inspiration

Technology Free Zone

/ Dora Hiers / 2 Comments

Put your phone down

Imagine, just for a moment, if you set aside a TECHNOLOGY FREE DAY/TIME. Where you…

  • put down your phone
  • turned off the TV
  • unplugged from the Internet

I would…

  • go for a walk
  • sit on the front porch swing with a latte or iced tea
  • read a great book
  • curl up on hubby’s lap 🙂

What would you do?

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 11 Comments
This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to Euro Grill & Café in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood of Charlotte. 

With an eclectic menu, you will find various Mediterranean, German, and Bosnian dishes. This is a small restaurant, only five tables, so you may have to wait. Dora here. Actually, the entire time we were there, every table was occupied, and people lined up. Don’t wait until you’re starving to go. Speaking from experience. 🙂

Only two people worked both the back and the front, and they were slammed. I must’ve looked about ready to pass out from hunger because they very graciously offered us a complimentary Sopska (a Greek salad) due to the delay on our meal. 
Sopska: delicious and colorful!
Delicious, colorful, and some of the best Feta cheese I’ve ever tasted. Yum! I’d definitely order this again. We were both digging deep for the last few blocks of cheese. 🙂

When visiting a new restaurant with food from countries that I am not familiar with, I always like to try a variety of options. So I chose the Mjesano Meso. This Meat Lovers Medley included three pieces of skinless sausage (Cevapi), one thin burger (pljeskavica), one chicken kebab (raznjici), and one piece of spicy sausage, (sudzukice), all served on house-made Bosnian flatbread. 

Mjesano Meso
This was truly a sampling of the entire menu. The cevapi reminded me of breakfast sausage, and the pljeskavica would pass for an American hamburger. The chicken raznjici was tender and the sudzukice was great. But the star of this dish was the Bosnian flatbread. Soft and fluffy, I think I could have made a whole meal off just the bread. 

Dora here. That flatbread rocks! So light and fluffy! And the kebab chicken was so tender. But I’m glad I ordered the Beef Burek. Filo stuffed with minced beef, it was tasty, light, and so delicate I had to check to make sure I was eating beef. I ate almost the entire burek, but didn’t have that heavy, bloated feeling.
Minced Beef Burek

If you’re hoping for ambiance or privacy, this isn’t the restaurant. But you might be surprised at this tiny spot. Unusual dishes, large portions, and great prices. How can you go wrong?


We would rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.

What’s your time limit on waiting for a table?

Euro Grill & Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 6 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to Yama Izakaya, a Japanese tavern in the Midwood neighborhood of Charlotte on a rare dinner review. This small and trendy restaurant is tucked into a shopping center, so parking is not a problem. 

Ample parking
Cool vibe
They offer a variety of small plates, specialty dishes, and the main dish that called us, ramen. After our first experience with ramen in DC, we planned to share, so we started with a couple small plates. First up was the Gyoza, pan-fried pork dumplings. Soft on the outside, tender and full of favor on the inside, and served with a Japanese dipping sauce that would have been great on anything. Dora here. Light, delicate, delicious!
Gyoza, pork dumplings. Light, delicate, delicious!
We also tried the Fried Chicken Wings. They appeared to be like typical chicken wings until I took the first bite. The waiter told us they were seasoned with a Korean chili spice. Whatever it was, they definitely had a unique favor and were crispy and juicy.  Dora here. I wish I was a fan of chicken wings because they always smell delicious! I gave these a try, but they didn’t tempt me with a second bite. 

Fried Chicken Wings

Now if you have never tasted ramen, you are missing out. Ramen is an Asian-style soup with noodles, and we chose the Miso Ramen. Marinated Braised Pork Belly (chashu), seaweed (nori), sesame seeds, scallions, bamboo shoots (menma), seasoned egg (sometimes called a Ramen egg), corn, and colorful fish cakes. The ramen was very good and the taste of the pork and seafood rose above everything else. 
Miso Ramen. Huge portions! Plan to share.
Dora here. Don’t let all the names scare you. It’s just a soup with some deliciously flavorful elements. Tasty, warm, and a wonderful go-to comfort food in winter. This photo really doesn’t do the serving size justice. It’s a HUGE bowl! We ordered extra toppings in DC, but forgot to do that this time. If you plan to share, adding extra toppings might make it a bit beefier, er…porkier. 🙂 Oh, and the restaurant rates this “spicy.” Maybe a little kick but definitely not a forehead slicker. Go for it!

Our server might’ve scored higher if he didn’t keep pushing the Sake and spoke a little slower for us hearing-challenged folks. And the music? Hoping that same constant beat changes before our next visit. 🙂

What about you? Have you tried ramen or pork dumplings? Do the pics look yummy? Would you give it a go after reading this review?

We rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.

Yama Izakaya Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato