What a great weekend trip! My sister Judy and I went to Asheville this past weekend to watch a few of the matches at the Fed Cup, since she had found some nicely priced tickets. We'd both been once before and fell in love with this charming city, so we were determined to get the most out of a short weekend.
Disclaimer: neither of us are big beer drinkers, which is unfortunate since we know Asheville is home to tons of awesome breweries! ("Why not?", you may ask. Asian glow, allergic reactions, etc. Neither of us like walking around like sneezing tomatoes after drinking). So we saved our money to spend on food and coffee and CHOCOLATE.
We didn't really realize what a short drive it is to Asheville until we turned on Google Maps and saw a little over 3 hours. That was a pretty nice discovery, since we anticipated getting food on the road, when in fact we could get to Asheville in time to start the feasting - though, hey, sometimes a good road trip fast food meal really hits the spot. We decided to go to White Duck Taco Shop for dinner, since we'd received multiple recommendations (and saw really high Yelp reviews).
What a cool place! The food was great - we each got two tacos, two of the Bangkok Shrimp, one of the Korean Bulgogi, and one of the pork belly. AND! Guys. They had a Cheerwine slush that we just had to order. You could get it with or without booze (we opted for the booze-less for $3), and it was perfect. My favorite was the pork belly - I thought the meat was perfectly seasoned and went really well with the pickled veg - I believe it was watermelon radish?
The next day, we decided to get downtown early in the morning so we could grab breakfast and walk around a little before the first match started at around 12:30. First - can we talk about how awesome the parking situation is in Asheville? Plenty of parking garages, and we found one that charged $7 A DAY...literally unheard of in Atlanta.
I'd researched a few places downtown, which all had great reviews and menus. Tupelo Honey was closed for renovation (they have reopened since then), so we decided on Early Girl Eatery. While we waited, we grabbed a latte from Malaprops, a fun bookstore and cafe. The drink had lots of our favorite things, like ginger, cayenne, and honey. Spicy, warm, and delicious!
Once we received a text that our table was ready, we walked back and ordered the pumpkin ginger quick bread as well as the local sausage and sweet potato scramble. We knew we needed to eat a lot so that we wouldn't get hungry during the tennis matches - though the US Cellular Center did sell a surprisingly large range of food and beverages (we saw a banh mi?!). Early Girl Eatery definitely hit the spot.
After watching some fun tennis matches, we walked around the downtown area some more. We hit up French Broad Chocolate Lounge to pick up some liquid truffle (OMG) and chocolate snickerdoodle (best eaten dipped in liquid truffle). Pro tip - if the line to be seated inside looks to be more than you can stand, keep walking and you'll see another little shop meant for take out. You can purchase truffles, chocolates, and beverages here, then enjoy them on the benches outside.
We also went to Rosetta's Kitchen to get in a Buchi Kombucha tasting. Since they were only $7 for a 6 flavor sampler, we each got one. Considering the amount of food and dessert already consumed, we probably should have gotten one sampler to share. But, no regrets.
Dinner was at Table. They have smaller dishes to share or main entrees. We decided to go with several smaller dishes to share and were really happy with the food! The favorites were the mushroom spoonbread and chicken liver pate. The tilefish kokoda was excellent, as well. Also, we ordered some braised oxtail (the least favorite of the bunch, due to the different texture of the pasta), brussel sprouts, and bone marrow.
You'd think we'd be done with the food, but nah. We finished out the night by walking to Sunshine Sammies. This place specializes in ice cream sandwiches and was introduced to me by a friend the last time I went to Asheville. It was just as amazing the second time around. We ordered the s'more and a scoop of the matcha coconut ice cream.
Y'ALL. That s'more. The lady let us know that they'd run out of graham crackers - it was an hour before closing, after all - so she'd used graham cracker cookies instead. And why isn't this a common occurrence already?! Beautiful marshmallow with that campfire taste, the perfect layer of chocolate, and THOSE. SOFT. AMAZING. COOKIES. Heavenly.
The next day started with my only Asheville food demand - Biscuit Head. Glorious Biscuit Head, the place that I credit with starting my biscuit appreciation. There are a few things I don't share that often, and here are two: 1. I went to UGA and don't care much about the football team, and 2. I was born in the South and don't care too much for biscuits. Until Biscuit Head. Why? There aren't words to describe how delicious the food is; you just have to go and try it yourself.
We ordered the mimosa fried chicken biscuit and our friend ordered the catfish biscuit. Naturally, we needed to try a few gravies, and I couldn't leave without trying the bacon of the day, a GA Peach flavor. Needless to say, we did NOT need lunch...or much of a dinner either.
We did want to walk around, shop, and check out some coffee shops, so we stopped by The Rhu and Double D's Coffee and Desserts. There is no shortage of fun boutiques or cool art shops to check out, and same goes for interesting coffee shops. The Rhu is a lovely place to get some work done in a nice setting with a great cup of coffee, while Double D's is a fun, retro converted double decker bus that has an awesome cup of Apple Chai Cider - so good on a chilly day!
I'm excited to go back to Asheville one day in the future and explore some more. Where are some of your favorite Asheville joints? One of the shopkeepers told me something about the restaurants in Asheville - she'd never heard anyone complain about the food they'd had in Asheville, because there really isn't any bad food! And the more I experience this culinary city, the more I find that statement to be true.
- HungryDeb
PS - check out my Asheville vlog!
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