Sunday morning (2/28/2016) – Ok… maybe manatees were not the only thing on our mind. After all, you can’t search for anything on an empty stomach. Airbnb had done it again and he could not have picked a better place for our style. When we travel, we don’t want to stand out like the average tourist. We like to live, eat and breath like the locals and for that a hotel can not usually foot the bill. We don’t hate on hotels, but sometimes we stay in some obscure areas. Our cabin was smack dab in the middle of not much and had the real “Old Florida” feel. It was rustic and everything about it was perfect. When I researched some nearby breakfast options, we could not have picked a more perfect place.
Kim’s Cafe II in Homosassa, FL was that place where the locals go. “If our food, drinks and services are not up to your standards, please lower your standards.” — The motto of Kim’s and sealed on all of waitresses’ shirts. We both sensed a good feeling being there. It is the place where people go every Sunday to catch up with their friends, family and neighbors. The place where the waitresses know you by name and how you take your coffee. It was clean and had the feel of your hometown diner.
I had the breakfast BLT… B.E.L.T sandwich as I liked naming it. It was your basic BLT with egg. I think it is really hard to screw up a BELT, but if any one of your B.E.L.T ingredients are bad that could mess up the sandwich. The bacon was crispy, but not burnt. Sometimes they slap on too much mayo, but this was not the case. It was the right amount. The egg was of good size and fried hard. The iceberg lettuce crunched with every bite and the tomato was a plump fleshy red. I have had some hard very unripe or mushy tomatoes in my time and this was not the case either. It was a wonderful sandwich! ($6)
We both had a side of home fries.. Every diner/cafe has homefries, but the worth while ones make their own and don’t just slice open a bag. Kim’s was no exception, the fried redskin potatoes were not cripsy, but nicely browned. He was at first very excited to not find onions, but then he did. But still didn’t complain as it was not as much as you normally find. I found this funny when I found the first onion and chose to let him believe they did not exist. They were lightly seasoned with salt and pepper.
He had egg, cheese and ham on a croissant with side of bacon. His hefty sandwich came with
3 eggs fried hard, 3-4 slices of lunch meat ham and a slice of cheese. The cheese was not oozing out of the sandwich. Even though it was just a simple lunch meat style ham, it was not sliced super thin and had a honey flavor. It was a solid breakfast sandwich and held him over until dinner. ($6)
Ok so the manatees, maybe that is why you are really here…
They were only a short 5-7 minute paddle from our cabin!
We dug out one of the old Washingtonian magazines for their cheap eats list. We had plenty of time before our flight so anything was possible. We stuck to the VA area since those 
are the restaurants less dined. He of course already had this place in mind. 
He had 
We follow tons of DC foodies on 
glaze sprinkled with sesame seeds and scallions. The pork was served over a bed of white rice and along side a nest of lettuce (surprise addition from menu description). Missing from this photo are the pickled cucumbers, he had them removed. The pork was very tender and melted in his mouth. He said he didn’t even need to chew. The pork was shredded into chunks, but continued to fall apart as it was mixed around. He liked his dish, but for most people it may be too basic. This was the dish for your meat and potatoes man (minus the sneaky green stuff). ($15)
I on the other had enjoy ramen and all that comes with it. I had the Momofuku standard, momofuku ramen. Our waiter said it one of the most common ordered dishes. As I swallowed the warm broth, it warmed from the inside and was a perfect pick on a blustery day. The noodles were soft and chewy, slightly more so than other ramen in the city. The slow roasted pork and pork belly were wonderful and very tender. The broth was light and a medium brown color. It was a little salty, but good flavor. The consistency of the soft boiled egg was perfect. ($17) I am not sure that this is the best representation of DC ramen.
We felt the need to order some dessert from the Milk Bar which can be done while you are dining in (as well as take out. It was a difficult decision. We thought we should have went with the ice cream, but our decision was good. We had the chocolate malt truffles. Three of these cold cake fudgey balls come in an order. They are more dense than cake, but more crumby than fudge. Even though they were dense, it was not too rich. ($5)
He had the signature meal, chicken and waffles. Fried chicken layered over thick dense belgium waffles and topped with chicken gravy. Oh and a side of fried potatoes. The waffles were dense and on the sweeter side which complimented the peppered chicken gravy. The chicken was succulent and plump. A nice white breast coated and fried to a perfect crispness. The potatoes were thinly sliced and seasoned. Some were lightly browned, other were crossing into almost potato chip territory. He loved the crispy ones. I grew up eating chicken and waffles much different than that and probably not what most of you are familiar with. I swore that I would never eat them with fried chicken because it probably wasn’t good. I now think differently… ($15)
Now, let’s talk about bacon. Where else can you go where bacon comes standard and is acceptable to be eaten like the bottomless fries at Red Robbin (Yum!)? They are serving up bacon and lots of it. Just be sure to be following them an any one of their social media platforms (
He stuck to his favorite, the hot and sweet, but made it his own by eliminating the jalapeno sauce and of course adding bacon. So it became of a sweet roast beef sandwich, pun intended. The roast beef is finely shaved and super tender. It is on the rare side, but just melts in your mouth. The sauce adds flavor to this sandwich, but the meat has its own succulent flavor from the roasting process. The bun is soft and pourous, allowing the flavors and juice to soak in. For the first time in like ever, he scarfed his food down before I was even halfway through, but that was all part of his plan to get sandwich number two down the hatch! ($9 x 2)
Friday night we rolled up in our paint chipped ride to 
that we wanted… then the waiter came with the specials. On special that night was tuna tartare. Back story, a few weeks ago I had to listen to a wonderful meal my sister had (including scrumptious tuna tartare) while I drove home from volleyball to ultimately grab something at McDonalds. Ok back to MY tuna tartare, I knew he wasn’t going to eat any, but I couldn’t pass it up. The waiter had my mouth dripping just explaining it. I should have recorded him to explain it better to you. They made tiny ice cream cones filled them with tuna and drizzled with a light cream and balsamic reduction. Exquisite would be the best way to describe it. The tuna just melted away in your mouth, as might ice cream. The cones were wafer and light adding a nice crunchy texture. I had no trouble polishing off all four, he did have a little taste, but made that “oh yuck, why?” face. ($13)
The entire planning process of where to go, he discussed steak. It was no surprise that was what he ordered. Tagliata Di Manzo Boscaiola is a Hereford strip loin smothered with wild mushrooms in a red wine reduction. A Hereford sirloin is USDA certified NY strip steak trimmed of all the excess fat making for a lean tender cut. He ordered medium which came out as such, but I would have preferred slightly more red. It was still very soft and tender. It was served with a side of some of the creamiest mashed potatoes I have had. I enjoyed his scraped off mushrooms which held the flavors of the dish. ($26)
name. It was served over a bed of wilted spinach and done in a rosemary lemon sauce. It was a thin filet, but a large piece. It was soft and the texture was right for this denser fish. The lemon and rosemary flavor was strong, but not too much. I did enjoy my dish, but there was something lacking for me. I felt like maybe I should have ordered the pasta. There were a fair amount of non pasta dishes surrounding us, but many of the dishes I saw come out of the kitchen were pasta. I think my dish just didn’t measure up to the expectations I had and my excitement. ($24)
Wine, appetizer, entrees… we went all in and had dessert too. But not just any old dessert. This was a lemon tart with a chocolate base and chocolate and raspberry drizzle. Look at it… how could you not want any? It was magnific. The tart of the lemon was sweetened with the chocolate in a buttery crust. They hit it out of the park. If it was to be my last dessert on earth, I may be ok with that. It was just absolutely amazing, I don’t know how else it say it. It was simply wonderful and I felt very reasonably priced. ($8)
He had already been there without me and recommended one of the specials. He knows his proteins, so I took his suggestion and ordered the kontosouvli platter (marinated chunks of braised pork). The pork was outstanding. Salty and crispy with some bites, soft and tender with another. It was perfectly cooked and big flavor. It fell apart at the spear of my fork. He was not wrong with his recommendation. The platter came with a small Greek salad, a side of warm pita and a side of fries. If you take the time to look up Big Greek Cafe, you will see many praising their Greek fries. I subbed plain old fries for their feta and herb Greek fries! They are amazing and a stand alone reason to check this place out. The fries are not overly greasy and buried in feta (perhaps not quite like Snowzilla 2016). (~$11)
His taste buds were torn, he really wanted the kontosouvli (I gave him some of mine), but decided to try something new. He went with the grilled lamb chops. He enjoyed his chops. They executed the lamb well, staying soft and not drying out. He also went for the Greek fries, but nixed the salad and carbo-loaded with an order of the seasoned potatoes. The potatoes were well seasoned with slightly crispy skins. (~$11)
He ordered the beef sandwich which came flowing out of its bun with a side of mac n cheese and cornbread. This picture makes the sandwich look like dog food, but we assure you it was not scraped from a pull tab can. Despite his disdain for leftover food, I believe he still enjoyed it. You may know by now how picking I am when it comes to mac n cheese (I partially blame my father), but this was some good mac n cheese. It was baked and cheesy, but not saucy cheesy. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it didn’t even need ketchup!
Dine There Eat That 