stay in the shallow end

Wednesday: Lunch at Cafe Europa: Surprise, surprise, I didn’t order the Majorca! They started selling paninis, and I had one with basil pesto, roasted red pepper, feta, roasted eggplant. It was actually really good, and the bread didn’t tear up the roof of my mouth like the Majorca does. The Majorca is still the better sandwich, and I’ll be ordering it again on my next visit.

Thursday: Lunch at Himalayan Fusion: Himalayan Fusion is very inconsistent. Some visits I go there, and I have a solid meal. And then there are other visits like this one. The naan was stale and greasy. The chicken tikka masala tasted like tomato soup and lacked its signature creamy flavor. Everything else ranged from bad to forgettable. I have a feeling they don’t have set recipes and they don’t enact any quality control on what leaves the kitchen. I need to try them at night and see if these problems are only specific to the buffet.

Thursday: Dinner at South Street: I just had their house salad. Their ginger soy salad dressing is probably my favorite in town.

Friday: Lunch at Chaps: After Splendora opened on the downtown mall, I felt kind of sorry for Chaps. The ice cream at Chaps is really good, but it’s hard to escape the novelty of Splendora. The saddest moment for me was a couple of years ago, I walked by chaps and there was a hand written sign in the window that said, “Now Serving Gelato!” They seem to be promoting their food menu more now, so I thought I’d check it out. I ordered a Philly cheesesteak, onion rings, and an egg cream. The cheesesteak should’ve been called a roast beef. It was boring. On a positive note, the onion rings were really, really good. Finally, the egg cream was not good. Way too much syrup and milk and not enough soda. It was apparent that no thought had been put into it’s creation. I’ve heard good things about the BLT, so I may try that next, but I’m not too eager to go back.

Friday: Dinner at Continental Divide: My favorite restaurant in Charlottesville! Kate was distraught that they know longer offer the Barbecue Salmon on their menu. We ordered the usual Red Hot Blues for our appetizer, and they were excellent. Once again, I went for the Santa Fe Enchilada, and it was as good as it always is, but I think after four years, I’m finally ready to start trying new things there. I think a lot of it has to do with me making my own enchiladas at home these days, and they are pretty comparable, although I still can’t figure out how they get their sauce so rich. We also had a few margaritas, and theirs are some of the best in town.