I just found out yesterday that the Golden Corral that I normally visit will be closing after this coming Sunday. I don’t recall exactly, but I think it was built shortly after I came to Fayetteville, NC in 1995. I am not sure of that.
I have known DeWayne probably since my first visits.

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ADDENDUM:  This Golden Corral became the Hibachi Grille, which I came to visit almost as much as I did the GC.  But, at the end of December 2016, I found that I had to change my eating habits and the HG could not satisfy my requirements to keep by BGL and weight down so I stopped going.  A few months ago, I saw the the Hibachi Grille had gone out of business and it wasn’t too long before Chaisson’s Grandson’s Restaurant went into the same location.  *I finally visited this incarnation and like the country cooking, but have to be selective to fill the BGL and weight requirements.  Still the price for the lunch buffet, with water, is about $7.84.

ADDENDUM [ 10/13/23 ]:  Elsewhere, I have followed the different businesses, mostly restaurants, that have done business at this location.  But, after about a year, the new 7-11 Convenience Store (and gas pumps) opened.  This is located just in front of the Lowes Home Store.  *And, they have consistently good, low gas prices and I have bought gas there probably 5 or 6 times already since they opened.

Over the years I have refined a sandwich favorite of mine and here is how to make it.

I buy the Boars Head Black Pepper Ham and HT White American Cheese and buy a loaf of whole wheat bread.  The bread is not the organic version, so it has the grains in the bread.

I put the Indian Mint Chutney on one slice of the bread and the curry remoulade on the other slice.  I either sprinkle some ground Chipotle pepper on the ham, or on the curry remoulade (and then put the ham on top of it).  I then put a couple of slices of the white American cheese on the other slice.

Harris Teeter has good roasted red peppers, so I put a couple of those on top of the ham before closing the sandwich up.

*I make the curry remoulade out of Dukes mayonnaise, a little Patak’s Hot Curry Paste (HT), and some capers.

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NOTE [ 11/21/23 ]: I haven’t made one of these in several years. At some point, I realized that I didn’t like the combination of flavors, although it is an interesting sandwich. I haven’t made the Curry Remoulade in a year or more, but I would probably still like it. My Curry Remoulade was the result of having a really good Shrimp Po Boy sandwich at the Water’s Edge Restaurant just across the river from Charleston, SC on Shem’s Creek. It was a sunny afternoon and I had the sandwich with fries. Fried shrimp, and the sauce on the sandwich was something like mayo, curry, and capers. Not sure there was anything else in the sauce. I found at home that this sauce went well on various deli meat sandwiches. It would go will with ham, turkey or chicken.

I liked the Mint Chutney which I think I got at the Indian (not American) store in Apex, NC. This store was still there when I went through Apex last time. As I recall, one time I found some item on the shelf for about 99 cents, and I took a couple of these jars to the register to purchase. After the man (owner) rang my tab up I realized that he had charged me full price for these 99 cents items, and I said something to him about that. He stopped, looked at the jars more closely and told me they were “out of date” and he couldn’t sell them to me, and he didn’t. What a scammer! I knew how dishonest he was from this little incident. I should have reported him to the Better Business Bureau. And, what a poor example for his daughter which I think at the time was maybe in her early teens, or slightly younger. I seem to recall her waiting on me at their cash register (computer) at least once.

I’ve been to Jay’s Seafood Restaurant at least twice, before my visit yesterday.

The first visit, the food was good, but I was seated in a large room with poor acoustics and the crowd was terribly LOUD!  The second visit, I was seated in a smaller room and the food was good.

I am guessing that I hadn’t been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes on those first visits because there is little at this restaurant that a diabetic could eat and not put themselves in danger of a coma, and that’s not counting the number of items that are fried.

The slaw and beef chunks had good flavor.  I spooned some good looking corn kernels on my plate, but they had little flavor (little or no salt).  The fried shrimp were very small and I think the batter overpowered the flavor of the shrimp so that wasn’t that enjoyable.

The real disappointment was the clam chowder.  There were several whole clams in a thin, watery, milky broth, but there was little or no salt.  It smelled good, but was horribly bland to the palate.  But, there was nothing else in the soup.  No potatoes, no onions, etc.  I don’t think I’ve ever had clam chowder (New England Style) that didn’t have some potatoes.  And, I dipped the ladle a couple of times and only came up with the broth and a few whole clams.

A very disappointing visit, and probably my last.

[NOTE 06/29/24]:  Amazing the things I have forgotten, but in re-reading this posting, I have a visual of both visits, and even in looking down into the clam chowder pot which had been visited by many people before I got there to get the last “dregs”.  Not sure if it ever contained more than a couple of clams. 

Seems like the smaller room I ate in, may have had Cyprus wood walls, and was darker, with less lighting.  The loud meal would be like what Golden Corral became after the old structure was torn down and the new one had horribly loud acoustics.  I haven’t been to Golden Corral for a long, long time, and I used to go at least once or twice a week.   *Still, since I’ve tried to get my weight and A1C in line, I haven’t been to Taco Bell in a long while either, and I went there once or twice a week regularly.

My Taco Bell drive-thru visits usually had me getting: a Burrito Supreme (beef), a Crunchy Taco, and a Bean Burrito. This meal I would take home and chop up some sweet onion, and maybe make some “homemade” salsa, and put the onion, sour cream and salsa in a salsa bowl (have yellow, green and black ones). [end NOTE]

Morrow Mountain State Park

Five Points Public House Restaurant

I had a steak in the refrigerator last weekend, and also had some flat leaf parsley in a baggy.  I went to the food closet and got a box of  Season Brand anchovies.   I’m not sure where I purchased them, but they were very good when I opened the container.

I used several while frying the steak on the stove top, and also used some garlic flavored olive oil during the cooking process.  Anchovies disintegrate during the process.

I got out my blender and added the parsley, some of the garlic flavored olive oil, some anchovies, a little fresh onion, and garlic and some salt and pepper.  This blends up into a bright green pesto which is excellent with steak.  I think I got this recipe from one that Emeril Legasee had posted online several years ago.

The steak and the pesto were very good!

More appropriately titled, “Why Don’t I Enjoy Jason’s deli Salad Bar”.

There is something about the ingredients on their salad bar that leaves me wondering, “Why does everything taste so bland.”  This isn’t the first or second time I have thought this, and I come away with questions as to why I just am not satisfied.  Maybe it is their salad dressings that leave me wanting.  But, I like the Ranch and the Thousand Island, and I’ve even used their Balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and I’m still not impressed.  Everything looks good.  Each item is cut with intent, and there is color where it should be and no wiltedness where it shouldn’t.

The items aren’t totally flavorless, but they seem to be mildly flavored.  Something at a level that is below what would jump out at you as, “that’s a good onion, or cucumber, or hard boiled egg, etc.”

The first couple of times that I visited Jason’s deli, in Fayetteville, I think I had a turkey wrap that had hummus and some roasted red peppers.  Honestly, it was not totally flavorless, but it didn’t say, “I’m something.”  In fact, the next several times, I actually brought a small Tupperware container with some roasted red peppers and some curry remoulade (mayo, curry paste, and capers), and I doctored the wrap up, and it was really good.  But then I asked myself, “Why am I having to bring this extra stuff.”  And then you have to come to the conclusion that the item they deliver isn’t that tasty.

I did enjoy the steamed baby veggies (carrots, broccoli) that I had with the wrap.