stay in the shallow end

As I previously mentioned my best friends Jeremy and Tasha came to town over the weekend and I had a food tour of Charlottesville all planned out for them. They arrived late Thursday night so the real eating didn’t start until Friday. I decided we could take a stroll through downtown Charlottesville and sample some of my favorite lunch (and dessert) options: Seafood @ West Main, Feast, Revolutionary Soup, Christian’s Pizza, Splendora’s, and Carpe Donut.

We started at Seafood @ West Main with a Blackened Fish Po’boy. I went there with the intention of getting fish tacos, but unfortunately they were out. I’m almost glad they were out because everything about this sandwich was perfect. It came on a nice roll, and the fish was spicy, well seasoned, and not at all overcooked. While it was still tartar, the sauce on the sandwich was very different than what I would expect. Once again, it was very good. Tasha said she really liked the sandwich despite the fact that she normally doesn’t like fish on bread.

Next we moved to Feast. Jeremy chose the Prosciutto and Mozzarella baguette. It took a really, really long time. We waited over 20 minutes. They were working on two platters of sandwiches and rather than work our sandwich in, they fully prepared both platters and then got to ours. If we didn’t have the po’boy to eat in the meantime, I’d have been much more annoyed than I was. Compared to the po’boy, this sandwich was a really big disappointment. The boldness of the spices on the fish rendered Feast’s more delicate sandwich nearly tasteless. Finally, the baguette was hard and chewy, which relative to the soft and crusty bread of the po’boy, was just not satisfying. I’m sticking with Seafood @ West Main when I go to Main Street Market for lunch.

We then walked down to the mall, and I dropped into Revolutionary Soup and picked up a Gulf Coast Shrimp Salad. I saw that they had some pulled pork Cuban sandwiches they’d made that day, but I fought the urge and walked out with the salad. As usual, it was great, but in hindsight, I don’t think it was representative of just how good of a restaurant Revolutionary Soup is. Next time I’ll add a sandwich into the mix also.

I sent Jeremy into Christian’s to grab a slice or two of pizza for us to split, and I was dismayed when he came out with a slice of pepperoni. With all the choices available to you, why would you go pepperoni?!? I let him and Tasha split it. They both thoroughly enjoyed the slice, but as with the salad at Revolutionary Soup, I don’t think a slice of pepperoni is representative of what Christian’s is all about.

Dessert time! We went to Splendora’s and split a sampler. The flavors I can remember are Pear, Black Currant, Mango, Irish Cream, Jack Daniel’s, Mexican Coffee, Mint Chocolate and Ginger. I recommended Jack Daniel’s and forgot to also recommend Chocolate Hazelnut. Of these flavors, the Black Currant was definitely the biggest hit, while Pear was a miss. Next time I’ll push for more creamy and chocolatey flavors, as I find them to be the best.

The original plan was these five restaurants, but then we happened to come across Carpe Donut. How do you say no to that? We split a couple of donuts, and they were so hot and fresh. I’m not into cakey donuts, so I was pretty happy that these melted in my mouth. I think I’ll go back today.

Stay tuned! I’ve got some detailed reviews of Continental Divide, Ten, and Blue Mountain Brewery coming up including a couple of guest reviews by Jeremy. Enjoy!