It was the biscuit that really did us in.

Or possibly the cupcakes.

But then again, it might have been the famous peanut soup.

Oh, heck. It was everything we ate in Roanoke, Virginia. Every single bite persuaded us that we were absolutely in foodie heaven.

We were in lovely Roanoke, nestled in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains on a press trip to learn all about this fantastic place. It had been years since I had been in Virginia and Tom had never visited so everything was new to us. We loved everything about this friendly, historic town that is well-loved by all its inhabitants but one of our favorite things was the food. The food.

 

 

It started on our very first night when we went to Carlos Brazilian International Cuisine. Perched on top of a mountain with a great view of the city from the windows and the outside patio, along with a wonderful, comfortable ambiance, this restaurant offers an incredible variety of choices.

Brazil Restaurant Interior

Interior of the restaurant.

View from Brazil Restaurant

View from the patio.

We started with a delicious appetizer of Baked Brie Cheese, "Breaded with almonds, served with raspberry purée". Heavenly.

Brie at Brazilian Restaurant 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Delicious brie.

Then we progressed to dinner which, in my case, was shrimp. And pasta. And some completely fabulous, buttery sauce.

Shrimp at Brazilian Restaurant 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Why, yes. Yes, it was just as good as it looks.

You might think I believe everything I had eaten was perfectly wonderful and you would be right but the best was yet to come. Dessert.

Dessert at Brazil Restaurant 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

The first day, we toured all around - which I will tell you about soon - but one of the places we visited was a little shop that specialized in chocolate. Chocolate Paper offers gifts, baskets, and all kinds of candies but the chocolates were just wonderful.

Chocolate paper SignDSC 9562 2012 06 03 at 10 26 45 300x200 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Welcome to chocolate nirvana.

Chocolates at chocolate paper SignDSC 9566 2012 06 03 at 10 28 01 300x200 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

What a selection!

chocolate potato chips at chocolate paper 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Even chocolate covered potato chips. Crazy!

Eating chocolates at Chocolate paper 224x300 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Nom nom nom.

Chocolate was great but what we really needed was lunch. No problem. A fabulous lunch was waiting for us at the Hotel Roanoke. A beautiful, historic hotel, they are justly famous for their food. I actually had several people tell me to try the peanut soup when I went to Roanoke, so I was thrilled to find that we would, indeed, be partaking of peanut soup.

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The beautiful Hotel Roanoke.

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We were treated to a lovely buffet.

Buffet at Hotel Roanoke 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

I loaded up my plate with delicious goodness.

Then we were presented with spoon bread and peanut soup. I had not tasted spoon bread since I was in the sorority in college and it was delicious. The peanut soup was not my favorite but that's probably because I'm not a fan of peanut butter. The presentation was just darling!

Peanut Soup 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Their specialty.

Then my favorite part of the meal.

Dessert at Roanoke Hotel 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Black Forest Cake. YUM.

The next day, we had several choices of tours but one was a foodie tour and, if you know me at all, you know there was actually no choice at all. Foodie tour it was.

We started at Tudor's Biscuit World and, if you are a fan of the biscuit, this is the place for you. Luckily, we are big fans of the biscuit. They are a chain based mostly in West Virginia with a few other locations. Unfortunately and very, very sadly, none of those locations are near us.

Tudors Biscuit World Sign 224x300 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

You are about to enter biscuit heaven.

Biscuit Menu 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Your only problem at this point is which fabulous biscuit to order.

Biscuit 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Best biscuit I have ever eaten. EVER.

Because we had not eaten quite enough carbs yet, next we headed to Thelma's Chicken and Waffles. I have actually had chicken and waffles before but they paled in comparison to Thelma's. Paled.

Thelmas SignDSC 9557 2012 06 03 at 10 17 52 300x200 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Come on in, y'all!

Chicken and Waffles 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Chicken, waffles, fried potatoes. Fabulous.

Next, we headed to On the Rise Bakery where we scarfed down the chicken salad and chocolate eclairs.

Chicken Salad 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Chicken salad sample.

Eclair 300x224 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

So sad that we had to share this. Although we were getting a teeny bit full.

 

We had a lot of adventures the next day, including a wonderful bike ride. The bike ride was great but my favorite part was our stop at Viva La Cupcake. A tiny shop located in historic Grandin Village, the mouthwatering assortment of cupcakes was quite incredible.

cupcake pyramid 225x300 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

So many choices!

Cupcakes and Server 300x225 Eating our Way Around Roanoke, Virginia

Our samples.

We got to sample several different kinds and my only regret is that I didn't buy a dozen to take back to the hotel room. But when you are on a bike and a little unsure of your bike riding ability anyway, balancing a bakery box full of cupcakes is a little chancy.

I guess I'll just have to go back so I can buy more cupcakes.

And have another biscuit.

And some chocolates.

Oh heck. I need to have some more of every single thing we ate.

Full disclosure: Our visit to Roanoke was provided by The Roanoke CVB and area merchants, but as always, I will share my honest opinion about any travel experiences I have.