This week, I went down from eight meals out to five. We also made it out to Costco over the weekend and to Harris Teeter last night, so I don’t think we’ll be eating out for dinner this week except before Ween on Thursday night.
The Majorca at Cafe Europa is the big winner this week. In fact, I had it again for lunch today with a small change. I got rid of the provolone and added extra peppers. It definitely improved the sandwich: provolone is too bland and it dampened the punch of the rest of the flavors.
- Tuesday: Dinner at Christian’s Pizza: Christian’s is another one of those places that is always delicious. My first slice was the Greek which is spinach, feta, tomatoes, and maybe mushrooms, and my second slice was meatball. Personally, I feel that except for the spicy chicken, Christian’s vegetarian options are far superior to their meat options. You can never go wrong with their fresh mozzarella.
- Wednesday: Lunch at Cafe Europa: For the first two years I lived in Charlottesville, I never ventured into Cafe Europa. Something about it’s facade just never appealed to me as a place I’d want to eat. I am an idiot. After getting dragged there, Cafe Europa has become my favorite place on the Corner. They rotate their specials frequently, so it never gets boring. It is always delicious. My friend and I ordered the Falafel sandwich and the Majorca special and swapped half of them. The falafel was very good, but the Majorca was the star. Spicy grilled marinated chicken, chipotle pesto, sun dried tomatoes, hot peppers, and provolone on french bread all toasted. It was spicy, flavorful, and made me very sad that I agreed to swapping half of it away. I also tried their pasta salad (don’t remember which one), and it had good flavor, but wasn’t bold enough for my burned out taste buds.
- Wednesday: Desert at Arch’s Frozen Yogurt: I’m convinced Arch’s puts crack in their frozen yogurt. The probability of us making a second visit to Arch’s within three days of our first visit is probably ten times higher than before the first visit. I get what I always get: 3.5 oz of one of the Wow Cow yogurts with Snickers on the bottom. It always hits the spot, and they are open late, which is awesome (and so rare around here).
- Thursday: Lunch at Take It Away: I like Take It Away a lot. They make a good sandwich, and they have a good variety of chips and beverages. My only complaint would be that they don’t really offer any vegetables for the sandwiches except sprouts. I ordered the corned beef on onion rye with mustard and house dressing on the side and also the chicken and dumplings soup. I love chicken and dumplings, and was really disappointed in the soup, however, the sandwich was it’s usual tasty self. There’s nothing special about Take It Away’s sandwich’s, they just use quality ingredients which results in a quality sandwich.
- Thursday: Dinner at Amigos (on 5th): I should probably just stop including Amigos in these reviews. I had the Pollo Loco: a few pieces of grilled chicken breasts, rice, beans, and tortillas. My past opinion stands, not bad, but completely unexceptional.
- Saturday: Lunch at La Taza: We went wine tasting Saturday afternoon. I don’t really like wine, but I still had fun. Before we embarked, we had lunch at La Taza Coffeehouse, a small cafe in Belmont that opened up about a year ago. I had a chicken burrito type thing whose name I cannot recall. It was just chicken, rice, and beans and very average. Definitely not at the same level as their other sandwiches, such as the La Jefa, the Cuban Sandwich, and my favorite, the Ropa Vieja. On my way out I grabbed a chocolate brownie covered with a half inch of peanut butter. Decadently delicious.
- Saturday: Wine tasting at Oakencroft and Hilltop Berry Farm: Oakencroft was about what I expected: We tried a few wines, bought a couple of bottles, and went on our way. Hilltop Berry, on the other hand, was a lot of fun. It’s run by two very ebullient sisters, and they don’t make traditional wines. I tried wines made of cranberries, blueberries, honey, apple, and some other stuff. They even paired little snacks with each wine. I noticed they had some locally produced salsa by a company called Gunther’s Gourmet: I picked up a jar of Salsa Verde and Spicy Chipotle Pepper and Smoked Corn Salsa. While they are lacking in heat, their flavor more than makes up for it.
