We are very busy people - apparently!

You wouldn't think it would be so difficult to get six people (three couples) together for one evening meal out once a month! But apparently we are very busy people. And it has not been easy. Life just seems to get in the way.

Last month, November, we were supposed to all go to Mama Zu restaurant. This was after much back and forth, trying to find an evening when we were all in town and available. We finally settled on a Monday evening. And we settled on Mama Zu restaurant. But on the appointed evening, Shelia and Steve ended up in the hospital emergency room with their son. Fortunately nothing major came of the hospital visit for son Jordan. But we still didn't all make it to the restaurant.

I can report, however, that the remaining 4 diners were all impressed with Mama Zu. As has been widely reported by various Richmond restaurant reviewers - Mama Zu does not look like much from the outside. In fact, it looks like a place you definitely would not want to go! But once inside, the atmosphere was cozy and crowded with diners. And all of us really liked the food. Each of us said we would definitely return.

The Northside Grille, December's pick did not fare as well. Once again, life got in the way of all of us making it to the dinner out. Peter was called for jury duty and ended up serving on a jury that did not adjourn until late in the evening. I think he got home around the same time we diners were finishing our meal. Mary Beth, good wife and partner that she is, stayed home to fix Peter a meal when he returned from jury duty. So Steve, Shelia, David and I tried the Northside Grille. I enjoyed the hot crab dip (I liked the pita chips it was served with) and my crab cake sandwhich was good too. It wasn't anything to write home about -- but it was fine. Shelia liked her chicken sandwich - said it was moist and tasty. David did not like his Pasta Carbonara -- and I took a bite and have to agree that it really had no flavor. He didn't even eat most of it. But I will say that the waitress had it taken off our bill which was surprising and nice.

I'd say that it isn't a restaurant I'd hurry back to visit -- but it also wasn't one that I'd purposely avoid. I'd give it another chance if the opportunity arose to go again. Hopefully next month we'll get the entire gang of six to the table on the same night!

Northside Grill

Of the three restaurants that I have dined at on this tour through Richmond, this is the most disappointing. Of the four meals the four of us ordered, only grilled chicken sandwich got good reviews. The Chicken Carbonara pasta, the fish tacos, even the crab dip appetizer was disappointing.

Of course the place was recommended by the two people that could not come. Peter was on jury duty that kept him late. So they did not get to share our meal. Good for them.

Restaurant #2 - Bacchus

Our second outing in our effort to "eat our way thru Richmond" was to Bacchus at Meadow and Main in the Fan. It had been highly recommended to us and we decided to celebrate Sheila's birthday here. The food was excellent and we enjoyed the evening a great deal (including the gifts for Sheila). The major downside - which is a problem in many restaurants today - is that the noise level gets too loud for comfortable listening once it gets crowded. Otherwise it was a very nice evening.

Of the two restaurants we have tried so far, I enjoyed the Black Sheep more. But both are worthwhile trips.

How it all started.....

So you might be wondering how this whole idea of eating our way through Richmond came about. Well, Mary Beth and I were having our usual morning coffee at Capital Coffee and Dessert in Carytown one recent day when we should have been at the gym exercising. And Mary Beth mentioned that she and her husband Peter were "Eating their way through the Northside". Mary Beth explained that she had saved a section of the paper that lists all of the restaurants in different areas of town. And since she and Peter live on the Northside, they decided that they were going to try out all of the restaurants on the list for that area of town. What a great idea! Immediately I wanted in! So I suggested that maybe we should form a group to "eat our way through Richmond".

Our husbands, Peter and David, were game. And we, of course, invited our good friends Steve and Shelia to join in the fun. We wanted to keep the focus on new eateries we hadn't been to before, so decided that we'd have a rule that we could only go to restaurants that 4 or more of us had never been to before. Choice of restaurant will rotate among the couples. Since Mary Beth and Peter had the original idea, they chose the first location - The Black Sheep.

The six of us had just been to see "Julie and Julia", the movie about the woman who cooks her way through Julia Child's cookbook and writes a blog about it. So we decided to follow suit and create a blog about our eating adventures.

So that is how we came to begin this adventure! We started off with a wonderful evening at Black Sheep. The food was yummy. The company was fun as always. We had a little adventure when the power went out in the restaurant (and in the whole neighborhood as it turned out). My favorite thing was the dessert -- pineapple upside down cake, made in a skillet. Delicious!

Can't wait to tell you about where we go next -- Steve and Shelia will be choosing the location. If anyone has any suggestions for us to try, please feel free to leave us a post!

Black Sheep Restaurant - Date: 9-9-9

While the Black Sheep Restaurant is very un-assuming from the outside, the ambience and the food on the inside was great. I had the fish tacos. This is NOT what you expect, at least not what I expected. Huge corn tacos, black beans, guacamole, salsa, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and two large pieces of mahi-mahi. There was enough left over for a full meal the following evening.

Let me not fail to mention the excellent wine and beer selection.

We learned that it is also open for breakfast. That sounds like an adventure worth having - and soon.

Black Sheep - Sept 9, 2009 - our first dinner

This was our first dinner in 'eating our way through Richmond.' The food and service was excellent. I had the chicken and dumplings and had enough left-overs for dinner the next evening.

The only camera we had was a cell phone, so the picture is not great, but we all have smiles on our faces.

I went into this dinner after having had a particularly hard day at the office. By the end of the evening I had forgotten about the issues at the office.

The evening ended with the electricty going out in the neighborhood and sharing dessert by candlelight.

More friends should share evenings like this one!