Citrus Virginia Beach, Virginia

Cary and I ventured out to Citrus in Virginia Beach for brunch.  We had never heard of this place until it was recommended to us by a friend of ours.  Online we discovered that Guy Fieri had visited the restaurant for his Diners and Dives television show. 

There was a 45 minute wait to sit.  Fortunately they have a bar set up for the massive amount of people waiting to be seated.  The drink of choice was a Citrus Mimosa.  It tasted good.  Good enough to have two.

When we were seated our orders were promptly taken.  I chose the Fried Softshell crab sandwich.  Cary choose the Egg white Omelet with hashbrowns and Sweet Potato biscuit.  All of the food tasted as if it had been appropriately cooked. 

We discovered nothing at this restaurant that justified a 45 minute wait.

Coddie's Vegetarian Pasta Alfredo

Upon the return of my Colorado adventure, Cary invited the Coddie/Lexia family over to hang out.  Coddie was gracious enough to cook everyone dinner.  It was a wonderful vegetarian version of Pasta Alfredo, heavy on the mushrooms. It was wonderful.  I also ate through the pain on this one, ensuring I had properly finished my plate.  Thanks Coddie!

Cafe Nikolai and Audrey, Fort Collins, CO

The last night in Colorado I spent visiting Nikolai and Audrey we prepared bison burgers for dinner.  The bison burger was ground meat from a friend of Audrey's, the mushroom was picked from an undisclosed location in the woods by an expert mushroom identifier, and bread was a loaf from the grocery store.  Not an average burger, but the rusticness of the wild mushrooms and loaf of bread, vice hamburger roll, made the whole experience more than worthwhile.  I was stuffed on two of these monsters but could easily have eaten three more, if not for the size of my stomach.

Bruce's Bar, Severance Colorado

During my visit to Nikolai in Colorado the first stop we made was to Bruce's Bar in Severance, CO.  It was conveniently located between the Denver airport and Fort Collins, where Nikolai and Audrey live.  This bar is known for its Rocky Mountain Oysters.  The options are a platter of fried bull testicles, pictured below, with fries and cocktail sauce.

They also served turkey testicles and another type of fried testicle that escapes me now.  I was unsure how I would feel while eating balls, fortunately they are fried so heavily I was unable, or would be unable, to distinguish the meat I was eating from any other fried meat.  But that's OK, this is a food item to eat for the sake of eating it, not because it tastes amazing.

Bruce's Bar does have a good fry batter, we both ate all of the fried nuts and did not complain later about an upset stomach.

Waterman's Surfside Grill

Cary and I had dinner at Waterman's Surfside Grill on the beach in Virginia Beach, VA. We've been here before for brunch with some people from the barn.  After our earlier experience on the beach with bad food we decided to try something we knew would result in a good experience.  We started off with the hush puppies and an Orange Crush.  The ingredients of an orange crush is orange vodka, triple sec, and something else, maybe orange juice.  Regardless, it was really good.  The hush puppies were good enough.  Good enough to finish the plate of fried food, but not great. 

 For my entree I had tune, seared on the outside and rare inside.  It came topped with crab meat.  I ate all of it but I will not remember this as a plate that really impressed me.  I can definitely say that it was not awful, and that I ate all of it.  The mashed potatoes that came with it were pretty good.  Vegetables were, whatever.

 Cary had the sirloin with exactly the same sides.  She also thought the food was average, she ate all of her steak, except the small portion I ate.  She also liked the mashed potatoes and thought the vegetables were average.

Those Orange Crush drinks are great.  They make the restaurant an experience.  The food was definitely not awful.