Chapala Grill- New Windsor, NY

We've been on a Mexican food kick lately, both dining out and cooking at home. What I love is how the use of a few simple ingredients can be elevated to amazing dishes, like a cerviche. A friend whose tastes I trust recommended Chapala in New Windsor so off we went. 

Inside it is tasteful decorated. The service was friendly and attentive. The food was excellent. We started with the Cerviche Puerto Vallarta for $9.50. It had shrimp and crab meat and tasted bright and fresh. 

I ordered the Enchillada Chapala, filled with shrimp and crab meat, with the salsa verde for $10.95. It was quite nice and there was a hint of white wine flavor to it. Teresa got the Enchilldas Suiza with beef for $8.95. It was excellent as well. 

We'll be back again. 

Spice Thai- Doylestown, Pa

We discovered that quaint village of Doylestown a short while ago and it is a perfect spot to grab a bite while traveling between home and our daughter's in Downingtown. One place that we earmarked on our last trip was Spice Thai and we finally stopped by on a Saturday afternoon. 

It is small inside with a decor typical of simple Asian restaurants. The service was good, there was only one girl working the whole place but there were only two other tables. We both ordered the lunch specials at nine bucks which included a soup. Everything was excellent and fresh tasting. 

Pembroke's- Wilmington, NC

Pembroke's sits in the space formerly occupied by The GrandUnion and The Kitchen and is run by the same folks who gave us RX. We planned to stop by a few times over the summer, but it never worked out. Well, when I saw they had half-price bar specials on Tuesdays that got us there. 

I decided to try the fried head cheese for only five bucks and it was quite interesting, and good. The wings were excellent and I went with the burger at seven dollars. Not bad at all. 

They have some rather interesting items on the regular menu and I think we'll get back over the summer as I loved the offerings at RX. 

Poe's Tavern- Wrightsville Beach, NC

A few months ago I announced that Poe's Tavern opened in Wrightsville Beach and I was unfortunately unable to attend the grand event. I rectified that by stopping by over my Christmas visit to my Wilmington home and brought with me four children and four other adults. Our visit was early in the afternoon on New Year's Eve and it got quite crowded while we were there.  

The decor is well appointed in the theme of Edgar Allen Poe with pictures, movie posters and the like. Booths align the walls, along tables in the middle, a large bar area, and ample outdoor seating. The clean bathrooms are wallpapered with pages from Poe's literary works. My only complaint is that it could get a bit noisy, but remember that I'm sixty so take that with a grain of salt. 

I looked over the extensive beer menu and was very impressed with the number of North Carolina offerings, but decided to stay with water as it was early and I had a drive ahead of me. 

The menu leaned toward sandwiches and burgers, as well as some interesting salads, and after thinking about it I went with the Amontillado burger at $12.50. It was a nice slab of local beef cooked to ever so slightly rarer than the medium-rare I'd ordered (this is a good thing as I usually find burgers overcooked) on a fresh brioche bun with jalapeño cheese, pico de gallo, and chipotle sour cream. It was excellent and so were the copious hand-cut shoestring fries which were seasoned so nicely. My daughter ordered the market fish which was the mahi-mahi and I took a taste. It was excellent. The rest of our party ordered burgers and were quite pleased with them. 

Overall, a rather neat place to grab a burger and a brew while in the Wrightsville Beach area and I will certainly be headed back over the summer.