Greenville (NC) Eats: La Hacienda, King Panda, and Mongolian Empire

While I blog my fair share, I've certainly eaten at least twice as much around town. There are plenty of unmentionables anywhere you go, but every once in awhile one finds some decent picks a random night out. Here are a few hit-and-mostly-misses in the Greenville area:

La Hacienda Mexican Grill
Type of Food: Tex-Mex
Price: $6-7 lunch, $10+ dinner

Recently opened on 10th street, La Hacienda offers some Tex-Mex options for the local crowd. To be honest, I have a slight bias for the taquerias - restaurants serving tacos, sopas, burritos and other traditionally Mexican fare - over what you usually see. East Carolina is an area bustling with these family joints serving some incredible tacos that will make you forget those Tex-Mex versions in a pinch, so it was a little disappointing to find that Hacienda was a Tex-Mex restaurant after seeing their "authentic Mexican" sign outside. For a Tex-Mex in Greenville though, it's on par with everything else on town. I tried out the quesadilla relleno for lunch which was stuffed with shredded chicken, vegetables and cheese. Along with a side of rice and salad topped with guacamole, it made for a filling meal. I wasn't too impressed with the flavors though, nothing was really strongly seasoned and the quesadilla needed a large dose of salsa to stay interesting. It had a good crispiness though, and maintained it to the last bite which was a redeeming factor.

While the location makes it an ideal choice for students who can't venture further into town on a daily basis, I would still take the marginally longer walk and pick Armadillo Grill in the downtown area for Tex-Mex tacos. Anyone with a vehicle, however, should try hopping either cross Tar River to El Azador or the taqueria at the Mexican supermarket down Charles St. for some good eats.

Final Word: Meh.

King Panda Restaurant
Type of Food: Chinese-American
Price: $5 lunch, $8 dinner

Unlike Tex-Mex, I have a bit of sympathy for Chinese-American fast food. General Tso chicken, sweet and sour pork, hot and sour soup, that fast food fried wing, the lo mein stuff - I love that crap to death for no reason. I've had my fair share of the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to Chinese buffets though, and for me King Panda sits right in between the bad and the ugly. The sickly sweet taste of bottled sweet sour, uncrisp meats, and generally either bland or overly something made my two attempts at the buffet turn sour fast. They have a cheap lunch buffet, but this is one of those times where I can say you pay for what you get.

Final Word: Thumbs down.

Mongolian Empire BBQ
Type of Food: Asian Grill
Price: Can't remember, but under ten I'm sure.

I've been a little baffled about whether I should review this place, because in theory everything you have there is as good as you make it out to be. The way this or any Mongolian grill works is a pile of fruits, vegetables, mysteriously dehydrated meat and sauces are left out for you to fill a bowl. Once you get your bowls set, the cooks throw it onto a grill and combine until ready to eat. If we just leave it at that, Mongolian is satisfying in the sense that you get a nice diversity of food to mix and match at your leisure and enjoy.

I think I like Mongolian Empire, but a large heaping bowl of noodles with various Asian sauces and vegetables is commonplace in my own home, so that may be a personal bias. If you are hungry for bowls of meat and vegetable noodles and don't want to purchase the pieces yourself, I guess this is an option for you. It's a good way, if anything, to experience a variety of Asian sauces that you may have never touched on and help inspire some ideas for your own kitchen. If you are looking for more of a savvy culinary meal though, then crawl up the street and check out Sakura Asian Express instead.

Final Word: Craving bowls of noodles in Greenville, NC? It's okay.

On the Prowl: Nile Asian Market in Greenville, NC

Cooking became a million times more enjoyable for local Asian and Asian-food lovers in Greenville, NC with the opening of Nile Asian Market. Just a couple of stores from Anchalee Thai Restaurant and DMV on Memorial, Nile provides a host of ethnic essentials from rice to noodles to an interesting variety of meat and seafood for the local crowd. Opened only recently in July, it's already become a favorite for many locals and restaurateurs such as owners of Sakura Asian Restaurant down the street.

Location: 3400 S Memorial Dr, Suite 14
Greenville, NC 27834

Hours: Monday - Saturday, 9:30 AM -8:00 PM
Sunday, 9:30 - 7:00

Browsing through the store, you can find a lot of basics at Nile including soy sauce, fish sauce, chili's, and more. Being a Thai-variety of Asian store, Nile's strong points revolve around Southeast Asian cooking. Things like basil, lemongrass, ginger, and other Thai, Vietnamese, and similar regional flavors are all present here. It's the more East Asian - Japan and Korean - ingredients that are lacking for people eyeing ingredients for those dishes, things like red pepper paste for Korean cooking, soba and other noodle types or stock ingredients for Japanese in particular.

The positives far outshine the negatives though. Maybe best of all is the frozen goods located around store where all the vegetables and meats await. Pork belly is almost impossible to find in the area, but Nile keeps that along with a few neat seafood items in the freezer. Vegetables seem to rotate weekly, but I've found everything from daikon to Chinese broccoli and eggplant to bok choy here, and continue seeing other neat things come in week to week. You'll even find kaffir lime leaves, good for Thai curry enthusiasts.

There's still a lot of room for growth at Nile, especially in the second half of the store that has yet to be filled. As long as a steady stream of customers keep on checking out Nile's treasures, I'm sure this market will be able to expand and continue providing a greater diversity of ingredients for those in the area. Make sure you head and out Greenville's newest ethnic grocery and help make it a permanent fixture in the area.

You can find Nile on Facebook here.

Columbia Eats: Doc's Barbecue and Southern Buffet

My six-going-on-seven-years-too-late barbecue crawl of Columbia forged on this week with a trip to Doc's Barbecue. Location-wise, it may be one of the most accessible places I've been yet - though a yet-to-be-determined-but-forthcoming trip to Palmetto Pig will top that by a mile, literally. Just a few blocks from the Gamecock stadium and the State's (South Carolina's local paper) offices, Doc's caters to a diverse crowd of workers in the Shop Rd. area along with businessmen from the downtown area. It's apparently not rare to find a few state officials and law enforcement roaming around for a bite to eat as the majority of the people during my visit were just that.

Buffet-wise, Doc's is admittedly a lot smaller then I'd envisioned it. The buffet starts out with baked beans, collards and an admittedly welcome pile of brussel sprouts, then moves into the rice with hash and/or gravy. The collards were fine; they had a nice, crisp texture and were the usual sweetness that you find in Cola's collards. Hash, for non-South Carolina natives, consists of all the spare parts of the pork that don't get pulled or used for other recipes. Mixed with vegetables cooked to death and a variety of spices, it's a unique item that comes either in a soup-like consistency or something more akin to a stew - Doc's falls into the stew variety with their thick variation. I don't say this very often, but I wasn't a huge fan of the texture of this hash. It was like pulled pork mashed into a pile of mush, which doesn't scream pleasant. Down the line you can also find the trademark potato salad, slaw, casserole, and mac and cheese. I won't talk about the latter three, which were... "ya know?", but the potato salad. Killer. A bit creamy then some may want it, but there's some nice smoky flavor in there that makes it stand out over the less impressionable sides just mentioned.

Next was the all-important fried chicken. At first glance, it looked a bit disappointing to be honest, not dark and gold fried like you may expect. It turned out to be fairly crispy and juicy though, not the best in Columbia but not a disappointment like previously thought. Better yet, however, was their Tuesday lunch special, an amazing smoked chicken which had great smoke flavor and oozed juices right to the bone. Perhaps my favorite of the day. And then there was the barbecue. I hate to bring it up in yet another Columbia barbecue review, but the mustard pulled pork still falls to Little Pig's great bite for the Cola crowd. The vinegar, however, has just the right about sour and savoriness to it that made me come back for seconds. And then there was the catfish nuggets. I think Doc's is the only one to sport it, and I have to say, it's great. Crisp nuggets of fishy goodness, without that smell of whiting that you usually find elsewhere.

Finally, the peach cobbler, an essential for any Southern buffet. I have to say, I've been disappointed in the past by Columbia's peach cobbler. There were some where you couldn't find a peach if it was hitting you in a face, others where the cobbler reeked of the dreaded burnt crust, and some that just sucked horribly in the worse of ways. Not Doc's though; their crisp, sweet cobbler top and peached filled interior hit all the right notes. Pair with a slice of cool, cold watermelon to clean the pallete every few bites and you have one of the best Southern buffet deserts in Cola.

No Reservations, the word on Doc's
Atmosphere: Surprisingly clean, but a bit heavy on the business side. Bring company.
Costs: A touch steeper then the competition at $9 for lunch.
Pile Up On: The potato salad, vinegar pulled pork, smoked chicken if there on a Tuesday and the peach cobbler - with a slice of watermelon. Very important.

To be perfectly honest, if I were still living in the Columbia area frequently, I'd probably still run up to the other side of town to Little Pigs for barbecue. Doc's is worth a visit, but there just weren't enough notes to make me a frequent. The peach cobbler was great, and the vinegar pulled pork was nice, but there are others in town that are a step ahead of the game I feel. If you are strapped to the USC area for lunch and are craving barbecue though, I would definitely recommend Doc's in the face of it's local competition as it definitely wins in that regard. If you can make the drive though, Little Pigs - for me - is still Cola's best in the barbecue arena.

Columbia Eats: Drip

French-pressed coffee has become kind of the new fad in the South as of late, with a flurry of small, independent coffee shops popping up around the deep South. The recipe is the same for most: supply high-end coffee at Starbucks prices alongside a small, but charming menu of bistro-esque items for under ten dollars. And free wi-fi of course. Each differ a bit in their approach food-wise, but the general sentiment of "provide a damn good cup of coffee without the pretensions of a chain" is kind of the flagship message of these establishments.

Drips take on the trend pairs coffee with high quality ingredient sandwiches, several involving prosciutto with some cheese pairings. I opted for one of those, a prosciutto and brie concoction on sourdough with a small bowl of honey and balsamic to dip with a side of fruit. The standout of the sandwich for me was the sourdough. Crisp to touch and beautifully crackling to the ear, yet nice and light to bite, just they way you want any sandwich bread. The ingredients inside were okay, not oh-my-god amazing in an earth-shattering way, but nice and not overly salty as some may fear. The fruit was spot on, nice and sweet, and a good way to mop up the excess honey and balsamic.

Honestly, I was a little puzzled on how to go about reviewing a cup of coffee without sounding like a Tyler Florence special. I could say that "the Sumatra has a luscious, velvety texture and a rich, dark, malty body that pairs beautifully with..." but you know what, screw it. Drip serves a damn fine cup of French pressed coffee. Period. It's nice and silky, and comparable to Starbucks in prices, but with a greater quality. It actually took me a moment to look around for the menu items, but once I got adjusted (some coffee options on the front right wall, food items above the bar for newcomers) it didn't take long to make a decision.

No Reservations, the lowdown on Drip
Atmosphere: Casual, but contemporary. Think Starbucks,
but a little more homey.
Costs: Sandwiches are priced around $7.95 for lunch on, but breakfast items are mostly around $5 and offered all day along with a couple of under $6 options for lunch.
Try: Uh, Coffee.

Drip is still a newcomer in the scene, but I think it's safe to say they have all the makings of a quality coffee shop. I worry about the seating, which could slow things down for those who want to come in, wi-fi and work during the school semester. It was already decently busy on my visit, I only imagine things getting busier as USC kicks back into gear at the rate it is going, but for a place like Drip I imagine this to be a good problem for them. Food-wise, there's still room for growth. While I enjoyed what I had, I still had a slight yearning for something more than fruit and a sandwich. Drip's shown that they've only begun to show what they can do though. With the recent announcement of evening hours for the school year, I hope to see them push out some greater fare for the afternoon and evening crowd like Cafe Strudel and 116 - Cola's Tea and Wine bars - have on the other side of the river.

On the Prowl: Pitt County Farmer's Market in Greenville, NC

Greenville's biggest farmer's market is a bit more of an excursion to get to then the Umbrella market in downtown, but if you want to get the best of what East Carolina has to offer at a good, low price, then you'll definitely want to take a peek at what's hiding down Country Home Road.

Location: 4560 Country Home Road, Greenville, NC 27834.
Directions: Head onto East Firetower Rd. Country Home Road is where the Sheetz's is, head past the Sheetz's and drive down a ways until you see the market on your right.
Hours: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 8 AM - 1 PM. To 3 PM on Friday's. (March thru December)

Produce Round-Up
For a more precise list, the farmer's market has a neat "What's in Season" chart which you can find here. For the most part, you'll find everything you find at the Umbrella market here. The Pitt County farmer's market stands out with a larger collection to pick from, whether it's peppers or various root vegetables. Along with the usually suspects, you'll also find a few interesting subjects at the end of the aisle, including a bread and grain man, a herb stand, and a large and robust collection of jarred stuff including jams and pickles of all shapes and sizes.

Note: My Pitt County Farmer's Market experiences have usually been Saturdays. Days may fluctuate in produce.

The usual suspects:
Bell Peppers
Peppers
Collard Greens
Sweet Potato
Tomato
Grape Tomato
Zucchini (Yellow/Green)
Watermelon
Onion
Eggplant

Like the Umbrella market, you'll also find a seafood vendor most weekends.

Along with the produce, you'll also find an interesting array of eats. Breakfast can be found in the form of fruit empanadas at road side of the building. Crispy, sweet, and succulent, they provide a nice pick-me-up while browsing the morning goods. My favorites so far have been the mango and peach, but they have a large variety to fit anyone's tastes. $1.50 a piece for those who are curious. On the other end are the bakers, which will easily tickle your sweet tooth with their concoctions. Some surprising French baked treats were present this past week. Outside the main building is a newcomer to the market, a red hot, hot dog stand. While it seemed like just another dog stand at first glance, the allure of a good beef hot dog was too hard to pass up, especially at $2.00 and with an AMAZING sweet pepper relish on top. Well worth the stop for any hot dog lovers out there.

Overall, Pitt County's Farmer's Market is a great place to stop and pick up affordable produce for the week while picking up a few nice bites to eat. Unfortunately, unlike the Umbrella Market you won't find any extra activities to keep the family busy here, but if you're aiming for the produce then you'll definitely want to make this your regular stop for local goods within the Greenville area.

Greenville (NC) Eats: Christy's Euro Pub

So, everyone needs a local hangout, and I guess Christy's Euro Pub has become mine. In a town full of bars, this may be the best, both bang for your buck and, well, in general for anyone in the Greenville area. It's definitely more for the older crowd looking for actual food, drinks and a reserved group compared to the insanity that breaks out each evening in the downtown area. If you are looking for a place to get wasted and score, you probably already know where to go and can stop reading now, but for anyone looking to have some good food, relax with friends, and a cold beer, this is exactly where you want to be.

Food-wise, there's really two things you want to know. The first is this:

Four dollar specials, a student's best friend seven days a week. A few of these look standard-y, but all are most-definitely full-bodied, filling meals that you'll likely be satisfied with any day of the week. My favorite is the Sunday special, the spicy turkey reuben on marble rye with thousand island dressing and a mild kraut. I'd easily pay a little more for it any day. The gyro is my least favorite. I don't know if it's the lamb or what, but I just feel it's missing a little something. Locals still seem to enjoy it though, so maybe it's just me. They also have their garbage spaghetti, piled with an assortment of stuff as the name implies as an everyday special. A good deal for those days where the wallet is a bit on the light side.

And the second thing. Christy's main menu is pretty well stacked with everyone's favorites, most of which are pretty satisfying, but the one thing that I've come to enjoy is their rotating special's menu. Best when St. Patrick's day rolls around, but also good during their various international kicks, Christy's features a pretty eclectic lists of specials on occasion that sometimes can amaze. On the surface, it's not the kind of place you'd think you'd find Moroccan sandwiches and salads or random Mediterranean fare, but they can definitely surprise with some interesting choices throughout the year, making the pub a worthwhile place to frequent. Even if you don't order from the special's menu for an entree, consider some of the special's for a side if you'd like a change of pace from the usual order of fries (which are homemade, not the greatest, but on some days unusually satisfying). Those who just want to stick to the comfort picks though should find what they need to cut their cravings here. The thick, juicy burgers in particular tend to hit home, the oozing cardiac burger (bacon, fried egg burger) and the smokehouse (bacon, onion ring, barbecue sauce) being two of my favorites, especially after a rough day out.

No Reservations, the Shakedown on Christy's

Atmosphere: The most local bar in town, a good hangout.
Costs: $4-8,9. Can't be beat. Half price appetizers in
the evenings on most days I believe. Drink specials for days.
Try: Smokehouse burger and the spicy turkey
reuben.
Never fear: Vegetarian options are limited, but
there if you are willing to be flexible.

Though I have some small complaints (flies can be a bother on those hot, sticky days in the patio, fries can be better some days, etc.), Euro Pub is still the place to go bar-wise and where I tend to merrily be for a good chunk of the year. They treat their customers well and punch out some good, occasionally great food out of the kitchen on a daily basis, and is one of a very, very small handful of places in town that I consider to be an ideal place to chill and hangout after a hard day in the classroom. Sometimes atmosphere goes a long way when it comes to a restaurant. Fortunately enough, Christy's got atmosphere and good eats to go with it.

On the Prowl: The Umbrella Market in Greenville, NC

The Umbrella Market is about as convenient as farmer's markets get for Greenville time and location wise. Not only can you find some good local produce for the right price, but you can also shop around for some interesting antiques and bake goods while downing a refreshing fresh squeezed lemonade, some iced jasmine tea down the street, or a cold beer from the Duck-Rabbit Brewery.

Location: Downtown Greenville, NC
Hours: 5-8 PM every Wednesday through September

Produce Round-Up
The selection at the Umbrella Market is actually pretty decent for what it's worth. If you are shopping for some kitchen essentials for your weekly cooking, you should still be able to pick up some what you need for a good cost. Here's the round-up:

Tomatoes - Daily
Peppers - Daily
Yellow/Green Zucchini - Daily
Sweet Potatoes - Occasional
Grape Tomatoes - Daily
Corn - Occasional/Daily
Blueberries - Daily
Blackberries - Occasional
Grapes - Occasional
Green/Yellow Bell Peppers - Daily
Melons (watermelon and cantaloupe mostly) - Occasional/Daily
Basil - Rare
Local Jam(s) - Daily
Eggplant - Daily
Onions - Occasional/Daily

Along with the produce, there is also a seafood vendor that regularly comes in with fish and shellfish at around $7-9 a pound. The Nooherooka Natural truck also makes regular appearances with grass-fed (looks like ground mostly) beef for sale. Produce wise, you'll usually find some good deals here and there. One of the best I got was a couple of humongous bell peppers - green and yellow - for a dollar. A little better then the $3-4 I might be forced to pay at the store! Most vendors are willing to bargain if you are into that, but most of their deals are generally sound as is.

The Umbrella Market is pretty ideal for students stuck in the vicinity for Summer or early Fall classes, along with the professors and locals in the area that are generally too busy to hit up other markets in and out of town at those extra early hours. If you are in it for the produce, you definitely want to try to hit the 5-6 PM time before what you likely want is gone. Aside from produce shopping, there's a lot of fun little shopping to do along with a few tables for kids as well if you've got them. This past week featured an art table for kids to get creative. You can also usually find some food to chow on as well, with Sup Dogs doing their usual thing and a few bakers providing extra eats on the side. On occasions, there are also some special vendors that provide a unique item or two. A couple weeks back a pasta vendor made her way through town featuring artisan pasta from afar. Kinda neat.

Down the street you'll also find Sojourner and Tipsy Teapot getting into the act with a few stands of their own. Sojourner generally features a small sale out front which includes a variety of tea if you are looking for something a little more exotic. Tipsy for now only seems to have a small, though somewhat exotic clothing vendor, but it at least is certainly a nice place to stop and get out of the heat momentarily. Definitely hope to see more vendors in there in the future to add to the Umbrella Market scene, because there's plenty of space to fill. Overall though, the Umbrella Market is a nice, convenient time to pick up some much needed produce and have a little fun in the sun.

You can find out all the details about the market at http://www.uptowngreenville.com/