Excited about Eating by Ernie & Dora Hiers

May 6, 2017April 14, 2017 / Dora Hiers / 12 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to downtown Salisbury, North Carolina, and to Mambo Grill & Tapas, a restaurant serving Cuban cuisine. Living in Tampa, FL for most of my life, I have had the opportunity to taste and enjoy both Spanish and Cuban food since I was a little guy, and this place ranks right up there with the best.

They don’t open until noon on the weekends, but they fill up fast!

Dora here. We discovered this place shortly after we moved to North Carolina. It started in a tiny spot in a strip store, moved to a larger space on Fulton Street, and now they’ve expanded into this beautiful two-story historic building in downtown Salisbury. With so many businesses downsizing or disappearing entirely over the last few years, it’s heartening to see a restaurant flourish.

For an appetizer, we ordered Yuca Frita served with a garlic and cilantro dipping sauce. The Yuca, a starchy tubular root, was cubed and fried to perfection. Outstanding! Crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside, kind of like a fried potato.

Mambo Grill and Tapas Fiction Faith & Foodies Ernie & Dora Hiers

Fried Yuca

I chose my favorite Cuban dish, Masitas. Large pork chunks flash fried, topped with garlic and onions, and served with yellow rice, black beans, and plantains. This dish was great! The pork so flavorful and tender that you could cut it with a fork and the rice and beans cooked flawlessly, just like I remembered them from Tampa.

Masitas

Dora here. Y’all, this was such a hard choice! We love, love, LOVE, Cuban cuisine and rarely get a chance to head thirty minutes up the road to Salisbury, so I couldn’t make up my mind between the Piccadillo, Ropa Vieja, and Palomilla Steak. I finally decided on the Piccadillo. Piccadillo is ground beef with tiny chunks of potatoes and bits of olives in a light tomato base. So subtle, if you’re not an olive fan, you might not even know they’re in there. But, oh my, so warm and comforting and exactly as I remembered! YUM! And the veggies? Al dente and screaming with flavor! Where were these when I was growing up? lol. Note to self: MUST make it a priority to come here more often!

Piccadillo, so warm and comforting and exactly as I remembered! YUM!

What about you? How do you like your veggies? What’s your favorite veggie?

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

Excited about Eating by Ernie & Dora Hiers

April 29, 2017April 14, 2017 / Dora Hiers / 10 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to an old-time diner packed with old-fashioned memorabilia, Troy’s 105 Diner in Boone, NC. This diner has all of the favorites like homemade soup, salads, 1/2 lb burgers, and their famous milkshakes.

Troy's 105 Diner Fiction Faith & Foodies Ernie & Dora Hiers

Old time diner with all the diner favorites

Dora here. Milkshakes? How come we haven’t ordered a milkshake? Note to self: Must remedy that! Actually, we’ve eaten here a few times now. Right off Hwy 105, they’re convenient and close to our mountain home and have saved us from driving all the way back into Boone or Blowing Rock when other restaurants high on our list are packed. This time we were aiming for Sunrise Grill but did not want to risk a 45-minute wait with two starving grandkiddos. lol. And, when you can’t decide between breakfast and lunch, sometimes you just need a good old-fashioned diner fix!

Troy's Diner Fiction Faith & Foodies Ernie & Dora Hiers

Sometimes you just need a good old-fashioned diner fix!

I chose the Carolina Cheddar Burger, a 1/2 lb burger topped with cheddar cheese, lettuce, and tomato, and blanketed with chili and coleslaw. For non-Carolinian’s, anything served Carolina style is covered with chili and slaw. The burger was huge, juicy, and messy so that you have to eat it with a fork, but it was great, and as usual, the slaw added the perfect crunch. The onion rings were plentiful and crispy and were the perfect match for the burger.

Carolina Cheddar Burger, huge, juicy and messy, but great!

Dora here. After enjoying their French Toast the last time, I opted for lunch today, the Grilled Asian Marinated Chicken. The chicken was tender and well-grilled, and the pineapple added another dimension. Maybe they should rename it, though, because the Asian marinade was not even noticeable. At first glance, the macaroni and cheese does not look appealing, but it was tasty and cheesy. I would order this again.

Grilled Asian Marinated Chicken…maybe should be renamed because the Asian marinade was so subtle, it was unnoticeable. Overall, though, the chicken was tender and well-grilled.

What’s your favorite diner and diner food?

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

Excited about Eating by Ernie & Dora Hiers

April 22, 2017April 14, 2017 / Dora Hiers / 9 Comments

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to a place guaranteed to find a spicy meal, Razzoo’s Cajun Café in the Concord Mills area of Concord, NC. This restaurant offers a variety of entries but, from what I’ve tasted, they all have one thing in common, some level of heat from mild to atomic hot.

Razzoo's Fiction Faith & Foodies Ernie & Dora Hiers

Razzoo’s colorful exterior

Dora here. I really like their colorful exterior and that continues on the inside with upcycled materials. I also appreciate the ample space between booths and tables and the generous parking.

Cool interior

Love the upcycled materials

The menu had so many items that I would like to try. I chose the Cajun Combo Skillet, Andouille sausage, shrimp creole, crawfish etoufee, and red beans ‘n rice, with a side of fried okra. Now this was a great dish with varying levels of flavor and heat. My favorite and the spiciest was the crawfish etoufee served on dirty rice, which was loaded with crawfish in a dark roux sauce. This was outstanding, very rich and smooth and just the right intensity. The shrimp creole was great with juicy shrimp and a spicy creole sauce served over fluffy white rice.

Cajun Combo Skillet

Dora here. Did I really complain about lack of heat in last week’s dish? Guess Ernie decided to fix that with this week’s restaurant suggestion. Sheesh. :wiping my brow: I’ll tell you right now that I fought ordering a chicken dish off the menu, but eating at a Cajun restaurant calls for stepping out of your comfort zone, right? Well, I veered way out! Usually I don’t order fish because it tends to be too, well, fishy tasting, but the Stuffed Fish was not at all. And if it weren’t for the menu, I might never have suspected that the fish was studded with a subtle shrimp and crab stuffing. The sauce had a smooth buttery flavor, and the fish was tender and flakey with an afterburner kick of heat. Tame, actually, compared to Ernie’s forehead and neck slicker. He could’ve used a towel to go along with his napkin. haha.

Stuffed Fish. An afterburner of heat, but tame compared to the Cajun Combo Skillet.

What’s your favorite seafood dish?

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

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Excited about Eating by Ernie & Dora Hiers

Excited about Eating by Ernie & Dora Hiers

Excited about Eating by Ernie & Dora Hiers