Tag: chicken strips

Food Review: Grampa’s Catfish & Seafood in Maumelle

Grampa’s Catfish & Seafood has been around for a while, at different locations,  but they are now located on Maumelle Boulevard. Luckily for me, I live in Maumelle! However, it took me a while to finally get out and try the place. Here’s the breakdown:

Environment

Grampa’s Catfish is in a building that has been many different restaurants over the years. It’s nothing fancy, but now the decor is a little Southern/ country, with plenty of things to look at on the walls. Interestingly, there framed pictures of, I assume, the owner’s family and friends all over the restaurant as well.
Our server was very friendly and made us feel right at home. He talked to us throughout the meal and made sure we had everything we needed at all times. Great service!

Menu

   

The menu is mostly southern fried foods, but there are plenty of healthier options as well. So, you can get anything from fried zucchini chips and a fried shrimp po-boy, to grilled mahi-mahi (plain or in a taco) with sauteed veggies.

Food

Coleslaw for the table- FREE

As soon as we sat down, a big bowl of coleslaw was ready for us to share as we decided on what to order. More came when that was gone. It is your typical mayo-based coleslaw, but with good seasoning, better than many others.

Fried Green Tomatoes, $5.99

We started off with the fried green tomato appetizer, that came with some lettuce leafs and ranch dressing. While they were cut thin and crispy, there wasn’t very much flavor in the breading. They were good, but I wouldn’t order them again. Next time, I’ll have to try the fried zucchini chips.

Dinner for Two: Fish and Fowl, $25.99
Description: Four catfish filets and eight chicken tenders, served with two large sides.

What a deal! This enormous meal is more than enough for 2 people. Drew and I couldn’t even eat half of it. The fish was large and the breaded was seasoned well. I took most of mine home, though, to cook it a little longer in the toaster oven, as I like my fried catfish very crispy.
The hand-battered chicken strips were long and thin and plenty. They were good in dipping sauces, but lacked flavor overall.

For one side, we got grilled veggies, and they were garlic-y and delicious! I will always order these.

For our other side, I was a little less healthy and got onion rings. Alongside them came many hush puppies. The only rings seemed hand batter in a beer batter of sorts and were very crispy. The hush puppies were typical, non-spicy balls of fried dough. But I’ve never met a hush puppy I didn’t like.

In the end, we carried home a completely packed to-go box and left with very full bellies. For about $30, we got so much food, and I love a good deal…so I like this place.

 

 

 

Food Review: 131 Water Kitchen and Bar in Vancouver, Canada…best deal of the entire trip!

Drew (husband) and I went on a three week trip that included driving from Vancouver, Canada to all over Washington, then Oregon, then down Highway 1 to San Fancisco, California. We learned the hard way that everything (food, motels, gas, etc) is SO expensive out there! By far, the best food/drink deal we found was this place, and it was delicious!

Environment
I am 29 years old and I am pretty sure we were the oldest people in this restaurant. It was full of college-aged students, I suppose because it was so cheap? Anyway, the restaurant is nice and clean and had tons of table games you could play while waiting on your food. There were two levels. There was also outdoor seating in the front and back. All of the outdoor seats were taken, so we sat on the second floor with all of the children. (21-22 year olds)

Food and Drinks/ Happy Hour

The happy hour here runs from 3-6 p.m. and then from 9-close. We got there at 9 p.m. and the place was packed. I understood why as soon as I read the happy hour menu. When I actually ate the food, I never wanted to leave.

20160709_223339

We started off with Peller Estates House Beer. The pint was only $3 in Canadian cash…which is about $2.35 in U.S. bucks. Yes! It was a very mild beer, nothing a beer snob would enjoy. However, I love a watery beer, so this was perfect.

20160709_221902

Then we ordered an appetizer on the happy hour menu: Spicy Tofu. This was fried, cubed tofu, drizzled with sweet thai chili sauce and cilantro….for $3.50!  Again, less than $3 U.S. dollars. This was absolutely delicious. The sauce was just spicy enough without making me regret eating it. The fry was perfect: crisp yet non-greasy. I even enjoyed the greens they put everything on top of. Home run, crazy cheap appetizer.

20160709_221855

Then we got our entrees….again, on the happy hour menu. We got two fish tacos for only $4.50 (Canadian) and these were the best fish tacos I got our entire trip. There was enough mango salsa, pickled carrots, lettuce, and a cilantro crema that they were perfect. The fish was large and delicious as well. Best deal ever? Probably.

20160709_223701

We also got an entree of chicken strips and fries. I almost didn’t order this, because ordering chicken strips and fries is a child’s game, though I still love them. However, the waitress said they were a best seller and delicious. Guess what? They were! The fries were absolutely perfect: so crispy and seasoned well with salt and parsley. The chicken was also very flavorful. The chicken was not greasy, though the fries were a little bit. However, there is nothing better than some greasy fries if you ask me. These came with a honey mustard that was more mustard-y than honey-sweet. I really wasn’t a fan, but everything tasted so good, I didn’t need a sauce. Plus, those Canadians don’t have ranch up there. Smh.  We couldn’t even finish all of the fries, there were so many and we were stuffed. How much did this plate run us? Another Canadian $4.50. Really, we should have bought a ton of to-go-orders to eat for the rest of our trip, because nothing even tried to compete with these deals. And these were some of the most delicious foods we had. This place, do it. I love it.