So, something that I’ve been meaning to start for a while now: An area restaurant review page. Orie and I specifically go out to eat once a week (sometimes twice) to area restaurants to try to find the best places, so I figured I’d start sharing with the folks in the area who also read my blog.
Here’s some quickies from the past two weeks:
Last week, we went to the new Five Guys Burgers that opened up less than a mile from my house. In short, we were pretty disappointed. This five guys place is hyped a lot for having delicious hamburgers and cheeseburgers and fries for cheap.
What I liked: There were a huge number of toppings available, all free (green peppers, carmelized onions, jalapeno peppers, and the usual stuff like onions, lettuce, etc). We ordered a “small fries”, and got about 3 pounds of fried potato.
What I didn’t like: About everything else. It wasn’t thaaaaaat cheap (they advertise themselves as “the best value”. Maybe in Chicago, where everything is monster expensive to begin with). Fries were greasy and nasty. Only American cheese for the cheeseburgers, which is loaded with fat and crap (I prefer other cheeses when possible). The burger was so greasy that my tongue literally hurt from all the oils and crap on it. This has never happened at any other burger joint I’ve been to. No onion rings. Orie loves onion rings.
Final results: Mediocre at best. If I want a delicious cheeseburger, the best place in the area is still Cook Out. Followed probably by Sonic. Then maybe Andy’s for the fact that they’ve got that unusual yet delicious “southern coleslaw on the burger” thing going (plus provelone as a burger option). Then down the list somewhere is Red Robin and Wendy’s. After that is Five Guys.
Can you believe I used to be a vegetarian, for like almost nine years? I’ve been heading back in that direction, but I will definitely go for a good burger once a month or so.
Recently, I decided that it was my turn to cook, cause Orie is the best cook in nearly the damned universe (save my cousin April, who cooks professionally in Hawaii, recently came back to the states to teach at Notre Dame), having been acting as the housewife/cook for her family for almost 20 years. Anyway, I found a mix for some vegan sloppy joe mix, and decided to go at it with fresh onions, and basil from our garden.
This isn’t going to be much of a review, because I can’t for the life of me remember the brand, can’t find pics of it online, and threw the box out last week. But they were delicious. Orie had her first sloppy joe ever, and much fun ensued in trying to explain the probably origins of the term. Turns out that sloppy joes can be quite delicious: I’m not a fan of too-greasy meat, so I’d highly rec finding the vegan mix and hammering at it with fresh veggies.
An was a big disappointment. It’s gotten huge press these days for being New, Posh, Expensive and Delicious. Unfortunately, it is also FUCKING LOUD. I try not to swear on entries that my folks will read, but I couldn’t emphasize this enough: We went on a Friday, and there was some HUGE party thing going on in the entry between the three or so bar areas. Lots of people in suits and dresses, possibly a wedding reception, but everyone was of the 40-60 age range, so it was hard to pin down what exactly was going on in that huge area. Unfortunately, that huge area carries into the smaller dining area, and Orie and I had an evening of delicious food in what sounded like the inside of an active jet engine. We looked around for alternate seating, but there really was no way to escape the noise. Apparently the area reviews hammer An on this as well: Delicious food, but noisy as hell.
The food was okay, for a “once a year” kind of place. I ordered an amakuchi-style sake for like $12, and what came tasted and smelled like airplane glue. Like it was the opposite of amakuchi (that is, karakuchi), and whatsmore it just tasted like crap. I think if we go again I’ll bring my own and ask them to serve it for me or something.
Here’s the menu. We had “Buddha Rolls”, which were four index-finger sized relatively good spring rolls for $8. From there we had the Walnut Prawns and the Black Angus Filet. The only things remarkable were the shrimp itself, and the wasabi mashed potatoes: Those were unique and delicious.
It’s expensive. The visual atmosphere and table spacing is wonderful. The price is forgivable for the quality of the ingredients, though the taste wasn’t quiiite there. But the atmosphere was utterly unforgivable. If this was a rare thing I could see looking over it (”it was our bad luck that the party was going on”, etc), but apparently every review says pretty much the same thing in that regard.
We might go back at the end of the year or so, but I would aim for a weekday, and I would absolutely call ahead to make sure that there are no parties or conventions going on. Seriously: It may seem like a pushy thing to ask, but it can ruin your experience.
Finally, yesterday lunch we went to “Asian Bowl”, a kind of Chinese-Thai fusion place that opened up near our house about two months ago, right next to Five Guys actually. Service, food, atmosphere were all pretty darn good. The food was pretty excellent, too… at least, I want to say that. We had Crab Wontons and Lettuce Wraps with coconut sauce, which were delicious. I ordered Buddha’s Feast, which is a real telling dish: If a Chinese place can cook up a delicious Buddha’s Feast (all veggies in usually a white sauce), then it’s a sign that it’s a Good Chinese Restaurant. Like Eggplant Parm at an Italian restaurant. Anyway, the Buddha’s Feast was… average. Orie ordered some sort of Orange spicy beef dish, and that was actually outstanding. I’m not sure if it’s a “veggie dishes are mediocre, meat dishes are excellent” thing or not. But in any case, they left a good enough impression on us that we’ll totally try again later and find out.
Note that Saturday and Sunday lunch, all appetizers are half off. The appetizers were, in fact, delicious.