Same dish: gourmet or homestyle? You decide

Sometimes nothing beats a good, old-fashioned home-cooked meal. But our creative chefs sure know how to add gourmet flair to country cooking.

Check out these 2 very different— but both delicious— takes on a dish to see if you can choose a favorite:

1. Meatloaf

Down-home: Morgan’s High Street Diner in Morgantown serves up their classic meatloaf with a tasty tomato-based sauce, mashed potatoes & gravy and one side.

Gourmet: The comfort food is kicked up a notch across town at Hill & Hollow, which boasts a bison meatloaf with fresh housemade ketchup and miso mashers.

Candlelit table at Cafe Cimino Country Inn, West Virginia

2. Chicken

Down-home: TopSpot Country Cookin in Sissonville serves up a made-from-scratch fried chicken with a choice of country sides like green beans and french fries.

3. Fish Tacos

Down-home: If you’re craving a fresh fish taco, look no further than Tricky Fish in Charleston. Their Carolina Catfish tacos, topped with shredded lettuce, tomato and pico de gallo, are perfect out on the deck overlooking Charleston.

Gourmet: For an elevated take on the fish taco, stop by Lot 12 in Berkeley Springs for their tuna tacos made with tuna tartare, sesame napa slaw with a wasabi drizzle all stuffed inside a corn tortilla. Try two. Or four.

Boy eating spaghetti, WV

4. Pasta

Down-home: Minard’s Spaghetti Inn in Clarksburg serves up their famous home-cooked spaghetti made with meat sauce from their little renovated house in the heart of the state’s authentic Italian region.

Gourmet: Craving a kicked up version? Stop at Provence Market Cafe & Marketplace in Bridgeport for their Ravioli Provencal, which is a ravioli du jour with tomato ratatouille. Yum!

5. Steak

Down-home: A favorite at Mayberry’s Family Restaurant in St. Albans is their homemade baked steak, complete with mashed potatoes & gravy, vegetable and a roll.

Gourmet: The family favorite gets an upgrade at Bistro 112 in Shepherdstown. The L’entrecote au poivre is a French-style grilled steak with peppercorn sauce, served with pommes frites. Ooh la la.

Homemade, seasoned fries, WV

6. Fries

Down-home: The house-cut fries at Mary B’s Diner in Parkersburg may serve as a side, but the salty potatoes often become the star of the meal.

Gourmet: The same can be said for Weston’s Thyme Bistro when it serves up its Bistro Fries: garlic and parmesan crispy frites with housemade smoky aioli dipping sauce.

We’ll take an order of both!

Which are your favorites: classic and homestyle or fancy and new?

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This post was last updated on March 16, 2022