The best way to describe this establishment is also exactly what it is... "Cheap pizza Buffet". If you're looking for a gourmet culinary experience you might want to just pass on by as this is not the place for you. On the other hand, if you want to consume large amounts of cheap, but filling pizza. While getting the opportunity to play some arcade games and watch TV for a ridiculously low price, then you might want to stop on by.
You'll be able to get a dine-in meal with drink for less than $8.00. Also at this location, they have several arcade machines and a big screen TV that they use to show cartoons.
The pizza choices are pretty good, and they continually put out new options.
If you've got kids who are around ages 4-14 (ish) then this is decent place to go out for a night. Also, teenagers tend to head here on the afternoons of Half-days at school.
Food quality wise, they won't win any awards, but it's still pretty passable and the garlic bread sticks were very good.
We would definitely go back again, even if price was the only consideration.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
King Super Buffet Chinese West Palm Beach, Fl
This was a very disappointing adventure. This Buffet used to be one of the best places around. The food was good, the price was very reasonable and the service was above average. We considered it highly enough that we actually had our wedding reception here.
We haven't been back here for a while and I don't know if they are under new management or something, but today was just bad.
The food wasn't very fresh, everything looked and tasted like it had been left out over night. They still have a fairly large selection, but it all tasted bland or overcooked.
The service, which at a buffet consists essentially of refilling drinks and removing empty plates, was pretty much non-existent and unfriendly.
As for cleanliness, the restaurant wasn't too bad. The decor was a little dated, and the seats weren't exactly comfortable. But the worst part was the bathrooms, they were disgusting. There was water all over the floor and it just had a very "grungey" smell.
The only thing this place had going for it today was price, which was less than $9 per person including taxes.
Overall, we can't recommend this restaurant anymore unless they really turn their act around. Which I hope they do as this was one of our favorite places to eat.
We haven't been back here for a while and I don't know if they are under new management or something, but today was just bad.
The food wasn't very fresh, everything looked and tasted like it had been left out over night. They still have a fairly large selection, but it all tasted bland or overcooked.
The service, which at a buffet consists essentially of refilling drinks and removing empty plates, was pretty much non-existent and unfriendly.
As for cleanliness, the restaurant wasn't too bad. The decor was a little dated, and the seats weren't exactly comfortable. But the worst part was the bathrooms, they were disgusting. There was water all over the floor and it just had a very "grungey" smell.
The only thing this place had going for it today was price, which was less than $9 per person including taxes.
Overall, we can't recommend this restaurant anymore unless they really turn their act around. Which I hope they do as this was one of our favorite places to eat.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Tokyo Peking II, Lake Worth, Fl (re-visited)
Since we had such a good experience last time we were here, we decided to try this restaurant again.
We arrived around 11:30 (ish), the restaurant wasn't crowded and we were sat right away. The serving staff was very friendly and attentive. We never had to get someones attention if we wanted any refills on our drinks or take away the empty plates. Which, at a buffet is all you can really ask for.
The food was good and tasted very fresh, but the selection seemed a bit more limited than last time. However the Hibachi grill was excellent. I believe that the primary draw for this restaurant is both the hibachi grill and the sushi bar. I think that the regular buffet aren't bad, but not as good as the grill and the bar.
All in all, we really like this restaurant. It's clean, the staff is friendly and the food is good. What more can you ask for?
We arrived around 11:30 (ish), the restaurant wasn't crowded and we were sat right away. The serving staff was very friendly and attentive. We never had to get someones attention if we wanted any refills on our drinks or take away the empty plates. Which, at a buffet is all you can really ask for.
The food was good and tasted very fresh, but the selection seemed a bit more limited than last time. However the Hibachi grill was excellent. I believe that the primary draw for this restaurant is both the hibachi grill and the sushi bar. I think that the regular buffet aren't bad, but not as good as the grill and the bar.
All in all, we really like this restaurant. It's clean, the staff is friendly and the food is good. What more can you ask for?
Saturday, October 08, 2011
50's Prime Time Cafe - Disney's Hollywood Studios Orlando, Florida.
User Submitted Review
50's Prime Time Cafe - Disney's Hollywood Studios
We were enjoying an impromptu trip to Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM Studios) when we decided a meal was in order. We were debating between the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater and the 50's Prime Time Cafe, when we decided we wanted a little of Mom's home style cooking. So the Cafe it was. We did not make dinner reservations which are highly recommended for this restaurant. The hostess did let us know they served food at the bar, if we were willing to sit there. We really wanted the whole dining experience that is offered but instead opted to take seats at the bar for quicker service. The stools were comfy and our bartender/server was super nice and kept use entertained the whole time we were there. All the wait staff that came to pick up drink orders and even the bar back were joking with us and made it a pleasant dinner. The options are few but classic. Both my companion and I opted for the "Mom's Sampler" Which consisted of pot roast, meatloaf, fried chicken, mashed potatoes w/ gravy , green beans, and collard greens. All generous portions and all fantastic. We also split the blue crab salad appetizer which was fresh and crispy and had just the right amount of vinaigrette on it. We were able to savor the atmosphere of a 50's style home. There were plenty of salad options on the menu and full sized versions of each of the items on our sample plate offered with plenty of sides.
Overall it was a pleasant experience and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to dive into the fantasy aspect of Disney. The booths all have various versions of 1950's style kitchens, the servers refer to guests as kids, and don't be surprised if they tell you to get your elbows off the table and to finish your dinner if you expect to get dessert!
Thanks for the Great review!
50's Prime Time Cafe - Disney's Hollywood Studios
We were enjoying an impromptu trip to Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM Studios) when we decided a meal was in order. We were debating between the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater and the 50's Prime Time Cafe, when we decided we wanted a little of Mom's home style cooking. So the Cafe it was. We did not make dinner reservations which are highly recommended for this restaurant. The hostess did let us know they served food at the bar, if we were willing to sit there. We really wanted the whole dining experience that is offered but instead opted to take seats at the bar for quicker service. The stools were comfy and our bartender/server was super nice and kept use entertained the whole time we were there. All the wait staff that came to pick up drink orders and even the bar back were joking with us and made it a pleasant dinner. The options are few but classic. Both my companion and I opted for the "Mom's Sampler" Which consisted of pot roast, meatloaf, fried chicken, mashed potatoes w/ gravy , green beans, and collard greens. All generous portions and all fantastic. We also split the blue crab salad appetizer which was fresh and crispy and had just the right amount of vinaigrette on it. We were able to savor the atmosphere of a 50's style home. There were plenty of salad options on the menu and full sized versions of each of the items on our sample plate offered with plenty of sides.
Overall it was a pleasant experience and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to dive into the fantasy aspect of Disney. The booths all have various versions of 1950's style kitchens, the servers refer to guests as kids, and don't be surprised if they tell you to get your elbows off the table and to finish your dinner if you expect to get dessert!
Thanks for the Great review!
Friday, October 07, 2011
Oktoberfest Lake Worth, Florida
Took the family out tonight to the 38th Annual Oktoberfest here in town. For those who have never been before, the festival is like a miniature carnival. It's held the weekend of October 7th, 8th, and 9th & 14th, 15th and 16th. They have Rides, Arts and Crafts, Entertainment, Food, and most importantly DRINKS! Because, lets face it the main draw of Octoberfest is the beer. They have a good mix of German and American beers and several other "spirits" available.
Admission was $7 per adult, with kids free, but you can print out a $2 off coupon from the website. Also there is free parking, that has a little bit of a walk, or you can pay for preferred parking which is $10.
Once you enter the festival, you need to buy some tickets as the majority of the booths don't accept cash. Tickets are $1 a pop, and the way it works is like this. Beers are usually 4 tickets meals range from 3-10 tickets depending on what you order. You can also use the tickets for the rides.
We got in early opening day, and there wasn't a large crowd. We were able to walk all the way around the event and check things out with out bumping into to many people.
For dinner we both had the Half Rotisserie chicken with mashed potato's and gravy. The chicken was surprisingly good especially for something like a massed produced fair food. For dessert we had a typical fair funnel cake, and its hard to go wrong with fried dough covered in powdered sugar.
If you need something to do this weekend and you don't mind spending a little extra money then Oktoberfest should definitely be on your to-do list.
Admission was $7 per adult, with kids free, but you can print out a $2 off coupon from the website. Also there is free parking, that has a little bit of a walk, or you can pay for preferred parking which is $10.
Once you enter the festival, you need to buy some tickets as the majority of the booths don't accept cash. Tickets are $1 a pop, and the way it works is like this. Beers are usually 4 tickets meals range from 3-10 tickets depending on what you order. You can also use the tickets for the rides.
We got in early opening day, and there wasn't a large crowd. We were able to walk all the way around the event and check things out with out bumping into to many people.
For dinner we both had the Half Rotisserie chicken with mashed potato's and gravy. The chicken was surprisingly good especially for something like a massed produced fair food. For dessert we had a typical fair funnel cake, and its hard to go wrong with fried dough covered in powdered sugar.
If you need something to do this weekend and you don't mind spending a little extra money then Oktoberfest should definitely be on your to-do list.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Wellington Regional Hospital, Wellington, Fl
We'll have a full review in the next few days. So far though, the food hasn't been bad, it's not "typical hospital food". Although I should say the cafeteria isn't open for dinner on the weekends, breakfast and lunch only.
For the real update, Mommy and the new little one are doing great!
Both are eating well :D
For the real update, Mommy and the new little one are doing great!
Both are eating well :D
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Dinner Tool.com
Came across a very cool website called Dinner Tool.com. It's a recipe site you can throw in an ingredient pick a couple of options such as "healthy, budget, fast, etc" and you can pick a type of cuisine from African to Thai and many more between. This is a cool tool if you're doing a meal at home and you're not sure what you want. They also have an option to create a weekly meal calendar to help plan meals out in advance.
So go check it out, and tell us what you think.
Hope you enjoy!
So go check it out, and tell us what you think.
Hope you enjoy!
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Friendly's, Royal Palm, Fl
After our break, we're back!
I know this is a "Dinner" review site, but we like to review all sorts of meals :)
The other morning, we went out to breakfast at Friendly's. Now most people probably think of Friendly's as an Ice Cream/Dessert place, but they'd be wrong. They actually have a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu to go along with the desserts Options.
We arrived around 9:30`ish in the morning, and were able to be seated right away. The server came over and was very personable and he got our drink orders right away. Throughout out the whole meal, out server was great. He was quick with requests and very friendly and professional. It was the kind of service that brings people back.
For the meal, I chose the Lumberjack, It comes with 3 eggs' any style, bacon or sausage and either 3 pancakes, 3 slices of French toast or Muffin ($6.99) I ordered it scrambled, w/ bacon and french toast, and I added a slice of ham to go with it. The food itself wasn't bad, the bacon was just the way I like it, cooked and chewy but not crispy/burnt like some people like it. The French toast was surprisingly good, I'm not normally a fan, but these I'd order again. The eggs were OK, but I don't know if they used a full 3 eggs, it didn't really look like they did, but they cooked properly and had great flavor. The ham slice, which actually ended up being 3 smaller slices, was cooked nicely and went well with everything.
The wife ordered the French Toast breakfast, which comes (again) with bacon or sausage, and she had it with bacon. Also she added a side of country potatoes. Everything I said about my french toast and bacon can just be repeated for hers :). She, said it tasted really good, but recently she's only able to eat a few bites at each meal due to the pregnancy.
For our little guy, we ordered the kids meal "two egg's" breakfast, which also comes with bacon or sausage and toast. As I'm sure you can guess, he had the bacon. Let me tell you, little dude tore into that bacon, it was almost like he couldn't get enough. He also ate most of his eggs and a slice of toast and several of the wifey's potatoes. We were really proud of how well he did with his eating.
Overall, this was a nice family breakfast out and for all 3 of us with drinks, meals and sides was under $25 without tip. For the amount of food and the service we received, we consider this a good deal.
Grades:
Food: B+
Portion Size: B+
Service: A+
I know this is a "Dinner" review site, but we like to review all sorts of meals :)
The other morning, we went out to breakfast at Friendly's. Now most people probably think of Friendly's as an Ice Cream/Dessert place, but they'd be wrong. They actually have a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu to go along with the desserts Options.
We arrived around 9:30`ish in the morning, and were able to be seated right away. The server came over and was very personable and he got our drink orders right away. Throughout out the whole meal, out server was great. He was quick with requests and very friendly and professional. It was the kind of service that brings people back.
For the meal, I chose the Lumberjack, It comes with 3 eggs' any style, bacon or sausage and either 3 pancakes, 3 slices of French toast or Muffin ($6.99) I ordered it scrambled, w/ bacon and french toast, and I added a slice of ham to go with it. The food itself wasn't bad, the bacon was just the way I like it, cooked and chewy but not crispy/burnt like some people like it. The French toast was surprisingly good, I'm not normally a fan, but these I'd order again. The eggs were OK, but I don't know if they used a full 3 eggs, it didn't really look like they did, but they cooked properly and had great flavor. The ham slice, which actually ended up being 3 smaller slices, was cooked nicely and went well with everything.
The wife ordered the French Toast breakfast, which comes (again) with bacon or sausage, and she had it with bacon. Also she added a side of country potatoes. Everything I said about my french toast and bacon can just be repeated for hers :). She, said it tasted really good, but recently she's only able to eat a few bites at each meal due to the pregnancy.
For our little guy, we ordered the kids meal "two egg's" breakfast, which also comes with bacon or sausage and toast. As I'm sure you can guess, he had the bacon. Let me tell you, little dude tore into that bacon, it was almost like he couldn't get enough. He also ate most of his eggs and a slice of toast and several of the wifey's potatoes. We were really proud of how well he did with his eating.
Overall, this was a nice family breakfast out and for all 3 of us with drinks, meals and sides was under $25 without tip. For the amount of food and the service we received, we consider this a good deal.
Grades:
Food: B+
Portion Size: B+
Service: A+
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Status Update
DA hasn't been very active the last couple of weeks, but hopefully we'll get a chance to post some more reviews soon.
In the mean time, if you have some spare free time laying around, feel free to check out Schlock Mercenary. If you enjoy irreverent web comics, then prepare to lose about 2 weeks of productivity.
Here is the first comic.
ENJOY!
In the mean time, if you have some spare free time laying around, feel free to check out Schlock Mercenary. If you enjoy irreverent web comics, then prepare to lose about 2 weeks of productivity.
Here is the first comic.
ENJOY!
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Flanigans, Lake Worth, FL
After the Adventure at Red Lobster we decided on Flanigan's for dinner, and we were NOT disappointed.
We arrived at the restaurant just about 7:30, it wasn't crowded, and we were sat by the hostess right away. Because of the problem at Red Lobster we decided to "time" our servers and see just how fast or slow they really were. With in a few moments of being sat at our table, we were greeted by a server who said she'd be right with us. Less than a minute or so later, she had taken out drink orders and gave us some time to look over the menu. Long story short, the service was MUCH faster than the other restaurant we tried this evening.
Food wise, we shared some Joe's Rockin Rib Rolls as an appetizer. The wifey had the Dolphin Francaise w/ dirty rice and I had the Lemon Chicken Pasta. The fish was light and flaky and the dirty rice was filling and had a savory after taste. The lemon chicken pasta (as usual) was great. I love the lemon garlic dipping sauce it's got a really rich and unique flavor, that compliment the chicken and pasta nicely. The portion sizes were large enough for both of us to need to-go boxes.
For people who've never been to Flanigan's before, should know this this a laid back kind of establishment. There are all sorts of decorations on the wall consisting of picture of people fishing,having fun on the water/boats and other nautical themes. One of my favorite things about Flanigan's is that they have trivia cards (usually Trivial Pursuit) at every table. It's a nice way to spend some time while waiting for the food, or if you need an "ice-breaker" for any sort of date type situations.
Overall we had a great time out, which was a nice change from how the evening started
Grades:
Food: B+
Service: B+
Portion Size: B+
We arrived at the restaurant just about 7:30, it wasn't crowded, and we were sat by the hostess right away. Because of the problem at Red Lobster we decided to "time" our servers and see just how fast or slow they really were. With in a few moments of being sat at our table, we were greeted by a server who said she'd be right with us. Less than a minute or so later, she had taken out drink orders and gave us some time to look over the menu. Long story short, the service was MUCH faster than the other restaurant we tried this evening.
Food wise, we shared some Joe's Rockin Rib Rolls as an appetizer. The wifey had the Dolphin Francaise w/ dirty rice and I had the Lemon Chicken Pasta. The fish was light and flaky and the dirty rice was filling and had a savory after taste. The lemon chicken pasta (as usual) was great. I love the lemon garlic dipping sauce it's got a really rich and unique flavor, that compliment the chicken and pasta nicely. The portion sizes were large enough for both of us to need to-go boxes.
For people who've never been to Flanigan's before, should know this this a laid back kind of establishment. There are all sorts of decorations on the wall consisting of picture of people fishing,having fun on the water/boats and other nautical themes. One of my favorite things about Flanigan's is that they have trivia cards (usually Trivial Pursuit) at every table. It's a nice way to spend some time while waiting for the food, or if you need an "ice-breaker" for any sort of date type situations.
Overall we had a great time out, which was a nice change from how the evening started
Grades:
Food: B+
Service: B+
Portion Size: B+
Red Lobster Lake Worth, FL
This is a VERY short review.
Tonight, GG (Great Grandma) was baby sitting our little guy so that the wifey and I could have a nice date night out. So we decided to go to the Red Lobster at the corner of Lake Worth Rd and Jog Rd.
The manager and a hostess were seating a family as we walked in and we took our spot as next in line. Also, as we were coming in several people came in behind us. The manager came back and asked how many in our party, and we told her "two". Now keep in mind we were at the FRONT of the line. She then stopped and looked around at the other guests and asked if they were next, as if we had "cut" in front of them. The other party pointed at us and said "they were". After the manager finally decided we really were the next party, she sat us in the front dining room. She also didn't tell anyone working in that section that she sat us. She just walked back to the office area.
After about 10 minutes of being ignored, with out any of the staff who were walking by even acknowledging out presence we decided to leave.
As we were walking out, I gave the manager a card and told her how disappointed we were. I will say she did try to fix the situation and did offer to "comp" our dinner for the night, but we declined.
Overall, we were quite disappointed, as we'd never had this situation happen to us. Normally this Red Lobster has had excellent and quick service. We also, don't really blame the server assigned to our section. Yes, they are supposed to monitor it and are responsible for it. But, if someone seats a party in your section and doesn't tell you about it, it's kind of hard to keep track of things. Hopefully this won't happen to anyone else in the future. In our opinion, it was a failure of management more than anything else.
Tonight, GG (Great Grandma) was baby sitting our little guy so that the wifey and I could have a nice date night out. So we decided to go to the Red Lobster at the corner of Lake Worth Rd and Jog Rd.
The manager and a hostess were seating a family as we walked in and we took our spot as next in line. Also, as we were coming in several people came in behind us. The manager came back and asked how many in our party, and we told her "two". Now keep in mind we were at the FRONT of the line. She then stopped and looked around at the other guests and asked if they were next, as if we had "cut" in front of them. The other party pointed at us and said "they were". After the manager finally decided we really were the next party, she sat us in the front dining room. She also didn't tell anyone working in that section that she sat us. She just walked back to the office area.
After about 10 minutes of being ignored, with out any of the staff who were walking by even acknowledging out presence we decided to leave.
As we were walking out, I gave the manager a card and told her how disappointed we were. I will say she did try to fix the situation and did offer to "comp" our dinner for the night, but we declined.
Overall, we were quite disappointed, as we'd never had this situation happen to us. Normally this Red Lobster has had excellent and quick service. We also, don't really blame the server assigned to our section. Yes, they are supposed to monitor it and are responsible for it. But, if someone seats a party in your section and doesn't tell you about it, it's kind of hard to keep track of things. Hopefully this won't happen to anyone else in the future. In our opinion, it was a failure of management more than anything else.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Bonefish Grill Wellington, Fl (re-visited)
The other night (Saturday), the wife and I got a chance to go to dinner with just the two of us and we decided to go out to Bonefish. We arrived around 6:00 pm, the restaurant was crowded, but they were able to seat us right away. One thing I really enjoy about this restaurant is the ambiance. The restaurant is very dark inside, but avoids being gloomy and instead creates a cozy atmosphere. One other thing that we enjoy about it, is that despite being a full house, the restaurant was neither overly loud or too quiet. They have a good balance of background noise, but you're still able to have a quiet conversation with your dinning partner.
In what seems to be starting a tradition for us, we ordered the Crab Cakes and the Bacon Wrapped Scallops for appetizers just like last time. I won't go into the appetizers too much, other than to say that I love how the bacon really adds a nice touch of smokiness and texture to the scallops and chutney. The only thing I would change, is to add an option to order a bigger size, as you only get four of the scallops. Which is enough for one person, but if your sharing, can leave you wanting more.
(Menu)
For dinner, I ordered the Gulf Grouper and mashed potatoes and mango salsa.
The grouper was light and flaky with that wonderful and subtle wood fire taste and the potatoes were very creamy with the garlic seasoning.
The wifey had the Chilean Sea Bass also with the mashed potatoes. Like I talked about last time, you can get 4 types of sauces to go with your meal. We were talking with our server and he could tell that the wifey wasn't sure which sauce to get. So he offered to bring out a sampler of everything they offered.
All four of the sauces (Mango Salsa, Chimichurri, Pan Asian and Lemon Butter) went quite well with both of our dishes. But, I think the wife really enjoyed the Pan Asian, as it was similar to a teriaki type of flavor. She's not a big fan of the Mango Salsa, however much I enjoy it.
Our server was friendly, fast and knowledgeable. So far every time we've gone to Bonefish Grill, we've had a great experience and we recommend that you check it out.
Grades:
Food: A
Service: A
Portion Size: A
In what seems to be starting a tradition for us, we ordered the Crab Cakes and the Bacon Wrapped Scallops for appetizers just like last time. I won't go into the appetizers too much, other than to say that I love how the bacon really adds a nice touch of smokiness and texture to the scallops and chutney. The only thing I would change, is to add an option to order a bigger size, as you only get four of the scallops. Which is enough for one person, but if your sharing, can leave you wanting more.
(Menu)
For dinner, I ordered the Gulf Grouper and mashed potatoes and mango salsa.
The grouper was light and flaky with that wonderful and subtle wood fire taste and the potatoes were very creamy with the garlic seasoning.
The wifey had the Chilean Sea Bass also with the mashed potatoes. Like I talked about last time, you can get 4 types of sauces to go with your meal. We were talking with our server and he could tell that the wifey wasn't sure which sauce to get. So he offered to bring out a sampler of everything they offered.
All four of the sauces (Mango Salsa, Chimichurri, Pan Asian and Lemon Butter) went quite well with both of our dishes. But, I think the wife really enjoyed the Pan Asian, as it was similar to a teriaki type of flavor. She's not a big fan of the Mango Salsa, however much I enjoy it.
Our server was friendly, fast and knowledgeable. So far every time we've gone to Bonefish Grill, we've had a great experience and we recommend that you check it out.
Grades:
Food: A
Service: A
Portion Size: A
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Smokey Bones Wellington, Fl.
Tonight as a spur of the moment decision, we decided to eat out. We chose Smokey Bones because it had been a while since we had been there. We arrived around 4:30 PM and the restaurant wasn't too crowded. Sadly, they didn't seem to be very organized. The hostess started to sit us down, but one of the waitresses told her that she was leaving, and there wasn't any coverage in that section. So the hostess had us go back to waiting area.
After another short wait, not even 5 minutes, they got us seated. That being said, and for those who've worked in the restaurant business will understand this, our poor server dude got sat 2 parties at once. Our party which was just me and the wife, and another party with about 6 people in it. As you can expect, the service level was slower than normal. What was really annoying, was the fact that although our server was busting his but trying to take care of his tables. The rest of the staff was just standing around the kitchen area just talking. It seemed like there was NO teamwork at all. Also, in my opinion, in the restaurant industry, if you as a server are not actively getting something for a customer or cleaning something, then you should NOT be seen. The last thing a customer wants is to have an empty drink and see staff members laughing and joking with one another.
Now I'm sure there were other circumstances such as the ones standing around were either the oncoming dinner crew or something. But still, it's just not professional and shouldn't be done.
As for the food, the wife just ordered an appetizer sampler called the "Crowd Pleaser", which she really enjoyed and said she would order again. It came with seasoned fries, chicken tenders and South West spring rolls. Portion size was good for an appetizer, with enough left over (after one person eating) to take some home. I ordered the pulled pork platter, and I wasn't impressed. The pork was too dry, even with extra BBQ sauce at the table. And there were lots of inedible fatty parts. The pulled pork is not something I would order again from here.
All in all, we were disappointed by our adventure out. Although it was obvious our server was really making an effort, he remembered special requests such as extra ranch and he brought full drinks with out being asked, he was hindered by the lack of teamwork. He was sat with way too many tables (I believe he had 4 or 5 more in addition to us and the large party) at one time.
Grades:
Service C- (Our server was at least a B+, but all the others standing around not doing anything made it slower and lower)
Food: C (Wife liked hers, I wasn't a fan)
Portion Size: B
After another short wait, not even 5 minutes, they got us seated. That being said, and for those who've worked in the restaurant business will understand this, our poor server dude got sat 2 parties at once. Our party which was just me and the wife, and another party with about 6 people in it. As you can expect, the service level was slower than normal. What was really annoying, was the fact that although our server was busting his but trying to take care of his tables. The rest of the staff was just standing around the kitchen area just talking. It seemed like there was NO teamwork at all. Also, in my opinion, in the restaurant industry, if you as a server are not actively getting something for a customer or cleaning something, then you should NOT be seen. The last thing a customer wants is to have an empty drink and see staff members laughing and joking with one another.
Now I'm sure there were other circumstances such as the ones standing around were either the oncoming dinner crew or something. But still, it's just not professional and shouldn't be done.
As for the food, the wife just ordered an appetizer sampler called the "Crowd Pleaser", which she really enjoyed and said she would order again. It came with seasoned fries, chicken tenders and South West spring rolls. Portion size was good for an appetizer, with enough left over (after one person eating) to take some home. I ordered the pulled pork platter, and I wasn't impressed. The pork was too dry, even with extra BBQ sauce at the table. And there were lots of inedible fatty parts. The pulled pork is not something I would order again from here.
All in all, we were disappointed by our adventure out. Although it was obvious our server was really making an effort, he remembered special requests such as extra ranch and he brought full drinks with out being asked, he was hindered by the lack of teamwork. He was sat with way too many tables (I believe he had 4 or 5 more in addition to us and the large party) at one time.
Grades:
Service C- (Our server was at least a B+, but all the others standing around not doing anything made it slower and lower)
Food: C (Wife liked hers, I wasn't a fan)
Portion Size: B
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Tokyo Peking Wellington, Fl
This will just be a quick review.
This was a Buffet style restaurant that we hit up for lunch. It has a really interesting decor that helps add to the ambiance.
Food wise, they offer a Sushi Bar, Hibachi grill, Salad and Fruit bar, and a good selection of "standard" Chinese buffet choices. The standard choices include, but not limited to, Pepper steak, Teriyaki chicken, Vegi Lo Mein and more. For the sushi bar, well, I'm not a big sushi guy, but what they had out looked fresh and very well "put together". The Hibachi grill is probably the highlight of the restaurant. They have fresh cooked beef, chicken, shrimp and some awesome fried rice. Everything had a really crisp almost clean flavor to it that went really well with the rice. Also, they had what appeared to be some fresh cooked hibachi squid for the more adventurous dinners.
The service side wasn't bad, out waitress kept our glasses filled and got the empty plates off the table. When it comes to buffets that's all you really need.
Overall, if you like Chinese Buffet's then you should check this place out. Its located on the North West corner of Lake Worth Road and State Road 7.
Grades
Food: B+
Service: B
Portion Size: N/A (again, it's a buffet)
This was a Buffet style restaurant that we hit up for lunch. It has a really interesting decor that helps add to the ambiance.
Food wise, they offer a Sushi Bar, Hibachi grill, Salad and Fruit bar, and a good selection of "standard" Chinese buffet choices. The standard choices include, but not limited to, Pepper steak, Teriyaki chicken, Vegi Lo Mein and more. For the sushi bar, well, I'm not a big sushi guy, but what they had out looked fresh and very well "put together". The Hibachi grill is probably the highlight of the restaurant. They have fresh cooked beef, chicken, shrimp and some awesome fried rice. Everything had a really crisp almost clean flavor to it that went really well with the rice. Also, they had what appeared to be some fresh cooked hibachi squid for the more adventurous dinners.
The service side wasn't bad, out waitress kept our glasses filled and got the empty plates off the table. When it comes to buffets that's all you really need.
Overall, if you like Chinese Buffet's then you should check this place out. Its located on the North West corner of Lake Worth Road and State Road 7.
Grades
Food: B+
Service: B
Portion Size: N/A (again, it's a buffet)
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
TooJay's Wellington, FL
The other night, we went out to the Wellington Mall to let our little guy play in the play area. Our original plan was to just hit up the Food Court and then call it a night. Instead we decided to go over to TooJay's which turned out to be a nice choice. We arrived around 7:30pm, and their was hardly anyone there and we were able to be seated right away. We were seated near the window, which looked out into the mall. For us, this was a nice feature as it helped keep our little one entertained, but for people who might prefer a bit more privacy, might not be a great choice.
Our server was really friendly and welcoming. She was also very patient with us while we got the little guy settled in. Sometimes servers seem to get irritated with customers who have children. Having been a server, I can understand their feelings, but a good server can, and will, hide any annoyance they might feel. Overall we were very satisfied with our waitress. So much so, that we'd make a point to request sitting in her area again if/when we go back.
Moving on to describing the food. For those who don't know TooJay's has a lot of menu choices. It's actually almost overwhelming on the number of choices they offer. I ended up getting the "Grilled London Broil" that came with Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy, and I selected the vegetable of the day which was Broccoli. I ordered the meat cooked "medium" and it came out perfectly. The potatoes and gravy were also really good, although I did have to pick the mushrooms off, but that's just because I don't like the texture of mushrooms. Vegetable wise, the broccoli was quite tasty, but the portion size wasn't all that large.
The wife settled on the "Classic Chicken Pot Pie" which doesn't come with anything else, but is filled with chicken and other fresh veggies. She said that she really liked the flaky pastry part of the pie, and the chicken and sauce and other veggies were also very good.
All in all, this meal out was another nice surprise for us. The food was good and the service was really good. Add in that there wasn't a lot of people out and it made for a pleasant and quiet night out.
Grades
Food: A
Service: A
Portion Size: A
Our server was really friendly and welcoming. She was also very patient with us while we got the little guy settled in. Sometimes servers seem to get irritated with customers who have children. Having been a server, I can understand their feelings, but a good server can, and will, hide any annoyance they might feel. Overall we were very satisfied with our waitress. So much so, that we'd make a point to request sitting in her area again if/when we go back.
Moving on to describing the food. For those who don't know TooJay's has a lot of menu choices. It's actually almost overwhelming on the number of choices they offer. I ended up getting the "Grilled London Broil" that came with Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy, and I selected the vegetable of the day which was Broccoli. I ordered the meat cooked "medium" and it came out perfectly. The potatoes and gravy were also really good, although I did have to pick the mushrooms off, but that's just because I don't like the texture of mushrooms. Vegetable wise, the broccoli was quite tasty, but the portion size wasn't all that large.
The wife settled on the "Classic Chicken Pot Pie" which doesn't come with anything else, but is filled with chicken and other fresh veggies. She said that she really liked the flaky pastry part of the pie, and the chicken and sauce and other veggies were also very good.
All in all, this meal out was another nice surprise for us. The food was good and the service was really good. Add in that there wasn't a lot of people out and it made for a pleasant and quiet night out.
Grades
Food: A
Service: A
Portion Size: A
Saturday, June 04, 2011
The Carving Station Lake Worth, FL.
The Carving Station is a buffet style restaurant located in Lake Worth, Fl on the South East corner of Jog Rd and Lake Worth Rd.
I'll start this review by saying that we fully expected to be disappointed by this restaurant. It's located in a shopping center that just lost its anchor store Winn-Dixie, and the whole plaza has been in what seemed like a downward spiral for a few years.
We arrived around 11:30, and were some of the first customers of the day. I will admit my surprise at just how clean the place was. Everything in the restaurant seemed to gleam and the decor reminded us of a vintage type of diner.
As we walked in the manager/owner (I forgot to get his name) welcomed us very warmly. He told us to take a look around, and that if we liked what we saw to have a seat and dig in. He let us know the prices which were amazingly reasonable, the full lunch price was $7.99 per person or you could get just a soup & salad buffet for $6.29.
We took him up on his suggestion and checked out what they had to offer. Just on a quick walk through we noticed they had several stations set up. These included a cold food section that served salad, bread, and cold pasta. A hot food section that had 4 different kinds of soups, tacos/chips & salsa station and a hot food and carving section. They also have a cakes/desert section for a small additional fee.
After looking around we liked what we saw and decided to stay. The wife and the little guy started out with some salad. She said that the tomatoes tasted fresh off the vine, and they had what looked and tasted like "in-house made croutons". She only had one minor complaint, and it wasn't on the food itself but on the layout of the salad bar. Which was, with her pregnant belly, a little hard to reach the iceberg lettuce. The iceberg was placed near the back and they had a romain lettuce and bean sprouts in the front.
All of the food served appeared and tasted "home made". I've got to add that buffet's are a guilty pleasure of ours and usually at most buffets the emphasis is on quantity not quality. The food at the Carving Station was great, I was especially happy with the mac & cheese. It wasn't just an average dish, it had a lightly baked crust on top and several additional seasonings. Everything else was also very good -- from the mashed potatoes and 2 types of gravy, to the 3 or 4 types of chicken and everything in between.
Our server wasn't the most smiley person in the world at first, but she kept our drinks filled and our tables clear in a quick and efficient manner and she warmed up as the meal went on.
Overall we were highly impressed with this place. If you're a fan of buffets or a fan of good "old fashioned" American style cooking, then you should definitely give this place a shot.
Grades
Food: A
Service: A
Portion Size: N/A (its a buffet)
I'll start this review by saying that we fully expected to be disappointed by this restaurant. It's located in a shopping center that just lost its anchor store Winn-Dixie, and the whole plaza has been in what seemed like a downward spiral for a few years.
We arrived around 11:30, and were some of the first customers of the day. I will admit my surprise at just how clean the place was. Everything in the restaurant seemed to gleam and the decor reminded us of a vintage type of diner.
As we walked in the manager/owner (I forgot to get his name) welcomed us very warmly. He told us to take a look around, and that if we liked what we saw to have a seat and dig in. He let us know the prices which were amazingly reasonable, the full lunch price was $7.99 per person or you could get just a soup & salad buffet for $6.29.
We took him up on his suggestion and checked out what they had to offer. Just on a quick walk through we noticed they had several stations set up. These included a cold food section that served salad, bread, and cold pasta. A hot food section that had 4 different kinds of soups, tacos/chips & salsa station and a hot food and carving section. They also have a cakes/desert section for a small additional fee.
After looking around we liked what we saw and decided to stay. The wife and the little guy started out with some salad. She said that the tomatoes tasted fresh off the vine, and they had what looked and tasted like "in-house made croutons". She only had one minor complaint, and it wasn't on the food itself but on the layout of the salad bar. Which was, with her pregnant belly, a little hard to reach the iceberg lettuce. The iceberg was placed near the back and they had a romain lettuce and bean sprouts in the front.
All of the food served appeared and tasted "home made". I've got to add that buffet's are a guilty pleasure of ours and usually at most buffets the emphasis is on quantity not quality. The food at the Carving Station was great, I was especially happy with the mac & cheese. It wasn't just an average dish, it had a lightly baked crust on top and several additional seasonings. Everything else was also very good -- from the mashed potatoes and 2 types of gravy, to the 3 or 4 types of chicken and everything in between.
Our server wasn't the most smiley person in the world at first, but she kept our drinks filled and our tables clear in a quick and efficient manner and she warmed up as the meal went on.
Overall we were highly impressed with this place. If you're a fan of buffets or a fan of good "old fashioned" American style cooking, then you should definitely give this place a shot.
Grades
Food: A
Service: A
Portion Size: N/A (its a buffet)
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Outback Steakhouse Lake Worth, Fl
Another evening out to eat.
Last night, we decided on going to Outback for dinner. We got a little apprehensive as we were pulling into the parking lot as it seemed very full and thought we might be in for a wait. We managed to snag a spot close to the door which is not an inconsequential consideration when you've got a pregnant wifey and a two year old. It was actually a very nice surprise as we walked in and were seated right away. Our hostess also was able to give us both a booster seat and a high chair for the little guy which was appreciated. Sometimes he likes to sit with the "grown ups" and sometimes he needs to be in the highchair.
The food overall was good, the wifey ordered the new Teriyaki Fillet Medallions cooked medium which also comes with a flavored rice and green beans. I tried some of hers and the filet's were melt-in-your-mouth tender and had a very nice Teriyaki "twang" flavor that didn't over power the flavor of the meat. She said that both the rice and green beans were also really flavorful and that this is a meal she would order again.
I had the old school "Outback Special" the 12oz Sirloin cooked medium rare with a double order of the mashed potatoes. The steak was seasoned well and had that signature Outback flavor, In the future I'll need to remember to order the steak cooked medium as I'd forgot how thick of a cut of meat it is and ordering it medium rare leaves the center a little underdone, but still edible. The potatoes were average, I think they would have been really great if Outback had some sort of "gravy option" to add to it, unfortunately you can only get the regular garlic mashed potatoes.
Our little guy got a cheese burger from the kids meal, which was much larger than I thought I'd be, he only manged to eat about 1/3'rd of it before he was full.
The service we received was surprisingly good, our waitress was friendly and took our orders and any requests and took care of them quickly. The only thing I would have to say is that it seemed like it took a little while for the kitchen to get the food out. However, having a hungry toddler and wife probably added to that perception.
All in all, we were happy with our choice to go to the Outback. It was a pleasant night with no problems or complaints. Which sometimes seems like a rare occurrence. Another nice thing is that there were several families with little ones having dinner at the same time. Which, if you don't want to go out and occasionally hear a little one being loud, may not be a good thing. But for families with youngsters who just need a night out, its reassuring to know that you're not "disturbing" most of the other diners, or at least you're not the only one doing it.
Grades
Service: A
Portion Size: B
Food: A
Last night, we decided on going to Outback for dinner. We got a little apprehensive as we were pulling into the parking lot as it seemed very full and thought we might be in for a wait. We managed to snag a spot close to the door which is not an inconsequential consideration when you've got a pregnant wifey and a two year old. It was actually a very nice surprise as we walked in and were seated right away. Our hostess also was able to give us both a booster seat and a high chair for the little guy which was appreciated. Sometimes he likes to sit with the "grown ups" and sometimes he needs to be in the highchair.
The food overall was good, the wifey ordered the new Teriyaki Fillet Medallions cooked medium which also comes with a flavored rice and green beans. I tried some of hers and the filet's were melt-in-your-mouth tender and had a very nice Teriyaki "twang" flavor that didn't over power the flavor of the meat. She said that both the rice and green beans were also really flavorful and that this is a meal she would order again.
I had the old school "Outback Special" the 12oz Sirloin cooked medium rare with a double order of the mashed potatoes. The steak was seasoned well and had that signature Outback flavor, In the future I'll need to remember to order the steak cooked medium as I'd forgot how thick of a cut of meat it is and ordering it medium rare leaves the center a little underdone, but still edible. The potatoes were average, I think they would have been really great if Outback had some sort of "gravy option" to add to it, unfortunately you can only get the regular garlic mashed potatoes.
Our little guy got a cheese burger from the kids meal, which was much larger than I thought I'd be, he only manged to eat about 1/3'rd of it before he was full.
The service we received was surprisingly good, our waitress was friendly and took our orders and any requests and took care of them quickly. The only thing I would have to say is that it seemed like it took a little while for the kitchen to get the food out. However, having a hungry toddler and wife probably added to that perception.
All in all, we were happy with our choice to go to the Outback. It was a pleasant night with no problems or complaints. Which sometimes seems like a rare occurrence. Another nice thing is that there were several families with little ones having dinner at the same time. Which, if you don't want to go out and occasionally hear a little one being loud, may not be a good thing. But for families with youngsters who just need a night out, its reassuring to know that you're not "disturbing" most of the other diners, or at least you're not the only one doing it.
Grades
Service: A
Portion Size: B
Food: A
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The Rum Shack, Lake Worth, FL
This is our first submitted review, hope you enjoy.
I Had the opportunity to spend the evening with my parents and several of their friends at the Rum Shack on Lake Ave in Lake Worth . It was my parents 47Th anniversary. Although the Rum Shack is not a higher end place one would expect to go to for an Anniversary dinner, mom and Dad wanted a casual and relaxed place for the evening.
I really liked the decor and atmosphere. It was very casual and laid back and for a place with a bar and T.V.'s it wasn't too loud.
Our server was fairly attentive and checked on us 2-3 times to see if everything was alright. The food was great, but what she did not ask was if we needed refills. Although, when she asked if everything was ok, we should have used that opportunity to ask for more beverages.
My mom and I had the Black Angus NY strip with Scampi butter, they came with fresh steamed vegetables (broccoli) and your choice of side I took the sweet potato fries which were delish and mom took the baked sweet potato which she enjoyed. We both got our steaks medium and they were grilled to perfection and the garlic in the scampi butter really made the flavor pop. The steamed veggies were just that steamed with no seasoning. I finished my steak and potatoes Mom left about half her steak because she was full.
Dad and his friend ordered the fried coconut shrimp with potato wedges. He really enjoyed it and was not able to finish all of his dinner due to the generous portion size. His friend barely finished his dinner too. They both loved their dinners.
Moms friend ordered the salad with shrimp and she was full about half way through and she said the salad was very good and the shrimp were good size and cooked just right.
I would say that overall, the portion sizes and prices are reasonable. If we would have had ordered appetizers I never would have finished my dinner. There was no room for dessert! A nice bonus of being on Lake avenue is that it was a fairly cool evening and with benches and wide sidewalks it was a nice night for a stroll. Quite a few restaurants have sidewalk seating including the rum Shack and about half the shops were still open after 5pm, which led to a pleasant atmosphere.
Overall I would rate it B with service B and food A and prices B+
I Had the opportunity to spend the evening with my parents and several of their friends at the Rum Shack on Lake Ave in Lake Worth . It was my parents 47Th anniversary. Although the Rum Shack is not a higher end place one would expect to go to for an Anniversary dinner, mom and Dad wanted a casual and relaxed place for the evening.
I really liked the decor and atmosphere. It was very casual and laid back and for a place with a bar and T.V.'s it wasn't too loud.
Our server was fairly attentive and checked on us 2-3 times to see if everything was alright. The food was great, but what she did not ask was if we needed refills. Although, when she asked if everything was ok, we should have used that opportunity to ask for more beverages.
My mom and I had the Black Angus NY strip with Scampi butter, they came with fresh steamed vegetables (broccoli) and your choice of side I took the sweet potato fries which were delish and mom took the baked sweet potato which she enjoyed. We both got our steaks medium and they were grilled to perfection and the garlic in the scampi butter really made the flavor pop. The steamed veggies were just that steamed with no seasoning. I finished my steak and potatoes Mom left about half her steak because she was full.
Dad and his friend ordered the fried coconut shrimp with potato wedges. He really enjoyed it and was not able to finish all of his dinner due to the generous portion size. His friend barely finished his dinner too. They both loved their dinners.
Moms friend ordered the salad with shrimp and she was full about half way through and she said the salad was very good and the shrimp were good size and cooked just right.
I would say that overall, the portion sizes and prices are reasonable. If we would have had ordered appetizers I never would have finished my dinner. There was no room for dessert! A nice bonus of being on Lake avenue is that it was a fairly cool evening and with benches and wide sidewalks it was a nice night for a stroll. Quite a few restaurants have sidewalk seating including the rum Shack and about half the shops were still open after 5pm, which led to a pleasant atmosphere.
Overall I would rate it B with service B and food A and prices B+
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Coral Reef, Epcot, Orlando FL
Dinner Adventures is back from Disney! We had a lot of fun on our trip and got to see and do some pretty cool things. For one thing it was the first of four Star Wars Weekend held at Disney's Hollywood Studios, which is great for anyone who likes Star Wars or movies, and it's always nice to get away with family and friends. On our last day at the parks, we had the opportunity to review the Coral Reef restaurant at Epcot during lunch time. Their Lunch and Dinner menu's have a decent selection of "Surf and Turf" meal choices.
To start with, the ambiance is quite amazing, Almost the entire far wall of the restaurant is part of the huge 5.7 million gallon saltwater aquarium in The Seas with Nemo attraction. Throughout the meal, you could watch as Sea Turtles, Sharks, Rays and many different types of fish swim by the windows. The lighting is very subdued and with the view of the "seascape" it leads to a very relaxing atmosphere, although with the glass wall, it does seem to be a bit louder than you'd might expect. The ambiance was done quite well, as you might expect from Disney, and both my Wife and I enjoyed how relaxing they were able to make it.
We started our meal with the "Appetizer for Two" which came with 2 smaller sized crab cakes, that I thought had a little bit of kick to them, but were enjoyable. It also came with 4 pieces of fried shrimp, that quite frankly were average, there wasn't really anything special to them, but there wasn't anything wrong with the shrimp either. The last part of the appetizer was an amazing Creamy Lobster soup. I can't begin to describe how great the soup tasted, it was rich and creamy with just the right amount of lobster flavor and tarragon. The server was able to provide a recipe card for the soup that we could take home with us. One thing that I was unaware of before today is that Disney has many of their recipes available on a post card sized paper that they will give out upon request. For recipes that they don't have printed out they will give you a recipe request form, that you can either put down a mailing or email address and Disney will send you the recipe.
For the main course, my wife ordered the Grilled Mahi Mahi with the coconut-lime sauce and was able to switch out the Jasmine rice for some "smashed potatoes". I ordered the Seared Scottish Salmon on a Lemon and Pea Risotto with Bay Scallops. The Mahi Mahi was cooked perfectly, and the coconut-lime flavor went great with the potatoes. The wife was very satisfied with her meal. My meal didn't go quite as well as my wife's. The salmon was over seared on the bottom portion, almost to the point of being burnt, and a big portion of the Risotto tasted almost underdone. I was able to cut off the over cooked portion, and enjoy the rest of it. The risotto I wasn't able to finish, it had a great flavor and sauce and the scallops were cooked wonderfully, but the actually risotto part was just not that good. I pointed out these things to the server, and she made several offers to replace the salmon, or even get me a different entree which I declined to do, mostly because it had been a long day at the parks and we were ready to go back home. I should also add that her management also offered to comp us a dessert, but again we declined because of fatigue. However, that they had even made the offer went a very long way in our book. But in the future, if we chose to dine here again, I probably won't be ordering the salmon. I also can't recommend that anyone else order it either. The Mahi Mahi on the other hand, would definitely be on an "order again" list.
The last thing I want to talk about, is the service at the Coral Reef, overall I was impressed with the staff. We had our lunch reservations set for just after 2pm. We happened to show up a bit early, and they were able to seat us around 1:45, and we had a booth almost right next to the aquarium window. The service started out a bit slower. We felt we were waiting longer than necessary for our drinks and food orders. Despite the overall initial speed, our server was very friendly and made a great impression on us by offering to help "fix" our meal.
All in all, we were happy with our choice to eat at the Coral Reef, and we would defiantly go back, and we would recommend it to others. Just get something other than the Salmon.
Grades
Food-
Mine: C-
Wife's: A+
Appetizer:A
Overall: B+
Portion Size: A
Service: B+
To start with, the ambiance is quite amazing, Almost the entire far wall of the restaurant is part of the huge 5.7 million gallon saltwater aquarium in The Seas with Nemo attraction. Throughout the meal, you could watch as Sea Turtles, Sharks, Rays and many different types of fish swim by the windows. The lighting is very subdued and with the view of the "seascape" it leads to a very relaxing atmosphere, although with the glass wall, it does seem to be a bit louder than you'd might expect. The ambiance was done quite well, as you might expect from Disney, and both my Wife and I enjoyed how relaxing they were able to make it.
We started our meal with the "Appetizer for Two" which came with 2 smaller sized crab cakes, that I thought had a little bit of kick to them, but were enjoyable. It also came with 4 pieces of fried shrimp, that quite frankly were average, there wasn't really anything special to them, but there wasn't anything wrong with the shrimp either. The last part of the appetizer was an amazing Creamy Lobster soup. I can't begin to describe how great the soup tasted, it was rich and creamy with just the right amount of lobster flavor and tarragon. The server was able to provide a recipe card for the soup that we could take home with us. One thing that I was unaware of before today is that Disney has many of their recipes available on a post card sized paper that they will give out upon request. For recipes that they don't have printed out they will give you a recipe request form, that you can either put down a mailing or email address and Disney will send you the recipe.
For the main course, my wife ordered the Grilled Mahi Mahi with the coconut-lime sauce and was able to switch out the Jasmine rice for some "smashed potatoes". I ordered the Seared Scottish Salmon on a Lemon and Pea Risotto with Bay Scallops. The Mahi Mahi was cooked perfectly, and the coconut-lime flavor went great with the potatoes. The wife was very satisfied with her meal. My meal didn't go quite as well as my wife's. The salmon was over seared on the bottom portion, almost to the point of being burnt, and a big portion of the Risotto tasted almost underdone. I was able to cut off the over cooked portion, and enjoy the rest of it. The risotto I wasn't able to finish, it had a great flavor and sauce and the scallops were cooked wonderfully, but the actually risotto part was just not that good. I pointed out these things to the server, and she made several offers to replace the salmon, or even get me a different entree which I declined to do, mostly because it had been a long day at the parks and we were ready to go back home. I should also add that her management also offered to comp us a dessert, but again we declined because of fatigue. However, that they had even made the offer went a very long way in our book. But in the future, if we chose to dine here again, I probably won't be ordering the salmon. I also can't recommend that anyone else order it either. The Mahi Mahi on the other hand, would definitely be on an "order again" list.
The last thing I want to talk about, is the service at the Coral Reef, overall I was impressed with the staff. We had our lunch reservations set for just after 2pm. We happened to show up a bit early, and they were able to seat us around 1:45, and we had a booth almost right next to the aquarium window. The service started out a bit slower. We felt we were waiting longer than necessary for our drinks and food orders. Despite the overall initial speed, our server was very friendly and made a great impression on us by offering to help "fix" our meal.
All in all, we were happy with our choice to eat at the Coral Reef, and we would defiantly go back, and we would recommend it to others. Just get something other than the Salmon.
Grades
Food-
Mine: C-
Wife's: A+
Appetizer:A
Overall: B+
Portion Size: A
Service: B+
Thursday, May 19, 2011
A quick announcement.
We are excited to announce that we will be traveling to Orlando, Florida over the weekend to go to some of the Disney theme parks. We plan to review the Coral Reef restaurant at the Epcot theme park and many of the other dinning options that are available. We will be staying on property at the Disney All-Star Sports Resort and will be going to Hollywood Studios for the Star Wars Weekends, Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney and as mentioned before Epcot.
We may not have complete Internet access while we are at that parks but we will try to do some mobile write ups. If not then we will definitely do the updates on Monday.
We may not have complete Internet access while we are at that parks but we will try to do some mobile write ups. If not then we will definitely do the updates on Monday.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Bonefish Grill, Wellington, Fl.
Tonight was a spur of the moment decision to go out to eat. We decided on Bonefish as the wife was in the mood for seafood, this turned out to be a great decision on our part. The restaurant wasn't very crowded when we got there, and we were able to be seated right away. Our waiter was quite good, he was able to balance the right combination of leaving us to enjoy the meal, but around enough to make sure our drinks were filled and get anything else we may have needed. This was probably some of the BEST service we have received when dining out in a long time. I really cannot praise him enough.
The food was also very good, from the appetizers to the main course everything was very tasty. We started off by getting the Maryland Crab Cakes and the Bacon Wrapped Atlantic Sea Scallops. The crab cakes have quite a bit of a kick to them, but it doesn't over power the taste of the crab and other ingredients. The Scallops are fairly large, and they're topped with a "chutney". I'm not sure what was in the chutney but whatever it was, it worked great with the taste and texture of the bacon and scallops. The only thing I can find to complain about is the portion size, with the crab cakes they only serve 2 cakes as the appetizer and with the scallops you only get 4+ the mango salsa salad.
Our main course consisted of my meal which was the Grilled Atlantic Salmon with Potatoes Au Gratin, and the wife's meal of the Sir Will's fish and chips. With the grilled fish you get a choice of 4 signature sauces that include a Mango Salsa, Chimichurri, Pan Asian and Lemon Butter. Our server recommended that I get the mango salsa or pan asian with the salmon. I chose the Mango salsa and it was excellent. The fish and chips came tempura-style and a tartar sauce made in house. Again the food was very, very good. We both would order these meals again with no hesitation.
The only complaint that we could really bring up would be on portion sizes in relation to the prices. However, despite being bit smaller than you might expect, the meal did end up being quite filling.
Grades:
Food: A+
Portion Size: B-
Service A+
All in all, this was an outstanding "adventure" I encourage everyone to try this place out and experience it for yourself. I hope you will be as satisfied as we were.
As a side note, this restaurant also has quite a few Gluten free options on their menu for those who need it.
The food was also very good, from the appetizers to the main course everything was very tasty. We started off by getting the Maryland Crab Cakes and the Bacon Wrapped Atlantic Sea Scallops. The crab cakes have quite a bit of a kick to them, but it doesn't over power the taste of the crab and other ingredients. The Scallops are fairly large, and they're topped with a "chutney". I'm not sure what was in the chutney but whatever it was, it worked great with the taste and texture of the bacon and scallops. The only thing I can find to complain about is the portion size, with the crab cakes they only serve 2 cakes as the appetizer and with the scallops you only get 4+ the mango salsa salad.
Our main course consisted of my meal which was the Grilled Atlantic Salmon with Potatoes Au Gratin, and the wife's meal of the Sir Will's fish and chips. With the grilled fish you get a choice of 4 signature sauces that include a Mango Salsa, Chimichurri, Pan Asian and Lemon Butter. Our server recommended that I get the mango salsa or pan asian with the salmon. I chose the Mango salsa and it was excellent. The fish and chips came tempura-style and a tartar sauce made in house. Again the food was very, very good. We both would order these meals again with no hesitation.
The only complaint that we could really bring up would be on portion sizes in relation to the prices. However, despite being bit smaller than you might expect, the meal did end up being quite filling.
Grades:
Food: A+
Portion Size: B-
Service A+
All in all, this was an outstanding "adventure" I encourage everyone to try this place out and experience it for yourself. I hope you will be as satisfied as we were.
As a side note, this restaurant also has quite a few Gluten free options on their menu for those who need it.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Olive Garden Lake Worth, Fl
Last night we went to the Olive Garden, because when a pregnant wife craves something, you better deliver the goods. For being a Thursday night, the restaurant was not crowded at all, and we were seated right away. Service started out prompt, and in no time we had our drinks and had placed our orders. I should add that we had a fairly cranky two-year old in our party, and the servers handled it well.
The food was not bad, but I've noticed that the quality has been going down hill for a while. It used to feel like, when you went out to the Olive Garden, you were getting something special. Now it almost feels like "factory food", with no soul behind it. I ordered the Seafood Alfredo, portion size was good and taste was alright also. If you like Shrimp and Scallops in Alfredo sauce, then you just might like this dish. The wife ordered her standard Chicken Parmigiana, which she never finishes and always gets a to-go box. So for her portion size is wonderful, as she gets a meal and a lunch out of the deal.
One thing though that I had a MAJOR issue with, was when the server brought out a refill for my drink. He placed the drink on the table next to the empty glass. Took the straw out of it, and placed it in the new drink. This, as you can imagine, is NOT something that a waiter should EVER do. Yes, I know that all employees are supposed to wash their hands on a regular basis, especially after using the restrooms, but still you don't ever touch your customers food, or straws or utensils with your bare hands. That's just common hygienic consideration.
Over all the meal was quite good, but after the whole "straw incident" I'm not sure if we'll be back to this particular location. Or if we do go, we'll defiantly be requesting to NOT sit in this waiter's section.
Grades:
Food: B
Portion Size: A
Service: D
I was really disappointed on this Adventure, the service really was quite good, but our waiter greatly upset as he had apparently never heard of germs before. I could understand 15 or 20 years ago doing that sort of thing, but nowadays... it's just not appropriate.
The food was not bad, but I've noticed that the quality has been going down hill for a while. It used to feel like, when you went out to the Olive Garden, you were getting something special. Now it almost feels like "factory food", with no soul behind it. I ordered the Seafood Alfredo, portion size was good and taste was alright also. If you like Shrimp and Scallops in Alfredo sauce, then you just might like this dish. The wife ordered her standard Chicken Parmigiana, which she never finishes and always gets a to-go box. So for her portion size is wonderful, as she gets a meal and a lunch out of the deal.
One thing though that I had a MAJOR issue with, was when the server brought out a refill for my drink. He placed the drink on the table next to the empty glass. Took the straw out of it, and placed it in the new drink. This, as you can imagine, is NOT something that a waiter should EVER do. Yes, I know that all employees are supposed to wash their hands on a regular basis, especially after using the restrooms, but still you don't ever touch your customers food, or straws or utensils with your bare hands. That's just common hygienic consideration.
Over all the meal was quite good, but after the whole "straw incident" I'm not sure if we'll be back to this particular location. Or if we do go, we'll defiantly be requesting to NOT sit in this waiter's section.
Grades:
Food: B
Portion Size: A
Service: D
I was really disappointed on this Adventure, the service really was quite good, but our waiter greatly upset as he had apparently never heard of germs before. I could understand 15 or 20 years ago doing that sort of thing, but nowadays... it's just not appropriate.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Chili's in Orlando, Fl
Went to Orlando for a meeting, and went to Chili's for lunch with one of the Supervisors from work. This Chili's was located off of S Semoran Blvd. We got seated right away and the Waitress came out and took our drink orders. Very quickly I should add. Despite being about 1:30 in the afternoon, the restaurant was not very crowded.
When waitress came back, she had gotten the wrong drink order, which is not a big deal as mistakes can happen. She appolgized and brought the right drink out a few moments later. After she fixed the drink mistake, she then took our meal orders and our food came out fairly quickly. Both of our meals were served with no mistakes, which was a nice change from some of my previous experiances with other Chili's. Over all the service level was pretty average.
As for the food ratings, well it was ok. I probably won't order the Grilled Ham & Swiss sandwich again, or at least it would not be my first choice. For me, the sandwich either needed, more ham, or less bread, it just didn't seem to have equal parts. Although the taste was not bad at all it just wasn't something that I would eat on a regular basis.
All in all this "adventure" wasn't anything special, nothing really great, and nothing really terrible. Personally I find most of Chili's food to be ok, with no significant difference between different locations. At this kind of "chain" establishment it is the service that can make or break a meal, and this time they were able to make it work out all right.
Grades
Taste: B
Portion Size: B-
Service: B
Recommendations: I would go back to this location if I'm ever in the Orlando Airport area again.
When waitress came back, she had gotten the wrong drink order, which is not a big deal as mistakes can happen. She appolgized and brought the right drink out a few moments later. After she fixed the drink mistake, she then took our meal orders and our food came out fairly quickly. Both of our meals were served with no mistakes, which was a nice change from some of my previous experiances with other Chili's. Over all the service level was pretty average.
As for the food ratings, well it was ok. I probably won't order the Grilled Ham & Swiss sandwich again, or at least it would not be my first choice. For me, the sandwich either needed, more ham, or less bread, it just didn't seem to have equal parts. Although the taste was not bad at all it just wasn't something that I would eat on a regular basis.
All in all this "adventure" wasn't anything special, nothing really great, and nothing really terrible. Personally I find most of Chili's food to be ok, with no significant difference between different locations. At this kind of "chain" establishment it is the service that can make or break a meal, and this time they were able to make it work out all right.
Grades
Taste: B
Portion Size: B-
Service: B
Recommendations: I would go back to this location if I'm ever in the Orlando Airport area again.
Monday, May 09, 2011
Friendly's (Palm Springs,FL)
Another day, another adventure...
Sunday, we had Mother's Dinner out at Friendly's. The food was fairly reasonable in both taste and price. They have a pretty good Kids Meal deal where a little one can get a Drink, Main Course w/ side, and a Desert. Our little guy like the Mac & Cheese with Hot Dogs. The wife had the Honey BBQ Chicken Strips with rice and fries. I had the Sirloin Steak Tips, but I order it with out the mushrooms, peppers or onions, with mashed potatos that had a very flavorfull brown gravy and brocolli. Mom had the Chicken Bruschetta Mozzarella SuperMelt and said that it was quite good, but that the mozzearella could have been a bit more melted. Grandma got the Senior Grilled Chicken Deluxe Sandwich , and all senior meals come with a sundae for desert. Mom's hubby ordered the Delux Cheese BurgerMelt “Set-Up”. Everybody seemed fairly satisfied with their meals, I however, was disapointed with the small ammount of brocoli served on my plate. Usually they serve the side dishes in a small to medium size bowl filled to the top and this is how everyone else at our table was served except me. That being said the food was fair to good.
As for the service, I should really cut our servers a lot of slack. They had a big party to deal with, which included a cranky 2 year old. Having been a server before, I know how difficult it can be to deal with larger parties and or parties with kids, and while we were eating the meal the service was standard. It wasn't anything to write home about, although our waitress was very friendly, and their was nothing to really complain about either durring the main meal time.
That being said, when you're table appears to have finnished eating, and is sitting around talking, that is the time to come over and ask if you can get them anything else. Especially when 2 of your orders are supposed to get dessert, and you know that you haven't served them that part of the meal yet. What you don't want to do, is go and hide for 15-20 minutes. If you're due for a break, you need to make sure someone is covering your tables, that's just serving 101. We were waiting so long, one of our party had to ask one of the other servers if she could either take the dessert orders or if she could find "our" server so that she could take them. We did finnally finnish our meal and get our check, but I am not happy with the wait times involved. It just goes to show poor attention to your customers.
Grades
Food: B
Portion size: B+
Service: C-
It really wasn't bad, but it could have been great.
Recomendations: We would go back to this Friendlys, but if we get served like we did this time, we are likely to not return a third time.
Sunday, we had Mother's Dinner out at Friendly's. The food was fairly reasonable in both taste and price. They have a pretty good Kids Meal deal where a little one can get a Drink, Main Course w/ side, and a Desert. Our little guy like the Mac & Cheese with Hot Dogs. The wife had the Honey BBQ Chicken Strips with rice and fries. I had the Sirloin Steak Tips, but I order it with out the mushrooms, peppers or onions, with mashed potatos that had a very flavorfull brown gravy and brocolli. Mom had the Chicken Bruschetta Mozzarella SuperMelt and said that it was quite good, but that the mozzearella could have been a bit more melted. Grandma got the Senior Grilled Chicken Deluxe Sandwich , and all senior meals come with a sundae for desert. Mom's hubby ordered the Delux Cheese BurgerMelt “Set-Up”. Everybody seemed fairly satisfied with their meals, I however, was disapointed with the small ammount of brocoli served on my plate. Usually they serve the side dishes in a small to medium size bowl filled to the top and this is how everyone else at our table was served except me. That being said the food was fair to good.
As for the service, I should really cut our servers a lot of slack. They had a big party to deal with, which included a cranky 2 year old. Having been a server before, I know how difficult it can be to deal with larger parties and or parties with kids, and while we were eating the meal the service was standard. It wasn't anything to write home about, although our waitress was very friendly, and their was nothing to really complain about either durring the main meal time.
That being said, when you're table appears to have finnished eating, and is sitting around talking, that is the time to come over and ask if you can get them anything else. Especially when 2 of your orders are supposed to get dessert, and you know that you haven't served them that part of the meal yet. What you don't want to do, is go and hide for 15-20 minutes. If you're due for a break, you need to make sure someone is covering your tables, that's just serving 101. We were waiting so long, one of our party had to ask one of the other servers if she could either take the dessert orders or if she could find "our" server so that she could take them. We did finnally finnish our meal and get our check, but I am not happy with the wait times involved. It just goes to show poor attention to your customers.
Grades
Food: B
Portion size: B+
Service: C-
It really wasn't bad, but it could have been great.
Recomendations: We would go back to this Friendlys, but if we get served like we did this time, we are likely to not return a third time.
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Wendy's
While I probably shouldn't write about this, I'm going to do it anyways. I want to talk about their Baconator® sandwich. Its greasy, loaded with fat and calories will probably send you to an early grave if you eat too many of them and I love it. It's got meat, bacon and cheese, this thing really is a "guys meal". That being said I know some of the ladies probably would enjoy it also. If you haven't tried it yet, and you like meat and bacon and cheese, you really should treat yourself to one. I do recommend not eating more than a couple a month though as anymore and you'll have nicely clogged arteries for sure.
Also, the wife had the BLT Cobb salad, she said it was quite tasty and would definitely get it again.
Can't really go wrong if you want a quick fast food meal by hitting up Wendy's. It is most assuredly not "fine dinning" but it'll do in a pinch.
Also, the wife had the BLT Cobb salad, she said it was quite tasty and would definitely get it again.
Can't really go wrong if you want a quick fast food meal by hitting up Wendy's. It is most assuredly not "fine dinning" but it'll do in a pinch.
Friday, May 06, 2011
Mississippi Sweets BBQ (Wellington/Lake Worth)
I'll start out saying that hands down, the food was wonderful. I had the pulled pork platter with the home made applesauce and cornbread, The wifey had the pulled pork sandwich. The pork was very full of flavor and I found it had a great texture and tenderness. I preferred mine without the BBQ sauce. The wife liked hers better with the BBQ Sauce, and overall we were both extremely satisfied with both the flavor and portions sizes.
Despite how good the food is, I think this restaurant will turn into a "Take-out only" venue. The service was sub par. We either had a waitress who was very new, or didn't care about service quality. The meal started out well, she came over, got our drink and appetizer orders and fairly promptly brought them out. The food was also served in fairly short order, this is where the issues began. Once we got our food, our waitress never checked on us again. She walked by several times, but not once did she even acknowledged our presence.
The manager was making his rounds and checking on his customers (like a good manager should do) and we ended up asking him if he could get us another drink (This would be a good time to add, they they don't do free re-fills at this establishment, at least for soda's) and a to-go box. He brought the drinks and box out very quickly. As we were finishing our meal, our server came back over to collect the plates and asked if we needed anything else. We said no, just the check. About 20 minutes later she finally returned with the bill and we were able to pay and leave.
All in all this was a very "meh" dinning experience that could have been a wonderful outing. It really is true that it no matter how tasty the food, if the customer is not happy with the service it really takes away from the whole meal.
This restaurant is located in the Publix shopping plaza at Lake Worth Rd and SR-7.
Grades
Taste: A+
Portion Size: A+
Service: D-
Recommendations: Take-out only.
Despite how good the food is, I think this restaurant will turn into a "Take-out only" venue. The service was sub par. We either had a waitress who was very new, or didn't care about service quality. The meal started out well, she came over, got our drink and appetizer orders and fairly promptly brought them out. The food was also served in fairly short order, this is where the issues began. Once we got our food, our waitress never checked on us again. She walked by several times, but not once did she even acknowledged our presence.
The manager was making his rounds and checking on his customers (like a good manager should do) and we ended up asking him if he could get us another drink (This would be a good time to add, they they don't do free re-fills at this establishment, at least for soda's) and a to-go box. He brought the drinks and box out very quickly. As we were finishing our meal, our server came back over to collect the plates and asked if we needed anything else. We said no, just the check. About 20 minutes later she finally returned with the bill and we were able to pay and leave.
All in all this was a very "meh" dinning experience that could have been a wonderful outing. It really is true that it no matter how tasty the food, if the customer is not happy with the service it really takes away from the whole meal.
This restaurant is located in the Publix shopping plaza at Lake Worth Rd and SR-7.
Grades
Taste: A+
Portion Size: A+
Service: D-
Recommendations: Take-out only.
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