Restaurants of Nephi, part 3

Two of our most recent restaurant choices, J.C. Mickelson's and the One Man Band diner, are advertised from the highway, so I had high expectations for them. Or at the very least, I was curious. And so, my imaginary readers, are you. Or at least, that is how I imagine you. CONFORM TO MY IMAGINATION!

Anyway, the One Man Band is a pretty standard little diner with burgers and other comfort food. I did see one novel thing on the menu, a sandwich called a steamroller. It was described as a ham and cheese sandwich that was battered and fried. I wasn't sure what that would be like, but I couldn't pass it up. And it turned out better than I thought. It was fried on the grill instead of deep fried, so really it was like a french toast sandwich, which was surprisingly good, especially once I opened it up and added some tomato slices.

The most powerful woman in the universe got an Elvis omelette, which disappointingly did not include bananas and peanut butter. Although it did have bacon. But I still think this time my meal was superior. Yay me!

Before going to JC Mickelson's, I asked around and heard good things about their chicken noodle soup and their pot roast. So I ordered both, with vegetables on the side. The princess of power got country-fried steak and potatoes. The pot roast was good, but I think the steak was better. A lot of chicken-fried steaks are cheap and tough, but this one cut with a fork just beautifully. I also enjoyed the soup, which had a hearty broth and nice thick homemade noodles.

After dinner, we foolishly decided to order two pieces of pie. The peach was mostly unremarkable, although there was a nice hint of cinnamon. I'm not sure they used fresh peaches, but I don't think peaches are in season, so maybe that's no surprise. The strawberry rhubarb was excellent, though. It was was the right balance of sweet and tart. And the crust on both was good, albeit very substantial, which is not my first preference. Having ice cream on the side was a necessity.

Upon our return home, we entered into a food coma, from which we only narrowly emerged alive, but I still think Mickelson's has been my second best dining experience in Nephi so far.

--REDBEARD

Restaurants of Nephi, part 2

So we have tried three more restaurants in the last ten days. I think we're almost halfway through our magical adventure, actually.

Tonight was Tomatilla's, which is located in the Conoco convenience store. Even before we walked in, Princess Adora remarked that it seemed a lot like Cafe Rio. I've only been to Cafe Rio one time, but it seemed true to me, too. So I ordered the same thing I got there, a pork salad-- which is a lot better than it sounds. And although the food looked very similar (and cost about the same), it was missing something. It was not bad, by any means, but it lacked a certain zing.

Last week, we tried two different places. One was a restaurant that has Chinatown on their sign, but is listed as Da Huan Jiang on Google Maps. Also contrary to Google Maps, they are not out of business. I mean, somebody took our money and gave us food. Anyway, we did the dinner for two, which gave us soup and appetizers, plus three main dishes, shared family-style. It was certainly plenty of food. The hot and sour soup was pretty good, as was the orange chicken. Neither were terrible spicy, but that's okay for most people. The other two main dishes, beef with broccoli, and twice-cooked pork, I was less impressed with. But when I reheated them, the twice-cooked pork was my favorite. So make of that what you will. It's definitely the best Chinese restaurant in town.

Prior to that, we did Big T's, which is a burger joint decorated with the obligatory posters of classic cars and Elvis. I had a burger and onion rings with a vanilla shake, and Adora had a fish sandwich and fries with a chocolate shake. The rings were the crunchy kind instead of the crispy kind, if that makes any sense. It was all pretty good, but unexceptional. They also advertised corn dogs, which tempted me briefly, but since I was neither in a lunchroom nor at the fair, I ended up passing. Now I wonder if those corn dogs were their secret weapon. Alas, I shall never know.

In conclusion: Three serviceable restaurants, but nothing to surpass (or match) the happy surprise of Mi Rancherito.

Excelsior!

--CHEF GILBERTO "TURK" BENITEZ