Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish, Nashville

Whenever I visit my family in the South, I always end up dragging them to little dives in the most random parts of town. Everyone knows to prepare their stomachs when I visit because all I want to do is scour for the best Southern food. I LOVE Southern food. It's greasy, hearty, comforting, and DELICIOUS.

Fried chicken in the South is A-MAZE-ING. As some of you know, I'm not a big fan of chicken. But fried chicken is different. It really is true when they say that everything tastes good when deep fried.

Nashville is known for their Spicy Fried Chicken. Spicy AND Fried you say? I'm there!!

There are two places in Nashville that are a MUST for spicy fried chicken: Prince's Hot Chicken and Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish. We decided on Bolton's, whose chicken is not as spicy as Prince's, but just as good.

Spicy fried chicken can be ordered mild, medium, or hot. Beware if you order your chicken hot because it is a burning, make you cry, mind numbing HOT.

CK's uncle ordered his chicken hot when we were at Bolton's and one of the locals that heard his order told him not to. He told him that there was ABSOLUTELY NO WAY he would be able to handle the heat.

There is more than just chicken at Bolton's. They also have spicy fish and ribs. They also had random signs around the shack offering yellow cake with chocolate icing, and banana bread.

Bolton's Menu

I ordered the chicken breast plate with greens and green beans. I asked for my chicken medium but CK ordered me mild by mistake. The chicken had a kick, but very tolerable. I'll need to try the hot next time, just to see what it's like. The collard greens and green beans were addictive! I couldn't get enough. The awesome flavor comes from slow cooking the vegetables with pork belly for hours and hours.

Chicken Breast with Greens and Green Beans

CK ordered the chicken breast sandwich - mild. It was as simple as two slices of white bread with fried chicken and pickles sandwiched in between.

Chicken Breast Sandwich

As you can see, it is not the easiest to eat. But better than the quarter leg sandwich, which is literally a leg in between two slices of white bread.

Chicken Breast Sandwich

If you're ever in Nashville, you've gotta try spicy fried chicken. It is highly addictive!

Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish
624 Main Street
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Telephone: 615-254-8015

Read More

Wayfare Tavern, San Francisco

One of my best meals in San Francisco to date was at Wayfare Tavern. A very hip yet down to earth casual place, Wayfare Tavern is the place to go if you are looking for simple hearty food done well.

Wayfare Tavern was started by celebrity Chef Tyler Florence.

The place looks exactly as the name implies: a tavern. The rustic dark wood used throughout the restaurant, combined with the antique looking stools at the bar and the ragtime type music playing in the background gives the whole place a retro feel.

I especially liked the bathroom, which is the photo you see at the top! I have a thing for cool bathrooms, and yes...I am a little strange at times.

Our meal started with these light, airy, delicious popovers. They were so good, I had to eat two. It was a nice change from the regular dinner rolls!

Popovers

To start, I ordered the roasted bone marrow with sea salt and smoked olive oil. This was served thin slices of grilled sourdough. The bone marrow was very lightly seasoned.

Roasted Bone Marrow

My lunch was the steak and eggs: a petit filet mignon with Dungeness crab and a soft egg on top.

Steak and Eggs

It was a heavy lunch but so freakin good! The tender filet mignon, combined with the crab, soft egg and Bearnaise sauce was heavenly! I left NOTHING on my plate.

Steak and Eggs

I wanted veggies with my meal, so I also ordered the roasted organic beets. The beets were mixed with a fragrant citrus oil

Roasted Organic Beets

J ordered the organic fried chicken with buttermilk brine, roasted garlic, lemon, herbs, and lots of rosemary. This was a really good choice! The chicken was seasoned perfectly, and cooked nicely. Crispy and salty on the outside, juicy on the inside.

Organic Fried Chicken

JM ordered the salmon dish, but modified so that his stomach could handle it (he's got a very weak stomach from years of dining out and drinking!). He basically asked for salmon with a little salt and pepper, with a slice of bacon on top.

Salmon

I can't remember exactly what we ordered for dessert, but it was the chocoalatiest dessert on the menu :)

Chocolate Dessert

I was blown away by pretty much every dish we ordered, and I highly recommend this place.

Wayfare Tavern
558 Sacramento Street
San Francisco, USA
Telephone: 415-772-9060

Read More

Ki' Xocolatl Chocolate

I've got another great product to share...I get very excited when I do.

When I met up with my friend, J, who recently got back from her vacation in Mérida, Mexico, she presented me with this beautiful flashy bright pink box. When I looked down, I noticed that it was chocolate from Mexico, Ki' Xocolatl chocolate to be exact. I looooooove exotic chocolates, so this was the perfect gift for me.

Ki-Xocolatl is a collaborative project between Belgian chocolatiers Mathieu Brees and Stephanie Verbrugge, and cocoa producers of Chiapas and Tabasco in Mexico. Ki-Xocolatl means delectable chocolate in the Mayan and Nahuatl languages.

The company works directly with the farmers of the Chiapas and Tabasco regions, and the cocoa is organic certified. Instead of insecticide, the fertilizers are a mix of plants, veggies, and cocoa by-products.

J brought back the dark chocolate with pink pepper bar for me. It was a smooth, dark chocolate with a hint of pink pepper. Subtle and not too strong. This bar also had hints of all spice, which was different.

Other flavors include: semi-bitter chocolate with chili and spice, and chocolate with milk and Cocoa seed Criollo Tostado

The only Ki' Xocolatl boutique is situated in Mérida, so if you're lucky enough to go, check it out.

Tienda Ki'Xocolatl
Santa Lucía
Calle 55 Número 513
Entre 60 y 62
Colonia Centro
C.P. 97000
Mérida, Yucatán

Read More

Atom Thai Restaurant, Sydney

I have an obsessive personality. I'm all about extremes. I either love it or I hate it. I either do it big, or don't do it at all. It is the same with food: if I love something, I will eat it everyday until I'm sick of it. There's just no in between for me.

I WAS obsessed with Thai food when I lived in Sydney. I came to Sydney indifferent to Thai food, and I left craving it every day. Every meal. Sydney has a reputation for cooking up amazing Thai food, with flavors and freshness that cannot be compared to any other place in the world...even Thailand! This resto review is an example of what I am talking about.

When I decided to move back to Ottawa, I dined at a different Thai restaurant everyday for the last few weeks, knowing that I would miss it dearly. Atom Thai was one of my last Thai meals with my friends.

We started our meal with the miang goong. This is the restaurant's signature dish and understandably so. A simple dish of cold prawns, special chili sauce, fresh lemon, cashew nut, betel leaves, and roasted coconut. It was insanely flavorful and fresh...I could have eaten an entire meal of these things.

Miang Goong

Our next dish was the stir fried crispy soft shell crab served with hot chili basil sauce, fresh chili, onion, garlic, green bean, and fresh basil leaves.

Stir Fried Crispy Soft Shell Crab

The kai pad phet was chicken breast stir fried with fresh chili, lemongrass, Thai marble eggplant, kaffir lime leaves, and onion.

Kai Pad Phet

The next dish was the crispy barramundi with Thai celery: crispy fried barramundi fillet, celery, salty bean, fresh chili and ginger.

Crispy Barramundi with Thai Celery

The chili basil noodle was my choice. I just can't go without ordering a flat rice noodle dish for some reason. This noodle dish was stir fried with Thai hot basil, bamboo shoot, and fresh chili. It was very saucy.

Chili Basil Noodle

All the food was very good. Fresh ingredients. What really stood out was the miang goong. I recommend that dish for sure.

I also ordered a Thai coffee with milk to go with my meal. Sadly, I didn't enjoy this drink. Way way too sweet for me.

Thai Coffee with Milk

Atom Thai Restaurant
130 King Street
Newtown, NSW
Telephone: 02 9550 5965h

Read More