Hole in the Wall, Phillips Grocery

With the recent launch of www.dantnation.com I've decided to step up my game. I'm going to take you guys on a little adventure down the back woods to a little place called Phillips Grocery. Now, when it comes to Oxford, MS, the food scene is extensive and diverse. For all you college kids looking for a good pregame with great food this is your place. For all of you non-natives looking for a taste of the town.... look no further. First of all Phillips does not serve alcohol, but the cool thing is they do brown bag. If you've never brown bagged it's just BYOB (liquor) essentially. The atmosphere is very original they have unique pictures and a very quaint shack type location.To start out there is only one option for an appetizer as far as I see, the corn nuggets. Your probably saying corn nuggets? Take my word for it, they are some serious fire. Somehow they roll a bunch corn together and fry it in a way it looks like chicken nuggets. They're perfect. I know I probably had you at fried. Seriously though, this is the stuff of legends, Paula Deen worthy. Phillips has been considered to have the best burger in town. I would tend to agree. Always go with the cheeseburger and bacon, and as a side you have to get the seasoned fries! They also have amazing sweet potato fries. If your not a fan of burgers and your looking for a little afternoon delight try out the shrimp po boy or catfish(fried, naturally).This is the most "Oxford" restaurant that I've been to. It's a great place to pre-game the bars, and a great place to take your family to. I've brought my family here numerous times, and they haven't been let down. It's a great taste of the town, and cheaper than virtually everything on the square. It's a regular staple to my diet. Not to brag or anything, but I have a damn good diet. Good food, good times, on the reg.

~DantNation

The Infamous- Big Bowl

"HERRO WELCOME TO BIG BURWL",the greeting I recive every time I go to Big Bowl(now named Noodle Bowl, but thats the last time we'll mention that). I love these people like my own family. When we come back from vacation they get so excited, they asked me "We thought you moved..." Well I've got knews for you Harry Kho, I haven't moved. Big Bowl is a regular staple in my diet. There are levels you need to follow when you go to Big Bowl. First you gracially accept the free appetizer given to you, normally teriyaki popcorn shrimp and a possible crab stuffed pancake. Then for your actual appetizer I would recommend the Chicken Wontons or Crab and cheese wontons. If your a soup person, go with the wonton. You wont regret it. Best wonton soup in the Western Hemisphere. Ask for the crunchies for your soup though of course. Now when it comes to the Entree. I would always go with General Tao chicken, or the Lobster tempura roll. If your a fan of the spicy delicatessen then go with Pad Tai Chicken (spicy). With anything you choose you have to order yum yum sauce. This is the dagger. Yum Yum sauce has kind of become an addiction of some sorts for me. It's kind of a problem. A problem I've ignored, and will continue to ignore. If your feeling lucky order a vile of the desert sake, Strawberry if given the choice. It's an amazing palate cleanser. On top of all the great food and great times, Big Bowl has the best customer service of any restaurant I've ever been to. They treat you like family, one time my girlfriend Katie was sick and I went to eat there. They asked where she was, and when I told them she was sick, they brought out a to go cup of Wonton soup on the house. These people are the real deal. This restaurant is hands down receives the Dant-Nation stamp of appreciation. So to Peter, Harry Kho and the gang, I appreciate it all.

Much Love,
Dant~Nation

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Now I'm pretty new to the BBQ scene overall, I was pretty anti up until I moved down to Mississippi. Boy was I missing out. The BBQ down here is out of this world. Soulshine Pizza has the absolute best BBQ chicken pizza I have EVER had. This crust is made with brown sugar.... Mix that sweetness in with the tangy sauce and grilled chicken and you are looking at a pizza worthy of the great ones. Personally I think they have the best BBQ sauce in town. They really seem to use brown sugar effectively. If you've never cooked BBQ with brown sugar, then well I really truly feel sorry for you. If I were to tell you I've been back in Oxford for 2 weeks and I haven't eaten at Soulshine. I would be lying, because I have. 3 times. Most people would say you have a problem, I would say go big or go home. When the goings good... keep going. So before you go to the freezer aisle and pick up California Pizza Kitchen BBQ chicken, think again. Go to Soulshine, its the egg mcmuffin (trademark MCDS) of BBQ pizza.

~Dantnation

Pot Roast. Enough said

Last night I made homemade pot roast. let me tell you the way this sweet succulent juicy meat was one of the essence of my sweet Nanas cooking. The meat soaked up the lucious brown gravy. Coupled with pills bury dinner roals (if you haven't had these I don't know if we should be friends)... Looking at the beef gravy biscuits was some serious Man v Food worthy visuals. Let me explain ow to make this warlock.
Recipe:
-4-6lbs pot roast
-2 Cans of 10.75 Cream of Mushroom Soup
-Onion powder and Onion salt to taste. incorporate other spices such as garlic salt to taste, salt and pepper to taste.
1 1/4 cup of water
-Sear the roast in a pan on all sides.
-Mix mushroom soup,spices and water in crock pot.
-Raise temperature on low.
- Once the meat is seared and the mixture is heated up. Place the meat in the mixture and coat the meat.
-Let sit for 6-8 hours. Stir periodically.

Enjoy. This is quite the treat.

Your welcome #dantnation

Yours Truly, Beandip

New England Chronicles

I recently danced my way up the east coast to the region of New England, mainly Boston and New Hampshire. Naturally I ate some fire seafood. My favorite of all the places I went to was the Beach Plum. It was a little shack on the side of the ocean in Hampton Beach. Widely known for the best lobster roll in New England, can't disagree with that one. This roll blew my GOD DAYUM mind. I'm talking about a piece of perfectly buttered texas toast topped with a whole lobster and a little bit of mayo. (You have to hold everything else because the lettuce takes away from the greatness that is lobster). If one lobster roll isn't enough then why not go for the foot long roll? I mean talk about finding to your inner peace(which for here on out will be referred to as your "Africa" trademark Cody Johnson).You can take the roll right across the street and eat at the beach, talk about a perfect date for all you ladies out there. Not only does the Beach Plum boast the regions best lobster roll, but it also has a bread bowl lobster bisque, about 30 different flavors of ice cream, frozen yogurt, milkshakes, clam chowder, and Charleston she crab soup for all you southerners. This place brought some serious heat. Had my family and I talking about it all week long. It was a perfect #beachside treat.

Last night my family and I ate at Legal Seafood. Yes it's a chain, but obviously the best of the best will be in New England... fresh as fresh comes. Now as everyone knows, I know chinese food. There is one item on the Legal menu that is chinese, and IT IS THE ONE THING IF YOU DON'T GET WE WILL NOT BE ON SPEAKING TERMS. Perfectly fried wonton filled with fresh shrimp and the fixings with a side soy sauce that Ho Chi Minh himself couldn't refuse. After my first bite I turned to Katie (my girlfriend) and said this is the best wonton I've ever had. We had a party of 7, 4 wontons came, I ate 3 of them. You can call me the don of the wonton. Next time I go to Legal I will most likely be ordering 4 plates of those and nothing else. Well except for the free rolls (always a delight). I would recommend most everything on the menu, but nothing does these wontons any justice so there is just no way I'm going to talk about anything else. In fact I'm done talking about this trip. I miss those wontons too much. Going to be a long stage of withdrawals....

~Dant-nation
Michael Dant

Loveless Cafe

Earlier this morning my girlfriend and I ate at the world renown Loveless cafe. If you've never eaten there, ****(Copywright Ricky Bobby), but seriously best biscuits on the face of the planet. I can't say enough about them, there is pretty much any thing on the menu you could put on these biscuits. They come with three homemade jams: Strawberry, peach, and blackberry. People come into this place just to eat biscuits. They are that good, believe me I know bread. The layers never end, and every layer brings a new treat a new flavor that keeps surprising. I love them with every ounce of my body. If I had one meal for the rest of my life you better believe it would have something to do with these biscuits. Quite possibly the before said beer brats with these biscuits. But back to the topic at hand. Loveless is more than just biscuits hand crafted for over 50 years.They have a smoker for the BBQ, so this tells you Loveless has southern loving written all over it. They have a 52 year old fried chicken recipe, enough said. My girlfriend Katie swears by their hash-brown casserole, and why wouldn't she? It's cheese and hashbrowns, uhhhh yes please may I have another? Honestly there aren't enough words in the english language to describe how much of a treat the Loveless is. If your ever on the Natchez Trace parkway then stop here I promise you will leave with a life changing experience.

~Dant-nation
Michael Dant

Homemade Beer Brats

The other day I decided to take my talents to the grill. Now everyone loves a good brat, and everyone loves a good beer. So why wouldn't I combine the to? No this isn't revolutionary, but they make you jump out of your knickers. I started by soaking these brats in one Landshark and one Bud light for 5 hours (poke holes for better absorption). Then I just took them to the grill. Can't say enough about how good these were. Once that casing breaks on a brat it would be hard for me to describe a better feeling. The burst of flavors was overwhelming. There is nothing more american than a Johnsonville soaked in beer, especially american beer. I don't mess around with that foreign stuff. If  your ever in the neighborhood, Brentwood represent. Stop by and I'll whip up a few. It's what's for dinner.

~Dant-nation
Michael Dant