It is not too often that I get to write a review of a place that only accepts cash. We tend to review establishments on the higher end of the spectrum and cash-only joints usually don’t make the cut for this distinction.

But our “mini honeymoon” in New Orleans allowed us the time to eat at a variety of different establishments and Café Maspero in the French Quarter was one of the unique places.

The café, which is located near the river, is a sandwich place that is perfect for a quick bite to eat. In an open setting that looks like it used to be a brick warehouse, there is a bar and 30 or 40 tables for tourists and locals alike to grab one of the generous sandwiches.

My wife ordered a muffaletta sandwich that had generous portions of meats and olive salad. I had a Swiss and corn beef sandwich that was tasty, although I would say falls one or two notches below the deli sandwiches of New York. There were a variety of New Orleans staples on the menu (e.g. red beans and rice) for those that wanted to make sure they had that exposure.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

Ice cream truly is a favorite, especially for New Englanders. I’ve heard we consume more ice cream per capita than any other part of the country. It’s really hard to say which ice cream is the best. What’s better, Massachusetts ice cream or New Hampshire ice cream? Honestly, I don’t think anyone can tell you that besides your own taste buds. I can, however, recommend a friendly, favorite ice cream stand: The Big One (located in Nashua, New Hampshire).

There’s one special order at The Big One; it’s called, you guessed it, the Big One. This is an enormous serving of soft serve. Until today, I thought it was a legend. I heard that it was so big it couldn’t fit through the front window, and a manager had to be present upon its order to make sure the customer was serious.

Today, my friends and I dared to share a Big One. As the friendly worker took our order she added, “You do know how big it is, right?” That scared us a bit, but we couldn’t be stopped. Though it did make it through the window (handed to us by a manager), I was not at all disappointed. We were served the ice cream on a cone (I believe that piling ice cream onto such a cone in such huge quantities much be a well-learned skill), but immediately transferred it to a large soda cup. I am proud to say that we finished the Big One, but I couldn’t have done it alone. I’m pretty sure you can’t get that much soft serve at a better price. (Getting a Big One costs $5.)

In addition to standard vanilla and chocolate soft serve, there are 41 hard ice cream flavors available. The Big One orders their ice cream from Richardson’s Ice Cream. The business is family-run, and the atmosphere is great. For more information, visit this site.

People that know me, know that I love sushi. I have been known to eat it 5 and 6 days per week. And in the southern New Hampshire area, Takumi Japanese Restaurant is one of the best in the area. On a weekday of running errands with my son, JP, I decided to take him for a treat of lunchtime sushi.

I had been to Takumi for dinner and evening drinks many times. They offer sushi and Japanese hibachi style meals. They also have a large lounge that makes for a decent meeting place to watch a game and have a drink. But this was my first try for them for lunch.

Not realizing it until we entered, Takumi offers a buffet for lunch. JP and I went over and took a look at the buffet before we made our decision to stay or go. In my book Asian buffets are where you go when you are 79 years old and are looking for the early bird special. But this one looked pretty good so we decided to give it a whirl. The buffet was filled with Japanese and Chinese dishes, like fried rice, lo mein, and steamed dumplings. But a few of the standouts were the shrimp tempura and chicken tempura. The sushi offerings were a little light with only California Maki on the buffet.

JP and I sampled everything (I know that is no surprise) and found it to be tasty and one of the better Asian buffets I have tried. In addition to the buffet items, we each got to choose a mini main course. I chose chicken teriyaki, and JP had salmon teriyaki. A side salad and miso soup also came with the meal.

All in all, we were in and out of the place in 35 minutes and were stuffed to the gills with a very respectable assortment of Asian foods. For two of us and a total bill of $25, it felt like a very good value.