food blogger

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 3 Comments
This adventure of Excited about Eating takes you through the Southern Caribbean where we visited three different restaurants for lunch during a seven-day cruise that left from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
St. Thomas: Cuzzin’s Caribbean Restaurant was off the beaten path, about a 30-minute walk from the ship. If some kind soul hadn’t taken pity on our sweaty, tomato-red faces and given us directions, we’d have missed it. 

Cuzzin’s Caribbean Restaurant

The calamari appetizer was excellent, crisp and fresh, with just the right amount of chew, and the dipping sauce was sweet with a tiny tang from the combination of pineapple, mango, tamarind and barbeque. We shared the Fried Seafood Combo which included fish filet, shrimp, and conch fritters with sides of mac and cheese and fried plantains. The seafood was cooked to perfection, flaky with a light batter that allowed the true taste of the seafood to come through.

Fried Seafood Combo

The conch fritters were not sweet or doughy like my wife prefers, but savory and very good. The mac and cheese had an unidentifiable spice and when we asked, the server would not give up the secret. Both the mac and cheese and plantains were equally good. I would rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5.

Barbados: Mustor’s Restaurant was a 20-minute walk from the ship dock, and from what I’d read, appeared to be a local favorite. We shared the large portion (read HUGE!) fried Flyin Fish entrée, Field Peas with Rice, and Macaroni Pie, and had no problem sharing this meal. Barbados is known as “the land of the flying fish” and it is the national symbol of the country. 

Flying Fish

The fish was good, not fishy tasting but also not real crispy like I prefer. The field peas and rice were juicy and full of favor, and appeared to have been cooked together. The Mac Pie was really good, a thick piece, made from noodles that resembled elbow mac straightened out. Although they don’t accept charge cards, they do accept US dollars. No atmosphere and no a/c unless you consider the open air balcony. I would rate this restaurant 3 forks out of 5.
St. Maarten: We took the water taxi to Greenhouse Restaurant, which offered true Caribbean spirit with their beachy, open air environment in clear sight of the breaking waves. 

Me, inside on the left

I chose the Fish Taco Platter, consisting of two soft tacos, filled with fried basa vina served with lettuce, fresh cilantro, jack and cheddar cheese, salsa, ranch dressing and onions. The basa vina fish are not native to the Caribbean but are imported. The tacos were huge, with flavor to match their size. The fish was crispy and tender and all of the ingredients melded together. The fresh cilantro set these fish tacos above others I have had. They were served with Fried Plantains and fries, also tasty. 
My wife ordered the Fried Fish Sandwich using the same basa vina white flaky fish, but beer-battered, along with fries and cole slaw. 

Fish sandwich

The fish sandwich was crispy and not fishy tasting. The fries were cooked perfect, and the cole slaw was sweet and creamy, just the way she likes it. I would rate this restaurant 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food. Dora here. After chowing down on rich foods for a week on the cruise ship but no brewed iced tea, this is what I enjoyed most. 🙂 

Fresh brewed iced tea


lol. Seriously, folks, Greenhouse offered a perfect atmosphere paired with fantastic flavors and a breeze that kissed our cheeks. Who could ask for more from a restaurant?

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers

For this edition of Excited about Eating we travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Why Puerto Rico? Because I judged the Smoking Hot BBQ event and then took some time off for a 7 day cruise.

It’s a challenge sometimes to find a good restaurant in an unfamiliar location but after some research, we selected Ropa Vieja Grill in the Condado area of San Juan.

Ropa Vieja Grill in San Juan

It was a thirty minute walk from our hotel but we were up for some exercise. The streets were clogged and sidewalks crowded, and a policio (police) told us that there was a large festival going on a few blocks away.

We found Ropa Vieja Grill to be very casual and a place where the locals eat. Since I had been judging BBQ all afternoon we decided to share an appetizer and meal. For our appetizer we ordered the Carne Frita con Tostones Peseteros which is Fried Pork Chunks with Fried Green Plantains.

Fried Pork Chunks with Plaintains

The fried pork was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with just the right amount of seasoning coming from the marinated onions. Plantains are starchy and must be cooked before eating (usually fried or baked) and are very popular in the Caribbean, as well as Florida where I lived for the first 49 years of my life. Many people confuse plantains with bananas, but plantains are longer and have thicker skin. The plantains tasted fresh and were sliced a little thicker than potato chips. The one thing that would have put this dish over the top would have been a dipping sauce.

For our main dish, we ordered the Canoas de Ropa Vieja, plantain “canoes” filled with Shredded Flank Steak and blanketed with an unidentifiable cheese. The sweet plantain and the shredded flank steak were a perfect match for each other. The sweetness and firmness of the plantain with the hearty savory taste of the shredded flank steak kept you coming back for more. The white rice and black beans were a great complement. Dora here. I wasn’t a huge fan of the fried pork chunks, but the canoas hit a homerun! 

Canoas de Ropa Vieja

This is a small restaurant and as the crowd increased, the noise level did also. If you are looking for a quiet dining experience, I would suggest you try another restaurant. Dora here. I enjoyed the food, but definitely noise overload. If you’re like me and find it difficult to tune out background noise, you’ll find conversation a challenge. Not a romantic dinner for two kinda place. 🙂 

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

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers / 12 Comments
Terrace Cafe
This edition of “Excited about Eating” takes us to the Terrace Café located in the Piedmont Town Center in the heart of SouthPark. This multi-use Town Center features shops, restaurants, offices, and residential properties arranged in a walkable community.
We arrived at 12:10 on a Saturday to a 75 minute wait. Honestly, we debated leaving but decided to wait and that was a great decision because it turned into a manageable 40 minutes. We had a great view of the industrial style loft area and the charm that comes with this type of structure. 

Terrace Café offers a wide variety of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. While waiting, we noticed that most of the dishes coming out of the kitchen were breakfast. Although they looked appetizing, we opted for lunch.

We started with an appetizer of Fried Green Tomatoes served with a warm pimento cheese dip. 
Fried Green Tomatoes

The Fried Green Tomatoes arrived quickly and were crispy outside and tender inside with a slight vinegary taste. They were great. Even my wife, who really doesn’t like tomatoes, enjoyed them. I think they could serve the cheese dip on anything and it would be great.

I ordered the Nashville Fried Chicken tossed in hot sauce and served over braised collard greens and mashed potatoes.
Nashville Fried Chicken
The chicken was outstanding, crispy and tender, but the mashed potatoes took the prize as the best component of this dish. They were light and creamy with just enough lumps to let you know they were freshly made. The collard greens were a combination of sweet and vinegary, and tasted great. The portions were huge, and definitely not for someone who doesn’t like heat as the Nashville hot sauce lived up to its name. Dora here. Definitely a “forehead slicker.” lol.

My wife ordered the Chicken Salad Croissant, a Hawaiian version of chicken salad on a fresh croissant served with lettuce and tomato and sweet potato waffle fries. 
Chicken Salad Croissant
The chicken salad, made with cream cheese instead of the normal mayo, included grapes, pineapple, pecans, and mandarin oranges. The sweet potatoes waffle fries were a first for us, but something we’d definitely order again.

I finished off my meal with a Peanut Butter Cup Latte and my wife chose the Tiramisu Latte. Both were excellent and a great way to cap off our meal. Dora here. Lip-smacking yummy!
Tiramisu Latte
Overall I would highly recommend this restaurant for someone looking for a unique restaurant offering exceptional food. I would rate this establishment 5 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving outstanding food.

Terrace Cafe on Urbanspoon