Dion Lim’s Top Five unique restaurant dinners

Dion Lim anchors the 5pm and 11pm newscasts for WCNC/NBC Charlotte.  As the station’s resident money-saver, for years, she’s produced the wildly popular daily segment called Dion’s Daily Deals, featuring freebies, deal and steals on the web and in the community.

When Dion’s not on TV, you can find her making public appearances across the Charlotte area, traveling, and indulging in her passion for food. You can read about her adventures in her side project, separate from the station, at her webzine Life During the Commercial Break.

Last time around Dion wrote about some great unique eats. For the next Top Five list I asked Dion to tell me her favorite restaurant dinners. Not just the place, but the actual dish. Here’s what she said…

It’s like your favorite dress.  You know every time you put it on, it makes you feel good.  Each dish on this list is the equivalent to that dress.  These are the kinds of meals where you eat it, and immediately after the last bite (or last lick of the plate) you’re ready to start planning the next time you can have it again.  These restaurants are also unique in being locally owned, very comfortable relaxed settings.  No dressing up to eat good food for this gal!

1. Intermezzo, Beef Burek: I posted a photo of this dish on my Facebook fan page (LINK) and viewers had no idea what it was, or thought it looked scary.  Burek, my friends, is a GIFT from Serbia.  First off, Intermezzo’s owned by a nice Serbian family, and yes, there’s a MAMA who cooks and watches over the place.  (Often you’ll find Novak Djokovich tennis matches playing on the flat screen.) I love Intermezzo for the attention to detail.  All fillo dough is made in house.  The bread and cheese too.  The burek here comes in cheese and beef.  Get the beef.  It’s savory ground meat and onions and spices, encases in a phillo dough and rolled into a tube.  It’s then spiraled and baked until the outside the slightly bubbly and crisp, and the insides are moist and steaming.  Use the yogurt sauce as an accompaniment and the green salad with balsamic reduction to add some tartness. Muah! 1427 E 10th St, Charlotte, NC 28204
2. Viva Chicken: Quinoa Stuffed Avocado: This is one of the signature dishes at the newly opened Viva Chicken restaurant in Elizabeth. One of the owners, who is also a fashion designer from Peru, tells me their menu is a more contemporary version of Peruvian street food, with even some Asian influences. When it comes to this avocado dish, I don’t know what they do to the quinoa (besides adding onions, cucumber, tomato, cilantro, olive oil and lime) but Peruvians do this supergrain up right.  On top of the quinoa is this drizzle of two sauces.  One super savory, the other creamy and lip-smacking.  It’s pretty darn sexy.  Serve this up inside a ripe, rich avocado and top it with the shredded chicken and you’ve got a filling, nutritious, fresh and delicious lunch.  If you’re feeling extra hungry, ask for some grilled cibatta bread to spread the whole shebang on.  Don’t forget to take advantage of their stamp card program (where you can earn a free chicken meal) and their Monday community nights.  Eat dinner there on Monday nights, and bring someone who is “in need” or “struggling” and he or she will eat for free.  Now THAT is feel good food.

1617 Elizabeth Ave  Charlotte, NC 28204

1. 131 Main Veggie Burger: Yawn.  What’s up with including a meatless burger on this list?  Oh but wait. This is how memorable this burger is…to carnivores and veggie heads alike. When 131 Main in Dilworth closed because of the fire and car crashing into it last summer, I’d make the drive out of my way to Blakeney to pick up this burger. No joke, I’ve probably had at least 30 of thee babies.  The first thing you’ll notice is the patty isn’t brown.  It’s bright red.  Don’t be alarmed, that’s just the beets mixed with brown rice.  The patty is then glazed in teriyaki, and topped with a nice slice of havarti cheese for creaminess.  Lettuce, onion, tomato, mustard, mayo and a buttered, girdled sesame seed bun.  Tip: I found the best, least messy, but still messy way to eat this is to cut the thing in half and tackle each side.  Oh, speaking of sides, in the summer, get the cucumber salad which gets a smattering of black sesame seeds.  The cool, sweet crunch is a nice accompaniment.  (Not that I can complain about the yummy, hand-cut, shoestring fries.)  1315 East Blvd  Charlotte, NC 28203
2. Good Food on Montford: Thai Curry Mussels.  This dish is so fragrant and rich with creamy coconut, lemongrass and spices, customers are known for ordering JUST THE BROTH and forgoing the mussels themselves!  This dish is for dipping, so make sure to ask for extra grilled flatbread or any kind of absorbent carb to soak up all the juicy broth.  At times, I must admit, I’ve ordered this dish on my dinner break from work, and eaten it in the car, in the dark in a parking lot, because I couldn’t wait to get it back to the station, and didn’t want to let it get cold.  (If you ever see a stain on my outfit during the 11pm news, this is probably why.) 1701 Montford Dr  Charlotte, NC 28209
3. Vietnam Grill: House Bun #33.  No, this isn’t a bun as in bread.  This is a traditional Vietnamese dish of rice noodles, cucumber, sprouts and mint or cilantro, with grilled meats, seafood, spring rolls, doused in fish sauce.  Before you cringe at the thought of fish sauce, let me say this.  Fish sauce is the condiment of Vietnam, but this sauce is a combination of pungent, salty fish sauce, lime, sugar, and rice vinegar. (This is my estimation, since my friends have asked for the recipe, and it seems to be a guarded secret.)    It’s a sensory overload…the cool slippery noodles, cucumber slivers, and the hot savory grilled meats…the crunch of spring rolls, all tossed in this sweet and delicious, sweet and unctuous fish sauce.  If you’re into some heat, mix in the accompanying chili paste and you’ve got something even my Greek mother-in-law LOVED…and that’s pretty close to a miracle. Bonus: While it’s best to eat this in-house, if you order it to go, it’s never taken more than 5 minutes to prepare and be ready. 5615 South Blvd  Charlotte, NC 28217