Another Taste of Thai

We've been pinching pennies and going out to eat less, but last night, on the heels of a tiring camping trip, we splurged and treated ourselves to A Taste of Thai downtown. This time we stayed away from the spicy dishes, choosing instead to get a teriyaki chicken dish with yakisoba noodles and lots of veggies, and a massaman curry that included potatoes of all things. Both tasted fantastic; even the kids loved them.

Another plus: the darling lisping Asian lady who served us did a wonderful job! I have not had such good service in town for months. The food came quickly and she checked on us but she didn't bother us beyond that.

This one is definitely one of our favorites... if we ever stop pinching pennies.

What happened to Service?

Service at Shari's hit an all-time low today. I don't expect much there... after all they don't hire rocket scientists. But what was supposed to be a nice, family lunch-after-church turned into a nightmare. I even broke my good tipping rule.

The two things that put us over the top were both involved with the staff not listening to us but assuming we would want what everyone else wants. We were asked FOUR times if we wanted a high chair for Cody (we didn't... he can't sit up yet) and were bothered numerous times for taking our plates away when we had not finished eating yet but were helping the kids with something.

I can't decide whether to actually boycott though... the pickings get slim around here if you avoid all the places with poor service.

I guess we got spoiled in Portland. :(

Date Night

Since we had to go to Pullman anyway (Moscow's movie theater is being renovated) we immediately found ourselves at New Garden.

I remembered why I love that place! The owner remembered us and asked after our kids. After several years of spotty meetings, that was impressive. We were seated immediately, the food came quickly and as always was hot and delicious. Our waters stayed full and we received boxes as soon as we asked for them.

I have yet to have a bad experience there in fifteen years.

The Angry Bear

Atmosphere: About the same as the previous place that was there.
Food Quality: Good, not great
Food Taste: Good...
Service: Not impressive
Kid Friendliness: So-so.
Overall: Was not impressed
Cost: on the high side. 12 oz steak was $22.
Favorite: nope.

We'd heard mixed reviews from friends about this new place over by Eastside Marketplace. So on my birthday we decided to try it out for ourselves. The waitress lost points by asking us if we were doing all right every so often, but she gained points by refilling our waters and letting my kids order their drinks in toddler-ese.

We got a steak and I was disappointed that it did not have amazing taste and it did have a good amount of inedible fat. With that price I had expected to be overwhelmed, but sadly it was comparable to the steaks I cook at home, which either says something good about my own grilling ability or something not-so-good about theirs.

The kids got a grilled cheese sandwich, which came with homemade bread and American cheese and steak fries.

I do have to mention the dinner salad, which came with crumbled dry cheese, fresh tomatoes and an excellent ranch dressing. That and the fresh bread almost redeemed the rest of the meal.

Overall, I'd say it gets a so-so review. We might try it again at some point, but I doubt it'll top our list. Still, a new restaurant might improve with time and if we hear good things we might try it again.

Red Bento

Atmosphere: Nothing to Write Home About
Food Quality: Excellent
Food Taste: Excellent Sushi
Service: Very good
Kid Friendliness: So-so.
Overall: sushisushisushisushisushi
Cost: surprisingly affordable
Favorite: I think so!

This new Sushi place in town was a question mark until a friend took me out there and we were both favorably impressed. She is something of a sushi connoisseur and says the sushi is as good as anywhere in Seattle or Vancouver, BC, where her daughter lives. I love sushi and I was just happy the rolls are mostly under $10. Yum!

La Casa Lopez, part Dos

My previous review of this place here still works, but as usual I have an update.

We took the family there last night and had a wonderful experience! Hubby and I had fajitas which were mouthwatering. I don't know why our efforts at home cannot even hold a candle to this; we're pretty good cooks! But this was waaaayyyyy better.

The kids had crayons to keep them busy, which I love, and the kids' menu has food my kids will actually eat. Wonderful! The service was good too, in spite of their busy night.

This is definitely one of my favorites!

Gourmet Hiatus

Since we brought our new baby home, we have not only had meals brought to us by our wonderful church family, but the two times we did go out to eat, we went to Shari's so the kids could get Smiley Face pancakes. That has got to be the best marketing tool anyone has ever thought of since restaurants were invented. I thought nothing could make me eat at Shari's twice in one week, but I was wrong. A four-year-old begging for pancakes shaped like a teddy bear will do it.

Smoky Mountain Pizzeria, Second Try

Atmosphere: Trendy
Food Quality: Excellent
Food Taste: Depends what you order
Service: Was not impressed
Kid Friendliness: high chairs provided. Coloring books, crayons. Balloons
Overall: Probably won't be a favorite for us.
Cost: $35 - $50 for a family of four. A little on the high end of family dining.
Favorite: Not sure.

We went here on a date this time, just the two of us. We were hoping for a pleasant dining experience, if not too romantic (the sports channel doesn't set that sort of mood, if you know what I mean) but we were disappointed. The service was worse than the first time we went: slow and inaccurate. For example, the waiter asked us three times if we'd like drinks before we had decided but once we'd ordered (a glass of Chianti) he took forever to bring it, finally muttering that he'd forgotten and brought it after the appetizer came.

As usual the food was tasty although not as outstanding as I remembered. I do know that some friends of ours say this is their absolute favorite place to come as a family so I'm willing to admit we might have gotten bad luck twice. Still, I doubt we'll go back often, even though it seems to be gaining a reputation as a popular hang-out place.

A Taste of Thai

Atmosphere: open, low-key
Food Quality: good
Food Taste: good, if you order the temperature you like. I got medium-spicy... big mistake.
Service: Average, good.
Kid Friendliness: They don't cater to kids but they have a few high chairs. My kids would only eat the rice though. They don't have very educated palettes at 4 and 2.
Overall: Good for something unique.
Cost: $12-$15 per entree.
Favorite: Green Curry. Mild.

For those who don't know, the Thai place is in the old Moscow Hotel, just off Friendship Square. We went there last week on a rare date then went to see Mozart's Requiem, which turned out much better than the dinner, but it was my fault for adventurous ordering. I should stick with what I know and like. When I went there last time I loved it.

Basilios

Atmosphere: Murals of Italy, not quite Trompe l'oeil.
Food Quality: Fine
Food Taste: Usually good
Service: Self-Serve
Kid Friendliness: Kids welcome
Overall: Good family place. The locals like it. Big City patrons are disappointed.
Cost: $7.50 for a decent plate and salad
Favorite: Myzithra and Brown Butter

This downtown Pullman favorite keeps the price low by having you order at the counter and handing you the food there. It's not quite fast food, though, since they bus your table. I find this arrangement to be quite satisfactory since I can refill my water glass when I please and the food is good. I love their fresh salads and they have a certain Ranch dressing that it especially good.

Where you should go if you're....

Vegetarian and in a hurry
Moscow Food Co-op. Kale Slaw. 'Nuff said.

A Preschooler
Shari's. They have "Find The Hidden Picture" placements. And smiley face pancakes.

A Gourmand Millionaire
West of Paris. Duh.

Low on Caffeine
Bucer's Coffee Shop Pub. Might grab a panini while you're there. Get the Cubano Con Leche for your drink.

Looking for the freshest food in town and good service
New Garden Chinese. Wow.

Getting off the beaten path
Helmer Store and Cafe in Helmer, Idaho. One Heckuva Burger. Trust me. Also, quit whining. You can mapquest it yourself.

In a sophisticated mood
Nectar's Wine Bar.

Fond of Dr. Seuss
The Breakfast Club. Green Eggs and Ham. Haven't tried it personally. Yet.

Hungry
Sangria Grille.

Craving Cheese Enchiladas
Cafe Lopez. Go there for dinner, not lunch because their black bean dipping sauce is to die for.

Craving non-Tex-Mex Food
Patty's Kitchen. Almost as authentic as the Taco Wagon.

Pinching pennies
Tucci's Italian. Split a plate, you get a big salad and bread for free.

Really pinching pennies
Super China Buffet take-out. You can get a LOT of food for $10.

Looking for the quintessential "Moscow" experience
Wheatberries Bakery. Lunch only.

Bored
A Taste of Thai. Curry makes a nice change of pace.

Really Bored
Farmer's Market downtown on Saturday mornings in the summer.

A food blog writer who's running out of ideas
Old Post Office. I really need to get over there.

Ciao and happy dining!

Where Not To Go: The Breakfast Club

I've put off writing this post for far too long.* I know, my five readers are going to send me hate mail, but I have to call 'em as I see 'em. And I have been to The Breakfast Club three times and had a terrible experience all three times. I cannot figure out why so many people I've talked to absolutely love the place. Maybe it's a really terrific restaurant and I just have spectacularly bad luck.

The first time Hubby and I went together to try it out. The coffee tasted burnt and I remember it being absolutely packed so it took a long time to get our food.

Time number two involved our very good friends, E&K wanting to go there and K being unhappy at their lack of vegetarian selections. I also remember getting a skillet meal that I could have cooked better at home. (My standard for good eating is whether the version I make at home tastes better. As I am becoming a better cook this is starting to pose problems.)

The most recent visit to TBC was a big group of my family members all eating there (including my kids) for some event that I have since forgotten. I do remember that we had burnt coffee again and we waited a long time to get seated and get our food because once again it was packed to the gills. Obviously some people really like to eat there.

I ought to try it in the summer months when it is not so busy, when all the students are at home and the town lies in mellow bliss under the blazing summer sunshine... Ok, I'll stop now.


________________________________
* In a small town like ours it does not do to criticize local businesses. Even if you're a snobbish food-blog writer and it's your JOB to give accurate recommendations, it simply does not do. One time when I was working at the front desk at the Quality Inn, I was asked by a guest which restaurant I would recommend. I named a few nearby and she asked, "What about Denny's down the road?" I naively told her I wouldn't recommend it. Just being honest, folks. I had been there recently with a rather large group and it took us over an hour to get our food and when it did come some of the orders were incorrect. If it had been an isolated incident, I might have been gracious enough to overlook it, but unfortunately, it wasn't. Well, this guest of mine trotted right over to Denny's and told the management there that the Quality Inn staff was recommending guests not go to their restaurant. To my shock, the owner himself marched over to the Quality Inn that same morning and bawled me out, screaming in my face about how we local businesses need to stick together and how we ought never to give one another a bad recommendation, ever (even if it was the truth) and yadda, yadda and at that point I think I started to cry. Two things have arisen from the ashes of this confrontation. One: I think twice about giving local businesses a bad recommendation. Two: I have never, ever gone back to Denny's.

List of Places I Have Never Been

There aren't that many restaurants in the Moscow/Pullman area. Even so, I get in a rut which is a bad idea for writing a useful food blog. Over the next year I'd like to try each of the places I have never been at least once.

Sushi place in Moscow Hotel. Thank you to Austin Storm for calling my attention to it. I knew it was there but forgot about it.

The renovated Mark IV hotel, now operating under another name and new management. I haven't tried it since it changed. The Sandpiper.

That Sandwich place in the Old Post Office in Pullman.

The Korean/Japanese restaurant just below Stadium Way, in the motel.

The Thai place on Grand just north of the Post Office.

The Loco Hawaiian Plate Lunch. On Main a block north of Zion's Bank.

The Chinese place on Washington near the Post Office.

The Japanese place that used to be Sakura but I don't remember the new name. On Grand in Pullman.

The storefront place across from The Daily Grind.

Sella's Calzones

Vietnamese place up by Campus Commons

CUB?

The Hilltop


Footnote: Places I've visited but have not reviewed yet...

Teriyaki Joe's
Old Peking
The Chinese place next to Sister's Brew. (I have a personal story involving almost calling off my wedding at this place I'll tell some sometime.)
The Daily Grind
Basilios in Pullman
The Fireside Grille in Pullman
Tam's Family Dining
Denny's (I had the privilege of getting chewed out by the owner once. That's a pretty good story too.)
The Emerald Chinese
Rancho Viejo (The Old Farm in English)
Nuevo Vallarta
Pizza Huts in both towns
Winger's (closed due to huge fire... you can get their wings at Tucci's for now)
The Breakfast Club (Thanks, Anon!)
Applebee's
Patty's Kitchen

If anyone knows of restaurants I'm missing, let me know in a comment. I'll add them to my list.

Sangria, Part Deux

The other day some good friends of our offered to babysit. To celebrate this rare occasion, we went to Sangria to eat and I have a few factual updates for you.

Fist of all, my first review still stands.

We asked the waiter what they had remodeled since it looked pretty much the same inside. We were informed that the floors were redone (I remember carpet, now a mix of tile and wood... looks nice) and the kitchen had some much-needed renovations done.

Hubby also informs me that it is in fact NOT a chain but was started and run by some chefs who wanted to settle in the area. A husband-wife team, if I remember correctly. So that's cool since I am all about supporting local businesses.

Well, this time we had our favorite again, the Drunk Steak as well as an appetizer and a dessert. The appetizer we chose the Avocado rolls which turned out to be avocado pieces fried in wonton wrappers and covered with some sort of sweet relish. Drool.

Since Hubby's favorite feature of the Drunk Steak is the garnish of fried plantains, he got an extra side dish of them, complete with a peach compote salsa that sent him directly into bliss. For dessert we opted for the Banana Tahiti cheesecake which came to us meltingly warm and swimming in a dulce de leche sauce. As cheesecakes go it was good but not the best I have ever tasted. The sauce made up for whatever the cake lacked though.

On this trip our waiter didn't meet my expectations at all. She was brassy and kept coming to our table when I had my mouth full asking if I liked my food. Pardon me, but this is a pet peeve of mine and I run into it constantly in this one-horse town. If you go to someone's restaurant to eat their food you expect them to give you something edible. You should not need to be asked five times throughout the meal if you like it. In my opinion, a good waiter should be quietly available in case something is wrong that needs fixing but otherwise he or she should let patrons alone to enjoy their meal and conversation. It irritates me to no end to be interrupted in the middle of a sentence to my dinner partner with a "You like your food okay?" GRRRR. Just keep my water glass full, bring the next thing at the proper time and leave me alone to enjoy it.

OK, rant over. Other than Annoying Waitress Lady, our recent Sangria trip was quite pleasurable.

Note to self...

I saw an ad for the new sandwich place in the Old Post Office in Pullman. Want to check that out.

Also heard that the new sushi place in the Korean hotel above the Main Street Bridge in Pullman is pretty good. I want to try that also since I LOVE sushi and so far the Co-op is the only edible stuff I can find.

Nectar, Part Deux

Restaurant Review Here.

It occurred to me tonight as Hubby and I sat at an intimate wooden table whose surface was cluttered with wine glasses, baguette plates, appetizers and salad forks, that if I was running a decent restaurant in a college town, I'd probably raise my prices sky-high too. We weren't paying for the food, delicious though it was, including some kind of creamy French cheese with an unpronounceable name that I'd commit some sort of a crime in order to eat it again, but we were paying to have a waiter who refilled our water glasses without being asked, who knew how to pronounce the name of not only the cheese but also the Argentinian wine and who smoothly made chatty conversation with us on his way past our table.

We were paying for a chef who had the audacity to cover his salad with Gruyere cheese and who served raw homeycomb. But most of all we were paying a price that was high enough to discourage the student population, even the ones in the posh fraternities and sororities thus keeping the atmosphere mellow and the clientele polite. For that in this town I would pay a lot.

Sister's Brew Coffeehouse

Atmosphere: Friendly and eclectic with comfy chairs
Food Quality: very good
Food Taste: Excellent
Service: They bring your order to your table, unusual for coffee houses
Kid Friendliness: laid back atmosphere, a few board games. Also, dogs allowed.
Overall: good for an interesting lunch
Cost: $6.50 for a ciabatta-bread sandwich, $3.50 for a latte
Favorite: Cranberry Cream Cheese Turkey sandwich

Once in a while my Hubby watches the kids and frees me to go have dinner and take a bit of a break. When that happens, my favorite thing to do it take a good book down to Sister's Brew and grab one of their outstanding sandwiches for dinner. They're fresh and tasty, made on home-baked bread and who can say no to a frothy, foamy latte on the side?



See also the posts on Hubby's blog about Sister's Brew Here.

The Broiler

Atmosphere: Quiet and intimate, good for businessmen
Food Quality: Very good
Food Taste: Also very good
Service: Top end of small town. Once in a while they miss something but they don't try to chase you out either!
Kid Friendliness: Would be okay if they'll be quiet and sit still.
Overall: A little overpriced but good food.
Cost: $15-$30 per plate? I don't remember.
Favorite: Sunday Brunch Buffet

I have been given coupons for the Sunday Brunch Buffet and have been taken to lunch there by employers, or I probably never would have gone. The salads I had for lunch were terrific; they had lots of interesting combinations and the ingerdients were quite fresh. The Sunday Brunch Buffet was the topper, though. A chocolate fountain with fresh strawberries, chafing dishes full of tempting potato creations and cheesy blintzes, a chef on hand ready to cook up a fresh crepe or omelette or slice off some roast beef. The only thing I ever found to be less than top quality was the breads and pastries were sometimes a little dry.

Swilly's

Atmosphere: Trendy and Sophisticated
Food Quality: Amazing. Always top-notch.
Food Taste: I love their chef's style! I guess she's been there for many years.
Service: Big-city quality. Fresh ground pepper on your salad.
Kid Friendliness: Get a sitter.
Overall: One of those Seattle-style places you have to know about.
Cost: $24-$40 per plate
Favorite: Don't go often enough.

We went there for a nice Valentine's Day date. The place was packed; we had to have a reservation, which we did. The dinner salad had nuts, caramelized red onions and Gorgonzola cheese on it, with some kind of mild house dressing. Matt got a seafood fettuccine dish which was good and I got the Northwest Seafood Stew which was out-of-this world good! We both agreed mine was better, hehe. I had the Sauvignon Blanc and I should have gotten a red, but oh well. Then we split this incredible dessert, something about molten chocolate with coffee ice cream. Perfect end to a culinarily delightful evening.

The Pantry

Atmosphere: Family, unlimited coffee refills.
Food Quality: Usually good.
Food Taste: Usually quite good.
Service: Often lacking. We have to go track down a waitress sometimes and they're the type that stop by and ask if everything is ok a little too often, but not when you actually need something.
Kid Friendliness: yep, they'll give you a high chair and a booster seat and a box of crayons.
Overall: One of the better breakfast-for-dinner places in town. A tad overpriced though.
Cost: $9-$15 per plate, $4 for kids if I remember right.
Favorite: Taco omelette

We usually have this one in the rotation somewhere. I have usually been happy with my food there although it is just run-of-the mill grill-style food. I think of it more as comfort food! But we are usually happy with the quality when we go.