Seven Good Things

These seven dishes or drinks have passed out taste buds and made us rave. They are ranked by level of yumminess.

Photo by Kevin O’Riley

1. The Ai Pepperoni pizza at Bruno’s Restaurant (417-886-0007, brunos-restaurant.net) is packed with great flavors, all of which have a bit of zip: pepperoni, marinated black and green olives. It’s even better the next day and large enough that you have leftovers.

2. The aloo nan at Gem of India (417-881-9558, gemofindia.net) is flatbread stuffed with potatoes and peas. It’s steaming hot when it comes to the table, and it’s delicious for scooping up the sauce left on your plate.

3. We love a fine-dining take on comfort food, and that’s exactly what we found with the Chef’s Meatloaf at Touch Restaurant (417-823-8383, touch-restaurant.com). The meat is topped with creamy lobster-tomato sauce, and it comes with flash fried spinach and mashed potatoes.

4. A great happy hour snack, the salt-and-vinegar fries at Dublin’s Pass (417-877-7625, dublinspass.com) are crispy with a distinctly homemade taste, and they come in a bottomless bucket. The salt-and-vinegar flavor is enough to add interest, but not so much that you pucker.

5. We love this meat-friendly take on the classic caprese salad. The warm caprese salad appetizer at Level 2 Steakhouse (417-243-3433, level2steakhouse.com) is a combination of shaved tenderloin, fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, basil, sea salt and olive oil.

6. The San Miguel enchiladas at Prima’s Mexican Grill (primasmexicangrill.com) come topped with a delectable sour cream sauce. It’s so delish that we can’t resist mopping it up with tortilla chips to enjoy every last drop.

7. A new veggie favorite: the lunch veggie bento box at Sakura Japanese Restaurant (417-882-8000). It’s quite a spread, with a veggie roll, rice, tempura veggies, an egg roll, three pieces of nigiri, two pieces of California roll and ice cream for dessert.