This was a first for me. One of my two dining companions seemed to have a fond recollection of having gone to Arthur Treacher's in the MidWest about 30 years ago. And who doesn't like fried seafood and french fries?
We ordered individual meals, but the plan was to share everything.
We all got the same type of french fries. They were sort-of like waffle fries but not quite. We all agreed the fries were pretty darn good.
The three triangular fish fillets I ordered were large and tasted fine. Not fantastic, but it was a nice change. We all agreed that the fish fillets were our favorite entree.
The companion revisiting his childhood ordered the shrimp. They were decent. Not particularly flavorful, but decent. Unanimously our second favorite entree.
My other dining companion ordered the chicken, not being as big on seafood and wanted something "safe" in case the seafood dishes weren't to his liking. It turned out that the chicken was the least favorite dish for all of us. The coating was "wrong" for chicken - odd consistency and not enough spice. The flavor was too bland, as if the chicken had been frozen too long (just a guess - I didn't ask). It was also on the dry side.
Conclusion: The price was surprisingly high for the quality of the food (maybe I'm just not used to the higher prices in Metro DC???). The quantity was fine, but the quality was too low. As my companion said, "It can wait another 30 years" before he tries Arthur Treacher's again.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Brenner's Bakery - Alexandria, VA
My visit to Brenner's Bakery was unexpected. I had never heard of them before. I saw the bakery while driving into the Belle View Shopping Center parking lot for the first time, trying to find a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream shop I had seen on my iPhone's AroundMe app (a very cool app which has proven useful on numerous occasions in the mere four months I have been using it). As it turned out, Baskin-Robbins was in the adjacent building, with a different parking lot. However, upon seeing Brenner's (and the traffic, and the annoying "traffic shaping" we would have to endure just to drive next door), we parked in Belle View's lot and walked into Brenner's first
We had just had a mediocre dinner at Arthur Treacher's nearby (reviewed on this blog), and were looking forward to the Oreo(c) Outrageous ice cream flavor my dining companions had convinced me was required eating. (That Baskin-Robbins no longer carried the Oreo(c) Outrageous flavor was disappointing but did not influence this review)
It was late in the day for a bakery, so the choices were limited, and I did not expect everything to be fresh. Freshness was not the problem.
My chocolate croissant had plenty of filling. Unfortunately, the filling tasted "off". I have to assume there was something artificial in the flavoring, or someone used Crisco blended with the chocolate. There was an unpleasant bitterness to the flavor. I am accustomed to eating very dark chocolates; 72% mostly, and occasionally 85%, so I do not believe that it was a lack of sweetness in the chocolate filling that bothered me. I even saved some of the croissant so I could try it again much later in the evening, but the flavor was similarly unpleasant.
One of my dining companions bought a chocolate "cluster" (the actual name we cannot recall now) that contained raisins and pecans. It was ball-like, and the chocolate flavor was throughout. It did not have a chocolate coating or "shell". The raisins and pecans just did not taste good together. It was overly dry (this may have partly been as a result of buying at the end of the day).
My other dining companion bought two oatmeal raisin cookies. They were OK, but a bit thick for my liking. He also bought a powdered sugar coated Linzer torte with raspberry filling. My companions report that the torte was dry and VERY hard, and the filling was very gummy.
Conclusion: The Brenner's website states they have been serving Alexandria for over 50 years. If our findings were fairly representative of Brenner's usual offerings, I do not understand their longevity. I simply cannot recommend Brenner's.
We had just had a mediocre dinner at Arthur Treacher's nearby (reviewed on this blog), and were looking forward to the Oreo(c) Outrageous ice cream flavor my dining companions had convinced me was required eating. (That Baskin-Robbins no longer carried the Oreo(c) Outrageous flavor was disappointing but did not influence this review)
It was late in the day for a bakery, so the choices were limited, and I did not expect everything to be fresh. Freshness was not the problem.
My chocolate croissant had plenty of filling. Unfortunately, the filling tasted "off". I have to assume there was something artificial in the flavoring, or someone used Crisco blended with the chocolate. There was an unpleasant bitterness to the flavor. I am accustomed to eating very dark chocolates; 72% mostly, and occasionally 85%, so I do not believe that it was a lack of sweetness in the chocolate filling that bothered me. I even saved some of the croissant so I could try it again much later in the evening, but the flavor was similarly unpleasant.
One of my dining companions bought a chocolate "cluster" (the actual name we cannot recall now) that contained raisins and pecans. It was ball-like, and the chocolate flavor was throughout. It did not have a chocolate coating or "shell". The raisins and pecans just did not taste good together. It was overly dry (this may have partly been as a result of buying at the end of the day).
My other dining companion bought two oatmeal raisin cookies. They were OK, but a bit thick for my liking. He also bought a powdered sugar coated Linzer torte with raspberry filling. My companions report that the torte was dry and VERY hard, and the filling was very gummy.
Conclusion: The Brenner's website states they have been serving Alexandria for over 50 years. If our findings were fairly representative of Brenner's usual offerings, I do not understand their longevity. I simply cannot recommend Brenner's.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Qdoba.......or.....Qwonta
Having recently returned to living & working in downtown DC after nearly a year absence, I indulged in a guilty pleasure from my past - a grilled steak quesadilla from Qdoba on E Street NW, next to the Landmark E Street Cinemas (another guilty pleasure - I highly recommend seeing a serious movie at Landmark). I discovered back in late 2007 that it is highly addictive when dipped in a bit of Qdoba's Ancho Chili BBQ Sauce, so I always ask for a little plastic container of it to go with my quesadilla.
I try to brown-bag it most days, but sometimes I just feel like getting something I didn't have to make myself. It was one of those days, so I walked a few blocks to Qdoba. Ordering was pleasant enough, but when I reached the register, my quesadilla had gone from costing in the high sixes to the mid eights. DC's 10% sales tax on dining out couldn't account for all of that. I looked at the cashier and said, "Uhhh.....," but before I could get the words out, she informed me that they charge for the sauce.
"You charge for that now?"
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Seventy-five cents."
"You're kidding??? Seventy-five cents for the smallest container?" (gee, many times in 2007 and 2008 when I got the side of sauce for free the employees used the next size up - a container that probably holds 3-4x as much liquid)
(These small containers are the same kind that Five Guys has piled up adjacent to their ketchup pumps. El Pollo Loco has an entire chilled bar of five salsas with the same containers setup as an "all you want" arrangement - for free)
"Yes, we do."
"Well, I used to get these quesadillas all the time a year ago, and I always ordered a side of sauce and nobody ever charged me for it before. I'll take it this time, but you should know that seventy-five cents is way too much for that little container of sauce. If it was twenty or twenty-five cents I'd probably live with it, but at seventy-five cents, I'm not going to be back here to order another one of these." (maybe they should charge $0.23, so that with tax it comes out to an even quarter, in case somebody needs to buy one after they've paid for their main purchase?)
Mumble, mumble, mumble........ no discernible response from the employees to that.
I guess the two employees who were working at the register, and who were involved in the conversation, did not care that I wouldn't be returning to Qdoba.
I wonder if the general manager or owner would have cared.
I try to brown-bag it most days, but sometimes I just feel like getting something I didn't have to make myself. It was one of those days, so I walked a few blocks to Qdoba. Ordering was pleasant enough, but when I reached the register, my quesadilla had gone from costing in the high sixes to the mid eights. DC's 10% sales tax on dining out couldn't account for all of that. I looked at the cashier and said, "Uhhh.....," but before I could get the words out, she informed me that they charge for the sauce.
"You charge for that now?"
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Seventy-five cents."
"You're kidding??? Seventy-five cents for the smallest container?" (gee, many times in 2007 and 2008 when I got the side of sauce for free the employees used the next size up - a container that probably holds 3-4x as much liquid)
(These small containers are the same kind that Five Guys has piled up adjacent to their ketchup pumps. El Pollo Loco has an entire chilled bar of five salsas with the same containers setup as an "all you want" arrangement - for free)
"Yes, we do."
"Well, I used to get these quesadillas all the time a year ago, and I always ordered a side of sauce and nobody ever charged me for it before. I'll take it this time, but you should know that seventy-five cents is way too much for that little container of sauce. If it was twenty or twenty-five cents I'd probably live with it, but at seventy-five cents, I'm not going to be back here to order another one of these." (maybe they should charge $0.23, so that with tax it comes out to an even quarter, in case somebody needs to buy one after they've paid for their main purchase?)
Mumble, mumble, mumble........ no discernible response from the employees to that.
I guess the two employees who were working at the register, and who were involved in the conversation, did not care that I wouldn't be returning to Qdoba.
I wonder if the general manager or owner would have cared.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
This is not a review of a particular eatery.
I had occasion to wait for 2+ hours at Cleveland's Hopkins Int'l Airport (CLE) last weekend. It was to be my first time there and I was looking forward to finding the Cincinnati-style chili vendor that would undoubtedly be there. While I prefer Skyline Chili to Red Star, the latter has been very tasty when I've had it at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).
I couldn't find a Red Star or Skyline Chili in my terminal, so I found the grand map of the entire airport, which was electronic and interactive. I had it display the food joints in each of the terminals. NO chili places of any kind were to be found at CLE! Worse, the selection of alternate dining was dismal.
There were multiple Max & Irma's (but none in my terminal, of course), which have been fine when I've visited them outside of airports, but I had my heart set on chili.
At this point I would have gladly gone to any part of the airport for a Chili's-To-Go and ordered tortilla chips and queso dip (when it's good it's loaded with chili meat). Alas, even that old airport standby was nowhere to be found in CLE.
So, I bought a blueberry scone and a pint of milk from what looked like a glorified cart-type vendor that had decided to bolt some of their operation to the floor. It was just OK - the scone was too sweet.
And, to top things off, there was no free wifi at CLE, but that's a topic for another blog....
D
I had occasion to wait for 2+ hours at Cleveland's Hopkins Int'l Airport (CLE) last weekend. It was to be my first time there and I was looking forward to finding the Cincinnati-style chili vendor that would undoubtedly be there. While I prefer Skyline Chili to Red Star, the latter has been very tasty when I've had it at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).
I couldn't find a Red Star or Skyline Chili in my terminal, so I found the grand map of the entire airport, which was electronic and interactive. I had it display the food joints in each of the terminals. NO chili places of any kind were to be found at CLE! Worse, the selection of alternate dining was dismal.
There were multiple Max & Irma's (but none in my terminal, of course), which have been fine when I've visited them outside of airports, but I had my heart set on chili.
At this point I would have gladly gone to any part of the airport for a Chili's-To-Go and ordered tortilla chips and queso dip (when it's good it's loaded with chili meat). Alas, even that old airport standby was nowhere to be found in CLE.
So, I bought a blueberry scone and a pint of milk from what looked like a glorified cart-type vendor that had decided to bolt some of their operation to the floor. It was just OK - the scone was too sweet.
And, to top things off, there was no free wifi at CLE, but that's a topic for another blog....
D
Testing Mobile Blogging
Now I'll be able to easily post to this blog before I leave the
restaurants!
restaurants!
D
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