SARAH TALKING FOOD

I like good food.

[foodblogbysarah]

Burger Bach (Richmond, VA)

There's a new burger joint in the Short Pump area of the Richmond suburbs called Burger Bach. The décor is nonexistent, but the food and the service is phenomenal. The waiter was over-willing to make sure the table was pleased. All the sauces, even their ketchup, is house made. All ingredients used in every dish are fresh. The server even disclosed that the restaurant doesn't even own a freezer.

My table ordered the fries and jalapeño dip as an appetizer. I did not personally eat any of it, since I don't eat fries, but according to my family they were crispy and incredible. The jalapeño dip wasn't very spicy like one would expect, more of a slight slow-burn.

I wasn't truly in the mood for a burger that night, but I ordered the Wellington burger. Honestly and truly, it was the best burger I've ever had. The wellington burger had double-cream blue cheese, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, brown sauce, and a type of house-made steak sauce. The quality of beef was spectacular; it was so tasty, cooked perfectly as well. The blue cheese was wonderful--strong, creamy, rich, flavorful. I've never had such a flavorful burger.

I would certainly recommend anyone to try this restaurant. But I'll warn that their gourmet burgers are a steep $11-15. Also, according to my brother and father, the Cary Street location of Burger Bach is not nearly as good.

--Sarah

[foodblogbysarah]

Vermilion (Alexandria, VA)

I had one of the best and most unique desserts I've had in a long time, at a restaurant called Vermilion, in the cute old town of Alexandria. Vermilion's food is fresh, unique, and flavorful, and the atmosphere is fun. 

On Saturday night, I ordered the Ricotta-Poppy Seed Fritters, as per the bartender's dessert advice. They. Were. Incredible. The fritters tasted like a super moist cake doughnut. They were laid across a layer of marshmallow fluff, with little dots of lemon curd around the edges. Sitting beside the fritters was a scoop of buttermilk sorbet. Sounds weird, right? But it was a creamy sorbet, with a slight afterhint of buttermilk. With a touch of all the flavors combined, it was total magic. I love making adventurous food choices, especially when it pays off in amazing taste, like this wonderful dessert did.

--Sarah 

[foodblogbysarah]

Tomato Grille (Hudson, OH)

    There are very few restaurants I've been to where every single course of my meal was utterly impeccable. I feel like such a food snob when I say that. But, when I went to Tomato Grille on Friday, every course (I had 3 courses) was spot on.

    For appetizers the table shared bruschetta and calamari. The bruschetta had so many wonderful flavors. There were Kalamata olives, tomatoes, onions, banana peppers, capers, and olive oil and balsamic dressing. The flavors went really well together. I just took the capers off, since I don't like their flavor. But I absolutely love the taste of Kalamata olives, so the bruschetta was a winner with me. The calamari was perfectly cooked, not too chewy, and the breading was good and crispy, not too greasy. There was a creamy lemon mayonnaise sauce drizzled over top that added a nice twist to the dish and added a little extra decadence and flavor.

    For my entrée, I ordered stuffed trout florentine. It was so good! The filling was goat cheese, spinach, and crispy prosciutto; it was incredible. The fish was cooked wonderfully, and sat upon a bed of tasty roasted vegetables (asparagus, zucchini, squash, tomatoes).

    And I had to get dessert as well, since my mom and her friend were sharing a dessert. I can never pass up dessert; it's my vice. Staring at the giant dessert tray displaying all the dessert choices, it was hard to make up my mind. Normally I immediately cross off the super chocolatety dessert option, but that night I was really craving chocolate. So I decided to order the fallen cake.

    The fallen cake was a chocolate cake in the shape of a soufflé. It was super moist, with a thin, cracked crunchy top layer. It wasn't over-the-top chocolatety, but still had plenty of chocolate flavor. Sitting on top of the cake was a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I just couldn't stop eating this dessert. It was super delicious.

    And beyond the food, it seemed to be a very popular restaurant. There were many people in their 20's and 30's eating dinner there with friends. It was a hip place to be. The only downfall for the Tomato Grille was the prices. If you're used to fancy restaurant prices, the prices were relatively reasonable. But if you don't like to spend a lot of money on food, it was definitely pricey. I'd love to go back to the Tomato Grille, if I'm ever around the area again. It was one of the best restaurants I've been to in a while.

--Sarah

[foodblogbysarah]

The Hill Café (Richmond, VA)

    Last night I went to dinner at The Hill Café. It's a small, quaint place in downtown Richmond. The brick interior walls were painted with vintage signs, and the seating was very minimal.

    The Hill Café has a relatively large selection on the menu, containing many southern comfort foods, such as Shrimp and Grits and Southern Fried Chicken. There were a number of delicious-sounding vegetarian dishes as well.

    Though there was plenty of good-sounding entrees, I decided to just get a sandwich. I ordered the Fried Green Tomato BLT. It was absolutely delicious! It came on multigrain bread, and had pimento cheese spread across the bottom. I removed the pimento cheese, and after I did, it was a fantastic sandwich. The fried green tomatoes were impeccable. The crisp outside was flavorful and perfectly cooked. And the green tomatoes were not too sour, like some of them can be. Also, there was plenty of bacon and lettuce.

    Upon ordering the Fried Green Tomato BLT, I wasn't sure whether it would be too greasy, since it contained both bacon and fried tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes, but it wasn't. I think it was even better than a regular BLT.

    I ordered pasta salad as my side dish, which was apparently a mistake. It was inedible in my opinion. It tasted really odd, almost... floral-tasting? I don't quite understand what went wrong there, but it didn't matter much to me, because it left me room for dessert.

    I ordered Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding for dessert, and oh my gosh, it was absolutely amazing. It was humongous too! The bread pudding was a loaf about four inches wide, eight inches long, and three or four inches thick. There were three beautiful mounds of whip cream, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side (that I ordered extra). It had a very dense texture, and resembled more of a loaf of bread than typical bread pudding. It had a delicious cinnamon flavor, and was very sweet. The vanilla ice cream perfectly balanced out the richness of the bread pudding. And don't worry, I only ate half of that huge thing!

    Overall, I really enjoyed the dessert, and my meal. I would definitely consider going to The Hill Café again, even just for that bread pudding. I would recommend The Hill Café, since it has great-priced sandwiches and awesome desserts, as well as some more expensive southern-style entrée options.

--Sarah

[foodblogbysarah]

Bollo's Café & Bakery: Raspberry Scone  (Blacksburg, VA)

    I had been to Bollo's about two times prior to this summer. But when I took a summer session at Virginia Tech this summer, I acquired a Bollo's obsession, and more specifically a Bollo's raspberry/blackberry scone obsession.

    Bollo's is a cute, locally-owned coffee shop a few meters away from the Virginia Tech campus. Their baked goods are fresh and homemade, and their prices are fantastic (much, much better than Starbucks, unless you want a Frappuccino/frozen mocha, than it's about the same price). One of my favorite places to do schoolwork and to write (blogging and editing poetry) is coffee shops. So during the second half of my summer session I began to frequent Bollo's as my study space.

    I always ordered a hot chocolate and a blackberry or raspberry scone, depending on which one was available. The price for both is under $4!! It's an ideal place for the poor college student. The raspberry scone itself is only $1.77. And besides cheap prices, it has a cute, chill, hipster atmosphere.

    Let's get to the best part of this--taste. This scone is the best scone I've ever had. It tastes homemade and fresh, with fresh berries. It has a rustic, oat flavor. Its texture is soft and dense without being too heavy, and closely resembles a southern-style biscuit. It's not very sweet, which I find so refreshing about it; it is more like a snack or breakfast food than a dessert (unlike most other overly-sweet scones I've had). The sweetness is almost entirely from the berries themselves. Also, I love that it's a filling snack. Literally, I could eat one of these scones every day for the rest of my life, that's how much I love them.

    All my VT people, if you aren't already a Bollo's junkie and you like coffee and/or baked goods, then be sure to hit up Bollo's at least once before you graduate. It's cheap, and absolutely delicious. And did I mention the hot chocolate is also the best hot chocolate I've ever had? Seriously, I am in love with Bollo's.

--Sarah