#Mud crab recipe ideas

[argentdandelion]

Memories of the Surface

Chapter 2: “I’m Not a Hero."

Gerson looks back on his long life, his memories of the Surface, and all the friendships and trauma made under a world lit by the sun.

---

Clothes. Pretty fancy-looking things, too.

Gerson leaned over the big pine root: quite a tripping hazard. Strewn across it was a shirt, its thin material suggesting summer wear. Once, it would have been pretty fancy: the sort a successful merchant might have worn. But now, it was flimsy-looking, a little threadbare, a little faded.

Who would just leave a shirt like this out in the woods? Gerson thought, as he knelt to pick it up.

Dust trickled out from the collar. Gerson saw the hole in the shirt---a mere slit, right in the middle of the chest. As if it was stabbed just once...or over and over in the same spot...

Gerson let the shirt flutter to the ground. "Eh, wouldn't have fit me anyway, not with my shell."

Gerson trudged on.

--------

There's gotta be some meat somewhere...a deer somewhere...at least a big, juicy squirrel!

Gerson scanned the pine trees. Why are they all so scared to show up? It's not like there's a war against wild animals.

At least there wasn’t any wind chill in this late-autumn day.

I'm not gonna return to camp empty-handed. We need these supplies!

A thatched building stood in a clearing among the pines, beside a small brook.

Gerson smiled. Finally! An inn! But no smoke…?

Gerson slowly pushed the door open.

Is it the off-season for travelers? Or is the innkeeper a monster who loves the cold? Or did it...

...run out of business?

He scanned the interior. Dark. No candles, no torches...just the indirect light that drifted in from the opened doorway.

Gerson raised his warhammer---just a soldier's reflex. It had never served him right...but had never served him wrong, either.

The furniture laid on the ground haphazardly. Several chairs were broken. A few looked hacked apart. Some pine needles and dried clods of mud littered the doorway. Whoever entered last sure hadn't cared to wipe their feet.

But there might still be food somewhere. Gerson took a few wary steps inside, into the cold and quiet. It looked like the village nearby. Similar wooden furniture, similar brick fireplace, similar…

The nearby village had looked like it was empty for a while.

"Dead end." Gerson said. He turned around---

And saw the wall had a dent in it, and a slight smudge of dust, right at head height.

The dust pile. By the doorway, on the floor. But no human soldiers’ bootprints at all. Gerson sniffed. It didn't smell like monster dust either.

Something’s off.

"Oh, thank goodness!"

Gerson’s bullets stopped inches from the figure’s body.

Green with yellow eyes. Not a human.

The figure’s hands were up, his yellow eyes wide. It was a fish monster...no, amphibian. Gerson vaguely recalled they cared for the difference. “N-no n-need for th-that, friend.” The monster said, standing motionlessly.

The bullets winked out of existence, but Gerson didn’t quite lower his hammer.

"What’s your story?”

“I’m an innkeeper. Ouro’s my name.” the amphibian said. “I run...ran...this inn a few miles from the village.”

“And what's with this setup?”

"An idea of mine. If the place looks like it had already been looted and its owner dusted, no one will look too closely.”

“And the dust?”

“Just some wheat flour that had gone bad.”

Gerson stepped past Ouro and looked around. “You’ve seen any other monsters lately?” he asked.

“I haven’t seen any other monsters in...a while.” The innkeeper’s voice was creaky, like a door with a rusted-over hinge.

Gerson raised an eyebrow. No. Ouro’s voice wasn’t quite creaky. It felt disused, as if he had no reason to speak for a long time.

“Did anybody from the village show up?”

“Nobody came.” Ouro looked down. “Nobody.”

An image of the clothes in the woods flashed into Gerson’s mind. Gerson shook it off.

“A few humans took my mounts early on. I can’t get anywhere fast, so I hunkered down in the root cellar for...I don’t know how long. Are the humans gone?" The innkeeper still sounded a little strained, as if the stress had settled into his throat.

"The human army moved on ‘bout a month or so ago. Guess you’ll have to ask ol’ Prince Fluffybuns---ah, Asgore----if you want something more specific.”

“Then it should be safe,” Ouro said. “You...you think it’s safe, right?”

“Well, as safe as you can be.” Gerson shrugged. “And if you come with the monster army, at least you’ll have living shields!”

“The monster army...is it nearby?” Ouro asked.

“Yes. Not too far. We camped out early to fetch more supplies from the area.”

A big smile cracked across Ouro’s face. “If it’s supplies you want, I’ve got plenty! I was stockpiling it for any refugees from the village, but…well, there’s plenty for the soldiers!”

Gerson scratched at his goatee. “Hmm….you got any meat?”

“Plenty! I’ll give it for free! Anything for some company!”

The innkeeper scrambled to open the backroom and into the root cellar, his thick boots scuffling on the floor. He returned so loaded with dried meats he looked like a cart that had learned how to stand up.

Gerson blinked. That’s...a lot of jerky.

Ouro clutched two tankards and one stained recipe paper in one hand, with all the skill of a monster with a lifetime of serving tables. He sat on a stool that creaked slightly under his weight and set the tankards and recipe down.

"I figure you all are thirsty, too, but I couldn't carry the kegs. I guess you'll have to bring back some soldiers for that,” Ouro said, his voice settling down. “I did fill a few tankards for us, though."

“What’s this stuff?” Gerson asked, inspecting the greenish liquid inside his portion.

“Crab apple cider. It collect the crab apples myself from the stream nearby, and it’s the inn’s specialty---other than jerky. But I should warn you, it’s an acquired---” Gerson choked it down---and his eyes bugged out. “Taste.”

Gerson smacked his lips. “It sure is.”

“Sorry if there are seeds. I made the last batch in a hurry. And, um...sorry for scaring you earlier.” the innkeeper said sheepishly. Gerson shrugged. "Eh. A little caution goes a long way these days."

“A toast,” Ouro said, raising up his mug. “To what?”

Ouro looked firmly at Gerson. “That the humans have had enough dust-shed for a lifetime.” The amphibian’s face started to crumble, but he patched it back up with a big smile. “That, whatever happens...monsters will live in peace.”

“A toast,” Gerson asserted. “To the brawn and brains of monsterkind’s hungry soldiers!”

The innkeeper slowly tipped the tankard to his lips.

His gills flicked up. “Human.”

Something trembled---no, wavered, no, moved---inside Gerson’s SOUL. A human. A human coming----

“Hide!” the innkeeper hissed.

“Where?” The inn’s interior. Too open. Too exposed.

“Fireplace!” the innkeeper shoved Gerson forward. The turtle soldier slipped into the ashes before he even registered the act. He scrunched up his eyes against the cold ashes.

The human moved quietly----must be lightly armored, with fine shoes.

Light, rapid footsteps on the inn’s wooden floors, and then----

“W-want some jerky?” the innkeeper said.

What the----?

“That’s a mighty fine eating knife. Looks like you’re the kind of person who loves chewy meat.” An awkward pause stretched after the innkeeper’s words. The human...must be wielding a knife. Or a dagger. Gerson thought. He’s warning me. “Yes, I know humans carry about knives for eating. My inn’s had human patrons, after all.”

With that kind of voice, with his eyes facing away...Gerson couldn’t tell if the human was male or female. But it didn’t matter. They killed monsters just the same.

Ouro’s standing right there. But why isn’t the human attacking?

"What's that?" the human said, like a command.

Gerson stiffened.

“A novelty log holder,” Ouro said smoothly. “I purchased it on a whim when I was younger and more...prosperous.”

The silence stretched on. Gerson’s skin prickled, as if he was being watched. He fought the urge to shudder.

“How much?” What?! Gerson thought.

“Two silver each.” the innkeeper replied.

Each…?

With a faint clink, the human handed over two silver coins. Gerson heard the innkeeper’s pack rustling as he fished out something---probably a piece of jerky. But he didn’t hear eating noises.

Did they believe that lie? That I’m just a ‘novelty log holder’? Gerson thought.

“Another.” the human said.

“Oh, sure,” the innkeeper replied, with more rustling.

“Another.” the human said flatly.

“A jerky lover, I see.” More rustling.

“Another.” “Another.” “Another.” Another...

“You would have loved this place at its p-peak,” Ouro said.“L-lots of jerky lovers. Lots of humans with n-nice eating knives, just like you.” A lot more rustling----he must be lifting out a big mound of jerky.

A pause. The impatient tap of fingers on the table, and the faint sound of more jerky being set on the table, of the innkeeper scrabbling on the table’s wood surface.

“I-it’s n-nice to see there are still h-humans who love p-patronizing monster businesses,” Ouro said. “B-because...it’s just that good. They’re s-sure worth...k-keeping around.”

Gerson grimaced. How did the human get so much money?!

“I’m...I’m fresh out. B-but if you come back later, I’ll….”

A muffled grunt split the air. The human exhaled---and sounded disappointed.

Gerson scrunched up his eyes harder. Can...can anyone hear me? If there’s someone out there...please help.

The innkeeper started panting. “I-I c-can sell you more---”

The human snorted dismissively---and hit again. There was another muffled grunt.

He heard it loudly in his mind..only attack if you outnumber a human three to one.

The clink of coins falling off the table.

You useless Prince Fluffybuns! Get over here! Gerson shouted in his mind.

The scud of boots steadying themselves on piles of silver coins.

Only attack if you outnumber a human three to one.

The faint sound of piles of jerky falling to the floor.

Harrold, I know you’re a cowardly bunny, but I need you! Gerson pleaded in his mind.

A huge whump as a body hit the floor.

Anyone! Please help! Gerson begged in his mind.

A crackle as weight pressed down on...on something.

Only attack if you outnumber a human three to one. If you don’t….

“You want mercy, monster?” the human stated quietly.

If you don’t….you’re dust.

The sudden crack, like hot stones splintering.

Sssshooow.

Gerson didn’t hear if the human what the human said next. But it didn’t matter. He heard the faint clank of an eating knife (or dagger) getting tucked into its sheath, the clink of many, many coins, and the rustle of dozens of monsters’ worth of jerky.

And, finally, the sound of the human’s footsteps faded away.

Gerson rubbed the ashes away from his face and did not even look at his hands. The sun was setting now. It was starting...to get dark. Darker. Yet darker.

The inn had real monster dust now: coarse like ashes. It smelled like rain upon the earth...but slightly decayed. And the innkeeper’s clothes laid there, like the stabbed-through merchant’s, like...so many others.

He never said anything. Never revealed me. Never cried out. The thoughts ran through the turtle’s mind.

His eyes...dry. His throat...dry. His mind...still as the forest ouside. But not relaxed. If only he cried out...if only he stopped trying to muffle his pain...I’d save him on reflex.

And die.

Gerson took a stiff drink of the sour crab apple cider and quaffed it down, his throat fluttering.

Feet turned around. An idle hand grasped the recipe on the cracked-apart table. And the door was sealed, leaving the newly-made tomb in its darkness.

--------

The human child was pointing an odd weapon at him. Trying to threaten him. What a figure they made, hands just coated in monster dust.

“Try it, kiddo! I know you can’t here.” I may not know why. But I don’t need to.

The human looked at the old shopkeeper for a moment. Their fingers twitched. And they...stopped. Their hard eyes grew puzzled. Their jovial, not-quite-right smile became an outright frown.

“Eh? Fight you?” Gerson looked aside. “Nah, I'm not a hero.”

He stared straight at the human’s determined brown eyes. “But I know there's someone out there...someone who'll never give up trying to do the right thing, no matter what.”

Someone bright and brave and strong. Someone who carried the burden of everyone’s hopes and dreams, and became all the stronger. Someone who had the strength to be the hero...he never could be.

“Someone...who will strike you down.”

And, finally, the sound of the human’s footsteps faded away.

Gerson unhooked the shop’s landline phone. He still looked at the doorway as it rang.

“Undyne. The human just passed by my shop.”

---

Author’s Notes

The innkeeper's name was suggested by DistanceSeventeen.

The clothes belonged to a character who made an appearance in "Merchant of Death", a side-story in the same continuity.

This work was inspired by the theme of modern human-monster relations in my previous posts:"Things Anti-Monster Politicians Could Do"and "Undertale: The Perils of Being Literally Not Human".

[kazlifeadventures]

Trinidad & Tobago - Carribean dreams...

I am so ‘vex’ that I won't be ‘liming’ in this beautiful place any more. I have been one lucky person to have been able to come here and hang with a local for almost a week. Jasmine has shown me her Trinidad and for that I am truly grateful. I have eaten so many local foods and they have all been fantastic. I have impressed the locals no end with my love of pepper sauce. The food here is tasty, spicy, and pretty much specific to this island. ‘Nah boy’, I am so very much enamoured with this country! One of my friends asked me if I had posted photos of the food. Truth be told, I don’t have a lot of pics, its not the most photogenic, and I seriously just wanted to eat it! I have partaken in the local speciality of doubles, with ‘plenty’ I might add - for those unaware that is with extra hot sauce and/or the mango bone that is infused with more pepper. Doubles is made with 2 baras filled with a curry channa (chick peas), it originally started as a breakfast food, progressing to be an anytime of the day food. It’s nutritious, tasty, and sold at street side vendors everywhere. Apparently even pizza and KFC taste better over here. This I can now say I agree with. Not sure if the food tastes better, or if its adding the ketchup, mustard, and pepper sauce that assists with the taste upgrade.....

Jas took me to the home of street food a little town called St James, and made sure I got to have saheena, (seriously amazing spicy little deep fried spinachy deliciousness ) as well as alloo pie...amongst other things. The locals only really eat out at restaurants on special occasions so that meant Jas cooked for me a lot of the time, and wow, just wow. I loved the chicken curry (brown), smoked herring, baigan choka, salt fish, home made roti, the fabulous goat curry.... I could rave on, but google Trinidadian food and you’ll understand. Jas lives out in the ‘country’ to the South of Port of Spain, the capital. We spent one evening heading around to some of the local rum bars. Rum bars are everywhere here. Beer is cold and cheap (and made here - love the Stag and the Carib!). I got to meet a few of the locals. Over here they will buy you a drink even for something as simple as the fact that they had to order over you slightly. At the bar. They loved to meet the ‘white girl from Austalia’, as out here they dont see a lot like me... The good thing is none of it was them just trying it on with the foreigner. These are genuinely lovely, polite, caring people. I had a dance off with some girls from Venezuela, and ended up drinking way more drinks then I paid for, eating (they sell bar snacks and’cutters’ only at the rum shops) some tasty wontons at one place, and some really tasty fried chicken at another. We then got some free food from another lovely local who bought us a drink, and also then brought us across some Souse and Corn soup from his food stall (across the road from the rum shop). Anyway I can now say I have tried Souse, not sure I’d eat it again, it was flavourful, but pigs trotters in broth with onion and cucumber is not on my list of things to eat again! I think I have decided that I need to come back to Aus and start my own Trini food store, I think it’d be a huge hit. Love the local beers. Love the rum here. Jas made sure I tasted the Puncheon rum - 75 % and you never get a hangover or upset stomach... I wanted to bring some home, but alas no room in the suitcase! One of the biggest things, I was not aware that this is the home where Angostura bitters is bottled. It was first created in the town called Angostura in Venezuela by a German surgeon stationed in Venezuela, originally produced there between 1824 - 1830. In 1875, the plant was moved to Trinidad and that’s where it’s secret recipe is still produced today.

One of the main religions here is Hindu, they have a giant (85 feet - 26m) statue of Lord Hanuman Murti located in the grounds of Dattatreya Yoga. The statue is the second tallest in the world, and the tallest one in the western hemisphere. When we pulled up onsite there was one man looking after the bookstore who allowed us to enter the grounds and take photos. We weren't allowed to enter the temple/yoga centre as we weren't appropriately dressed. The gentleman then showed us the book explaining how the statue had been built and answered all my gazillion questions. It was like having our own private tour! Jas then took me down the road a little further to show me the temple in the sea. This temple was originally constructed by hand 1947 -52 by Sewdass Sadhu an immigrant from India. It has since been added to, and tidied up, but it's an amazing place, and a site of pilgrimage for Hindus. It's also one of the designated locations for Hindus to perform the funeral pyre. Hindu religion requires that the dead are burned near water and a holy place.

Brian Lara is still HUGE here. He is a home town Trini boy so I completely understand. Cricket is massive, and the new Brian Lara stadium is a huge landmark. They had a cricket game on when I was here (Trinidad vs Jamaica) but they had sold out the tickets otherwise we would have gone.

I spent a day at the beautiful Maracas beach, located on the northern part of Trini. On the way there we stopped at the lookout and had a quick look at the food stalls. I got to try some ‘Chow’, a garlicky spicy way of preserving such things as Pineapple, apple, mango, cucumber... its yummy and not too spicy and I really appreciated the stall holder giving me a taste ( and Jas’s friend Isabelle for buying some of the pineapple one). Maracas beach is a favourite with the locals and its a thing to do to have a ‘bake and shark’ when you go to the beach. Betcha cant guess what I had... Can I say amazing (again!!) You not only get your bake (which is a deep fried Roti) You get beautiful fresh deep fried shark fillet inside it, then you go to a buffet like area and add as many of the additions as you want . Yep, of course I added a bit of EVERYTHING . I had to taste it all. Seriously that thing was amazing. BTW I do taste everything first before adding pepper sauce... pepper sauce heightens the flavours. Jas’s friend Isabelle got her son in law to give us a shout out on the radio station he worked at ( they had it playing at the beach), so ‘Karen from Australia’ is now Trini Famous... love it!!

Jasmine took me out to the Pitch lake, in La Brea, and I’ll admit, I had no idea what it was ( I thought it was a lake!!) Anyway, some how we ended up with a colourful local as our personal guide, he was You tube famous and has apparently featured on David Attenboroughs visit to the lake. I have to sit and edit my ‘documentary’ when I’m back in Australia, it’ll be awesome.. I promise. Suffice to say the lake is the most amazing tar pit. Seriously amazing tar pit. The roads leading into the area are all like travelling over mini crazy hills due to the impact of the tar movements in the area. You have to use an authorised guide on the site, which is fair enough as a wrong step could see you disappear forever into the tar... literally... Trinidads pitch lake is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world (estimated to hold about 10 million tonnes) Its covers about 100 acres and is about 250 feet deep. There is a cool legend involving the origin of the lake the involves a hummingbird (I like the story), Historically Walter Raleigh re-discovered the lake on his expedition there in 1595. It has that charming rotten egg smell, and the mud and sulphur water apparently have healing properties. Locals were there immersing themselves in some of the pools while we were there. As we didnt have swim suits we had to settle with getting coated in the mud on our legs, and for me, also my face...lol!!! I didnt get a chance to put it on myself, out guide was very keen to smear it all over my face... (and shirt and hair.. etc...). Rinsing it, after it had set, was a whole other process involving splashing what looked Iike green water all over my face (and legs), all I wanted to do was rinse my face with some fresh water afterwards - and it took over an hour or so until I finally got somewhere to do it. Let’s not talk about how much scrubbing it required later that night to get the last bits of our skin! A great fun day though, made all the better for our colourful guide! I have had a crash course in some of the Trinidadian slang/words and between that and their accents I am sometimes lost in a conversation... (definitely accents particularly when you are trying to enter the country and the border control guy is talking to you and you have to continually say, sorry what??? ) I’m a lot better now!!

Jas couldn’t make it over to Tobago as she had work scheduled at her house that she needed to be around for. So I decided to head over for a night, hire a car, and see what I could see. Its literally a 20 min flight over (only costs about 50 US return) FYI 24 hrs isn’t really enough to see everything. I didnt get to the water fall or national park. I had headed down to Store bay beach when I first arrived with instructions to try the curry crab, conch and dumplings in Tobago (its their local specialty, amongst a few other things). Have to say I liked the conch, crab was over cooked and dry, and dumplings were kind of chewy. The ‘provisions’ that I got with it were really nice though - Plantain, Potato, green banana, avocado ..I would have liked to have tried another outlet to give a second opinion, but didnt have the time. I did get to the beautiful Pigeon Park, a natural reserve area, filled with some shops, water sports hire, beautiful beaches and glorious spot to watch the sunset. I also got out to the Fort of King George in Scarborough hiking up the giant hill to take in the glorious views. Hilariously there was a traffic hold up on my way there due to some goats being herded along the road. Island time boy. I would have to say, as much as its a part of the one country, Tobago island is completely different to Trinidad. Its a lot more touristy for a start, it has more servicible beaches. The roads are not as pot holed as Trinidad. The people are still lovely, but you get the tourist scouters who are looking to sell you on anything they can. Its a beautiful place and I’m so glad I got to go across and visit. As always, I can always go back!

My time in the Caribbean has come to a close. (9-16 Oct). What an adventure. I have had a fabulous time, and recommend to anyone to come here and see this place, taste the food and meet the people for themselves. The country has their own issues with government corruption which impacts the improvement of infrastructure like roads etc. And there are warnings around safety as there are elements involved in crime that impact locals and tourists alike. This just makes Trinidad Tobago, not unlike a lot of other countries that I have visited on my adventures. It just means the more prepared you are to be open to new things, different ways of doing things, different cultures. The more you are aware of your own safety, and that of your belongings , the more you can avoid crime. Crime can impact you anywhere in the world, countries like this dont have it any more or less than others, it just seems to be in the media more....

[radio-charlie]

There was a nice deal on mud crabs at the supermarket so i got a packet, then made a soup from them together with salmon heads, corn, tomatoes, ginger, scallions and chinese rice wine. It turned out not too bad, soup’s not as flavorful as i thought it’d be so i gotta mess around with the recipe somemore. I probably gotta make a more intense fish stock (maybe with shrimp heads thrown in also) if i dont want to have to spend more money on crab next time. The salmon head was a really good idea tho

[wikitopx]

There are many fantastic Eureka Springs restaurants. Beautiful Eureka Springs AR is home to many delightfully different upmarket fine dining restaurants.

Many are owned by trained chefs transplanted from other parts of the country and from around the world, making this small Alpine-like village a virtual hotbed for brilliant restaurants. These restaurants take pride in serving only the freshest, finest food, giving impeccable service, and providing a unique soothing environment. Guests leave impressed. Their expectations have been greatly exceeded, and they are determined to return soon.

The Top 10 Eureka Springs restaurants listed below offer a winning combination of amazing food, friendly, high quality service and a clean comfortable atmosphere.

1. Aquarius Taqueria $$

91 South Main, (479) 253-6888

Fabulous fresh Mexican food, delicious drinks, great service and friendly people all combine to make Aquarius a top choice. The Pescado Fish Tacos and the Asade Steak Tacos made with homemade corn tortillas are mouthwateringly delicious. Aquarius Taqueria has a great location for people watching.

2. Café Amore $$

2070 East Van Buren (Hwy 62E), (479) 253-7192

Looking for authentic and superb Italian food, impeccable professional service and an intimate, yet friendly setting? Look no more, Chef Katherine and her staff are determined that every guest leave determined to return again and again. Try a pizza from the large and varied pizza selection.

3. Cottage Inn $$

450 W Van Buren, (479) 253-5282

A peaceful country setting is the backdrop for this enchanting, chef driven Mediterranean restaurant. If you enjoy a romantic, cozy ambiance, you will love the Cottage Inn where Chef Linda Hager and her outstanding staff make every effort to give you a memorable experience. Appetizers and main dishes are filled with delicious blended flavors, and the desserts are nothing short of amazing. This is a restaurant that you can be comfortable recommending to anyone.

4. Devito’s of Eureka Springs $$

5 Center St, (479) 253-6807

A long standing Eureka Italian restaurant, Devito’s specializes in trout direct from their family owned trout ranch. You may choose to dine intimate street-side dining, a glassed in porch overlooking East Mountain or the #2 rated sky dining deck in the state. Food is excellent. Try the Trout Italiano made from a National award-winning recipe.

5. Ermillios Italian Home Cooking $$

26 White St, (479) 253-8806

Ermillios offers fine Italian food in a charming atmosphere. Unless you get there early, be prepared to wait a bit, but there’s a cute little bar upstairs where you can play board games and have a drink while you wait. Service is both friendly and efficient. The roasted garlic is amazing as is the Ravioli with the gorgonzola cheese sauce.

6. Gaskins Cabin Steakhouse $$$

2883 AR-23, (479) 253-5466

Rustic restaurant in a historic restored log cabin serves amazing flame broiled hand-cut perfectly aged steaks, a variety of delicious sides, salad, soup and homemade bread. Gaskins is the go to place for prime rib and steaks in NWA.

7. Grand Taverne Restaurant & Lounge $$$

37 N Main St, (479) 253-6756

Unforgettable aptly describes the fine dining experience at the Grand Taverne Restaurant.& Lounge. Every menu item is prepared and cooked to perfection including, just to name a few, the amazing Grilled Filet of Beef, Roasted Rack of Lamb, Stuffed Portobello Mushroom and Pan Seared Scallops. Presentations are a work of art from start to finish, service is impeccable, and the atmosphere is warm and intimate. This restaurant is not just a cut above the rest, it is fine dining at the highest level.

8. Grotto Wood-Fired Grill and Wine Cave $$$

10 Center Street, (479) 363-6431

Set to a cave spring, Grotto’s unique atmosphere is delightfully different. The ambiance is warm and cozy, the service is friendly and knowledgable and the food is nothing short of amazing. Chef Rodney strives for perfection every time. Prepare to be wowed when you cut into your steak cooked over a wood fired grill. Additionally, Grotto sports a full bar including a large selection of wines and beers.

9. Local Flavor Café $$

71 S Main St, (479) 253-9522

Located in the heart of Historic Downtown Eureka Springs, this delightful restaurant offers fresh delicious food for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. There are so many outstanding dishes to try that it is hard to pick just one, but before you leave town try one of their scrumptious burgers. Additionally, the pork tenderloin is to-die-for as are the crab cakes, and drinks including their homemade Sangria are all simply amazing.

10. Mud Street Cafe $$

22 S Main St G, (479) 253-6732

Serving award-winning coffee food, and taste-trippin’ desserts, Mud Street Cafe is located in quaint Underground Eureka Springs. Open for breakfast and lunch everyday except for Tuesdays and Wednesdays, this unique restaurant offers veggie grits and hashbrowns as a specialty. You won’t find a better place to chow down on a delicious, filling breakfast.

Here are a few more ideas for what to do in the area: Top 10 things to do in Eureka Springs

From : https://wikitopx.com/food/top-10-best-restaurants-in-eureka-springs-701434.html

[its-lifestyle]

In the F&B world, restaurants come and go with the regularity of the ebb and flow of the tide. In many instances, the dust has barely settled on the opening of a new restaurant before diners are treated to the alarming sight of shuttered doors or worse yet – a new eatery in its stead.

This makes Aliyaa Island Bar and Restaurant something of an albatross, that rare, seemingly endangered eatery that has made it past the 10-year mark. In fact, in direct contrast to conventional wisdom, the popular Sri Lankan restaurant is now celebrating its 12-year anniversary and remains as vaunted as ever.

The restaurant recently updated its menu selection, crafting a range of new Sri Lankan dishes to appease the appetites of a growing number of Malaysians who have travelled to Sri Lanka and now want more from local Sri Lankan fare.

Aliyaa’s new menu now includes an extended selection of Ceylonese fare as well as meal sizes that range from small to big (there was previously only one size option) to cater to two-person meals as well as larger parties.

The menu has also been divided into different sections to give people the option of selecting different varieties of starters, curries, varuvals, and vegetable dishes to reflect a true Sri Lankan meal.

The restaurant has a sleek, charming interior.

“A full Sri Lankan experience involves having a staple like a gravy, a main course, something dry, and something green – so that makes up a few different textures that will give you the full satisfaction of a complete experience,” says Sangeeth Sivagnanam, the group general manager of the Cinnamon Group, which runs Aliyaa.

Start your meal at Aliyaa by trying out some of the new offerings on the menu, all of which have been curated by Sri Lankan native and executive chef Suppaiya Sivaraja, better known as Siva.

To begin with, indulge in a snack like the Point Pedro Vadai (RM6 for six pieces) designed in response to the Malaysian “on-the-way” culture. “Our average reservation is for six to eight people so whenever guests arrive, they always wait for their friends or family. So we thought of some traditional snacks for people to order while waiting,” says Sangeeth.

The vadai is apparently popular in the eponymous Point Pedro in Jaffna where it is thicker because it is flattened by hand. Here, Siva has flattened the mixture in a pan, resulting in thin, light discs with a texture vaguely reminiscent of pappadum. Flavourwise, the lentil-packed orbs are very robust, although gritty lentil bits will linger longer than you might like on your teeth before finally disappearing down your esophagus.

Next up, indulge in an all-hands-on-deck meal in the form of the Nandu Poriyal (RM24) which is made up of sea crabs marinated overnight in a spice mix that includes curry powder and pepper and then deep-fried so that you can devour it from shell-to-flesh.

The whole idea is to grab it with your hands and take a large bite (don’t worry, no teeth are in danger of fracturing here). The shell yields easily in the mouth, paving the way for crunchy shards that can easily be masticated and swallowed whole. It’s an unusual meal – certainly – but also an easy one to enjoy once you really get into it.

The ribeye porial offers a flavour-packed bowl of goodness.

From the meat options on offer, definitely look at indulging in the Ribeye Porial (market price). Here, premium US beef is cooked with a laundry list of spices in what seems like an act of sacrilege – a prime cut of beef cooked so thoroughly that none of its pink skin is even visible anymore.

But should you make this (erroneous) presumption, you would be missing out on tender, limbre slices of beef coated in a spice mixture that has really done a good job of infiltrating every muscle and fibre of the meat, so you get delicious flavour-saturated morsels.

There is little that can detract from the pure joy of eating the mutton bone varuval.

The Mutton Bone Varuval (RM64 for a big portion) meanwhile, was once a staff meal that has now become a big draw on the updated menu. The dish features a lively collaboration involving tender mutton pieces and bone marrow. Each has a part to play and plays it well – the mutton pieces allow for unencumbered eating while the bone marrow gives diners the additional pleasure of sucking up every last bit of the fat stored in the marrow’s cavities.

Chef Siva’s Special Tiger Prawns (RM28 for 100gm) is a dish that Siva devised on his own. Here, prawns as large as your hand are tossed in a mixture of onions, chillies and tomatoes. It’s a simple meal that celebrates the natural attributes of the prawns and has quickly become a house favourite.

Diners with less iron-clad stomachs will appreciate the milder flavours of the brinjal paal curry.

In keeping with changing times and a growing demand for more vegetable options in restaurants, Aliyaa’s vegetarian selections have expanded with its new menu. So you could opt for a Brinjal Paal Curry (RM16 for a big portion) which sees brinjal boiled and mashed up, and then cooked in coconut milk. It’s a mild, yummy affair that’s well-suited to people looking for something less fiery to include in their meal.

The new menu also includes Puttu Kothu (RM28 for a big vegetarian option). In Sri Lanka, this ensemble was initially devised as a way to make use of leftover puttu (a staple in Sri Lanka made out of ground rice and coconut).

Don’t let the humble looks of the puttu kothu fool you – this is comfort food at its best.

In this iteration, the puttu is fried up with potatoes, onions and brinjals in what proves to be a well-balanced union of textures and flavours. Perhaps the showpiece on the eatery’s updated menu is the aptly named Crab Amma (RM18 for 100g), which is based on Aliyaa founder Abethan Kanthasamy’s mother’s recipe.

The crab is cooked in a base spice made up of roasted coconuts, chillies and rice which are then ground to a powder. The meal also features the addition of moringa leaves, said to temper the “heatiness” believed to be caused by consuming crabs.

The mud crabs themselves are large fellas, with sweet meat stuffed into each hardy carapace. But it is that gloriously thick curry that coats the crabs that will have you swooning and licking your fingers to lap up every last decadent drop.

Little can top a dish best summarised by a heart emoticon, but the Payasam (RM15) works valiantly hard to end your meal on a sweet high. Here, a traditional dessert of sago, semiya (vermicelli), cardamom and raisins is presented in a rather unusual receptacle – a hollowed out coconut. You’re likely to have tried this sweet treat before in other eateries and depending on your preference, might find this version either just right or a little too thick for your liking.

The eatery also has a range of cocktails designed to pair perfectly with a full Sri Lankan meal and from these, you would do well to try the Gin & Tonic (RM25). Made with Colombo No. 7 London Dry Gin (which is made according to a 1940s Sri Lankan recipe), this is a light, refreshing drink that you could opt to have as either a prelude or an epilogue to a wondrous meal here. Either way, it offers satisfaction on both counts.

In many ways, Aliyaa is proof positive that age is just a number. The true measure of a restaurant – much like a human being – is in how it ages. In Aliyaa’s case, each passing year has shown growth and a willingness to innovate and keep up with customer demand. And if the present is any indication, the future is looking bright for this little Sri Lankan eatery.

Aliyaa Island Restaurant & Bar 48G & M, Medan Setia 2 Bukit Damansara 50490 Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03-2092 5378 Open daily: 12pm to 2.30pm; 6pm to 10.30pm

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