Tasty treats at Taste of Mississippi
From the better-almost-late-than-never department comes this public service announcement: Taste of Mississippi 2011 is tonight (3/28/2011) from 7:00p to 10:00p in Highland Village. Many of the best restaurants in Jackson come together every year for this event where you pay for a ticket to get in, and once you’re in you can sample food and drinks from as many of these local dining establishments as you like. The proceeds of the event go to support Stewpot Community Services, who provide food, shelter, etc. for the homeless and needy in the Jackson Metro area. I’ve photographed this event the past 4 years and will be there again tonight. Great food and drinks, fun music, friendly people, cool art and miscellaneous other items up for auction–all for a good cause. Go to their website for more details on tickets, etc. I hope to see you there!
Denise made me realize that I’ve had this blog for almost 2 years now but have yet to put up a proper Taste of Mississippi post. Lord willing that will happen soon after this year’s event.
Mr. Chen's now has a sign
I had been to Mr. Chen’s Authentic Chinese Cooking twice already, but that’s not nearly enough to explore their vast menu, so I’ve been a couple more times since then with family and friends, and alone for lunch once. Ok, so it’s not “take 2″; more like “takes 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on”. And they now have a sign on their awning so you really can’t miss them. » Continue Reading…
Mr. Chen's
Jackson is, from what I’ve seen elsewhere in the Deep South, a typical Southern small town/city when it comes to Chinese food–lots of American Chinese buffets and not a lot of authentic Chinese cuisine. As far as I know, the new Ding How is the only show in town for real Chinese fare–they have a Chinese menu (all items are also listed in English) that they used to only trot out for Chinese customers but I think they now stick in the back of their regular menu, and they also serve dim sum. Or should I say was the only show in town for real Chinese fare? Enter Mr. Chen’s Authentic Chinese Cooking. » Continue Reading…
Taco wars
La Morena, Omonia, and La Guadalupe. Now that we’ve been to all 3 Mexican/Latin-American restaurants in the Country Line Rd./Old Canton Rd. area (the only 3 that I know of, but as always please correct me if I’m wrong), there’s an obvious question that begs to be addressed–which of them serves up the best tacos?
» Continue Reading…
The three amigos
County Line Road plus a short strip of Old Canton just north of County Line has become a hotbed for Latin American cuisine. The joints we know of in that area are La Morena, Omonia, and La Guadalupe. We had been to La Morena and Omonia, which left La Guadalupe as the only restaurant we needed to visit. We finally got around to it yesterday, and once we did we wish we had done so sooner.
» Continue Reading…
Spice Avenue
Another “best”? Getting a bit bold about declaring best restaurants in town, are we? Sometimes it’s just so obvious you have to go ahead and acknowledge it. Spice Avenue is the best Indian restaurant in the Jackson metro area.
Denise and I went to Spice Avenue for the 1st time for our anniversary this year. My parents were in town, so they offered to babysit the girls while we went on a cellphone browsing date (how romantic!) and ate at Spice Avenue afterward.
» Continue Reading…
Lumpkins BBQ
About a month before Penelope was born, Denise, Sofia, and I went to Lumpkin’s BBQ for lunch. I met the Lumpkin’s folks at Taste of Mississippi the previous month while photographing that event, and after sampling their barbecue brisket there I was eager to visit their restaurant. The title of this post gives away the verdict so let’s not beat around the bush: this is the best barbecue restaurant in Jackson. More on that later on.
» Continue Reading…
The spread
We’ve tried the bread at Omonia before, but what really intrigued us was their menu full of tortas, tacos, empanadas, etc. When we stopped by the first time we were stuffed with dim sum so we only got some breads. This time we planned well ahead of time to be there with empty stomachs ready to enjoy a full meal. » Continue Reading…
La Morena
A blogger named YAR who runs the Carpe Jackson food blog told us about La Morena in the comments section of my post about Omonia, so of course we had to try it out a few weeks ago. It’s hidden away in a little nook of a strip mall just off Old Canton Road that looks to be populated mostly by Mexican or Latin American businesses. The storefronts aren’t visible from the street, so you can be excused for not even knowing it was there. I didn’t know until YAR told me, so thanks for the tip. There are only 4 tables, but the bar space makes up for that somewhat. It wasn’t a busy night, so we were able to sit down right away.
As an aside, when it snowed in December we were coming back from a Mexican restaurant. This time when we got out of our car to walk to La Morena we had some snow flurries fall on us. It’s a sign! » Continue Reading…
Patel Grocery
Neither I nor Denise know much about Indian cooking. We love eating Indian food, but we haven’t had a go at cooking our own. With that qualifier out of the way, let me plug this grocery store anyway. Patel Grocery is an Indian grocery store just north of the new Ding How. I don’t think it’s in the same continuous strip mall, but the parking lots are connected. We went in there after having dim sum at Ding How, having just then spotted it for the first time.
Perusing the wares
I think they had 4-5 aisles full of wonderful stuff. Raw spices (whole, unchopped, unground spices), spice mixes, 1001 varieties of rice, heat-and-eat breads like naan, canned ingredients, fresh produce, etc. If you have any interest in Indian food you should at least go in there and look around. I don’t cook much these days since Denise is so good at it and I’m lazy besides, but even I felt somewhat motivated to try cooking some of my own after walking through Patel Grocery (or at least getting Denise to). And if you ever seriously considered cooking some Indian cuisine but didn’t think you could find the ingredients, now you know where to go. Simply. Awesome. Jackson is just full of surprises. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, something new pops up.
Patel Groceries
6800 Old Canton Road STE # 102
Ridgeland, MS-39157
601.952.0332