Richmond, VA Dining

[weka]

Dear Richmond familiar folks,

I'd like to take some friends out on the town for a unique dining experience in Richmond, VA in early June. These folks are pretty adventurous culinary-wise as am I, so I was wondering if there were any unique restaurants you would recommend in Richmond. We enjoy both good food and drink and appreciate chefs that aren't just reinventing the wheel, yet still produce palatable, solid cuisine.

If there is already a good thread on this topic then please point me to it. Otherwise I look forward to any good leads.

Cheers -

Weka

[cuisy]

Mamma 'Zu's, in Oregon Hill, is divine Italian--menu on a blackboard, wine in squat tumblers, heavy on the garlic and a sampling of offal if you swing that way. No reservations, so get there early, or do a long leisurely lunch. address: 501 S Pine St, Richmond, 23220 - (804) 788-4205

[JPW]

There are several Richmond threads in the Southeast forum

[jm chen]

The Lemaire restaurant in the Jefferson Hotel is a 5-diamond AAA rated restaurant and every single bite of the food is absolutely, wonderfully delicious. Rich and full and creative.

Obviously, it ain't cheap.

[monavano]

Here's a "hot" new restaurant in Carytown....

www.cancanbrasserie.com

[misscindy]

This thread is quite timely for me - I think I may find myself in Richmond on Saturday. Any ideas for a cheap, veg friendly place for an early dinner, late lunch (4pm-ish)?

[monavano]

As for vegetarian, I'd recommend just walking Carytown and picking a restaurant. There's Mexican, Chinese, Mediteranean (Limane), pizza etc. There's also Ellwood Thompson, a natural foods store with an excellent prepared food section which offers tons of vegetarian selections. You can get a seat in or outdoors. Very cheap and fresh!!

http://ellwoodthompson.com/

[Joe H]

I haven't been in a couple of years but "Millie's Diner" is a one of kind east of L. A. where they have another outpost. Literally, a diner, yet with the same quality and preparation that you would find at, say, Vidalia, Palena or Corduroy.

[weka]

Thanks for the ideas folks!

Cheers -

Weka

[misscindy]

Ok, so our little road trip to Richmond turned out to be a bit of a mess. It took us FIVE HOURS to drive there from Baltimore. Turns out we were sitting in Nascar traffic. Gotta love that. So, by the time we accomplished what we needed to, we didn't have much time. Walked around the Carytown neighborhood...saw CanCan and it looked good but a tad bit fancy for three grungy people who had just been sitting in a hot car with broken a.c. for five hours...so we ate at the Galaxy Diner. Tuna burger, fries and a yummy cucumber salad with lots of vinegar for me. And, a fried pickle on every plate. There were no complaints. Thanks for the suggestions.

[weka]

Brief Adventures in Richmond Culinary Scene

The last couple of weeks I have been whizzing in and out of Richmond, (friend says I have made it my virtual train station) using it as my base for other travels. During that time I have had a chance or two to try out some of the local restaurants. My first adventure was Thai Diner. A unique environment squirreled away in an ever so typical strip mall…every table was hand painted by a group of Virginia Commonwealth University students. Bright swirls and whooshes dominate and part of the dining pleasure is rearranging the tables in the room in your mind s multiple of them line up to make bigger canvases, but somehow it never turns out to be the tables adjacent to each other. The theme continues onto the walls and is reflected in the lighting choice as well. The food is good! Make sure you temper your heat decision on your order, as these folks are for real. Medium is respectable in after burn, let alone hot. We had a green papaya salad, medium. Tasty, representative of the dish that we happily noshed while awaiting our shared mains. We split two mains between three, as we were lightweights that night. We sampled both a green and red curry and definitely sided with the latter. I’ve been to many Thai restaurants in my time including ones on the beachside in Thailand and Thai Diner meets mustard. Oh, and if you are keen on the cool drinks, try the iced limeade. I had driven 12 hours that day so avoided the alcohol for fear of head meeting table. However, they have a selection of bottled beers, with Asian ones well represented.

Then last night I went to Kuba Kuba. And let me say, I will be returning and going there first choice next time I am in town. We went for dinner. Kuba Kuba has a diner slash specialty grocery store environment. I was already shopping as we ordered the Extremes antipasto platter. Only sadness was that the scallop ceviche was gone (we were late diners arriving not long before the 9:30 close). Raincheck on the ceviche... We substituted fried plantains. Aided by Hatuey and Pacifico brews we dug into a mounded bowl of delights including cheese, roasted garlic, chorizo, the aforementioned plantains, the most wonderful massive green olives chased by their little brothers, kalamatas. Also on board were tomatoes and other salad components, beautifully grilled asparagus and roasted onions. All this was topped by Cuban toast, shaped like a slice of French baguette but a bit softer and sweeter. It reminded me of Hawaiian bread with a crust. The environment is definitely laid back, as in wave at bar and you beer is magically refilled laid back. Mains were three of those night’s specials. First there was a 24 hour slow cooked port shank. We teased its owner about how it was cave man food as the size and protruding bone were impressive. It was some of the softest, subtly flavored pork we had ever tried. Half of it later migrated home with us and will participate in lunch sandwiches today. Second there was a peppered lime mahi mahi. Probably the most mainstream of our three dishes it was a good representative of its kind. The meaty white fish was beautifully encrusted and correctly cooked. It came on and endless bed of flavorful black beans and rice, uniquely spiced with pepper pieces visible. And the piece de resistance was the shrimp plate. The large shrimp (my guess mid-20s count size) arrived beautifully fanned around coconut cakes. Each shrimp lovingly slathered with a yummy mango sauce. Even the shrimp’s ok, mangos I don’t care about person at the table went speechless on sampling one. Finally, we took an order of the Tres Leche cake to go, no one had the ability to eat more at that moment but the cake is not to be missed. Presenting with a meringue topping it called to us but we were able to resist until we arrived home then snagged a taste. Apparently it keeps well in the fridge for days but the meringue hardens a little.

All mistakes above are my own. Check both these restaurants out if you are in town.

Thai Diner, 8059 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23294 (804) 270-2699

Kuba Kuba, 1601 Park Ave, Richmond, VA 23220 (804) 355-8817

[monavano]

I would add that Kuba Kuba does an AMAZING breakfast too. Of course the Cuban sammiches are super .

Thai Diner has THE best Thai food in Richmond. I've found it tough to rival here in N. Va. They are located in Cartown as well.

Edited June 9, 2005 by monavano (log)

[weka]

I would add that Kuba Kuba does an AMAZING breakfast too. Of course the Cuban sammiches are super .

Thai Diner has THE best Thai food in Richmond. I've found it tough to rival here in N. Va. They are located in Cartown as well.

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Monavano,

Guess I was just lucky then :-) I will have to add breakfast at Kuba Kuba to the to do list too. Maybe I can just move in for a day of happy eating. My friends in Richmond had a distinct preference for the Thai Diner location they took me to but mentioned the other as well. Glad you brought that up.

- Weka

[dscott]

When I used to live in Richmond I didn't want DC-ers finding out about Kuba Kuba. Too small to share the secret with out of towners. Now that I no longer live there, I think everyone in DC should give it a shot. It's a gem in Richmond.

If you're looking for more Richmond ideas, check out the Southeast board. There's a bunch of suggestions there.