In my short time living in this city, the most surprising thing has been how each block has a different flavor. Within four blocks of my apartment - in each of the four directions - I've seen Cuban food, American food, Indian Food, and Pub food. How glorious!
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A couple days ago I visited Cary Town and ventured over to a lovely French bistro called
CanCan to meet with a friend for drinks. I was blown away, to say the least. I tried the
Mumbai Cooler, simply because of the sugar/
cardamon rim, which I had never seen before. I am now inspired to crush any Indian spice, mix it with salt/sugar and take my own cocktails to a totally new level of YUM. Check out their
cocktail menu and go try one for yourself.
After drinks, we parted ways with our new Richmond friends, and it was off for dinner. We had originally planned on
visiting a diner featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, but were told of a splendid Cuban locale which peaked my interest. It's called
Kuba Kuba. Is it possible for me to say I was blown away yet again? Because I was. From the moment we walked in, we just knew this place was going to be good. What I love about it is that it doesn't try to be anything it's not.
Kuba Kuba serves amazing Cuban food, it doesn't try to woe you with fancy-
schmancy decor and it doesn't need to because that in itself leads to a chaotic
environment reminiscent of the country it's named after.
The fried plantains made my mouth water - the texture was pretty much spot on for each one I tried: golden crispy on the outside, tender and sweet on the inside. The sprinkling of salt on top brought out the gentler notes of the fruit. I ordered Ropa Vieja and my boyfriend had the Cuban Sandwich. Both were quite tasty. He, being half Cuban, assured me that the flavors in the Ropa were spot on. I myself could have used a tad less juice over mine, but I'm a curry-girl and am used to a thicker texture on sauces.
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It was my boyfriend's last night in Richmond, so we weren't ready to leave yet. It was about, oh, 8pm at this point. We were both stuffed, but still wanted dessert. Story of my life. So we headed back to the main strip of Cary Town and thought we could find one of those romantic, chi-chi restaurants and split something. Long story short, I stopped a Richmond local in the street and asked where the best dessert place was. "Bev's" she told me, "It's an ice cream parlor." Can this town be any more perfect? Ice cream is Weston's favorite thing in the world - I never touched the stuff before I met him, for fear of blowing up to a size 18 again.
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The ice cream here is divine. I think I tried every flavor before deciding on a special, Rum Raisin. You wouldn't think it, but being Persian, I do know how to make a good ice cream. We make this saffron, pistachio one at home for special occasions. The key to telling a good ice cream from a bad one is the elasticity. When you dip your spoon in, you should find some resistance and then if you beat it a little, the cream should get a little stringy. That's exactly how this ice cream was. I was highly impressed. And the little ice crystals around the raisins told me they'd been added in my hand. Oh-Oh! And did I mention the homemade whipped cream!!!! When I saw the server pull a KitchenAid bowl out of the freezer, my eyes lit up with joy. And the hot fudge. Don't get me started...If you don't believe me, see their reviews.