ham. OK, the ham may be a bit salty but that’s a minor criticism of this really great place.

(Images by AG and MB)

Penang (Philadelphia)

117 N. 10th Street
Philadelphia, PA
(Visit their website!)

This chain restaurant is pretty tasty. Some of the menu items may be missing depending on where you go. The quality across stores, however, seems to be consistent. I have been to the Boston and the Philadelphia branches and have been impressed by both. I think I have had a slightly better experience with the service and tastiness of the meals in Boston though.

In Philadelphia my dining companion and I treated ourselves and ordered the Hainanese chicken with rice. The rice is nicely seasoned with oil (or butter?) and the sauce that accompanies the chicken is a very mild soy sauce of some sort. The texture is terrific but I wish there had been a choice of dark or white meat on the chicken. The problem with white meat, again, is that it is often cooked too dry. The secret is in the sour, spicy orange sauce that you dip the chicken in or mix with the rice. Overall, the dish is a good one.

Delicious!

The chicken with rice should have been the entire meal but we also had the mango fish. We were both expecting to get the whole fish on a platter but they served us with deep fried chunks instead. Now, they gave us a choice of catfish, red snapper, or striped bass but what does that matter if they were going to deep fry it beyond recognition anyway? The mango itself wasn’t ripe enough and it was a bit hard to get through. The whole dish was covered in this really sweet and somewhat tangy sauce, which, I’m sorry to say, did not aid the flavor. The basket (fried wanton?) it came in was nice but it didn’t really offer any taste of its own.

My dining companion and I also had the Chinese broccoli stir-fried with garlic. The dish was OK but it lacked punch and wasn’t as filled with garlic as we would have preferred. My companion, who had been here before, introduced me to the coconut rice (rice cooked in coconut milk?) and that was a nice, sweet treat.

Maybe I’ll give their noodles a chance next time.

(Images by AG)

Dahlak

Dahlak Restaurant & Bar
4708 Baltimore Ave.
Philadelphia, PA
(Visit their website!)

This restaurant is situated amidst a bunch of other African restaurants in this cute Philadelphia neighborhood on Baltimore Avenue. The inside was a bit dark at night so I couldn't take any pictures. Most of the seating areas are traditional - short, backless chairs and basket-like tables.

I was with a bunch of friends and one commented that it was odd that an Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant would have Italian food. Of course, we came to the historical reason for this at about the same time and it was a pretty funny bit of dark humor. Do most Ethiopian restaurants have spaghetti?

We ordered a bunch of dishes. The fish of the day was quite good. I'm not sure what fish it was but it was cooked with garlic, onions, and spices. Someone else ordered the chicken tibs, which were OK but not spectacular. the lamb chops (bite sized) were OK too much they might have been better if we didn't have to watch for the bones. The injera was OK too although not spectacular. The food, overall, was decent enough but I had a bit of a problem with the price. So, there were four of us and we ordered four dishes. All the food came on one tray and the presentation was typical of Ethiopian restaurants. But there seemed to be too little of it. At the end, after having consumed much of the injera on the bottom, we were still somewhat hungry. Was this Ethiopian food or tapas?

I think I would go to Dahlak again but there are also other restaurants in the area to try.

It's Only Natural

It's Only Natural Restaurant
and
It's Only Natural Market
386 Main Street
Middletown, CT

http://www.ionrestaurant.com/
http://www.itsonlynaturalrestaurant.com/

It's Only Natural is a restaurant and market in downtown Middletown offering scrumptious vegetarian and vegan food. The restaurant is deservedly known for its sweet-potato fries, which are thick, homemade, and utterly delicious.



The entrees tend to go for $10-14, and at that price they're a bargain. All of the sandwiches and burgers are served with a side of the amazingly delicious sweet potato fries. The Bella Burger, a vegan portabella mushroom burger served with red peppers, onion, soy mayo, and lettuce on wheat or focaccia bread, is particularly good, although you may have to resort to a knife and fork to finish it off.




The classic Veggie Burger is also exceedingly well done. I don't know how they make their soy mayo, but it beats the hell out of any regular mayo I've ever had! Any of the burgers can be served with ION's vegan cashew Parmesan cheese. I highly recommend it.



The beverage menu is impressively diverse, offering such items as China Cola, Carrot Juice, Fruit or Rice Smoothies, and Italian Sodas.

Other items of note on the menu include the Sweet Potato Enchiladas, vegan Pirogi, the Macrobiotic Plate, and vegan Chili.

The dining area is attractive and the service is attentive. Happy hour is from 4-6 on weekdays, when you can order $2 pints of beer and $2 sweet potato fries (I always avail myself of the latter).

A To-Go Menu is available, and they offer catering for special events.

Down the hall from the restaurant is the ION market, where you can purchase all sorts of vegetarian and vegan groceries. They offer not only an impressive variety of food, but also all sorts of natural toiletry and health products. Their website even features a health reference library.

Overall, the ION restaurant and market is an exemplary purveyor of vegetarian and vegan foods. Whether you're a vegetarian looking for a great place to eat and shop for groceries, or a carnivore in the mood for a delicious meal that's also healthy, ION is a terrific place to go.

Kebab Factory

Kebab Factory
414 Washington St.
Somerville, MA 02143

This Indian spot in Somerville isn't terrific. The decor is interesting (check out the tables with the seeds and grains) but the food didn't really impress me. This chicken dish was pretty watery and the chicken itself was sort of dry inside. That's what happens when you don't cook chicken breast meat properly. The drinks were OK and the service was pretty good. Overall though, I think there are better Indian places in the Boston area.

The tables are cool.

(Images by AG)

Pho Cafe Saigon

Pho Cafe Saigon
4248 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(Between S. 42nd and S. 43rd)


This is an avocado milkshake and it is delicious. I don't know if it is actually Vietnamese since it seems like many stores serve it but this particularly good one is at a Vietnamese restaurant. The "bubbles" are actually tapioca balls. They don't have a taste in and of themselves but they absorb the flavor of the avocado and when you suck them in and chew on them, you're rewarded with just a terrific dining experience. Yes, they make this from real avocado. From what I could see, they just scooped avocado into a blender and mixed it with crushed ice and added the "bubbles." (Did they add a bit of sugar?) This can be a meal in and of itself. Tasty and filling and healthy too. Oh, the cravings I've had for this wonderful treat. Of course, if you don't like avocado, they also have other options like mango and pineapple.

(Image by AG)

Himalayan Fusion

Himalayan Fusion
520 E. Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902

This recent addition to Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall is gaining quite a following. The menu posted outside this restaurant plus the rave reviews it got from people who had been there lured me inside even though I generally don’t’ like Indian cuisine. Of course, this isn’t exactly Indian cuisine. Whatever the difference, it makes Himalayan Fusion much tastier.

Their buffets are pretty awesome. Go on weekends and get free soft drinks and some special dishes too (for a bit extra). The general buffet isn’t bad though. Still, I’m sold on the weekend meals. Their vegetable dishes can vary in taste. I can’t remember what I had the first time but it was pretty delicious. The broccoli with mushrooms (pictured here) aren’t special but they’ll do. The salad is a bit bland with lots of onions. But their strength is in what do they do with their meats and noodles. I don’t know what they put in these stir-fried noodles with vegetables but the taste has you wanting more even though you are completely stuffed.

The fish curry is pretty good although I think there was one with more coconut milk, which was a lot tastier. Still, the meat is nice and tender. The rich flavor can be a bit overwhelming but that’s where the nan comes in. The problem is that they often run out of nan and they don’t put it in the buffet as much. Sometimes they’ll tell you that they’ve run out or that the chef is working on making more. With a staple like nan, you should have tons on hand. Does it go bad if it is left out too long? Their nan, however, is worth the wait and it is tasty.

How much nan can a person eat though? The waiters will sometimes bring you a basket of nan when it’s not available in the buffet. But the deal with the buffet is that you can police how much nan you consume. Here, I had to waste a few wonderful pieces just because I was already stuffed. They should certainly reevaluate their nan policy.

(Since originally writing this review, I have gone back to there and they seem to have taken note of the waste of nan and so it seems to now be in the buffet line.)

In the past, service has been poor but recently they have made additions to their wait staff and I have no complaints about them. One last point, they should vary the dishes in the buffets. I love chicken but I’m sure there are other meats that these folks can make scrumptious.

(Images by AG)