I usually don’t venture to Newport News, but since a dear friend moved there I found myself in unfamiliar territory when I visited her a few months ago.  Using my trust UrbanSpoon phone app, we found a sushi restaurant, Kappo Nara Seafood & Sushi, that had a 89% approval rating….

Staff – Our waitress was really sweet and very attentive.

Food - Oh dear.  I think the menu pictures should have been a tip off.  I love dumplings of all variations and the picture of their shu-mai did not look appetizing to me.

My sushi dinner (see above pic) was sub-par — and that’s being kind.  The California rolls were kin to the kind you would get at a grocery store.  It was a little skimpy rice and misshaped.  As you can see in the picture above, the rice was not distributed evenly at all.  Sadly, this was probably the better part of this dinner.  The other sushi pieces were cut very thick and a little hard to chew.  This cost about $16-17, which at that price I would expect a little more.

My friend ordered the tempura dinner:

While the portion was generous, the meal was average.  The varieties of tempura included fish, shrimp, broccoli, and sweet potatoes. 

We also ordered hijiki, which is a side dish with seaweed, carrots and tofu.  My friend Brandi enjoyed it.  I didn’t.  BUT maybe that’s just a matter of taste?  Neither of us had this dish before so we can’t really say if it’s really great or not.

Atmosphere- I wasn’t crazy about the decor at this restaurant.  It seemed a bit…cluttered to me.  Kind of like a collection of things that just don’t really go together.  Example 1: the “smoker’s lungs plates we we’re given to use:

  One of the things we found very amusing was the bidet in the women’s restroom.  That’s right.  A BIDET. However we were both very disappointed because we couldn’t figure out how to make it work.  (Yes, I took my phone to the bathroom to take pictures)

Overall – I probably wouldn’t go back there.  To be quite honest, I have had sushi from the grocery store that was better in my opinion.    However considering this has a high rating on UrbanSpoon, maybe I just went on an off night?

Directions to Kappo Nara

One of the best gyros I’ve ever had.  Period. Even my certified Greek co-worker approves! =)

According to the signage, the gyro brand is Kronos and you can see it rotating on a spit once you walk in. Wonderful flavor and great texture with a side of fries for under $7!

Hint: Be sure to eat in and order the fries “extra-crispy” to get optimum crispiness.

My co-worker also recommends ordering an extra side of tsatsiki sauce to dip your fries.

Directions to Elias Cafe

If you like REAL authentic Chinese food, you have to go to Jade Villa (in Virginia Beach, close to the corner of S. Independence and Virginia Beach Blvd).

What I order
I love dumplings and I love the dim sum menu at Jade Villa. My favs are the pork shumai and the shrimp har gow.

My favorite entree is the salted and spicy scallops OR pork chops. They basically bread the meat, deep fry it, and season it with salt, huge amounts of roasted garlic and thin slices of jalapeno peppers. I typically don’t eat spicy foods, but this dish wasn’t spicy for me. Seriously, this entree is on my list of foods I would want as my last meal.

Other recommendations
I love my meal so much, I usually don’t stray from it — which is pretty unusual for me.  However here are some recommendations from my friends:

- the stuffed eggplant on the dim sum menu
- cashew chicken
- dumpling soup (American style)
- Hong Kong soup
- any whole fried fish
 

Oh yeah, almost forgot
- There are two menus plus a dim sum menu so make sure you look everything over before you order!
- I think there is some sort of dim sum buffet on Sundays, but I’m not 100% sure so I would call ahead.
- They are open until 1am on the weekends but I don’t think they are open for lunch.

Salty & Spicy Pork Chops

Shumai

Dumpling Soup (American Style)

Directions to Jade Villa

I’ve grown up watching anime (which is Japanese animation/cartoons, if you didn’t already know).  Years ago, my cousin Mike introduced me to a anime series called “Naruto“.  At that time it was only in Japan, but since has landed states’ side.

Even if you don’t watch the series, the main character LOVES Ramen noodles — and I’m not talking about the $.10 kind you get at your local supermarket (although I really like that kind too).

Recently I’ve been watching a marathon of Naruto, and what I eat is almost always influenced by what I’m watching on TV.  So I decided to head to my local international grocery store (if you live in Hampton Roads, see below for directions to Grand Mart) and stock up, and decided to make it my mission to do a ramen taste test.

I’m don’t want to OD on sodium so this taste sampling will be done whenever I feel the need for noodles.  Alright….Let’s go!

Shin Bowl Noodle Soup

I read some reviews online that recommended the brand Nong Shim.  I was a little worried that it said “gourmet spicy” on the cover.  I can’t really eat spicy foods, but I thought I would give it a try.  Add some hot water and three minutes later, and this is what I got:

Let me tell you now.  Take everything you know about instant noodles in a cup, and delete it from your memory.  Don’t worry, I’ll wait…………

This was spicy (but not too spicy for me, so I’m guessing is mild for most people), savory and didn’t have a super fake, salty taste.  It has dried bits of green onion and mushroom which plump up when soaking in the hot water.  The noodles had a good consistency and trapped the flavor of the soup nicely.

Round one, great success!  I will definitely buy this kind again!  BTW, this bowl was about $1.

Where can I buy this?

I live in Hampton Roads, Virginia so this is where I found this product.  If you found it in a different city, feel free to leave a comment so others can find it too!

I’ve lived in Hampton Roads for over 20 years, and I still get surprised when I stumble upon a new great restaurant.  Thanks to my favorite mobile app (thanks Urbanspoon!), I can explore the area with a set of new eyes.

This particular adverture started with a “girlie” day with my good friend Brandi.  We kicked off that Sunday with mani-pedis (perhaps the 3rd or 4th time I’ve ever had that done).  It was fun except for two things: 1) I accidentally picked a color that seemed more pink in the bottle, but ended up looking like “auntie red” nails.  Exhibit A:

auntie nails! eeeeeeek!

 

Brandi initally wanted soft shell crab, but was informed that they didn’t have that in stock.  Maybe it’s just me, but I like seafood restaurants that may or may not have seafood in stock because it could mean that they don’t have any frozen product that they are willing to serve their customers.

She decided to order a crab entree that featured crab meat prepared three ways.  I can’t remember all the ways, but I definitely remembered one was crab au gratin.

We definiately had no complaints and both commented how we were definiately coming back!

Directions to Wicker’s Crab Pot Seafood

My mom and I went to Royal Thai Cuisine on, what I like to call, a “mom date”.  She had a $25 gift certificate so we thought we would give it a try.

Atmosphere – We ate lunch on a Saturday afternoon around 1 PM.  It was pretty empty, but the restaurant was 1/3 full when we left.  The restaurant was clean and decorated like other Thai restaurants I’ve been too.

Staff & Service - The staff was friendly and attentive.  No empty glasses of water and the food came out at a good pace.

The Food – For starters, we had stuffed won-tons and chicken satay (pictured above).  The pork-stuffed won-tons, served with a sweet, sticky sauce (perhaps honey?), was good.  The satay was served with a peanut-type sauce and somet cucumber-basil sauce.  I preferred the cucumber sauce to the peanut sauce — although I love peanut-hoisin sauce with Vietnamese spring rolls.

We also ordered a Thai tea and Thai iced coffee.  Both were delicious.

The shrimp lad na was swimming in gravy. It was good, but I usually order pad see-u or pad thai so I’m not sure how to rank it in comparison to other lad na’s.  My mom seemed to love it.

We also ordered fried fish with 3 spices (non-spicy) and rice.  I believe the fish was tilapia.  I wasn’t a fan of all the vegetables piled on top, but the sauce was sweet and delicious. 

Bottom Line – I would try Royal Thai again, but I think I would stick to my usual order.

Directions to Royal Thai Cuisine

It doesn’t get much better than this!  Aloha Hawaiian BBQ offers delicious authentic Hawaiian and Thai cuisine.  Most of the dishes are priced less than $8, so it’s a great bargain if you’re looking for something new.  Don’t be fooled by it’s humble exterior (I think it used to be a Chinese fast food restaurant), true yummy-ness awaits inside!

I wish I took a picture of the spam musubi, but my cousins and I gobbled it all up!  So if that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is!  (I also have a recipe if you feel like making spam musubi at home.)

Pictured above is the Kalbi Short Ribs, which is grilled short ribs marinated in Korean style BBQ sauce.  Sticky and sweet, I’m so glad they give generous proportions!  It seems all the platters come with a scoop of rice, a small salad, and a choice of a side (I got macaroni salad).

Let me tell you, the macaroni salad is off the hook!  It doesn’t have pineapple, which I thought it would, but it does have shreds of chicken.  What makes it even more awesome is that it doesn’t have a strong mayonnaise taste which can be over-powering.

Take my word for it, go say “Aloha” to the good people at Aloha Hawaiian BBQ!

Directions to Aloha Hawaiian BBQ

I’ve been craving beef and broccoli with white rice for about 5 days now – this is the 3rd time I’ve had it this week!  Near my new house there is a restaurant called “Hohot Mongolian Grill Buffet” that 1) makes me laugh everytime I say “Hohot” and 2) I’ve been dying to try.  Since they also serve Chinese food, I got some food to-go.

The first thing I tried was the veggie egg roll, which I like to dip in duck sauce.  It was pretty good, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

The fried dumplings, on the other hand, were delicious!  The sauce had a hint more sweetness than other dumpling sauces, which makes me believe it was made from of the mongolian sauces.

The pork fried rice was also good, but I was not a big fan of the beef with broccoli.  I noticed that they included bamboo shoots, which makes the dish look pretty, but also makes it taste a bit spoiled.  I think it might have been because the bamboo shoots were from a can.

The bottom line: I would definitately order from here again, but I would recommend asking them to not include the bamboo shots!

For months, my friend Jerald has been raving about lobster tacos at one of his usual watering holes – Baja Cantina.  For only $2.50 a taco on Wednesdays, it’s a deal I couldn’t resist for long.

The tacos consist of shredded cabbage, diced tomatoes and deep-fried lobster nuggets wrapped in a flour tortilla.  You also are served with a slice of lime and an assortment of hot sauces. I really enjoyed the tacos for the simplicity, crunchiness and freshness of ingredients.

The atmosphere is like most local bars – dark and inviting.  Definitely stop by Baja Cantina on Wednesday and grab a drink and some tacos!

Seafood dishes to try at home

• korean-style deep fried fish
• brittney’s blueberry bbq salmon
• asparagus and scallop scramble
• pancit palabok
• catfish nuggets
• shrimp etouffee

Directions to Baja Cantina

Melt Gelato and Crepe Cafe, located in the Town Center area of Virginia Beach, was the recent location of chat fest with my friend Brandi.  Neither of us have ever had crepes or gelato before so this was a completely new experience for the both of us.

We both ordered sweet crepes with a scoop of gelato.  At Melt, you can sample the gelato before making a decision — but we both decided to order the first thing we tasted! I ordered a Nutella crepe with a scoop of toasted coconut almond fudge gelato (as pictured on the left).  Brandi ordered a Strawberry Royale crepe with a scoop of strawberry cheesecake gelato (pictured on the right).

It was sooo delicious!  My crepe was soft and thin, and really, who doesn’t love Nutella?  The gelato was wonderfully creamy and dreamy.  The almonds added a nice texture, since everything was soft.  The coconut flavor was deep and satisfying and didn’t taste artificial at all.  Brandi gave her meal a thumbs up as well!

We each paid about $10-12 (we ordered coffee as well), which was well-worth it.  The staff was very friendly and the service was very quick.  Before we left, we were already planning what we were going to order next time! Perhaps one of the savory crepes!

Desserts to try at home

• leche flan
• turons

Directions to Melt (Town Center in Virginia Beach location)