I visited Baoding the other day for the first time in years. I got to thinking about how long it had been there, and did some research. It has been at that location for 15 years now (since 1993). For those that are unfamiliar with Baoding, it is an upscale chinese restaurant located in Southpark (4722-F Sharon Road; in the plaza with Barne’s & Noble’s). Most of my past visits to Baoding have been for lunch - mostly when I worked in Southpark. This time, I went for dinner.

Baoding is upscale and has a great modern, peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. The wait staff is very friendly and does a great job of actually making a little bit of conversation. It seems to me that in many chinese restaurants, the wait staff just barely tries to break through the language barrier and just gets the order the best they can. Of course, this comment only applies to those chinese restaurants with chinese employees - some have American wait staff. I imagine this helps the employees at Baoding become better at communicating with English speaking people in general - thus, increasing the accuracy of the orders.

To start with, I had the hot and sour soup. It was wonderful, although I am sure it was the best I have had. It was more spicey than most, and I wasn’t sure 100% why the word sour was even in the name.

I can’t remember what my main course was called, and it is not on their online menu. The closest thing I can remember was Pineapple Shrimp. While I may not recall the exact name, it was outstanding. If you love pineapple, and you love shrimp, you HAVE to get this. It was served on a split pineapple which was stuffed full of jumbo shrimp, pineapple, snow peas, pepper and onions. This dish is definately going on my favorite dishes list.

My wife had Beef & Broccolli. She always gets Beef & Broccolli at Chinese restaurants. It is the only Chinese food she will eat. In other words, she is quite the expert on Beef & Broccolli. She liked the dish, but did not think it was drastically better than some of the cheaper places she has had it at.

Another note, is that it isn’t that kid-friendly. They have no kid’s menu or chicken nuggest. You can get the sweet & sour chicken (the closest thing to a chicken nugget) as a substitute. My son seems to enjoy that, but I don’t know if he bought the whole idea of the “red ranch” that we tried to sell him as the dipping sauce.

All in all, I will definately be going back to Baoding in the future. The atmosphere is great, the service is great, and the food is great.

I had a quick lunch at the new location of The Hickory Tavern in Ballantyne and was pleasantly surprised. I had only been to the Carmel Road location before and my memory of it was that it was very smokey. It looked fairly nice from the decor but the smoke was pretty bad the night we went. The Ballantyne location was not smokey at all. It was extremely clean and the service was exceptional. The atmosphere was very upscale for a bar/tavern. I was amazed at the level of service I received not just from my waitress but also the other waitresses within the restaurant in making sure my drink was full, etc.

There were more televisions lining the walls than I could count without physically walking around the restaurant and counting them. I don’t think there is a bad seat in the place to watch a game. Please correct me if I am wrong, as I have not actually gone there to watch a game.

I tried something that I had never had before - a Folly Beach Reuben. This was basically a Reuben with the corned beef/pastrami substituted with whitefish. It was really good; although, not as good as if I had gotten the corned beef/pastrami version. Of course, I am sure the whitefish was much more healthy than corned beef. Would I get it again? Probably - if I were in a more healthy mood. If not, I would elect for the corned beef.

Next time, I will probably get something entirely different though. Their menu is fairly large - containing your typical bar fare like chicken wings, burgers and other sandwiches to pizza, calzones, chicken and steaks. Years ago, the Carmel Road location had a oyster night with 35 cent oysters. I am not sure if this is still going on, but I am sure the price is probably higher now any way.

All in all, I enjoyed my visit to The Hickory Tavern. The service was exceptional and the food was good. Feel free to comment about your own experiences with The Hickory Tavern.

Sonny’s Dutch Mill opened a few months back in the new Lowe’s Grocery Store Plaza in Tega Cay, at the corner of Gold Hill Road and Highway 160. Since they opened, I have become a regular in a sense. I go there about once every two to three weeks.

The last time I went was on Saturday. My sister was in town along with her three children and we took both our families there. Everyone loved the restaurant choice - especially the kids who loved the music on the radio.

The original Sonny’s Dutch Mill opened in Rock Hill more than 50 years ago. The new Sonny’s serves the same classic menu of classic “all-the-way” hot dogs and hamburgers that are done right. Unlike many of the places that call themselve hamburger joints, Sonny’s does not frown or look puzzled when you ask for chilli and slaw on your burger or dog. They know that this is the way they were meant to be eaten!

Sonny’s also has a host of other items on their menu from chicken sandwiches to BLT’s, although I have never tried them. For me, it is hard to resist the 2 hot dog plate with fries. Oh yes, don’t forget the fresh cut french fries - they are great. Just in case you prefer the krinkle cut, they are available too.

As you may have guessed based on the rest of the menu, they are very kid friendly. I would also recommend the fresh made milk shakes - they are excellent.

Overall , the service is good, although a couple of times that I have been it took longer than I felt it should have to get my food or to pay. The staff is always very friendly.

As far as price, it is not as cheap as it was 50 years ago, but is priced appropriately for the market. I think a 2 hot dog plate with fries is around $6.25 (don’t quote me on that) and a big hamburger with fries is about the same. It isn’t as cheap as some places but it is much higher quality than most places. I have been to a lot more expensive places and gotten much less and worse food - for instance, a $9 hot dog at a place in Southpark that didn’t stay open very long.

If you are in the Fort Mill/Tega Cay/Lake Wylie area and need a quick bite - Sonny’s Dutch Mill is an excellent option.

Welcome to my Food Blog. As you can tell by the title, I am from Charlotte, NC. I actually live in Lake Wylie, SC just a few miles from the Charlotte by car…..less than a mile by boat!

Both my wife and I are CPAs and we have our own firm here in the area. Since this blog is about food, I will not bore you with all of my work history and qualifications related to my profieincy as an accountant. If you want that information, visit my Periodic Ramblings of a CPA blog.

By creating this blog, I hope to create a journal that is both helpful to myself as well as others. I want to be able to share my dining experiences with others - both the good and the bad. While this blog will contain a lot of reviews and experiences with local area restaurants, I do not plan to keep the focus that narrow. I will also detail my experiences cooking at home and dining when out of town. Hopefully, it will help somone when they are on vacation. There is nothing worse than going on a trip and being unable to find a decent restaurant [this is where I would reference the post to Carolina Beach if I had already written one].

Anyone that knows me can vouch for the fact that I love good food. I love it a lot. I have a true passion for great food. Feel free to send me your favorites or to add comments on mine. If you feel differently about a restaurant, feel free to comment and let everyone know. The more input we get, the more this blog will help us all in the never ending quest for the perfect restaurant.

I might also add that I have a 2 year old that loves food too - his deal is that he only likes food that is shaped like a dinosaur and contains chicken. You will probably see a lot of reviews of chicken nuggets over the next few months!