princessteenymeat's Profile
New Orleans Creole Cafe, 512 Tacoma
i went to this place expecting something good. i looked for reviews and the reviews were good. unfortunaltely the food was awful. bland, salty, and cheaped out. the andouille they served in the red beans and rice was alot like hillshire farms polish sausages and the beans were like a cup of salt broth with a side of beans. we were served margarine with our bread so of course we didn't eat that. my husband ordered seafood gumbo and it tasted extremely salty.
i asked about their fries, which they explained were frozen, so we didn't order any. our server explained that because of the economy they were cutting back on fresh ingredients. frankly, if the food we had is a result of cutbacks, i would recommend actually eliminating menu items rather than serving bad food.
noticed only one other couple eating there, though it was 6pm on a saturday. as we became more dissapointed with every bite, i realised the other diners were actually employees. luckily we started small on the menu, planning to order more if the food was good. we beat it out of there as fast as possible after trying a couple of things. Margarine always makes me run away.
i am not sure how this place gets good reviews...
Indochine Downtown Tacoma
my husband and i went to Indochine last monday for lunch. the decor is remarkable. the food....not so much, and the service was simply condescending and frustrating.
we eat asian food alot, and when it comes to any ethnic foods, we prefer it authentic and NOT americanized. Indochine comes highly recommended so we thought we should try it out.
it is mostly fusion food, which can be fun. unfortunately we had to argue with our server about how spicy we wanted our food. we definately asked for it to be very spicy, thai hot. our server said she was going to order it medium. we insisted we wanted it hot and explained we were not your average american diners. we Insisted it be brought to us hot. she agreed, and then went ahead and brought us medium food. extremely frustrating, and condescending. we had to add the spice ourselves.
aside from that, it wasn't even that good, insofar as flavor went. i have had way better asian food, frankly at a much more reasonable price.
Indochine is just ok.
Dropped ChowChild off @ Evergreen in Olympia last weekend
the thai pavillion on 4th and franklin is among the best thai places ever. the owners are wonderful (over the years of eating their, they have made friends with us, and all of their rtegular customers). the chef is a wonderful cook, who has a great talent for traditional food, and creating her own dishes, using only fresh, authentic ingredients.
theres a mcminimens on 4th and capitol way. they are pretty reliable (after a kinda disastrous opening, they have come around nicely) for good, fresh fish. they make a great beer batter, and fresh hand cut fries.
sadly, we lost the ranch house BBQ in the december storm. they are however going to be setting up temporary shop in the Governer hotel, there the southern kitchen used to be.
Feel like a virgin
yes, paseos. i have been there several times now. i have eaten those pork sandwiches. they are a religous experience in your mouth. seriously, your mouth sees god.
Tacoma
alas! from the bayou is no more. the king is dead. long live the king. new owners, new name....havent tried it yet. when i do i will post my thoughts.
Best Indian lunch buffet in Olympia or Tacoma?
i am going to take backl my recomendation to go to Great India Cuisine. while we HADF some good food there, the last time we ordered carry-out they gave us dried out and cold leftovers from the lunch buffet. YUCK! food thats been sitting out for hours....the chicken tandoori was dried and cold, the rice was dried and cold, and the na'an was NOT fresh.
don't go here, we won't again.
Quinn's, Capitol Hill, Seattle
my husband and i went to quinns on a saturday night recently. we were very happy with everything. we had the duck egg, the sloppy joe, a hamburger and fries, and some meatball shooters. as well as some fine beers on tap.
the sloppy joe is something special. it is made from wild boar, served on fresh brioche, and has some crispy fried shallots on top. every bite was better than the last, and i have been thinking of this tasty treat ever since.
the hamburger is made from wagyu, and you will have a plateful of meat juice once you have eaten it, that is how juicy this burger is.
the fries were crisp and delicious.
the egg was yummy, and the shooters were made from house made sausage, and were very good.
we will be back very soon.
Is Fondue back? - The Melting Pot opinions.
we went to the melting pot in tacoma washington. sadly, we were given silverware with goopy old cheese on it. we sent that back, and were given another set, with more goopy old cheese. we had already started on our bottle of wine, and so we asked to see the manager, and stated that we just wanted to leave. how can you trust the cleanliness of ANY of the dishes there, when they are giving us a total of 4 sets of silverware (my husband and i sent back 2 sets apiece) that are filthy.
they gave us a gift certificate, and let us go with our bottle of wine. we went and got some pizza.
we decided to forego tacoma, and try seattles melting pot instead. we decided we were very happy we had been given a gift certificate, for having to pay for this mediocre food, would have been a dissapointment (as it was even with the certificate it was almost $100).
it is a novelty resteraunt, and you must realize you are paying for an experience, dipping cheese.
at any rate, between all the dirty silvereware (eeeeew!) and mediocre food, we decided we won't be going back.
Feel like a virgin
i hear rumers of some faboo cuban sandwiches somewhere in the seattle area. i am hunting them down, and plan to try them asap.
mrnelso, the Dahlia is great! give it a go. the lamb is delicious, and they give good bread! the service was friendly and accomodating.
lake girl, give tavolata a go, you must form your own opinion,but be wary, complaints or critisism may not be taken well.
leper, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm cremente. aside from rather snooty door service that went right with the tacky decore', i can only say lovely things about the food at cremente. we had snails, flank steak, veal, french onion soup (i have dreams about that lovely soup), and some rice dish that made me quiver. wonderful bordeaux, and this extremely rich liquid chocolate dessert thingy that was a lovely finishing touch. i will happily suffer that decore and door strangness for that wonderful food, anytime!! everything we tried, we loved.
Best Indian lunch buffet in Olympia or Tacoma?
yes. there is a good indian restaraunt on 4th street, downtown. Great India Cuisine.
it used to be santosh, but it has new owners (better, friendlier service, and much better food) and some tandoori to die for. they are very generous, and i often have my husband stop there for carryout, and he gets a 'whole tandoori chicken (just legs and thighs mind you, but lots) and basmati rice, for pretty reasonable.
it is moist, delicious, and they will make it very spicy if you ask (not many places will do that with the tandoori).
the currries, masalas, and vindaloo are all prepared well, and fresh, and delicious.
as for the buffet, never tried (it is a waste to buffet me, i dont eat much in a sitting), but considering that everything we have tried there is good, it stands to reason the buffet should be pretty OK.
whatever you do, DO NOT go to the indian restaraint in lacey, on pacific and sleater-kinney. we were deeply disturbed to be served an obviously underbaked mango custard, that tasted suspiciously powdered. we sent that back.
nothing that we ate was remarkable, and although the decore is nice (for lacey) with linenes and candles and the like, nothing else measures up. we were ignored and needed to get up and ask to be given our tab, so we could pay and leave.
and again, soupy raw custard?......yurk! blah!
Thai Garden in Olympia Mall
we used to eat at the thai garden, and frankly, the food and service were great, they even knew us there....
then everything went deep south. it started with overcooked, dry and rubbery calimari, we sent it back and ordered pad thai. uhh, you could taste ketchup! it was streaked with ketchup! we had eaten there for several years, so went back to give them another chance (after we told them about the ketchup and rubber, they offered another meal on the house).
well, our complimentary meal (which we took carry-out, and brought home, a 20 minute drive) came with rice that was waterlogged on one side, and hard on the other, and a curry that was inside of a melted to go bowl! the curry and styrofoam had melted into something new and strange, and not edible. we had to go back, get more food, and that was all wrong too. they then told us they had a new cook. we had tried and sent back a total of 6 dishes. when they offered another free one (which was very kind) we just said no thanks.
we eat at the thai pavilion, downtown. they are reliable, authentic (you will never find ketchup in the pad thai) and friendly. the owner is a very nice man. he makes it a point to personally greet us every time we come in.
the bankok noodles are a treat, and if you ask they will make it spicy for you (it doesnt usually come that way). the satay is moist, tender, and bursting with flavor. the spicey squid is tender and complex. we have been happy with whatever we have ordered there.
Portland Advice
the thai orchid is a place we stop whenever we are in town. it is on west burnside, around 20-23rd. the food is very fresh, authentic, and delicious. the decore is laid back and funky (if you want more formal (but not that great) go to the thai orchid in vancouver washington, they got linens), the service friendly and helpful, and fast.
their green curry is the best i have had anywhere, and you can have it with squid. the ingredients in all of their dishes is authentic, and not americanized. everytime, and everything we have eaten there turned into our favorite! it hurts not to have one in my area....
have a great trip:)
Eugene Food
i usually do not find restaraunts attached to hotels to be all that satisfying, in fact we usually find them poorly reviewed, or otherwise wanting in a big way.
however, we stayed at the Excelsior (in a charming, comfortable room, all of which are named and decorated after composers) and found the restaraunt attached to be wonderful. i can only speak about breakfast, which we had twice (on the trip out, and back; we stayed twice in about a week or so, traveling). everything was perfectly prepared, with good strong gourmet coffee too. the french toast was something special. i needed to have that both times:)
the portions are generous, and the decor is delightful, with something interesting to see (lots of stained glass, and neat floor tiles, polished wood) everywhere you look. we left full, woozy with yumminess, and hoping to return very soon.
also, the staff recognised us on the return trip, and generously offered an upgrade, as well as some other nice things. a very nice place, with very nice people. not bad on the pocketbook, considering this is a lovely inn, and delicious dining experience.
Tacoma
driving to: the thai orchid!! theres one on west burnside (around 21-23rd) in portland and also one in vancouver downtown (sorry i cannot recall what street). they are very authentic, with very fresh ingredients, and authentic ingredients too (like thai eggplant, delicious). they offer squid as a regular menu option (try requesting squid in place of shrimp or chicken in any other restaraunt, the thai pavilion in olympia said NO! in no uncertain terms!) and their curries are the best i have ever had.
despite the refusal to alter or replace dishes to include squid (you have to order one of the few actual squid dishes to get squid) i can reccomend the thai pavilion in downtown olympia as a great place to eat! the owner is very friendly and personable (although the cook is rather strict, c'mon, its easy to replace an ingredient!), the food is authentic (so many places americanize) and always consistantly fresh and delicious. the best, well only place to get good thai in olympia area.
in parkland (slightly off the beaten track, but just up the street from tacoma) is 'from the bayou'. it is on graham street, just off of pacific, and a 1/2 block from PLU. this is just good food. period. everything is spicy, and not adjustable, so not for the 'faint of palate'. the alligator is devine, the crayfish ettoufee is dilerious, and they make the best channel catfish ever, shipped from mississipi. everything is fresh, and made daily, and cooked for hours....the decor is just amazing. the owner is very nice. the service is alway exemplary. reservations are a must. everyone wants to eat here! oh, did i forget the gumbo? ooooh, thats good there!
on jefferson street, in downtown tacoma, is the ROCK. best pizza in washington (dont bother with any of the other rocks, they cheap out or do it wrong, especially LACEY ROCK: yuck, just yuck, only the downtown original is sooooooo gooooood). the downtown, or original ROCK has pizzas that are baked over fruit wood chips in a brick oven (the other ones use GAS, and cheap out on toppings and portions but charge the same). they have wonderful toppings, and the best ceaser salad (with handmade dressing) around. our favorite are the vegetarien 'swan song" (we have proccutio added) which has a white sauce, mozzerella, marinated mushrooms, roasted summer squash, herbed cream chese, and pecans. the one we order most is 'crazy train' (most menu items are named after classic rock-n-roll) which has a red sauce, pepperoni, bacon, sausage, cherry peppers, and onions. the best pizza period! their beers are handcrafted, and delicious. the service is prompt, friendly, and fun. again, go to the downtown tacoma one it is perfect, the others are NOT good. show up early, it gets crowded in the evenings, especially on weekends.
Breakfast in Tacoma
the southern kitchen, on 6th and sprague.
down home cookin, huge portions, and lovely unusual items for breakfast, like catfish, or liver. they have very good corncakes, grits (not many places serve good grits!) and are very reliable in making the basics. two ppl can share one breakfast, and be stuffed!
they have also opened a southern kitchen in olympia. it is at the governers house hotel (used to be ramada) on capitol blvd.
we have been eating at the tacoma one for years! the staff is friendly, and theres a few old timer staff that has as much character as the diner itself! that means lots!
good eats in Cannon Beach?
theres a tavern that serves some great fish and chips. they also brew their own beers, and feature fine beer from other brewerys. it is called *bill's tavern and brewhouse*. the service was friendly, accomodating, and prompt.
the fish was delicious. the beer was perfect. a great place if you just want to have a nice, simple lunch with some damn good fish! very reasonable too. it is right on the main drag, so a great place to stop if you are antiquing, shopping, or looking for souviniers.
we highly reccomend!
