Friday, November 30, 2007

Corner Bakery Cafe + + + + $

Where? Lake and Del Mar
Who? Andrew, Dora, Themo

Great place to eat on a cold and dreary day. The soup definitely warms you right up. Loaded potato soup is excellent, the cheese and broccoli mix is also OK. Panini's are very good - I had the Club, which was dripping with buttered goodness. Creamy hazelnut coffee blend is wonderful. Restaurant can get crowded and has a great cafe feel. Park in the structure behind the restaurant. Thumbs up.

Monday, November 19, 2007

The Sizzler * */ + + + $

Who? Howie, Jiesi, Andrew
Where? Wilshire and Western

Themos' Take: This is a chain of american-style restaurants. The hearty meals cost $10-$15 so you can get some (not awesome yet decent) steaks and seafood for that price. Great choice when there is nothing else around.

Andrew's Take: Agreed. It's decent food for relatively cheap. The bacon wrapped filets were tasty and the baked potato was mashedly soft. Medium-rare actually came medium rare. The service speed is very fast since you order first, sit down, and the food is then brought to you. Thumbs up.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Taylor's Steakhouse + + / * * * $ $

Who? Michellios, Andrew, Sean and Amy
Where? 8th and Ardmore, K-town

Andrew's take: In a perfect world, this place would be a cheaper alternative to Ruth Chris or Lawry's. First impressions are great - a very classy dining atmosphere with great big booths and dim romantic lighting. The bread is passable. Lobster bisque arrived hot and creamy and in my opinion was the best tasting part of the meal. I got the bone in rib-eye, which IMHO was cut too thick. Maybe I'm not a connoisseur of meat cutting but the thickness of the meat certainly made it difficult to cook medium-rare. The outside arrived well done whilst the center was almost medium-rare. Mashed potatoes were plain and non-too-eyebrow-raising. Recommended Cab was too dry, bland and had no body. Thumbs sideways.

Themos's take: I was a little disappointed by this place. The steaks are good but not great, the service is ok, and there isn't much attention to detail (like the frozen butter than you can't spread in the bread until it gets warmer). My porterhouse lacked the filet part of the steak, and both our steaks where somewhat undercooked (lots of dark red regions although I asked for medium). The place is a good deal for the price, as in "proper" steakhouses you get to pay $50-$70 per person (hence the rating), however there is nothing exceptional here.