Well, to be honest, we’ve just begun to sample the cuisine. And none of it has been southern. But I’m sure we’ll get there 🙂
On Thursday evening, we had the opportunity to celebrate the start of the four day weekend with some of the hubster’s classmates. One of the women is Korean and she had recently scoped out a local restaurant called Koreana. With trepidation (on my part–the hubster was immediately enticed by the promise of tentacled morsels), we joined the group.
Overall impression: less scary than anticipated but it was a no go with the cartagena-to-be. Whew–killer heartburn the whole next day!

If you haven’t had the opportunity to have Korean food before, our friends tell us you can judge the quality of the restaurant by the quality of items they serve with the main dish. Most restaurants will serve between 6-7 side dishes with your main option. Ours included spicy bean sprouts, cucumbers, broccoli, sardines (ack–couldn’t get past the eyeballs!), and a few others I couldn’t identify.
I ordered a pretty traditional beef Korean BBQ dish while the hubster went for the more adventure “hot bowl.” It included some kind of meat, greens, rice, hot paste, and originally had an egg on top. The restaurant owner mixed it all together at the table and it looked like this:

Apparently it was pretty spicy. It managed to slow down the boy who thinks EVERYTHING tastes better with pickled jalapenos. Seriously.
After taking a day to recuperate (I normally love spicy food, but whew, this stuff took me out!), we decided to head north to the Richmond area to do some exploring. We weren’t really sure what we were hoping to find or hoping to do. At first, we checked out an uppity mall area that was recommended by a couple we had met the night before. It was a nice suggestion, but just not our speed. Next, we were going to try to find a good Mexican place (if anyone can find a safe way to send me El Azteca salsa, I will be your friend forever!!) but then we discovered there was a local Caribbean joint (thank you Trip Advisor). When there are tostones within a thirty mile radius, we can’t be deterred.
Following a crap-do-we-have-any-change toll scare, a few moments gawking at the gorgeous houses in the neighborhood we ended up in, and several minutes of debating the parking situation, we ended up at this little gem:


Now, I’m a hole-in-the-wall junkie. I love a good, local, ten or less tables joint. If that’s not your cup of tea, Kuba Kuba will stress you out. But if you don’t mind Barbie doll legs coming out of the light fixtures (not sure why) coupled with great Caribbean food, I highly recommend this place.
On Saturdays and Sundays, they have a brunch menu which delighted my soul. Not realizing our entrees would be accompanied with tostones, we immediately placed an order. ONLY $2.95 for at least a dozen. I would show you the picture but they were consumed before I thought of it 🙂
I got this AMAZING Cubano sandwich (made on locally baked bread) for only $6.95!

The hubster’s entree was a little bit pricier but it was enough food that he actually ate it for dinner that night as well (it’s rare that a dish, especially a Caribbean dish, doesn’t get polished off immediately).

Stuffed to the gills, we paid (FYI: they do take cards but don’t divide checks), and decided to take a walk through the Careytown area. It’s a quirky neighborhood with several independent small shops. Of course, I only took photos in the important ones: where chocolate was available.
Our first foodie stop was Careytown Cupcakes. Now, I’m a bit of a cupcake snob, but if you’re the average consumer, please take my review with a grain of salt. Then again, if you’re an average consumer, you may be thinking, who THINKS about their cupcakes?! Just eat, woman!

Store: clean, cute, good seating.
Selection: they only sell until they run out and we weren’t there until late afternoon. It looked like they ordinarily have 5-6 choices per day.
The Cupcake: marshmallow frosting was good, but the frosting-to-cake ratio was a little lacking (for my preferences). The best part: a surprise graham cracker layer at the bottom of the cake, making it truly, a s’more cupcake.
Our next chocolate stop was an amazing little place called:

Our favorite part was the variety of chocolate they had from all over the world (including our favorite Puerto Rican candy bar). We managed to keep our purchased stash within reason (comforted by the proximity if repeat trips were needed).

All in all, it was an enjoyable day. We’re really looking forward to doing more exploring in the area.
Last but not least, here’s some photographic evidence that we do feed our minds (not just our stomachs):

This AWESOME rare and used book store was a treasure trove! We found a map of Iowa from the 1850s, a book on the Spanish American War where Puerto Rico was spelled Porto Rico, and overheard a sales person say they just sold a signed copy of an Emily Dickinson text for $10,000. We managed to get out with just a reasonably priced vintage engineering text. Once again, return trips in store!
Read Full Post »