6th- tandoor, bloomington
12th- edina grill, edina
19th- joe's garage, minneapolis
26th- scoreboard, minnetonka
27th- spice thai cuisine, savage
28th- satay 2 go, apple valley
6th- tandoor, bloomington (b-)
i wonder why restaurants have pictures of famous people who have eaten there displayed. is it to make you want to stay if you're in the lobby? give you a feeling of importance that josh hartnett or kareem abdul-jabar have maybe sat where you are sitting today? (both of them have eaten here, by the way...) just a thing i wonder.
they were going to get a b+, but then i checked their web site menu. i was supposed to get papadams with my meal, and i think they gave the to the random guy at the next table, as i certainly got none though they brought them out with the rest of our food. also i am a tad disappointed that the vegetarian platter didn't get on their menu, where it is on their web site.
i had the chicken platter. the menu states it's tandoori chicken, chicken curry, mixed vegetables, rice, nan, chutney, dahi raita, papadam, and dal. one would think you'd get more chicken curry than mixed veg, but nope. not that it wasn't tasty, but it seemed a bit odd. the chicken curry was quite good, but i don't think i'd get this again. i think i'd go with a vegetarian dish.
we split an appetizer, the samosas (crisp patties filled with spiced potatoes and peas. the mint chutney was a bit spicy, but the tamarind went quite nicely with it.
they did have palak paneer, if it is the same thing as saag paneer, which i think it may be, or else it's the same thing only different. i've not been able to confirm that, or if i did know that, right now after splitting a bottle of sauvignon blanc, it is so not going to happen, the recall. the vouvray on the wine list sounded interesting, but they were out. i'll have to pick up a bottle to try it sometime. the wine list here, though not extensive, was very affordable. most wines were in the $20ish range. the dry, citrusy white of the one we got went well with the spice in the indian food.
it was nicely busy for a thursday, and service was pretty good. they had two signs in the bathroom warning against flushing inappropriate objects down the loo. that makes me wonder what happened there.
service at the sister grill, longfellow, was better than this one, which apparently still holds true. weird, as you would think that in the more upscale 50th and france area they'd riot if they had not great service. it took weirdly long to get decaf coffe, jelly brought to the table, etc. mrs. bad restaurant karma remarked that the jelly should've been in a pot rather than a smucker's tub, that's the kind of thing you expect to see at perkins. can't say i disagree.
the got the hot hash and holly, though the holly (holandaise) she got on the side. the hash (browns) were what i tasted off her plate, and they were quite good. better without the holly, so good it was on the side. the cheddar on it was enough, they didn't even need ketsup. so i think their grill is seasoned now, now that they will be most likely moving and require a new one because of construction. oh, well. she also though the decaf, when it did arrive, was quite good.
i went with the huevos rancheros, a bit more of the OG version than the good earth's, but with the tortilla deep fried it's not quite the by the book recipe. the jalapenos provide heat in the dish, which was good, but i kind of which i had a slice of toast or something to cut the heat down every now and then (i used my heavily creamed coffee, bits of tortilla, and some of the hash browns i appropriated for that). they used a squirty bottle to festively decorate the thing with sour cream. i was amused by that.
alas, they need to work on their chopping a bit and break up ingredients a bit more- a 1" square onion bit was a bit too much onion in one place. the cripsy tortilla seems a bit of an effectation and made it seem kind of state fair food. the eggs, while quite good, were a bit overwhelmed by everything else on the plate. and they weren't over easy. small quibbles.
19th- joe's garage, minneapolis (c-)
they forgot the cheese.
i got beer cheese soup, didn't taste much like cheese. and for that matter, it had no crackers (bad trend, that) or popcorn or anything on it, so i had to use what was left of the breadbasket (which could be dangerous, being that last time they wanted money for extra bread which is not happy unless your bread has caviar or something in it). with said bread, pepper, and salt, it was average.
mrs. bad restaurant karma ordered mac and cheese with sun-dried tomatoes, which you think would taste like cheese, but it did not so much. and frankly cost too much for what you got and how it tasted. and a grilled shrimp should not cost $1+ when it's the medium size. but it was. the whole thing was quite disappointing. it tasted like they didn't bake it, only boiled the pasta and put a scant bit of sauce on it and didn't stir.
and i thought i was ordering something different but it turns out it was the same thing. only i wanted gorgonzola on it and as such put in that request. when it came, it had parmesan. they offered to redo it. it wouldn'tve been worth the time, etc. they didn't charge me for the cheese. anyway. it was OK, and the fries were better, less crisp, but more cold.
it's still loud, with harried service this time (i think they didn't plan well for the cirque crowd on this day, they may not have known mea weekend starts tomorrow so there'd be extra kiddies out on the town).
wasn't very enjoyable as an experience. the entry kind of sets the tone- you enter in the bar now (more room for tables in the dining space), but there's no space to wait without being in someone's way if the bar is full as it was.
it was not worth the written price of the meal (totalling over $30). it may have been almost worth what it ended up costing (i had gotten a $25 gift cert for half that amount, plus had a $5 off coupon for totals over $25).
26th- scoreboard, minnetonka (d)
supernachos were a misnomer.
and i am stupid and did not get the salad bar here.
here that is the way, the only way, to eat here if you have bad restaurant karma (via genetic inheritance or homegrown).
if you say you don't want the thing that costs extra with your food and they bring it and leave it on your bill, that's bad and wrong.
if you say yes, you'd like a condiment and there is a charge for it, that should be mentioned also at that time.
27th- spice thai cuisine, savage (c+)
the pad thai with chicken had some weird chicken in it and didn't taste as good as before, though service was more attentive (mostly as we were the only ones there).
28th- satay 2 go, apple valley (a-)
yes, apparently there are a few restaurants in apple valley that are not chains and/or bars and grills. who knew?
so if you must go to apple valley (and there may be a time in your life that you must, not that i recommend it), you can eat here. which will make the whole experience of having to be in apple valley not so bad.
this one features cuisines of many asian nations (singapore, india, japan, china, thailand, vietnam, malaysia etc.) in a mallette near a big box store more or less in the boonies.
i took it as a good sign i was probably the only person there who's only fluent spoken language was english (unless geek counts, which does not say much about my education however). using my informalized and oft-broken rules of restaurants i went with the food in the restaurant name in my first visit, and lo, it was tasty. you get 4 of satay with a spicy peanut dipping sauce, coconut flavored rice, cucumber bits, and two chicken gyoza (pan-fried dumplings).
and you don't have to have it 2 go, you can have it to stay as they have some tables, not many though. you order at the counter and they will bring out the food to you, otherwise it'd get really crowded near the front.
they have a case with some asian baked goods, too- i recommend the red bean buns. i should've gotten a few more for the next few days. anyway. they also have a case of various asian beverages (my favorite name- boss).
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