Eating Charlottesville (F-M)

Five Guys
I first heard about this place as the East Coast version of In-N-Out. I didn't like the burgers until I figured out that I needed to order a regular-sized burger, not a little burger, which contains just a smaller patty. The larger patty is necessary to balance the doughy sesame-seed topped buns. One must be careful with toppings here because they pile it on such that the patty disappears.

Guadalajara
You can't come here expecting authentic Mexican food. DON'T, and you'll be somewhat less disappointed. I think people come here just for the margaritas.

Korea House
This place was perfect for satisfying my comfort Asian food cravings. I once sat at the counter and slurped up the seafood soup noodles and kept slurping up ALL THE SOUP, which is very much out of character for me. One of the waitresses took pity on me and gave me a bowl of rice to temper the salty soup. The cold dishes are all clearly homemade and delicious. Although the beef and cabbage soup is on the salty side, it was still very flavorful from the beef bones, which they serve in the soup bowl. The seafood pancake is crispy and awesome...I really could go on and on.

The Local
The key to eating well here is to not order meat. I ordered the short ribs and was incredibly disappointed with how one-dimensional it tasted. Just meaty and not in a good way. Order the pasta, which they buy from Mona Lisa Pasta. Everyone else I went with did and they were all pleased with their meals. Also on the plus side is the list of delicious delicious drinks.

Marco and Luca
Everyone notes this place for its deal: for just $2 you get six dumplings. In my book, that's not really cheap--50 cents a dumpling?!--but then it's somewhat meatier and thicker skinned than the frozen kind. I just wish they wouldn't serve it with the thick sweet soy sauce. The sesame noodles, really capellini pasta, was surprisingly good. Only Asian place around that serves it.

Mas
This was easily one of my favorite restaurants with incredibly yummy food for a decent price. As a tapas place, the dishes are well-portioned for small bites and sharing. Everything on the menu is great, although be careful not to order too much meat, cheese, and bread. My favorites are the air-cured pork chop and lemon-cured anchovy fillets. The drinks are also delicious. The downside is the wait time, especially during the winter when they close the front patio.

Ming Dynasty
Other than maybe Asian Express, Ming Dynasty is surprisingly the best of the lot of Americanized Chinese food. Not everything is great, however. I was happy to order the pleasantly spongy textured vegetarian meatballs and the tofu and vegetable stir fry.

To be continued...