Mikado Japanese Steakhouse

The first night we got to Kentucky to visit my sister-in-law, we decided to go to a new Hibachi restaurant in Oak Grove, Kentucky. It had pretty good reviews and I love Hibachi, mainly because I get to see everything they are putting into my food.

Like my favorite restaurant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, they served a small salad with ginger dressing and a soup for a starter. The soup however, was a broth with small pieces of fried tempura batter. It was a decent soup, as far as broth soups go, and I love the ginger dressing on the salad.

All three of us ordered Hibachi. I was kind of disappointed with our chef, because he had absolutely no personality. He did the lava coming out of the stack of onions deal, but not a whole lot else. He didn't flip the shrimp tails, he didn't pretend to put pepper in people's drinks, nothing. My sister-in-law tried to joke with him to get him to loosen up, but that didn't work. He was nice, but no showman.

I ordered the chicken and shrimp hibachi. The shrimp, chicken, veggies and fried rice were all amazing. I don't know what people's fascination with 'yum yum' sauce is but I find it odd. It is too much like a mayonnaise flavor and doesn't at all remind me of any Japanese flavor that I've ever had. Although I appreciated the  noodles (instead of the bean sprouts, which I would have preferred), but the yum yum sauce was off putting.

This is not the best hibachi restaurant that I've been to, but it wasn't bad necessarily either. My meat was great and I still had that gingery mustard like sauce to dip into. If we go back to Oak Grove I think we will try to find the hibachi restaurant that we had our engagement dinner at. The whole reason you go to a hibachi place is to be wowed and dazzled, am I right?


Mikado's Main Site

Charlie Parker's Diner

Ready for another Diners Drive-ins and Dives restaurant? We were! On our trip down to Kentucky, we stopped overnight in Springfield, Illinois and found out about this little beauty. Great for breakfast and lunch (open 6 AM to 2 PM most days), and located in a Quonset hut of all things! They have received numerous awards since the air date on Diners Drive-ins and Dives, and have been published in many magazines and articles. This truly is a unique place to visit!

When we arrived, it was of course breakfast time and absolutely packed. The waiting area was tiny, but they take down your name and number and you receive a text when your table is ready, so we got to wait in the car. This small building is packed with signs, neon lights and a few famous faces on the walls. I attempted to take a few photos of the decor (and I apologize, because it was so packed and crowded that I didn't use flash for any photos in this post).

Now onto the food.....and I yet again apologize for the quality of the photos but I didn't use flash while in the building.

My husband ordered the Bacon Waffle and a side of Biscuits and Gravy. I tasted a bite of each. The gravy wasn't over salted, had the perfect amount of crumbled sausage and was very creamy in consistency. The biscuits were dense, but in a gooey good way. At home, bacon is usually one of my go-to items for pancakes and waffles, so of course a waffle is always better when you add bacon to it!

This is what I ordered....I know I know, it looks like a plate of hash browns with bacon sticking out. But here's a better picture after I scraped some of the hash browns over to the side...

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the smaller version of the "Breakfast Shoe", otherwise known as the "Breakfast Pony". It is an over easy egg on top of toast, with bacon, smothered in a cheese sauce, and topped with hash browns. A shoe would be double the egg and toast. It looked a mess but was like fireworks going off inside of my mouth! The pony version was so filling I couldn't even finish it. I don't even want to know what size of plate they would have to put this on for the shoe version!

This is a must stop! If you want to preview some great food to eat here while you are planning your trip to visit, be sure and check out the episode on Diners Drive-ins and Dives from 2007. Otherwise, a link to their main website and Facebook page are below!

Charlie Parker's Diner, Main Site
Charlie Parker's Facebook Page

Weezy's Bar and Grill

While on our car journey driving from Michigan to Kentucky, we hopped onto old Route 66 to grab a bite to eat for a late lunch. I used the RoadTrippers app to figure out what was near us and the restaurant with the most stars that popped up was Weezy's Bar & Grill. It looked unique and wasn't gas station food so we were ready to try it out. 

We sat up front in the bar area at a booth. The waitress kindly told us that they just received a call that a bus party of 30 would be coming in for a quick celebratory birthday stop before hopping to the next bar. We didn't mind and didn't feel like moving. They were fairly loud, but it was a birthday gathering after all involving booze. The decor in the bar was awesome. There were Route 66 signs all over the walls and definitely had that theme throughout. 

For an appetizer, we ordered the Jalapeno Cheese Ravioli. We were both slightly hesitant because neither of us like super hot things, and for the most part jalapeno isn't bad when the seeds are removed. These were amazing. If I lived near this area, I would order this for my main meal. It is more like a jalapeno flavored cheese that the ravioli is stuffed with, and has just the right amount of kick. 

My husband ordered the Ham and Cheese sandwich on a pretzel bun, with a side order of sweet potato fries. I got to taste a bite, and the pretzel bun, which soft pretzels are one of my favorites, was delicious.

I ordered the Philly Burger. The burger, that I ordered to be cooked at medium, was cooked perfectly. No pink in the middle and still very juicy. It was topped with melted cheese, caramelized onions and green pepper, and served on toasted bread. I subbed the fries for onion rings that were golden brown, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. It definitely hit the spot.

The only negative point that I have to comment on, is that the bathrooms (even according to my husband in the men's) were pretty disgusting. The food is delicious, and worth coming for, but wait and go elsewhere to use the restroom if you need to. It was some of the best "bar" food that I have had in a long time. The were also voted in the top ten restaurants on the old Route 66 (check out the link below).

Weezy's in top 10 

Weezy's Facebook Page