Tupelo Honey Cafe South Asheville NC (Hendersonville- Asheville area)

Recently I was in the Hendersonville NC area visiting my mom. This is my childhood home and I love going back to visit as often as I can. The restaurant scene in the area has changed a lot since I lived  there and there are lots of great choices of eateries from which to select. We were on our way to the Biltmore House that evening for a concert at one of the most awesome venues-atop the mountain where the estate sits looking out to an unending view of layers of mountains at sunset. But I digress...
We selected this restaurant because it was along our way to Biltmore and I had always wanted to try the original location in Asheville. This is a newer location for them. My friend, Sharon, who lives in the area, also said it was a favorite spot of hers. So there we met. The restaurant is located in a newer strip mall but at the end, with an outdoor dining patio where we sat. The weather was great up in the mountains for dining outside. It was such a welcome reprieve from the high heat and humidity we have been experiencing in Charleston.

Our waiter arrived immediately and we ordered a round of drinks. As we were waiting for our drinks the patio began to fill up quickly. I believe our waiter must have been swamped as the bartender eventually arrived with our drinks.

As I perused the menu I felt this would be a place that would not mind accommodating my food allergy requests as they offered and marked some of their menu items as vegan, gluten free and soy free. They also use local vendors for much of their food. The menu looked great  an had a lot of good side item choices. http://www.tupelohoneycafe.com/assets/TupeloMenu_NIGHT.pdf Read the menu. It will make your mouth water too! I asked about the black bean burger. This is something I love to eat but have not found a restaurant where I can have this as it usually contains some sort of milk protein as a binder. Well, our waiter said he thought this one did not contain any milk product but he would be glad to ask. He came back in a few minutes and said I should be fine with the burger and also the sweet potato fries that I had asked about.

Our food arrived a bit later (it was a little slow, especially for trying to get to a  concert!). The plate looked wonderful! But I did run into a problem that I have happen often enough. I had asked for no milk products, including butter or margarine, and my bun had been grilled with butter. So I had to send that back to get another bun. (I usually try to remember to ask about that but just had not thought about it this time.) But once I got it back it was DELICIOUS! All that I had expected and more. It was probably the best black bean burger I have had out (unless it had just been so long since I had one!!!). And the sweet potato fries were just as good. My friend, David, had a catfish taco and fried Parmesan corn on the cob.

And he said he it as good as it looked.

Sharon loved her open face veggie sandwich and tomato soup too.

We sat outside but when I went inside the atmosphere was really cozy and I really liked how they utilized old screen doors as room dividers.

This was definitely an enjoyable restaurant for me dining out with  my food allergies and they offered  many choices which I do not often have. I will be back...

Bambu Mount Pleasant SC

My sister, Vicky,  and I went to Bambu in Mount Pleasant on a recent Sunday night. I had been wanting to go here for some time as I always heard good things about it and it seemed to be quite crowded when I had passed on numerous occasions. Bambu features sushi, Thai and Japanese cuisine. We both were in the mood for Thai as we had actually tried to go to a new Thai restaurant we thought had opened already but we were mistaken. You know how you get a particular food on your mind and then it feels like your taste buds are specifically salivating for it? So I was happy to try Bambu to satisfy my mental tasting of Thai foods. We arrived and it was a very slow night. We opted to sit inside in spite of being tempted to sit on their extremely charming outdoor patio. (A bit warm and humid still!) We started with  a specialty cocktail each. No questions needed here about ingredients! The nice thing about Thai food for me (besides it's easy to get spicy flavors!) is that most of the entrees are without milk ingredients and therefore, I have a lot of good selections. Link to their menu below:
http://www.bambudining.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5:dinnermenu&catid=1&Itemid=8
This night I choose Thai Basil Spicy Chicken. Nothing on the description led me to believe that I would have any ingredient concerns but our server said she would be  glad to check with the kitchen. She turned in our order and returned to reassure me that she had checked for me and that everything in my dish as well as my sister's would be fine for me to eat. Our food arrived a few minutes later and it satisfied our Thai craving. It was a great experience and I would love to dine here again.

Seewee Restaurant Awendaw SC

 

If you have never been to Seewee restaurant in Awendaw you need to treat yourself. This is always a favorite spot of mine. It's named after the Seewee Indians that were in this area and the building itself started as a general store in the 1920's. But for many years now it has been a restaurant that is always packed with locals. (Which is nice in this town with so many restaurants catering to our tourist population!) And it's a great place to visit on the weekends when it's warm as they usually have live music outside under the little shed. (Often times bluegrass music.)

There were 5 of us Saturday night. Our waitress came and I started my usual barrage of questions regarding the dishes I could order without milk. Even though I have been here before I often get different answers at restaurants regarding ingredients so I always like to ask. I knew I would order blackened shrimp as I have had that many times at Seewee. This is a place that you get 3 sides with your entree and there are MANY choices so the sides were what my questions were about. I can almost always get French Fries and Cole Slaw to be safe but am usually hoping for something more interesting. When I first asked our server about the sides she did not seem too interested in helping me out but said she would check. Others at the table commented that she did not seem to want to be bothered. We saw her go ask another server. Now that server may be knowledgeable of the foods but it just makes me feel better if you ask the people that will be cooking my food! She came back and told me all I could get was French Fries and Applesauce. Then she said she did not ask the staff in the kitchen because they were all new and may not know!?! They may not know how they cook the food they are cooking??? I told her that on my other visits I had been able to select from a lot more side dishes. They have probably about 15-20 side dishes: sweet potato casserole, fried squash, steamed squash, butter beans, green beans, fried okra, macaroni and cheese, rutabagas...you get the idea...lots of southern style veggies! When I mentioned I had had more choices before she told me she would check with the kitchen. Ahhh...relief! She comes back and then names many items that I could have. Now she seems eager to help. And she reassures me that this is good information since the head guy has been there since they opened many years ago. Kind of a different story than what she had told me in the beginning! Anyway, I ordered butter beans , collard greens, and yes, french fries just to be on the safe side! Everything was delicious, as always. And by the time we left our server had really warmed up to my "problem" and even told me to seek her out next time and she would know what I could eat!