We got carry out from Lihn's several years ago when we lived close by, and I remembered it being good - just maybe not memorable. Since they've moved locations (still on Airway, but now in Page Manor), it seems I heard a little more buzz about them. More people on Facebook and Instagram singing their praises.

You know how you always see the little pepper next to Mongolian Beef on a menu and think, "Nahhhhh, everyone has that little pepper and the sauce is never spicy, just sweet." Well, I love that dish and thought the same thing when I ordered it here. Well, turns out not only do they use a lot of chilis, but they don't seed them. I noticed the spiciness can be tailored to your taste, so I would absolutely get this again. Even though it was far too much heat for my taste, I ate half the dish and powered through the other half the next day for lunch.

There was a mix-up with Mr. FvF's food, but somewhat understandable. He asked the server about two dishes, then ordered the second one. He was delivered the first one, which still looked delicious - just wasn't what he wanted.

Service was friendly & fast, and the prices were pretty reasonable. More than takeout, but probably on par with other sit-down Asian joints. Be forewarned that there are no fountain drinks, so if you order soda, you'll get a can & glass of ice, no refills.

Easy 4 out of 5 sporks. Would be a five had I known about the spice levels and they offered soft drink refills.

I almost forgot to post this! There is still plenty of time to enter your besties, family, loved ones, caregivers, etc. Specifically, one more week because I'm late to the party.* Not only does this contest have a great title - it's sweet, sincere and relevant to the Thanksgiving season that will be upon us before we know it. If you're living right, you've probably had a good handful of moments in your life that someone did something so nice for you that it floored you. Or maybe there's someone in your life everyday that's so supportive of you that they just deserve a special treat for putting up with what a giant pain in the ass you can be sometimes. I mean, hypothetically.


Well, here's your chance. No catch, no purchase required. All you have to do is think of someone who is awesome and deserves a free pumpkin pie, and (nom, nom) nominate them on Frisch's Facebook page. 


*Real Talk: I had a chance to give a pumpkin pie away to one of my great readers, but a total career change and studying for a licensing exam thwarted that good and proper (missed the posting deadline). So, hopefully you're nice enough that someone will have nominated you for a pie. Also, sorry for dropping the ball here, Pamela! 

Wake &Bake Donuts - Carolina Beach, NC

I always meticulously plan our meals while on vacation so that we don't go out for any meal too often. If you pay for breakfast every morning, that adds up quickly. I always plan on going out for at least one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner throughout the week-long vaca. Everyone from the area, or who's ever visited the Cape Fear/Carolina beach area will give you a fire-and-brimstone speaech about how great Britt's donuts on the Boardwalk is. I've never had them, so I can't say either way - but they only serve plain glazed yeast donuts, and that doesn't appeal to me. As with cupcakes and french fries, you better get pretty creative in terms of a flavor profile for me to blow calories on some donuts. the other option that popped up in my Yelp! app, though, was Wake & Bake, which had opened fairly recently. Good choice! The flavors were as colorful as the staff themselves, and my son almost had blacked out when he saw a trough of donut holes o the counter, just there for the taking. We got the cinnabomb, fruity pebbles, Wake & Bake (maple bacon), peanut butter sriracha, s'mores and strawberry cheesecake. I fully expected to swoon over the maple bacon. It was good, but the cinnabomb blew it away with all of it's buttery goodness - like the very last inner bite of a cinnamon roll when you eat it from the outside in. 5/5


Island Hots - Carolina Beach, NC
Stopped by here for a quick lunch after a visit to the Port Fisher Aquarium (which is awesome, by the way). Hot dogs w/stuff on them. Think Zombie Dogs, but slightly less adventurous with their flavor profiles. Served on a coney-style bun with all beef franks, they offer toppings like chili, pulled pork, baked beans and slaw. We all enjoyed our dogs, but my only wish is that the frank was a little bigger. Service was counter-style, quick & friendly, and your kids might go apestuff because their combos will be served on a frisbee that they get to keep. 4/5


Frank's Pizza - Carolina Beach Boardwalk, NC

New York style pizza, but a little overpriced and not impressive. Maybe we caught it on a bad night (or I was butt-hurt about the claw machine eating my money and management not offering to refund it), but it just wasn't good. The FvF family REALLY likes pizza, but this didn't do it for us. Lil FvF still had no problem polishing off a whole slice as big as the paper plate it was served on, but the grown-ups thought it was overcooked. You should be able to fold a slice of NY-style pizza. When we attempted to fold our respective slices, it crackled and the top of the crust just crumbled like a cracker. 2/5

Island Ice Factory - Carolina Beach Boardwalk, NC
Finally got the kid the damn sprinkles ice cream he wanted. For a beach, the place isn't exactly overrun with ice cream shops and for a place that makes fresh ice cream and rotates flavors, we were really rolling the dice that we could score rainbow sprinkle anything. But lo, birthday cake ice cream. I got a scoop of salted caramel, and while the flavor was just okay - the texture was rich & dense. Reminded me a bit of frozen custard. Won't be on my "MUST revisit" list next year, but that's not to say we won't go back.  3.5/5

Fish Bites - Carolina Beach, NC
Let's be very clear: I don't like fish. I'm always a sport to try it when my husband orders it, but rarely do i taste something that I like enough to order myself. That is, until my son ordered the fish sticks here and I was trying to convince him that he was full so I could have the rest. You're right on the beach here, so the first score is that you're eating fresh fish. Their fish sticks are hand-battered north Atlantic cod pieces as big as a Twinkie. I wish I would have taken photos, but I didn't expect it to be this good. You can find plenty on Yelp, though.  I ordered a margarita chicken dish that was good, but not nearly as memorable as the fish or the side I ordered - zucchini fries. I don't mean the bullshit ones you bake up at home as a healthy side to your grilled chicken. I mean julienne-cut, perfectly seasoned, batter fried goodness. I've thought about them weekly ever since. Mr. FvF also raved about his Old Bay broiled grouper and cajun shrimp. Oh, and he insists that I mention that they have Cheerwine on tap. That pushes them to a full 5/5. Also, while none of us are lobster eaters, the lobsters served here appears to be roughly the size of a cat.

The Basics - Wilmington, NC
Half a smoked chicken with a hoppin' john. That's all I'm sayin'. I mean, I'll say some more, but just gaze upon it for a minute.

It's difficult for me to get out to new restaurants because of our family's schedule, but a weekend brunch is a pretty easy one to pull off. The only thing better than brunch is a boozy one, so I was stoked when I heard Chappy's was starting weekend brunches. Craft beers would be a great change from the usual mimosas that accompany that not-quite-breakfast meal.

My sister, my Dear Prudence and I embarked upon Chappy's that day with big hongries (and some thirsties for cold ones). I'd been daydreaming about the praline bacon, and the order is around half a pound (it's actually considered an entree). It was a bit difficult to find something on the smaller side to go along with that as the menu is limited, so I opted for a biscuit & gravy. Both the other gals went for chicken and waffles, one with regular syrup and one with spicy syrup. All of the food was amazing - but for a sissy like me, the gravy was too damn spicy. I've never seen red pepper used in gravy before, and I grew up eating biscuit & gravy every weekend in two different households (my own and my grandma's), as well as occasionally at friends' homes, but never encountered it. It was just too much. The biscuits were great and the gravy had a good texture, but it was inedible for me. Also,  it's nearly impossible to take an appetizing photo of sausage gravy - so I won't subject you to it. Just trust that it's as big as advertised.



The praline bacon was a great balance of sweet and salty, and a level of doneness that would appeal to anyone - not chewy like bubblegum, not super crispy (probably due to the saturation of the sugars).


Just perfect. It was big enough that someone with a small appetite could easily get away with ordering just that and an egg or two.

Our waitress was top notch (never had bad service there) and she knew all about their beer choices, even recommending a few beers that taste great when mixed half & half together. So many brunch options are popping up around Dayton, but I'd definitely do another brunch here just to order my own chicken and waffles. And if you're a fan of spicy, their Big A** Biscuit and Gravy is right up your alley.


4.5 out of 5 sporks!

I'd been dying to try Tom + Chee because it's something Dayton doesn't have. Remember in the early 2000s when Time Warner kept showing Sonic ads to the Miami Valley and the closest one was 30 miles away in Middletown, and we all went apeshit when they opened six of them at once? Then we were all, "Oh, that's it?" Similar experience at Tom + Chee. I'm not saying it's as bad as the experiences I've had at Sonic, but at least Sonic has their "system" down. Let me explain.

I managed to drag Mr. FvF to a mid-century furniture show in Sharonville. Normally, we'd hit up Izzy's when in that part of town. Alas, Izzy's is closed on Sundays, co-conspiring with Chick-fil-a to ruin my Sabbath and not give me the foods that I want. We were both newbs to the dine-in experience, even though he'd had one of their sandwiches at a con a few months prior.



Contrary to popular belief, I actually hate shit-talking any eating establishment (especially local or regional) unless they've somehow personally wronged me (this is why I'll never eat at Disalvo's) or I know them to be unclean. My first experience with T+C was way below par. It's an order at the counter joint, and they bring you your food - similar to a deli. The line was to the door and the place was already at capacity, so I couldn't help but wonder where the hell all these people will go, and hoping some orders are to-go.

We picked up our drink cups and waited behind four people at the soda fountain, then started circling like vultures to catch a visual or verbal cue from a family or couple about to vacate a table. We finally caught one and wiped down the sticky table ourselves, and our food arrived about 5-10 minutes later. I got the Flying Pig - roasted turkey, bacon, smoked gouda on white (grilled), along with a dipper of the creamy tomato basil. If you're wondering what the hell a dipper is, it's basically a shot of soup just for dunking your sandwich. My sandwich was pretty good, but just not mind-blowing. I'll admit, my taste buds may have been predisposed to harsh judgement because of the Thunderdome experience of vying for a table. The soup was not something I'd get again. I didn't exactly find it creamy, and it was way too sweet.

Given the right circumstances, I'd try it again but I certainly wouldn't wait in a long line or arm wrestle for a table. The cost was pretty reasonable, though. Two sandwiches, two soups (one big, one small) and two beverages came to just over $20. As much as fast food prices have risen, you'd pretty easily pay that for two combos at most places - and I would pick Tom + Chee over most of that crap any day.

Mr. FvF and I took a quick weekend trip to Cleveland recently, and left the boy behind at Nana's so we could pretend to be young again. As much as I was hoping to come back with a laundry list of dining experiences, a traveling weekend is really only one full day. On the way there, we had lunch at a BBQ place just outside the city that was less than memorable. I'd also love to tell you we dolled up for at least one fancy dinner out, but in late April, we were still wearing our winter coats in Cleveland. After walking our asses off to get back & forth from the Rock Hall, we felt like we deserved ALL the food (not to mention all the sangria). We made a reservation at Mallorca, a Spanish restaurant within walking distance of where we were staying. I'd heard they serve a lobster the size of a cat, so I figured their other portion sized would be similarly shameful. I was right!

We started with a pitcher of sangria and Chorizo a la Plancha. this was the dry-cured type of chorizo, sliced into coins and broiled, and it was delicious. Better still, there was a nice plump black olive for nearly every piece of sausage.
I chose one of their veal scallopini dishes (yes, they have more than one!)...

and Mister went for the shrimp as usual. I can't recall the name of his dish, as it's not listed on their website now, but it looked impressive and he was a very happy man.


Did I mention that's not all of the food? Because that's not all of the food. We also had salad, freshly steamed veggies, housemade chips and yellow rice with pigeon peas.


It's a million wonders that they didn't have to put wheels underneath me and roll my big ass out of there like Violet Beauregarde.

The next morning we trekked to the other side of town to check out the West Side Market on 25th Street. I was bound and determined to find all of the carbs possible at the public market, and it didn't disappoint. I ended up with a shit ton of fresh pasta and sauces from Ohio Pasta Company, as well as enough petite desserts to make Wilford Brimley shiver in his therapeutic loafers. The Market also happens to be just around the corner from Great Lakes Brewing Company.

We had a very boozy lunch there and tried some new brews that weren't yet being bottled and sold, and I was very happy to get to cross this off my list. The brewery and restaurant itself is a very nifty, historic building complete with much of the original woodwork and the telltale narrow stairs leading up to another dining area. Our server was very knowledgeable about the beers and the food, and was happy to let us taste anything we wanted to prior to ordering (without charging us, of course). The Mister had fish & chips, battered in their Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. I'll remind you that I'm not a fish eater - I always try a bite of what he orders and decide I'd eat it if I were starving, but not order it. This fish, I'd actually order. Aside from some seafood I've had on the coast, this is the best fish I've had. Note that I'm not a fish connoisseur. I'm one of those people that doesn't want their fish to taste much like fish. That said, my husband (who loves virtually all fish) really enjoyed it, too.

I had the Old World Burger, a big-ass patty swimming in a porter BBQ sauce, smoked cheddar, bacon and fried onion straws, all snuggled up in a pretzel roll. According to the menu, both the beef and rolls are sourced locally from Westside Market vendors. It was a hell of a burger, and our server had a little "I told you so" moment when I asked for a box for the remainder.
Also, I chose tots over fries and suggest you do the same. These aren't your every day tots. They have a "tot of the day" that's creatively seasoned, plus they're all handmade and huge. The flavors of the burger were all perfect together, but I will admit the grind of the meat was a bit too find and it got just dry enough to crumble with each bite. It was easily masked by all of the gooey toppings, but I doubt I'd have wanted to eat the burger without them. the rest of the experience was so pleasant, though, that I hesitate to dock them too many points for that. While I may not order a burger next time, I'd absolutely visit again if we find ourselves in Cleveland another time.