My husband and I have never been to Village Kabob & Curry but when there was a Groupon offered for 50% off, we had to get one.

Once we arrived, we noticed it was under new ownership and is now called Taste of India (outside sign hasn’t been updated yet). They still honor the Groupon which is wonderful.

When you walk in, it doesn’t look like much. It looks kind of like a Chinese takeout place. They do take to go orders but our Groupon was for dine in only so we sat at a booth.

We were promptly asked for our drink order and given our menus as well. After looking at the menu, we were excited to see a page devoted to vegetarian/vegan meals. I ended up ordering Chana Masala and my husband ordered Dal Makhani. We also ordered vegetable samosas for an appetizer and garlic naan bread with our meal.

While waiting for our order, we received some large spiced chips with a small dip. I guess they’re called poppers? This was delicious. Our vegetable samosas came out with some more dips. I don’t know what the dips are called but they were interesting. Not bad but definitely different. I should mention that we don’t eat Indian often – otherwise I’m sure I’d know the names of these dips.

When our food came out, it was served like other Indian places with shared rice plates. I tried my dish and it was pretty good. It tasted like what I’d expected. It’s chickpeas with various spices. But when I tried my husbands dish – I was in heaven. It was so tasty! I don’t think I’ve tried another Indian dish this good in my life. I admit, I was very excited! The garlic naan was also very good.

We will definitely be coming back – Groupon or not. Entrees are priced well at around $8.95-$9.95 and it’s a good amount of food. My husband and I ended up not finishing our meals because we were so full from the appetizer, chips, and naan bread. Now we look forward to eating more tomorrow for lunch!

Some reviews to look out for in the next couple of weeks include Tida Thai Cuisine (Kiln Creek), Hibachi Grill and Supreme Buffet (Jefferson Blvd), El Tapatio (near City Center), Pho 79 (Jefferson Commons) and that new Indian restaurant on Denbigh Blvd.

Outside of Thai Thai's

Thai Thai’s is a new restaurant that opened in the new Stoney Run section in Newport News.  This is the new shopping/living/eating complex at the corner of Jefferson and Denbigh. 

Thai Thai’s is a takeout restaurant that also has some inside seating.  When you walk in, it looks very clean and welcoming.  The lady at the register was very nice and courteous.  You can eat in or take out.  My husband and I decided to eat in. 

Once we ordered, we sat down and waited.  It took just under 10 mins for our food to come out.  They were super quick.  I ordered Pad Thai with tofu and my husband ordered Pad See-Ew with tofu.  Both dishes were delicious and a good size.  We ordered regular which is currently $6.95 ($8.95 for large).  I also ordered Thai Tea.  The Thai Tea wasn’t the best I’ve had but it was still good.

They even have a separate ‘Vegetarian Dishes’ section which is so nice.  Some options include Mixed Vegetables, Pad Pak, Tofu (steamed or fried), and Vegetable Pad Thai .  The Vegetable Pad Thai is loaded with vegetables – different than the meal I ordered.  I like the traditional one with tofu a little better so that is why I didn’t get the loaded vegetable one. 

They have a set up like Panera where you leave the dishes and trays on top of the trash can when you are done.  It was a great first experience at Thai Thai’s and we will definitely be back.

The taco itself didn’t look as appetizing as what is shown on the website but that is expected. I mean, the real thing doesn’t ever look as good as the pictures on the menus anyway. Once I took my first bite, I fell in love. This taco is so delicious! It has the perfect taste. My sister who got them for me says they remind her of what she remembers chicken soft tacos tasting like (she is also vegetarian).

Kudos to taco bell for adding another vegetarian option to their menu. Hopefully the interest in this taco leads them to develop even more items and *hopefully* take gelatin out of their sour cream.

http://www.tacobell.com/menuitem/Crispy-Potato-Soft-Taco

Visit their website.

My co-workers and I decided to go out for lunch one Friday afternoon. Little did we know that our choice of where to go would haunt us for the next week. Cancun is a small restaurant down at the end of King Street in Hampton before you reach Langley Air Force Base.

We love Mexican food and have gone to Cancun before without a problem. This day, I ordered their vegetarian option that comes with a cheese quesadilla, bean chalupa, and bean burrito. We had a great tasting meal and went home that day ready for the weekend. By 4pm on Saturday, I was feeling queasy and generally sick feeling. Within a couple hours, I got hit with the symptoms of food poisoning. It was not just the stomach issues but also body aches, chills, and fever. I found out that my co-worker was suffering the same thing. We immediately thought it was Cancun since she doesn’t go out to eat much and that was the only place she’d gone out to eat recently.

When we came back to work the next week, we found out that a lot of our other co-workers had fallen ill and had eaten there as well. My co-worker ended up calling the health inspector who then did an investigation and tested some ‘samples’ from someone who had gotten sick. They tested positive for Norovirus. Norovirus is sometimes referred as “Stomach flu” and is found in human feces. It’s just utterly disgusting and I will never eat there again.

If you won’t take my word for it, check out their record on the restaurant inspections website: http://www.healthspace.ca/Clients/VDH/Hampton/Hampton_Website.nsf

It shows many repeat CRITICAL and non-critical violations including the following:

Critical Repeat: A food employee failed to wash his or her hands before engaging in food preparation, after touching bare human body parts, after coughing, sneezing, eating, after handling soiled utensils or after engaging in any activity which may have contaminated his/her hands.

Repeat: The cutting board(s) a the prep table and throughout the kitchen are heavily scratched and scored. The food contact surface is no longer easily cleaned and sanitized due to condition.

We walked into Nonnas and were seated promptly even though they were very busy. They really have a lot of room inside their establishment and it was very clean and welcoming.

This was my third time coming to Nonnas and as always, I was not disappointed. They had Valentine’s day dinner options that seemed very upscale and delicious. One option was portabello mushrooms stuffed with risotto cheese, pesto, and more. Their stromboli’s are enormous. My sister got one and it was at least 3 meals for her. They have huge portions for the prices. It is normally a $2 charge to split meals but if you just get a side salad for $2.99, they waive that charge.

I came there wanting to get their eggplant parmesan sub but unfortunately, they no longer offer this. They do still have the regular pasta meal though. There are lots of vegetarian options including veggie pizza, veggie sub, and lots of pasta options. Anna, the owner, is also very accommodating with special requests. She is very friendly and frequently comes over to ask how everything is. You can tell she really cares about her customers.

I would definitely recommend Nonnas to anyone wanting Italian food. One caveat – when you order the house salad, be warned that it normally comes with a slice of salami. Ask the waitress to omit that and you will love it. They have great house dressing.

Ah, Bier Garden.  Most German restaurants serve a lot of meat and Bier Garden is no different.  What is different is that they also have vegetarian options and quite a few at that.  My friends and I always look forward to watching movies at the Commodore because we know that we will go across the street to the Bier Garden afterward.  The atmosphere is very pub-like.  Lots of wood and ‘homey’ type decorations.  It’s a family restaurant and you can tell when you go in.  It was very cold when we last went so we decided to eat inside but in the spring/summer/fall, I recommend eating outside.  It is very nice there as well.

My regular meal is their “Special Spatzle”.  It has havarti cheese and grilled onions and mushrooms over spatzle (heavy egg noodle).  I’m not a mushroom lover but this dish is delish!  It doesn’t have an overpowering mushroom taste and is just so satisfying.  My sister always recommends the veggie burger so I decided to try it out.  I wasn’t disappointed.  You can get it with or without cheese and with a side.  I chose fries but they have lots of other options as well.  I wouldn’t get the potato salad though because I believe it has bacon or sausage in it.  Just ask the server if you are unsure of a side.  They are very helpful.  Another good food option is the “Lensen-Kase Spatzle”.  My husband prefers this meal because the lentils are cooked just right and also mixed with cheese.  It’s more of a soupy Spatzle dish but I prefer the grilled taste of the Special Spatzle.  You can get just the Lensen Spatzle if you would rather not have cheese (Kase).

And of course now to the beers…  They have an awesome beer selection.  I never liked beers but my friend introduced me to Aventinus which they have on tap.  This beer is not very bitter and it tastes great.  There’s also another beer that tastes like Raspberry juice that I love called Lindeman’s Framboise.  If you like beer, you will probably think this is too sweet.  No bitterness at all and it’s just very juice-like.  They also have beer samplers in which you can try out beers from different areas.  This is a good option since they have so many beer options.

The hostess and server were both very nice and accommodating the entire night.  The only gripe I have is that they don’t split the check for large parties.  This is similar to many other restaurants though so it’s not a big deal at all.

Wednesday, Dec 30, 2009
Time: Approx 7:00pm

When we arrived we were greeted and promptly seated.  We noticed that there is a wait on weekends but we haven’t ever had to wait on a weekday.  The waiter came within a couple minutes and took our drink order. 

Red Robin’s atmosphere is pretty loud and frequently filled with children.  This isn’t somewhere that you’d want to go for a romantic dinner BUT no matter how noisy it is, it is worth it for the food.  Most of their menu is filled with burgers but you can replace any burger or chicken sandwich with a boca burger or a garden burger (I prefer boca).  They also have bottomless fries.  Their burger prices are about a dollar more than other comparable places but I’m sure it’s because of the fact that you can keep getting more and more fries.  The average burger is around $9.49.  These are huge burgers.  On some days if my husband and I are trying to save money or we aren’t as hungry, we split our burger and it is still enough to fill you up.  They give you half a burger and your own order of fries.  I recommend getting their free tangy campfire sauce with your fries.  That sauce is delicious and actually kind of addicting.

The waiter was very friendly throughout the night – we have never had any trouble with the service here. He made sure to refill our drinks and offered more fries when he noticed we were running low.

Even if you don’t normally like veggie burgers, I recommend trying Red Robin.  I’ve gone with friends who are not vegetarian but yet they get the boca burger because it’s sooo good and much healthier than the regular burgers.  My burger: Royal Red Robin Burger (without bacon and sub boca burger)… It’s a regular burger with a fried egg on top.  Definitely not the healthiest option but it sure is tasty!