Skip to main content

Southern cooking

 Our expeditions to eat and explore the south continued with a local trip to the town of Belmont NC.

A neighbor suggested southern comfort food at a place called Nellie's Kitchen.  So we tried lunch.  

Below is my humble assessment - after trying cajun chicken and pinto beans with corn bread



Porcelain doves watch over you as you eat


Cajun chicken with potato


Beans and Okra

For a place in the south serving southern cuisine - 

Food - Mediocre (I had to ask for Cajun spice mix on the side to pour over my chicken to get the oomph).  We have had much better food in Napa County in CA far removed from the south but with chefs that have heritage from here.

Ambience - 

  • Eclectic and soothing, loft like with exposed ceilings and polished concrete floor - hardwood tables - no while cloth; 
  • Payment is hi tech with touch less service via QR code (oddly menus are still paper which I appreciated)

Service - Mediocre (honestly think our server chap was hard of hearing having got couple things wrong on a two item order) 

Pricing - On the high side for value

Uniqueness - hip spot to try once with free parking.  The place draws some % of the crowd due I think in part to the owner's family having bred some boys that became a band and are somewhat popular among Gen Z (They are known as Jonas brothers).  One of them recently wed an Indian hot bod female actor and it garnered some eyeballs in the media.


Cardboard cutout and misc paraphernalia on sale at the door is to capture some younger demographic customers no doubt

The town of Belmont itself on the other hand was a great surprise.  About 15 miles west of Charlotte it is sort of place that no one might think of visiting for any particular reason. Once a booming cotton mill town that produced textiles in early 20th century is now losing that industry as China makes most of it.  The older mills that cover acres are getting converted to condos and high density housing along with boutique retail and food places.  However the charm of living on the outskirts of large financial center like Charlotte is drawing attention from retailers and homeowners.  Surrounded by Lake Wylie and Catawba River which makes the lake on its way south it is a leafy exurb worth a visit.

Some more pictures of the area below ..



International beer was to be had in many a local bar/ sandwich shop - gave it a European feel - we actually saw a gent downing an entire bottle of red on a patio at a local dive while kids at the next table were munching on baguette and salami


Notice the yarn spindle logo on the city street signs - a sign of the good times


We will come back to try some other food in the area.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language.  Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds.  The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic.  Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'.  This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...
2 comments
Read more

You are important to us

Followed by piano music.   Followed by 'we are experiencing heavier than usual call volume'.  Sounds macabre like bleeding during menstruation or after a ghastly attack with a weapon on a hemophiliac.  Sorry Mrs. Johnson but it appears little Gertrude here has been bleeding heavier than usual what with her night time activities competing with the woodchucks in your neighborhood. Some services even go as far as to pick a random day to say - 'if you were to call us during the Chinese lunar month when the moon is axiomatically hugging the polar star with Jupiter intravenous when call volume is light'.  Well I will be damned.  I thought  I had checked with my astrologer before I placed this well focused call but  I guess this is what you get for listening to a quack. Umph! I am not sure which marketing genius came up with this personal touch concept of informing the caller that you are really a jackass for actually calling the customer serv...
Post a Comment
Read more

Of Jims and Johns

Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...
2 comments
Read more