Category: Travels

Food Review: Rogers, AR: Cuban Fare and a Greek Food Truck

Drew and I got to go to Rogers one weekend for some time on Beaver Lake before he had some work to do in Fayetteville. While we were there, we had some amazing food! Here are the two highlights:

HAVANA TROPICAL GRILL

I’m not going to lie, I’ve been here before and loved it. I came back for the same dishes, in fact. Here’s the breakdown:

Environment

Seated in a small shopping center off of busy Walnut street, Havana Tropical Grill doesn’t stand out, but is easy enough to find.

The interior is open, with plenty of space and tables, with a few Cuban themed items to give it some ambiance. The really long bar with signs about special mojitos and what-not gives the impression this place may be known for its drinks….but I was here for the food.

Menu

   

The menu truly is Cuban. Full of appetizers such as fried yuca, empanadas, cuban meatballs (abondigas), etc. There are also a variety of Cuban pressed sandwiches, as well as many Cucan specialties such as Ropa Vieja, Vaca Frita, Cuban steak and fries, and so much more.  It was definitely hard to decide what to get the first time I came here.

Food

On our first visit, we got the appetizer sampler, which included fried empanadas, ham croquetas, fried plantains, sweet plantains, and fried yuca. While it was all delicious, the ham croquetas stood out above all the rest…by far.

Croquetas (4): $7
Description: Handmade ham croquettes, lightly battered and fried, served with house sauce.

Oh. My. Gosh. These are to die for. Therefore, we only got the croquetas for our appetizer this time, no need to waste time on the rest of the apps.

These babies are crunchy on the outside (not too greasy) but so silky smoothe on the inside. The ham must be put through a food processor and tastes smoky and perfect. The dipping sauce is a little tangy to give a nice balance to the richness of the croquetas.

Cuban Sandwich: $10.50
Description: Slow roasted pork, ham, swiss cheese, mustard, a touch of garlic butter, and pressed on Cuban bread. Served with one side item.

No doubt, this is the best Cuban sandwich I have ever had.  Granted, I order it without cheese, but it was still absolutely juicy and decadent. The bread is perfect with garlic butter making it very flavorful. The roasted pork is so tender and juicy. The mustard gives it that perfect bit of tanginess. I want another one, now. Get this.
The fried plantains are perfectly fried and very good for fried plantains. In my opinion, fried plantains are a little bland, so dipping them in the green oil/ sauce they give you is a must.

Mofongo with Vaca Frita: $15
Description: Green plantains mashed with garlic and pork chunks, with your choice of meat. 

This heaping, beautiful plate is so worth $15. First off, I love mofongo. If you haven’t had it, it is fried plantains mashed with garlic and pork and shaped into a bowl. Then, it is filled with the meat of your choice. I got vaca frita, which is seared (crispy) beef with onions. Here, they put the extra meat that won’t fit in the mofongo on your plate so you can keep adding the meat as you need.
The vaca frita was so juicy and flavorful, though there were way too many onions, in my opinion. The juices make the somewhat dry mofongo very tasty and juicy. It was delicious! I couldn’t even finish 1/3 of it, but took the rest to the hotel to microwave for leftovers that night.

Overall

Anytime I’m in the area, I stop here. The croquetas and the Cuban are a must. While the mofongo is a must-have if you’ve never tried it before, it isn’t the best mofongo I’ve had. Though, it is still delicious! The service was also great. I love this place.

 

PERSEPHONĒ ON WHEELS

After a day on the beautiful Beaver Lake, some friends suggested this food truck, with plenty of options for our vegetarian friend. Here’s the breakdown:

Environment

Well, it’s a food truck. Though, this one does offer free water from a cooler, which was nice.

They also had a really nice area next to the food truck with cute tables and chairs, each with a small vase of flowers on it.  It was super cute and cozy. However, the flies were so awful, we had to leave to eat elsewhere.

Menu

The menu seems like a modern twist on Greek food. With appetizers such as “aphrodite tots, falafel cones, and a honey fruit bowl. There were many pita sandwiches to choose from : falafel, sweet potato masala, gyro, and more. There were also sides such as garlic fries or tots, greek salad, hummus and pita, etc. There’s even a kids’ menu.

Food

Aphrodite Tots: $6
Description: Feta, veggies, house pickles, olives, fried garlic, tzatziki sauce.

These tots were beautiful. There is an option to add on falafel or gyro meat for $3, but I forgot to mention I wanted added falafel. I also ordered mine without feta. These tots were beautiful! And very large. However, they were a little greasy. However, the mixture of pickles veggies and tzatziki sauce really brightened them up. These were very unique and tasty.

Gyro Pita (made into a salad bowl): $12
Description: roasted pork, grilled onion, cabbage, tomato, pickles onions, tzatziki sauce….salad bowl comes with no pita, but everything is put onto a bed of greens.

While it is hard to tell the difference between the looks of these two dishes, this one was both Drew and my favorite.  The pork was tender and juicy and mellowed out the tanginess of the pickled onions and tzatziki. All the colors, flavors, and textures really made a delicious dish. I would get this again over the Aphrodite tots, as this dish was juicier and more flavorful with that delicious pork.

*While I don’t have a picture of it, my friend ordered the sweet potato masala pita. Personally, I don’t love sweet potatoes, but she swore this was their best dish and insisted I take a bite. She was right. This was phenomenal…I may have “tried” her pita a couple other times. I would definitely get this- whether you are a vegetarian or sweet potato-lover or not.

Overall- Especially the Service

It must be noted how amazing the people that own and work this food truck are. A mother and daughter were more than accommodating to us: explaining the menu, answering a million questions with no sense of being in a rush. Even when I ordered both dishes without feta, and one had feta, (granted, my order was not as specific as it should have been, this was probably my fault) they were extremely apologetic and got me a new dish without feta very promptly. They could not have been more welcoming and kind. Go visit these ladies, their food is great!

Lake of the Ozarks Review: ALL of it.

This past weekend, Drew and I took a long weekend at Lake of the Ozarks. We have never been, but heard it is huge and beautiful…and we love the show “Ozark”. It was not exactly what we imagined, however. Here’s the breakdown of everything:

INN AT GRAND GLAIZE

This hotel was pretty cheap, about $90 a night, and right on the lake. They even had plenty of boat slips we could use for free, which most other places charge you an extra fee for that. So, we brought our boat and put it in the water with ease.

The hotel itself is pretty old, but the rooms were nicely updated and the beds were comfortable- firm, but also soft….just right. The room came with a fridge and microwave and we opted for the private deck with a view of the lake:

While there was a restaurant and bar there, it was pretty dead. There was also a small pool and pool bar (only open on Friday afternoons and Saturdays), which also remained pretty dead. So, we didn’t spend much time at the hotel.

Overall, I’d definitely stay here again due to its convenience to the water and restaurants nearby, and affordability. Plus, the staff could not have been more sweet.

THE LAKE!

On the two days we were in the water, Saturday and Sunday, both were pretty packed, even in the mornings. The lake is huge and windy, allowing massive boats to speed around at their will. This creates a LOT of big wakes. With our small ski boat, our travel ranged from fun to frightening.

There are massive mansions everywhere to look at on the coasts. So, driving around and just gawking at houses kept us entertained for a while. Lake Hamilton, you got nothin’ on Lake of the Ozarks.

On Saturday, we wandered upon “party cove”, which we heard was “crazy” and not kid-friendly. I disagree. There were plenty of families and nothing I saw was inappropriate.  Though, there were a couple bachelor and bachelorette boats, and tons of big rigs tying up together, all with loud music and everyone drinking. So, there was some partying. It got pretty busy around 3:00, but nothing to be scared of. We were still able to lay out and enjoy the scenery/ people-watch here.

 

THE SHOPPING

The outlet mall here, Osage Beach Mountain Outlets, was pretty great! You know I’m a sucker for a bargain, and we found plenty of great deals at Eddie Bauer, Banana Republic, Gap, Yankee Candle, and plenty more. If you have a couple hours to kill around here, check this out, for sure.

The Bagnell Dam Strip is rated highly online, but we found it pretty boring. Full of gimicky, touristy shops and swimwear for sale, there isn’t much to do there. EXCEPT for this incredible candy store, Grandma’s Candy Kitchen. After a few free samples, I had to get some of this delicious fudge. We had a coupon and got 1.5 lbs for $12 which isn’t bad at all for a fudge shop full of tourists.  Some flavors include dark chocolate caramel, chocolate peanut butter, chocolate coconut, and my favorite: chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, and peanuts.  Don’t worry, we’re still eating on it….and it is still delicious.

 

THE FOOD- PLUS BARS AND POOL PARTIES

Where things get “crazy” here are at the multiple pool parties at restaurants around town. Many you can drive your boat to, park at a slip, and enjoy.

Backwater Jack’s

Thursday evening, we visited Backwater Jack’s due to its great food reviews. It was about an 8 minute Lyft trip from our hotel, though you can park your boat here.
We show up a little shell-shocked. This place is HUGE with a large pool, a big stage with a band that has tons of people dancing, and then 10x that many people eating at this massive, multi-story restaurant.
Luckily, there was no wait for 2 people, though many larger families were told there would be an hour wait.

We started with drinks. Drew got a frozen margarita ($6) and I got a “pain in the ass” which is half frozen piña colada and half frozen rum runner ($7). They were very tasty, but pretty small.

Little did I know, when I ordered the “grouper fingers” I was going to be eating one of the best things I’ve ever tried….and I would be getting them all three days here. These grouper fingers are apparently popular at most restaurants at Lake of the Ozarks, so you can get them about anywhere. However, they were best here….and cheaper here. ($12) Grouper is coated in frosted flakes, deep fried, then drizzled with honey. A raspberry tartar sauce is served on the side. SO GOOD!

We also split a seafood salad ($12) which was nothing special, but we got our greens in.

We had to try their most popular side as well. The fried potato salad was delicious! Definitely give this a shot. It is lightly dressed, keeping the potatoes a little crunchy and there is great flavor- not too much mayo.

We ended up coming back here on Saturday for dinner. We got the grouper fingers again, plus their red beans and rice with cornbread. ($7). This wasn’t great, but it had some flavor. If you love red beans and rice, I’m sure you’ll like it. But it is not the most tasty version of this dish in my opinion. Plus, the cornbread is very plain, and just a tad sweet.

Drew also tried their famous homemade wantons. They make these in-house and looked incredible. However, I don’t eat cream cheese, so he was on his own here. He wasn’t that impressed. He said they were pretty bland.

Oh, they also serve sushi here, though we opted out.

*The crowd: On Thursday evening, the crowd was mostly couples in their 50s-60s. However, the crowd was much more varied on Saturday, as I’m sure all restaurants are around here on the weekends.


Dog Days

On Friday afternoon, this place was hoppin! There was a TON of people swimming in the pools. They have a family-friendly/ children’s pool plus an adults-only pool (though they are right next to each other). This restaurant/ pool/ bar seemed very similar to Backwater Jack’s. The restaurant was huge and packed, as was the pool. You could park your boat here as well. We went with Lyft again, as it was only a 5 minute ride from our hotel.  However, there was no live band.

The food, though!

We got drinks here again, but they were a little more expensive, about $1 more each than at Backwater Jack’s. They had the same “pain in the ass” and every other fruity-flavored drink you can imagine.

The best thing they have at Dog Days are these Tuna Poke Nachos ($14)! Fried wontons topped with seared yellowfin tuna, mango, wakame, pickled ginger, green onions, sesame seeds, wasabi cream, and a soy ginger sauce. It was delicious!!!  It also made for a not-so-heavy lunch, which was nice while you’re eating in a swimsuit.

*The crowd here was full of all ages, but mostly 20-somethings. It died down the later it got into the afternoon, though.

Shady Gator

Saturday night we checked this place out for a late night dinner/snack. Upon arrival, it was obvious it was packed. This place is so large that one area had a big stage with a band playing that you could not even hear from the other side of the restaurant, where there was a DJ and dance floor.

We got a fun rum drink to share and some more grouper fingers!

These grouper fingers were very delicious as well, but they were pretty greasy and had more batter than fish. Oh, I’d still get them again, but Backwater Jack’s were better.

We also got some chicken strips for $10. They were pretty good, but for $10, I expected a little more food. The honey mustard was tasty and sweet, though.

*The crowd here was VERY young. It seemed like mostly drunk college students were here. And it was packed. And loud. Oh, and there was a foam party on the dance floor where you could watch these swimsuit- wearing said college kids dance and slide around.
While this may sound fun for some, it got pretty overwhelming quickly and I decided this isn’t for me. We got out of there quickly!

 

OVERALL

The Lake of the Ozarks has a lot to offer: great house and boat-watching on the lake, cliffs to jump off of, a party cove (maybe minus the party now-a-days), the biggest deal here now are the pool party/ restaurant venues. If you don’t like crowds…stay away. But do get some amazing food here! I’m not sure I’ll be back, but if I do, it is because the food is calling my name.