Monday was a chill day and a pretty good one, aside from the fact that my morning meal was not the best. But I digress, on to part 2!!
After our grocery shopping, we came back to the room and relaxed for a while before heading out for dinner and then our scheduled ghost tour in Savannah. Our dinner of choice today was a place called The Lodge, which I can't help but describe as a barbeque bar type of joint. The place is owned by a chef named Orchid Paulmeier, who, if you have good taste in television shows revolving around food competitions, you would (read: should) recognize her as one of the finalists on season 7 of Food Network's Next Food Network Star. And, by the way, she was one of my favorites and I was so upset when they sent her home. But that's okay, because now she gets to run this restaurant and her other restaurant, One Hot Mama's (which is located right across from The Lodge), and give us all of her delicious foods!
We had looked at the menu beforehand and it was still so hard to make a decision when it came to ordering. We ended up ordering a couple of their appetizers and, geez, they were so unhealthily delicious. We got the Fried Mac & Cheese and the Truffle Parmesan Tater Tots and, oh my goodness, they were amazing. The mac & cheese comes with a sriracha mayo and the tots come with a basil pesto mayo. By themselves, the apps were good, but the sauces really took them to the next level; honestly, you could put that stuff on anything and I'd eat it. And, for all those mayo haters out there, you can't even taste it!
For the entrees, as usual, we ordered something different. I decided to get one of the gourmet grilled cheeses and my friend ordered a burger. I got the Pulled Pork Melt, which came with hickory smoked pulled pork, smoked onions, and pepper jack cheese (which, let's face it, is the best cheese). It was. So. Effing. Good. The sandwich also came with a barbecue sauce dipping, which, like the rest of Orchid's sauces, were perfect. My friend ordered a Smash Grilled Burger, which you can customize to your liking. If you've ever been to a restaurant like SmashBurger, then you know what a "smash grilled" burger is. If not, I'll explain. The burger is smashed on a griddle or skillet within the first bit of cooking to ensure browning all over the burger patty. This leaves a nice crust on it, making it super meaty and delicious. If you want to know more about smashed grilling, here is a nice article on it. Both sandwiches were amazing and they both came with homemade chips which were dusted with a mesquite-y spice blend, making them taste like barbecue chips.
This actually was the end of our evening because, either due to the peppers from the morning or just the amount of food consumed, I ended up sick. So, instead of going to Savannah and searching for ghosts, we played Scene It and Phase 10, then watched a mini-marathon of Snapped. A truly wild night.
If you're in the Hilton Head Island area and you want to check out either or both of Orchid's restaurants, I highly recommend it. Check out their menus at www.hiltonheadlodge.com (The Lodge) and at www.onehotmamas.com (One Hot Mama's).
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