For an Appalachian State University student, it can seem like there are hundreds of restaurant options in the High Country offering cuisines with varying cultures and price levels. When it comes to eating off campus, the options are endless and, sometimes they can seem a little overwhelming.
The High Country Small Plate Crawl offers the option to try local restaurants at an affordable price without committing to a full meal. From Jan. 22-25, participating restaurants offered a limited menu of small dishes. The dishes varied in price from $3 to $8.
Eighteen local restaurants participated in the annual crawl, including some located in Blowing Rock and Valle Crucis. Our reviewer went to two participating restaurants to see what the Small Plate Crawl had to offer.
Lost Province Brewing Company
Lost Province Brewing Company is a relatively new restaurant in downtown Boone; it opened in August. The brewers make the beer in-house, and the restaurant is known for their brick oven pizzas.
Despite sidewalks being iced over outside, the interior was madness. At 5 p.m. there was a 15-minute wait to be seated.
The Small Plate Crawl menu at Lost Province was a little unimpressive. The offerings did not seem to truly represent the full menu and left much to be desired.
Most of the menu offerings were pulled straight from the appetizer section of the main menu. I ordered their sesame edamame and beer flight for $11.
For my first time at Lost Province, I knew I had to try their selection of beers. For $5 I was able to try five of their most popular beers. They were very good and were easily split amongst my table. It gave me a good idea of which beer to order on my next visit.
The sesame edamame was delicious. It was warm and flavorful, dressed in a tangy, slightly spicy soy and ginger dressing.
The waitress was very prompt with our bills knowing we still had more restaurants to cover, and overall the service was excellent.
CoBo
Next, I went to CoBo Sushi Bistro and Bar, which was offering a selection of its most popular menu items.
There were no vegetarian options on the menu, but the waitress was very helpful and gave the table free edamame so my vegetarian friend would not be the only one without food.
CoBo offered two half-sized portions of two of its rolls, “The Yosef” and “The Red Dragon” for half the price of the main menu versions. This was convenient, since those are my favorite rolls at CoBo.
The food came out promptly for my friends, except the sushi. By the time they were done with their edamame and fried calamari, we still had a 10-minute wait for our sushi, which was backed up with the rest of the sushi orders that night. However, the wait was worth it – the fish was fresh and delicious.
Although I wish I could have made it to one more restaurant, The High Country Small Plate Crawl was a fun and exciting event nonetheless. As a food lover, it made eating interesting and it was fun to share a few dishes and hop from place to place rather than having one full meal. I would highly recommend attending next year’s Small Plate Crawl and seeing for yourself what local restaurants have to offer.
Story: Casey Suglia, Intern A&E Reporter