Monday, December 3, 2007

Recent Restaurants

I have the movies critique going, figured I'd start the Restaurants critique too.

Sometime in Sept 09 - Stella Grill:

I realize I haven't posted anything for a while, so I figure a restaurant review is an easy enough post. I got a recommendation for Stella Grill in Murray - it's on about 4300 South and 9th East. I forgot to ask for a recommendation on dishes so, this was a complete experiment.

I asked the server what the specialties were and apparently they're not really famous for any one dish so he recommended several. We started with this really good goat cheese appetizer (very tasty but not as good as the rosemary flatbread at Trio - my absolute favorite) then had the red trout salad and the pork chop, with chocolate pie for dessert. I'm usually not a huge fan of trout but this dish was really good, highly recommended. The pork chop came with some funky fried mashed potatoes (not deep fried, like lightly pan-fried or something) that were AWESOME. The pork chop itself was just good, and reminded me why I never order a pork chop at a restaurant, I was left wishing I had gotten the open-face hanger steak sandwich - ALWAYS go with your first instinct! Then the chocolate pie was just ok, I've had way better.

The service was top-notch, very fast and friendly, the ambience is excellent, very calm and relaxing, the prices are very reasonable (nothing over $17) and the food is great (pork chop notwithstanding). I'd give Stella solid 4 out of 5 stars and I'd certainly go back. Thanks for the recommendation Chal!

Sometime in August or September of 09 - Moochie's

I was in SLC and decided I'd drop in to Moochie's for a Philly Cheesesteak. This is another "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" recommended location. They did not disappoint again - that's 3 in a row.

The philly cheesesteak is a sandwich that is often just made however a restaurant wants and they call it a philly cheesesteak. There really is only one style of real philly cheesesteak, and that's kind of "roach-coach" style where the steak and the other ingredients are all cooked up on a grill together with some melted american cheese (or Velveeta, but I don't like velveeta). This place actually grills up the bun on the sandwich filling, and it is scrumptuous (spell?) I only got a 6", and that was plenty! I also got the macaroni salad because it looked good, but I'll tell you right now - if you go, anything besides the sandwich is completely superfluous! I almost didn't even want to drink my water. They do have their own jalapeno sauce, which I tried on the last 2 bites (I Was so into this sandwich that I totally forgot about the sauce!) and it's good but completely unnecessary.

So, there is something wrong with my blog right now and it looks screwy and isn't giving me an option to upload pictures. Who knows. I'm sure it'll be fixed soon and I'll show you how delicious this sandwich is :-D I'll be going back ASAP for the meatball sub that looked ridiculously good, and I don't even like meatballs!!! For the philly cheesesteak, Moochie's gets the 4.5 stars. Great sandwich, not as good overall as Lone Star's fish tacos.

07/15/2009 - Red Iguana

I've long heard of the Red Iguana, and it made it onto The Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" http://www.foodnetwork.com/diners-drive-ins-and-dives/index.html

Curt and I went at lunch after a client meeting in SLC and this place did not disappoint! I believe what I said several times was that the "Killer Nachos" were quite possibly the best thing I've ever eaten. And I cleaned the plate! I was about ready to lick the plate when they were gone, but we had gone ahead and ordered Enchiladas Suizas too! WHY we ordered so much food it beyond me, but I'm glad I was able to try the enchiladas (and yes, I TRIED to eat them all, but there was just no way after the Nachos.) The Suizas come with the Mole Poblano, which when you read the ingredients you might think would taste pretty weird. In fact it was VERY tasty! Maybe not spicy enough for my liking, but very flavorful. Oh, the chips and salsa are really good too - just how I like it no chunks and really spicy!

The Red Iguana is right up there with Joe Vera's on the Mexican food list for me. I give it a solid 4.5 out of 5. I think if I had ordered fried Ice Cream as well it may have gotten the 5 (if they even have it, I didn't dare look at the dessert menu). If you're a fan of Mexican food, do NOT go at lunch time, the line was down the street. But DO go to the Red Iguana if you're in the area, it's just West on North Temple maybe 1/2 mile from the I-15 overpass. Go hungry!!!

04/21/09 - Z-Tejas

I'm pretty sure I've reviewed Z-Tejas before, but it is one of my favorite places! I haven't been in a long time because I don't get downtown a lot. But, I had a friend in need and we ended up having lunch there and well, I'm not one to complain :-D

It just so happened to be "Happy Hour" so we got appetizers (actually we didn't know it was happy hour, we just got a pleasant surprise when we got the bill and it was a lot less than we expected - sweet!!!) We ordered the "shrimp - guacamole quesadillas" and "potstickers" and I got their house salad as well - needed some greens and veggies!!! Everything was awesome, SO good! I got done eating and wanted more. I think the only potstickers I've ever had that were better were at Cheesecake Factory, surprisingly enough - and that might be just because the sauce is so good there you can drink it straight. The sauce at Z-Tejas is also tasty but not to the point of wanting to put it in a big gulp cup and drink it with a straw. Anyway, the shrimp - guacamole quesadillas were also excellent!!! I'm always a little wary of shrimp from a non-seafood restaurant in Utah, but it was very fresh and tasty - highly recommended. Oh, and the guacamole is "hand-hacked"! So that means it's good. Actually, I just thought the term "hand-hacked" was funny - it was actually very good!!! Not as good as Stacy's guacamole, but good for a restaurant!

I actually don't have any complaints about Z-Tejas at all, the service was excellent and the food was top-notch so I guess I'll have to go with 5 out of 5 - very rare but it does happen.

04/08/09 - Mikado

Since I've been adhering to my resolution to not eat out more than 2 times a week (doing very well with that by the way, thank you!) I haven't had the chance to file a restaurant review in a while. So here's one - Mikado Japanese Restaurant (just East of Southtowne Mall, next to 5-guys Burgers). My mission buddy Jeff Christensen and I have been trying to get to lunch for a while and it finally worked out the other day, and he recommended Mikado. I'd never been, and I like Sushi, so I was glad to go along. The ambience is nice, the service was good, and that's about where the "good" ended for me - or at least the great. I guess I've become somewhat of a Sushi snob (if that's possible in Utah???) but seriously if it's not Tsunami, I just don't like it much. We got several rolls that were on the lunch special (maybe that was a hint?) and we got one or two that weren't. The two we got that weren't specials were OK. The specials were not very good at all. The ingredients seemed fresh and the rolls were well made, but they just didn't have very good taste. And, they weren't super inexpensive - not too bad, but for the money, I would have rather had Tsunami all day long. I guess the silver lining is I know I'm not missing out on anything by never going to Mikado again. Really, I feel the same way about Happy Sumo too. The way I am, I'd just prefer to go to the place I KNOW is fantastic and not chance it with places I don't know. The cool thing about going to Mikado with Jeff, beside catching up with an old friend, was he has a frequent diner card there and it ended up cutting our bill in half, so that was nice - Thanks Jeff!!! So overall, I'd give Mikado about a 2.5 out of 5. The food wasn't horrible it was just OK, and for the normal prices, I'd expect GREAT. If you like Sushi, go to Tsunami. ;-)

03/12/09
Hmm, Trio Cafe sounds SO good right now...I digress, on to today's review:

Marley's at the Harley Davidson store!

All I can say is you can tell this place is going to be good when you walk in and smell the grill. Oh man, it smells good. I know some of you veggie-eaters don't like that smell, but here it smells like the grill out in the backyard during a summer cook-out - SO yummy. Anyway, Payce made some recommendation since he'd been there before and he was dead on! The sliders are SO good, I could probably eat about 6 of them, but since I'm being reasonable with what I'm eating right now, I only had 2, and frankly this place isn't cheap. The fries are also just good, not great, but good enough that you won't be disappointed at all. I think the fact that they're shoestring fries is what bugs me, but they taste good. I spoke with Curt after this meal and he said the hot dog here is really good too, so keep that in mind if you go. The surroundings are pretty cool, it definitely has the right ambience for a restaurant at a Harley store. Im giving Marley's a solid 4.5 out of 5 - I have to take off for price, and they need a soft-serve Ice Cream machine to top off a really good meal. Oh, and you can get a veggie slider ;-)

Update 08/28/08:

I went to TRIO Cafe last night. It's up in the Cottonwood area right where I-215 heads North, so basically 3000 East. I'm pretty sure this place used to be the Rivers restaurant, I hadn't been there in a very long time but it sure seemed familiar.
The restaurant has a pretty cool ambience and the service was very good, so that's always a plus, though the server we had was a bit weird - nice enough and attentive, just a bit off I think it was his voice or something. ANYWAY, that's not so important.
What is important is that this place was AWESOME! I'd never been there before but had a really good recommendation and I was totally pleased.
We started with the Rosemary flatbread, which comes with goat cheese, roasted peppers, carmelized onions and tomatoes. It was SOOOO good!!!! The goat cheese is very soft and spreadable and to me it was kind of "spicey" for lack of a better term. All together it was super good. HIGHLY recommended.
We then had the mixed green salad which has red grapes, candied walnuts, gorgonzola and balsamic vinaigrette - super good as well, the grapes were fresh and crispy, just how I like them, and I've discovered that just about anything is good with balsamic vinaigrette on it :-D
Then we went with the cheese pizza. I was kind of feeling like pasta, which is why I wanted to go here but when it got down to it, I just couldn't order it - and glad I didn't! Some people sitting near us got the pasta and it didn't look as good as the cheese pizza. The pizza had romano, asiago, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses with some herbs and balsamic vinegar (again!) It was delicious. They use a wood-burning stove which makes the crust a bit crispy and I really like that, it's by far my favorite style of pizza.
By then we were way too full for dessert (I almost never get dessert at restaurants anymore) and we were totally happy with our dinner. I'd give TRIO a solid 4.5 out of 5. It's about as good as any place I've been in recent history.

Update 06/05/08:

OK, it's official, I am never going back to Thaifoon. This is the second time I've been where the service was total crap and the food was real average - definitely not worth the price. I mean, really, their Thai food isn't really that good, there are way better places with way better service and prices. I'm dropping Thaifoon to like a 2 star option out of 4 and I think that might be a little kind. Even their chocolate volcano cake was poor, not even as good as the microwave kind you can get at the grocery store!
Seems like every time I go there it's raining, so I was super careful going up the stairs at Gateway so I wouldn't fall on my butt like the last time (you'd think a guy with my coordination skills, wouldn't fall so much! :-D )

Update 01/08/08:

I forgot to post up about Rusted Sun in SLC. It's on state at about 20th South or so on the West side of State. It's a little place with maybe 8-10 booths max. The food is italian - New York style, apparently the owner is from New York, so that would make sense. We got the Combo Calzone (I think that's what it is called - has pepperoni, salami, and canadian bacon, if I remember right and then some veggies and a really good sauce.) We split it and had the house dinner salads with it as well. It was the perfect amount of food if you don't want to get TOO full, I could definitely eat the whole calzone myself but then I'd be paying for it later. The price was good - I'd say in the $$ range, and the food was really tasty - no skimping on the fillings for the Calzone, that's for sure. We went fairly late in the evening and there was immediate seating, I imagine closer to dinner time might require a wait since there are so few tables, but I'd say it would be worth a little bit of a wait. They also have homemade New York style Cheesecake, which I'm sure is delicious, but I have not tried it yet - next time for sure! So, if you're in the mood for a new Italian place, go New York style at Rusted Sun, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Update 01/02/08:

Archibald's at Gardner Village (7800 S 1100 W)

I'd never been here before, it's a home-cooking type of restaurant and that sounded really good on a really cold day! I gotta say, I was a little disappointed. It was just OK. I got the homestyle Turkey dinner, which is what the place smelled like when we went in. The turkey seemed like it came off a turkey roll - not a freshly cooked bird, the mashed potatoes were pretty good, and the stuffing was really soggy. The salad that came with the meal was basically lettuce and croutons. The one really good thing about the meal was the sour dough bread -very tasty with whipped butter (or dipped in the ranch dressing I got with the salad.) Overall, I'd never trade Jill's thanksgiving turkey dinner for this one, not even close!

The price isn't horrible, probably like $$. I think I'd give Archibald's one more try - if someone else was paying, but I'd much rather go somewhere that I know the food is good, rather than hoping it'll be good. They did have a steak or two that sounded pretty good, so I might be convinced to try that... I'd give this 3 stars out of 5 - the service was pretty good, but the place was empty, so I wouldn't expect any less.

Update 12/10/07:

Z'Tejas at Gateway. I used to go to Z'Tejas quite a bit in AZ. I was happy to see the menu is largely the same. I got my favorite - Diablo chicken pasta. It is spicy and the chicken and pasta is exceptionally good. Sometimes pasta can be too heavy (most times for me actually) and I wasn't planning on eating all the pasta that comes with this dish, but surprisingly enough - it wasn't a ridiculous amount of food as one might get at say Cheesecake Factory. AND, the pasta was a nice, light alfredo-style noodle that wasn't too filling so it was very enjoyable. The grilled chicken topped with a light cheese of some sort, was really good. They do garnish the dish with green peppers which I don't really like, but they were big enough to pick out.

Z'Tejas has a lot of really good food, their steaks and pork chops are really good. It is a $$$ restaurant, but it's nice and the food is really good. So, take someone for their birthday or something, it's a good place to eat.

UPDATE 12/7/07:

Jason's Deli in Orem (in the University Mall parking lot): Jason's deli is as good as any sandwich, soup, and salad place. The free soft serve Ice Cream is a big plus, and always order the fruit with your lunch - somehow they always manage to have better fruit than anywhere else and the fruit sauce they give you to dip it in is really good. I always get the california club, but I never get it on the croissant, I trade for sour dough or white, or something else, I'm not a fan of the croissant. I hear the veggie sandwich on wheat is really good if you don't like meat from sandwich places :-D If you go at noon, be prepared for a bit of a wait, but the place is pretty big so there are plenty of places to sit and the back usually has ESPN in the TV. Price is $, and well worth it, I don't know anyone who doesn't like Jason's!

Thaifoon at the Gateway. I have been to Thaifoon twice. The first time the food was truly amazing, I had some spicy fish dish (sounds odd) and it was awesome! Probably the 2nd best fish I've ever eaten (see #1 below at Zoom), I can't remember what it was called though. This time, while the company was better, the food was just OK. I had one of my favorite things - Pad Thai - and it was just "good" I also had the house salad which has their house soy sauce-based salad dressing, which I really like. It's about the same thing that Tsunami uses, and I always order the salad there too. Speaking of salad, it can't be a good sign that about the the only time I get vegetables is when I order a salad at a restaurant or at family dinner when mom makes broccoli, right? That can't be too good, but at least I almost always get a house salad. :-D So, I had the server ask the kitchen to make the Pad-Thai spicier. They made it spicier, but I think they just added some of that red chicken Thai hot sauce. It was good, but when I tried a lettuce wrap after eating the Pad Thai, I couldn't taste it. For any ladies (or guys for that matter, I guess) that want to get fuller lips just apply some of that Thai hot sauce, it'll have you looking like Jessica Alba in no time LOL... So, for the $$$ I'm a fan of Thaifoon, I just wouldn't order the Pad Thai again. For that, I'll stick with Thai Gardens in Orem...

So, I went to Cheesecake Factory last week. The line was only 20 min to get on the list, then 2 hours to get in. That's already 2 hours less than it took me 2 weeks before - and this was actually dinner on a Saturday night, not bad at all! I've been in line at Outback nearly that long before, and I'll take C.F. over Outback every time.

I had the old stand-by Boston butter-leaf salad, freakin awesome! I ate the whole thing (yep, that's right, the WHOLE THING!) Eh, it's not that big, good size to share, but not this time. I also got the old stand-by pot-stickers appetizer, SO GOOD, highly recommended. And then of course, I got the chicken costelletas - probably one of my top 3 favorite things at C.F. and it was dead on again this time. Finally, I got the Snickers cheesecake, and it was awesome as usual.

OK, so no one I know doesn't like the C.F. so not much of a critique there. C.F. is in the $ range depending on how much you order and if you split entrees with another person (highly recommended - the portions are large.)

Then the other day I went to a place I'd never been in Park City called Zoom. It's right on main street. The name sounds like it's going to be a kids' restaurant with a play area or something, but it's actually a really nice, little rustic-themed restaurant. The special of the night was Steelhead with salsa, guacamole, rice, and asparagus. The server said it tasted a little like salmon, but I didn't think so at all. In fact, it was one of the best fish dishes I've ever had. I seriously left the restaurant wanting to order another go of it! The fish was very light-flavored, not fishy at all and the salsa and guacamole (though it may sound a bit weird with fish) was really a nice compliment to the dish. The rice was really good too. So, while the price was a bit high (easily $$$$) the food and the ambience were both excellent, and I left thinking it was money well spent. The service was top notch, and I'd highly recommend the place for dinner.

Next: Hot Dog King (here's a hint, save your money ;-) )

1 comment:

Andrea said...

What no review of Chuck E. Cheese?

Some of my favorite Griff pics - pre-blog