Carolina Girls Grillin' Cafe, Wilmington, NC

I read about this place once and threw it in the back of my mind to stop by and try them, but every time I passed them on College I wasn't hungry. Well, finding myself on College and being hungry, I decided to stop.

Inside it's nice with a long kitchen/prep area so you can watch the ladies prepare your food, and see that they keep a clean looking kitchen. On the other side are tables. I looked at the menu and decided on the Cubano Sandwich, shown here.

What you see is half of the sandwich on a plate at home. It was quite good and large with flavor probably coming mostly from the pork. Teresa had a quesadilla which looked good as well.

Next time I head down College I'll make sure I'm hungry so I can stop by and try a few more things on the menu.

There are two locations, one is on Castle Hayne Road and the other on College. They have a website for more information and it has a short video which shows the interior of the restaurant.

Caprice Bistro, Wilmington, NC

We were in Wilmington on Bastille Day this year and we'd already eaten at another place when we looked at the menu at the Caprice Bistro and said, "Darn, we should have eaten here." Well this time when we were walking downtown we stopped by and looked at the menu. After about thirty seconds I saw what I wanted and asked Teresa if she saw anything. She said there were a few things that interested her so in we went.

Caprice Bistro is small and looks like every bit like a French bistro. We were seated right away, they weren't that busy, and our waiter Jay appeared. He was very pleasant, personable and helpful. I knew what I wanted, the escargots gris (shown above) and the duck confit (shown below). Teresa decided to get out of her comfort zone and she ordered the pork tenderloin (bottom photo) instead of a chicken dish.

Jay brought us fresh bread and soon the escargot arrived. The smell was delightful and the taste even better. The snails were perfect and were swimming in a garlic sauce that I sopped up with the bread. A small bowl of heaven for eight bucks. Normally I prefer my escargots Burgundy style, but this was amazing and I could have eaten a soup bowl of it. Next up were the entrees. Between the two dishes the table smelled wonderful. My duck was perfectly cooked with crispy skin and tender meat that fell off the bone. It came with grilled potatoes and a small salad with the house dressing and each component blended in sweet harmony with the others. More than eating, it was a sensual experience of French comfort food done right.

The pork was equally good with an amazing sauce and fresh mashed potatoes and carrots. We passed a few things back and forth to try and at one point I wound up with some food in my water glass. No problem, Jay immediately replaced the glass for me.

The total bill was $44.51 plus tip for a gourmet meal. We looked at the deserts and while a creme brulee and coffee would have been the perfect finish, we were full. Next time though. Maybe next time I'll go on a Wednesday when they have rabbit.

So the bottom line. Service, impeccable. Food, perfect. Ambiance, very good. Prices, reasonable. Stop in sometime and enjoy a classic French meal. It will fill your belly and warm your heart. They have a website for more information.

Update 04/13/12- We went back for another meal and it was simply amazing. I got the mussels Bruxelles and Teresa got the Coq au Vin. My mussels were the best I've ever had. They were cooked in beer, garlic (lot's of garlic), mustard and cream.

Winner's Circle, Exton, PA

Yes, that picture is what you think it is. It is a burger with bacon and cheese on a glazed donut, and yes I did eat it. It is called the Krukker and it was from The Winner's Circle in Exton, Pennsylvania. I'll get back to the burger in a minute.

Winner's Circle is a sports bar in Exton across the street from the mall. It is fairly bright and adorned with sports memorabilia and plenty of televisions. The wait staff is friendly and the service is good. There is a good beer selection and I decided on Hop Devil from Victory. The menu has some good choices, but I focused on the burgers. You can build your own burger; choose the meat, choose the roll and choose two toppings. The combinations looked good, until I looked at the craft burgers and saw the Krukker for $9.00. That was what I was going to build anyway. It was a half-pound burger with American cheese and bacon on a glazed donut. With it came an ample supply of fries and a wet-nap.

The burger was good. I'd ordered it medium and it was past medium-well, but still tasty. The sweetness of the glazed donut combined nicely with the saltiness of the bacon and the taste of the beef. The glazed donut however was sticky and messy, hence the wet-nap. I've seen this done elsewhere and they invert the donut so the sticky side faces the burger. While not as pretty, this practice makes it easier to eat. Overall it was good, but I think I'll try some other combinations next time we go there.

Actually, one of the main reasons we went was that on Tuesdays kids eat for a buck. My grandson had a hot dog, yogurt, apple slices and an ice-cream for a dollar and my wife and daughter got wraps. Good food and good service. They have a website for more information.

Greek City, Ramsey, NJ

Now here's one of those places we stumbled upon quite by chance and we almost passed it up. We were in Jersey to do some shopping when Teresa wanted to stop at the Kohl's in Ramsey. As we were leaving I noted what looked like a small place in the mall with a sign that said Greek Food, or something like that. We debated and decided to try it out, figuring it to be a hole in the wall dive.

Well, inside it looked totally different. It looked classy. So classy that we looked at the menu before deciding to eat there. We found a nice selection and the prices were okay so we went in. We were seated at a table, but the booths are cooler with frosted seats and lights behind them. We were given water, bread and a small bowl of kalmati olives. The waiter brought a plate by to show us the daily fish selection and gave us time to decide.

Teresa decided on the Chicken Souvlaki (above) at $17.00. Those lovely things in the front are lemon roasted potatoes, which were delicious. I am not a big potato fan, but I could eat those every day. It also had a good tzatziki sauce and the chicken was good.

I went out of my comfort zone and instead of ordering the Gyro platter at $15, I got the Kohilia Lakonia at $25. Pan seared sea scallops over fresh spinach with garlic and olive oil. When it came I was a bit disappointed as it looked small, but at the end there was just plenty on the plate. On top of that it was quite well done. The scallops were perfectly seared and the spinach was just right.

I was considering dessert, but passed this time. Next time I want to try the one of the calamari dishes and see how their saganaki is. Oh yes, we will be back again, and again.

In short, the food was excellent, ambiance pleasant, the prices fair, and the service good. It does take some time for the food to come, but well worth the wait. You need to try this place sometime. They have a website for more information. By the way, lunch prices are cheaper.