Bonjour All!

Sorry for the long hiatus, perhaps I'll have time to start posting again. Here are the latest reviews from the Times. Here and here.

Blues BBQ is finally open!!

The much anticipated Blues BBQ is now open y'all. I can't wait to try it out; as you all know, NLB loves BBQ!!

Good Riddance El Palenque

El Palenque is finally shutting its third set of doors. But have no fear, the owner knows who's to blame for their misfortune -- you. It seems that Roanokers don't have a palate sophisticated enough to pay $17 for very mediocre food. I quote:

Unfortunately, according to Eduardo
Galvan, their fans could have done more to keep them happy.

Galvan blames slow business and unsophisticated palates
for the restaurant's demise after nine years in various locations around
Roanoke.

"To Roanoke, we were a shock," he said. "Nobody had ever
seen the kind of food that we were doing."

I cannot believe the nerve of a restaurant owner saying to their customers, it's not me, it's you. You stupid culinary dilettantes. It's not the fact that I've been in 3 locations or that my food was not up to par, it's that you don't appreciate it. Good riddance.

Mac n' Bob's

Dolores K. of the RT travels to Salem's old standby, Mac n' Bob's here....

A Good Review for T-Bone Jack's

Wade Anderson of the Times gave a good review to T-Bone Jacks.

202 Market Gets 5 Stars from Dolores

Dolores gives 202 Market 5 stars despite eating the hushpuppies. She did nail it on the creme brulee though.

Vinton for Thai?

The new Thai restaurant in Vinton, Red Jasmine, has received good reviews...

Coda Coffee, Wine and Crepes

Patron Saint LB says here that likes Coda but be prepared to wait.

LB & NLB Agree on Wasabi's!

The Real Larry Bly, patron saint of all things gastronomic here in Big Lick has now weighed in and, shock and awe, agreed with bizzarro Larry (that's me) on the terrific taste of Wasabi's food.

Tony Pope's (by Friend of NLB)

One of NLB's frequent dining companions (we'll call him FONLB for friend of Not Larry Bly) has submitted this first ever Big Lick contributor review of Tony Pope's, which I am anxious to do for myself. According to FONLB, he and his out-of-town guests enjoyed the atmosphere and the service was good (though it should have been given that it was a Thursday and not very crowded).

They started with salads and wine. The wine list was quite extensive and he reports that the markup on the bottle they had may have even been less than 100% .

The guest couple split a salad, which Tony Pope's staff actually had the foresight to bring on two separate plates without even having been asked to do so. Mrs. FONLB My friend's wife and the other couple had the Bibb lettuce salad and lhe thinks they liked it, but couldn't really tell because he was too busy devouring hisThai BBQ Duck Salad with fried Goat cheese. It was fantastic and while he ordered it thinking that he was "taking a chance," when it arrived, he reports that the salad appeared much less risky. Mrs. FONLB, who did not want to share that salad with her husband (probably because the extent of her duck tasting has been from birds FONLB has personally extracted from the sky), was later asking him for bits of the goat cheese.

The FONLBs then proceeded to arrange their own tapas by ordering several small plates instead of from the four or five available entrees. They had the scallops, quail, Kobe steak, shrimp and grits, suckling pig, and oysters. They report that the oysters were the most disappointing, though still good; they just seemed to lack substance and contain more breading than oyster. While there were only three scallops, they were large and flavorful. The quail was appeared to be taken right off the breast bone, which is very helpful with small game birds and allows you to eat far more of the meat. Depending on how "gamey" you prefer your wild fowl would dictate how well you liked the quail. FONLB, an avid sportsman, reports that it tasted more like it was farm-raised than wild. The shrimp and grits were great and the pork and steak were each fantastic.

For dessert, they enjoyed the blueberry turnover, the key lime cheesecake which was good (as a connaissor of key lime pie and cheesecake, FONLB reports that nothing stood out as exceptionally positive or negative), and a chocolate tort cake, which Mrs. FONLB seemed to like.

FONLB says that one thing they all agreed on was that the menu was a lot of fun, which helped everyone enjoy their meal so much. Also, FONLB says he overheard Tony Pope talking to some ladies from West Virginia and got the impression he was from West Virginia as well. With that in mind FONLB states he was surprised not to see any squirrel on the menu and made him regret that he did not try the rabbit small plate. This prompts NLB to ask Tony -- what's a West Virginia boy doing serving farm-raised quail?