A pretty boring week, except for the last meal at Mamma Zu in Richmond, my favorite restaurant in Virginia.
Tuesday: Lunch at O’Neils: O’Neils has an excellent lunch special on Tuesday which we discovered this week. Buy any beverage and get a $2.50 burger and fries. It’s probably the best lunch special on the corner. I ordered the burger with bleu cheese, and it was your typical step above fast-food burger. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and for $2.50 with fries, I’m going to try to make it back more often.
Tuesday: Dinner at Marco and Luca: Yet another round of dumplings and cold noodles. They were tasty and cheap as usual.
Wednesday: Lunch at Milan: I pretty much universally dislike Indian buffets. Milan is no exception. Hopefully that new Himalayan Fusion restaurant on the downtown mall can prove me wrong.
Thursday: Lunch at The Virginian: Could it be? A never before reviewed restaurant makes the list? In any case, we splurged for lunch there, and we were all pretty disappointed. The food wasn’t bad, but it was pricey. I had the seared tuna steak sandwich, and the tuna had been cooked dry. I’d take the same sandwich over at Michael’s Bistro any day of the week.
Friday: Dinner at Lee’s International Grill: I love Lee’s Grill. It’s quick, cheap, and delicious. I tried the General Tso’s Chicken this time around, and it was pretty good, but doesn’t live up to their Hibachi dishes. I’ll switch back to the Teriyaki Chicken next time.
Saturday: Dinner at Mamma Zu: Mmmmmm… Mamma Zu… This is by far my favorite restaurant in Virginia as well as one of my favorite restaurants of all time. I don’t know the back-story behind the place, but it’s an Italian restaurant in a rundown building in Richmond. The service is unapologetically bad, but I put up with because the food is so good. We started out with the Broccoletti, which is Broccoli Rabe (nothing to do with Broccoli, though… it’s more like a mustard green), steamed and sauteed in olive oil, garlic and pine nuts. Nothing fancy, but a good substitute for a salad. We also got the Caprese Salad, which was a typical pile of thick sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Both were very good, but they are hardly something you could mess up. Then for my main course, the pork chop. The portions here are enormous. This particular entree comes with two or three thick cut bone in pork chops that have been stuffed with a blend of rosemary, garlic, and olive oil served over white beans. I had my first pork chop pretty late in life… I think it was senior year of high school. It was by far the best pork chop I’d ever had. I’ve spent the rest of my life chasing that pork chop. Mamma Zu is without a doubt #2, but if I ever had the chance to compare them side by side, I’m sure Mamma Zu would win.
One week down, six more to go…
