Eppie's

Eppie's is a Charlottesville legend that serves classic, down-home comfort food on the Downtown Mall.  Allie's mother wanted to take us to lunch recently, and we picked Eppie's.  I ordered the jerk chicken, which I had never had before, with mac-and-cheese and coleslaw.  The chicken was less spicy than I would have preferred for something labeled "jerk."  Even so, it was flavorful and the meat was tender and juicy.  The coleslaw was vinegar-based and easily made up for the lack of spice on my chicken.  The mac-and-cheese was a cup of gooey, cheesy deliciousness.  All of the chicken plates are also served with a piece of cornbread.  Eppie's cornbread is among the best I've had in Charlottesville - with pieces of real corn baked right in and served warm.

My mother-in-law opted for the lemon pepper chicken plate.  She liked the flavor on her chicken, but unlike mine, felt that the meat was too dry.  She chose a sweet potato and collard greens as her sides.  She raved about the sweet potato - saying that it was so sweet and juicy that she didn't even need to put butter on it (which is definitely saying something!).  She also really enjoyed the collards.

Allie ordered her favorite item from the Eppie's menu - the Santa Monica salad.  The salad is definitely big enough to make a meal out of and filled with fresh veggies.  Eppie's starts with crisp spinach and tops that with tomatoes, freshly sliced-off-the-cob yellow corn, goat cheese, and dates.  The salad comes with a side of champagne vinaigrette, which Allie says compliments the fresh veggies with the perfect amount of sweetness and acidity.  The salads at Eppie's are served with one of their famous pumpkin bread muffins. (Side note: If you haven't had it before, you should definitely try Eppie's ham biscuits - Kite's "pink salt" country ham layered on pumpkin bread - delicious!)

Overall Impression:  Eppie's is the place to go for good ole' down-home country food!  Though the chicken was cooked somewhat inconsistently at this visit, all of the flavors were spot-on! 

Food Rating:  

Contact Information:
          Eppie's
          412 East Main Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902 (on the Downtown Mall)
          (434)963-9900
          http://eatateppies.com/

Kabuto Sushi and Teppanyaki

You know when that craving for sushi sets in and you just can't shake it until you get some good sushi?  Well luckily for Allie and I, Kabuto Sushi came to town a few months ago.  And when the craving hit the other night, we knew that's where we had to go.

When we pulled up in front of Kabuto on Pantops, I was rather surprised to see that they still had their "Now Open" banner hanging, considering that they have been for several months.  Anyway, we headed inside to the rather small restaurant.  Kabuto has about 10 tables total, though it has not been full either time we have been.  We ordered a couple bowls of miso soup right away.  Kabuto's miso soup is quite good - it is thicker than some of the miso soup you find at other places in town (which is often a thin, clear broth).  Kabuto seems to blend some tofu into the broth itself in addition to the tofu and seaweed pieces in the soup.

Kabuto

Miso Soup

We spent some time looking over the sushi menu, but Allie is kind of stuck in her ways and we ended up deciding to order the same sushi rolls we had ordered the first time we visited Kabuto.  First was the caterpillar roll.  The caterpillar roll is essentially a spicy tuna roll with tempura flakes inside and sliced avocado draped over the top.  The caterpillar roll was very good, but not great.  The tuna was not as spicy as I would prefer in a spicy tuna roll, though the tempura flakes inside the roll do add a very nice, subtle crunch to the roll.  Next came the Philadelphia roll.  A traditional roll with smoked salmon, cream cheese and avocado, it too was very fresh and well-made.  Finally, we had the butterfly roll.  My favorite roll of the night, the butterfly is a shrimp tempura roll with avocado inside and a spicy snow crab salad on top.  The tempura shrimp was crispy and the spicy snow crab was actually spicy and added a nice kick to the classic shrimp tempura.  The butterfly roll was also topped with a "special sauce" which was quite tasty, though I'm not sure exactly what it was.

Caterpillar Roll

Caterpillar Roll

Butterfly and Philadelphia Rolls

Overall, Kabuto is my new #1 choice for sushi that is fresher and more inventive than many of the other places in C-Ville.  While it is certainly not the best sushi I've ever had, it is the best sushi I've found in Charlottesville (unless you want to pay an arm and a leg to eat at Ten).  Kabuto also has hibachi dishes (which I haven't tried) and a number of lunch specials, making it the perfect place to grab sushi to eat-in, carry-out, or have delivered.  Allie and I will definitely be returning to Kabuto next time the sushi craving hits!

Overall Impression:  Fresh, reasonably-priced, made-to-order sushi that is as good as sushi gets in Charlottesville.  

Food Rating:  

Contact Information:
          Kabuto Sushi and Teppanyaki
          1836 Abbey Road, Charlottesville, VA 22911
                 (between Christian's and Sticks in the Giant shopping center)
          (434)973-1585
          http://kabuto-cville.com/

Ace Biscuit and Barbecue

So when I heard there was a new restaurant in town specializing in biscuits and barbecue, I couldn't wait to go!  Unfortunately, it took me until now to actually make it over to Ace - the new culinary outlet of former Zocalo sous chef Brian Ashworth.  And even now, I only made it for breakfast, but man was it worth it!

This past Saturday was actually the very first day that Ace had ever been open on the weekend, so Allie and I decided we had to head over and give it a try.  We were worried it might get crowded and had heard it was a small place, so we went right when it opened at 9am.  Pulling up outside of Ace, you can get a feeling for just how small the restaurant is inside.  It is situated in a small brick building a few blocks off of Preston Avenue and has a small parking lot right outside the door.  We knew we were in the right place when we saw the large pig mural on the side of the building!

When we got inside, we were the second couple to have arrived for breakfast.  The restaurant itself is, as I mentioned, quite small, with one 6-person table in the middle and bar-style seating for about 8 more guests along 2 walls.  By the time we had ordered and taken a seat at the table, the place was starting to fill up and before we left, it was standing-room only.  Ace also seemed to do a robust carry-out business just during the short time we were there.  We took a moment to examine the large chalkboard menu on one wall, but we had already studied the menu on the way over (oh the beauty of iphones!).  We headed up to the pig-inspired kitchen mixer to order our breakfast.

Okay, so first let me say that this place makes almost everything in-house, including much of their meat - from the breakfast sausage, to mexican chorizo, oak-smoked pulled pork, slow-cooked turkey breast, and pit beef.  Biscuits are made fresh daily and eggs are cooked to order. 

So, for breakfast Allie chose to create a biscuit sandwich with southern breakfast sausage, a fried egg, and cheddar cheese and added some hash browns.  I opted for an order of 2 sausage gravy biscuits.   Speaking of biscuits, I think if a place is going to put them in their name, they better make some darn good biscuits.  Luckily, Ace's biscuits do not disappoint.  The biscuits are not your typical flaky, buttery biscuits, but they were deliciously soft and melt-in-your-mouth good!  Allie's egg was cooked to a perfect over-medium and the sandwich covered in melty, gooey cheddar cheese.  The hash browns were also crispy (clearly made-to-order) and very flavorful, exactly what you would want to accompany your breakfast sandwich.  Allie didn't even ask for ketchup for the potatoes, which is a huge compliment to the chef.  Allie and I both agreed that it was the southern breakfast sausage that really stole the show, though.   The sausage had the perfect texture and the right amount of spice and sage flavor to keep me wanting more.  It was delicious both in patty form on Allie's sandwich and crumbled in the creamy, spicy sausage gravy that smothered by 2 biscuits.

I will definitely be going back to Ace Biscuit & Barbecue in the near future - the only question is whether I go back and try some of the other breakfast options, or head over for lunch and try the barbecue first.  Heck, maybe one day I'll even be able to convince Allie that we need to hire Ace for a whole hog pig roast!

Overall Impression:  Sausage = the breakfast of champions and Ace = Charlottesville's king of sausage!

Food Rating: 

Contact Information:
          Ace Biscuit and Barbecue
          711 Henry Avenue, Charlottesville, VA
          (434) 202-1403
          https://www.facebook.com/AceBiscuitBbq

Revolutionary Soup

Since Allie had to work this weekend and I didn't, I decided to bring her lunch at work today.  I went to one of my old stand-by's - Revolutionary Soup.  For those of you who have not been, Rev Soup is a Charlottesville staple that specializes in homemade soups, sandwiches, wraps, and salads utilizing the freshest ingredients sourced from local farms.  You can also pick up a variety of local (and not-so-local) wine and beer at reasonable prices.  They have 2 locations in town - the original on the Downtown Mall and a newer space on the UVA Corner.  

I ordered Allie her favorite combination - Spicy Senegalese Peanut Tofu soup with an Adam's Apple sandwich.  The peanut tofu soup is a thick, creamy soup made out of - you guessed it - peanuts and tofu.  It is spiced with jalapenos giving it a not-so-subtle but not-mouth-on-fire heat and then topped off with crisp scallions and cilantro.  For a vegan and gluten-free dish, its pretty darn tasty!  The Adam's Apple, meanwhile, is a Charlottesville legend.  Start with a pile of smoky sliced turkey, cover that with creamy chevre cheese, and add tangy garlic aioli and you have the start of a good sandwich.  But Rev Soup doesn't stop there - they add salty bacon and fresh arugula to the mix.  Sounds pretty good, right?  Well we're not done yet.  Top all that off with crisp, thinly-sliced granny smith apples and house-made apple butter and put it all on toasted sunflower wheat bread.  Okay, now I'm done.  It might sound like a lot to put on one sandwich, but believe me (and everyone else I know who's tried it), it definitely works!

For my own lunch, I opted for the Garlic Garden wrap paired with beef chili.  Let me first say that I am a carnivore at heart and very rarely choose a vegetarian option when faced with choices that include meat.  But the garlic garden wrap is on exception to this.  Imagine roasted red peppers, melted red onions, creamy avocado, lettuce and tomato smothered with melted cheese and topped off with smooth, garlic-infused cream cheese.  Rev Soup prepares the garlic garden 2 ways: wrapped in a flower tortilla or piled on sunflower wheat bread.  I generally prefer the wrap, as it makes for a somewhat healthier and easier to eat sandwich.  As for the beef chili, Rev Soup uses local Timberwood Creek beef combined with hearty chunks of green & red pepper, onion, and beans in a smoky, spicy, and subtly sweet base - making for a warm-your-soul-on-a-cold-day kind of chili that perfectly "meats-up" the vegetarian wrap. 

Overall Impression: Fresh, flavorful, and locally-sourced soup and sandwiches that are simply revolutionary!

Food Rating:

Contact Information:
           Revolutionary Soup
           Corner Location:
                      104 14th Street Northwest
                      Charlottesville, VA 22903
                      (434) 979-9988
           Downtown Location:
                      108 2nd Street SW
                      Charlottesville, VA 22902
                      (434) 296-SOUP (7687)
           http://revolutionarysoup.com/