so, i'm not a big wine person, so i've sort of stayed away from pinot
even though it's in my neighborhood and i always like to find good,
local food. i also didn't think their menu was all that extensive.
anyway, a good friend had told me that they had been recently and that
we should check it out, and that they dinner menu had changed a little.
i
stopped by on a wednesday evening and it was crazy hot outside.
inside, very pleasant. clean, cool atmosphere greeted us, and we sat
with our friends who had gotten there before us. the waiter brought out
waters and menus, and gave us some time to look over things.
when
he came back, i ordered a spatten off their beer menu - even though
they're a wine bar they have a very nice beer menu. not sure if they
have much on tap, but have a good bottle selection and most are very
reasonably priced.
anyway, my wife ordered one of the cheese
plates and a dessert for dinner. she really liked it - the cheese was up
to her expectations and it also came with fruit and nuts. yeah, i
know, this is basic cheese plate stuff, but it was still good. i
ordered the burger & fries. the burger comes with fresh lettuce,
tomato and choice of cheese. you can also add bacon or an egg for an
additional charge. i wanted to taste their burger as is, so i just went
with the standard order. i was impressed that it was cooked to order,
and the chef actually cooked it right. sounds simple, again, but often a
cooked to order burger is still well done, which isn't my taste. the
burger had a very good taste. the fries were some simple shoe strings,
but the tasted nice, and were finished with a sea or kosher salt.
i
will certainly be going back for the burger again, but this time i'll
be adding the egg for sure because eggs on burgers are the business.
probably the bacon as well. the food menu isn't super large, and the
other items seemed interesting and worth trying. i have no idea about
the wines.
Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts
Monday, August 13, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
lela's dinner review
it's restaurant week in fresno. that means a lot of local restaurants have fixed price menus going, and you all should get out and try some place new. you don't have to go to one of the participating restaurant, but you should go to something local and new to you, in my opinion. for us, the stars aligned and we decided to go to lela's.
you see, the other night i was talking to nolan, a guy i've talked to a few times before, but i wouldn't say i know him really well. i know him, he knows me, in the sense of we've got some shared friends, we've chatted at bars, and we'd definitely say hi to each other in passing. well, the other day we ran into each other and he told me all about the new ventures in his life. he had been cooking in restaurants, but has stopped, and is now a part of tower urban family farm. he and his brothers have converted some property around one (maybe more) of their houses into farm, and are growing vegetables. they're selling it every weekend from the urban farm. they're also in the process of getting certified as a farm, something that's a little tricky when you're in the city limits. once they are certified, nolan felt they could really be sustainable as a business because they could sell more openly to restaurants and such. in fact, he said he had at least two places that specifically will be using their vegetables as soon as they are certified, but aren't able to take the risk before. one place that is willing to go out on a limb is lela's.
lela's is out at herndon and marks, which is pretty far out there for us. it's not that we won't go to different parts of town for food or entertainment, but this is any area of town that we don't spend much time in. lela's is tucked away in a less than scenic shopping center, but that doesn't really matter for the dining experience once you're inside. the decor is nice and clean, fairly modern and there's a window that allows you to see the chefs at work. they have a few booths and mostly tables. i'd guess the place seats around 50 to 60 people.
the menu is standard american cuisine, and i don't say that in any sort of pejorative manner. in a recent fresno bee article it was referred to as lighter, traditional fare. for starters, we had the cheese & fruit plate and the crab cakes. my wife really enjoyed the cheeses. (admittedly, we love cheese, and will get cheese plate appetizers at a lot of restaurants. if it's on the menu, we'll probably order one.) i had the crab cakes, which were a dungeneus crab mix, coated in panko. they're served on a bed of greens with a light sauce. they were amazing. you get 3, i could have foolishly eaten like 30. maybe that's just me. for our mains, we ordered the grilled salmon and the ribeye. the salmon comes with quinoa, which had a texture like maybe it had been fried a little, and that was pretty nice. it also had a nice sweetness to it. my wife said if quinoa was always like this she would love it. it also comes with some root vegetables and arugula. the salmon was well prepared, but overall was pretty normal. the ribeye comes portabella mushroom potato croquet, spinach and asparagus. i liked the veggies, but whatever, i was focused on the ribeye. the ribeye was everything i expected: tender, juicy, flavorful. it had a simple seasoning to it, which allowed the meat flavor to stand out on it's own. yes, there is a glaze that went over the food, but it added to the flavor and didn't dominate the plate. i was also pleased that the ribeye was trimmed of most of the fat but still had a little on the edge along with the juicy amounts in the cut. honestly, sometimes at restaurants you get a ribeye that has a crazy amount of fat and can be a bit overwhelming. for dessert, we had the new york cheesecake which was good, and their take on the drumstick - the deconstructed drumstick, which is a scoop of ice cream with a waffle cone peace on it, chocolate sauce w/peanuts and some cashews. both desserts were good, but we were pretty full from our meal and neither of us finished dessert (again, we were just full, both tasted good).
as for the staff, we found our waiter very nice. he and the other staff seemed pretty knowledgeable and willing to serve. it seems strange to say that about wait staff, but sometimes they just want to talk your ear off, or aren't around. we were checked on a reasonable amount of times, and the waiter actually asked my opinion on how they do their coffee - they bring out a french press to your table. i was honest, and said it was alright but not great. i liked the presentation of it, but the coffee itself wasn't that great, and with french pressed coffee it always seems a bit silty. it was also nice that the executive chef come out and was checking on patrons, and stopped by. i wanted to ask him some questions, but was busy with my ribeye when he came to our table.
overall, we had a very nice experience, would recommend lela's to other's, and would go back again.
lela's
7089 marks avenue, ste 101
432-9900
btw, i recommend reservations, and the dress seems like dress casual.
you see, the other night i was talking to nolan, a guy i've talked to a few times before, but i wouldn't say i know him really well. i know him, he knows me, in the sense of we've got some shared friends, we've chatted at bars, and we'd definitely say hi to each other in passing. well, the other day we ran into each other and he told me all about the new ventures in his life. he had been cooking in restaurants, but has stopped, and is now a part of tower urban family farm. he and his brothers have converted some property around one (maybe more) of their houses into farm, and are growing vegetables. they're selling it every weekend from the urban farm. they're also in the process of getting certified as a farm, something that's a little tricky when you're in the city limits. once they are certified, nolan felt they could really be sustainable as a business because they could sell more openly to restaurants and such. in fact, he said he had at least two places that specifically will be using their vegetables as soon as they are certified, but aren't able to take the risk before. one place that is willing to go out on a limb is lela's.
lela's is out at herndon and marks, which is pretty far out there for us. it's not that we won't go to different parts of town for food or entertainment, but this is any area of town that we don't spend much time in. lela's is tucked away in a less than scenic shopping center, but that doesn't really matter for the dining experience once you're inside. the decor is nice and clean, fairly modern and there's a window that allows you to see the chefs at work. they have a few booths and mostly tables. i'd guess the place seats around 50 to 60 people.
the menu is standard american cuisine, and i don't say that in any sort of pejorative manner. in a recent fresno bee article it was referred to as lighter, traditional fare. for starters, we had the cheese & fruit plate and the crab cakes. my wife really enjoyed the cheeses. (admittedly, we love cheese, and will get cheese plate appetizers at a lot of restaurants. if it's on the menu, we'll probably order one.) i had the crab cakes, which were a dungeneus crab mix, coated in panko. they're served on a bed of greens with a light sauce. they were amazing. you get 3, i could have foolishly eaten like 30. maybe that's just me. for our mains, we ordered the grilled salmon and the ribeye. the salmon comes with quinoa, which had a texture like maybe it had been fried a little, and that was pretty nice. it also had a nice sweetness to it. my wife said if quinoa was always like this she would love it. it also comes with some root vegetables and arugula. the salmon was well prepared, but overall was pretty normal. the ribeye comes portabella mushroom potato croquet, spinach and asparagus. i liked the veggies, but whatever, i was focused on the ribeye. the ribeye was everything i expected: tender, juicy, flavorful. it had a simple seasoning to it, which allowed the meat flavor to stand out on it's own. yes, there is a glaze that went over the food, but it added to the flavor and didn't dominate the plate. i was also pleased that the ribeye was trimmed of most of the fat but still had a little on the edge along with the juicy amounts in the cut. honestly, sometimes at restaurants you get a ribeye that has a crazy amount of fat and can be a bit overwhelming. for dessert, we had the new york cheesecake which was good, and their take on the drumstick - the deconstructed drumstick, which is a scoop of ice cream with a waffle cone peace on it, chocolate sauce w/peanuts and some cashews. both desserts were good, but we were pretty full from our meal and neither of us finished dessert (again, we were just full, both tasted good).
as for the staff, we found our waiter very nice. he and the other staff seemed pretty knowledgeable and willing to serve. it seems strange to say that about wait staff, but sometimes they just want to talk your ear off, or aren't around. we were checked on a reasonable amount of times, and the waiter actually asked my opinion on how they do their coffee - they bring out a french press to your table. i was honest, and said it was alright but not great. i liked the presentation of it, but the coffee itself wasn't that great, and with french pressed coffee it always seems a bit silty. it was also nice that the executive chef come out and was checking on patrons, and stopped by. i wanted to ask him some questions, but was busy with my ribeye when he came to our table.
overall, we had a very nice experience, would recommend lela's to other's, and would go back again.
lela's
7089 marks avenue, ste 101
432-9900
btw, i recommend reservations, and the dress seems like dress casual.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
a dinner story
let me tell you a little story about dinner, etiquette, and proper behavior in a restaurant. you see, last night monticore and i went to dinner @ a neighborhood restaurant, livingstones. i generally think they have decent food, and we had a coupon that my wife got for her birthday, so we decided to eat there for a late dinner. we sat inside, ordered, and everything seemed to be going smoothly. and then people sat near us.
now, it's not like we were having some intimate date out or something like that, we were just having dinner. two people were seated @ a booth behind me, and that's fine. the issue started when someone was seated at a second both.
here, let me illustrate with a photo recreation using sugar packets:
we're the packet on the left of screen, oriented sort of north/south, and we're actually @ a table for two along the wall. the other two packets are booths that are next to each other.
seated @ the booth behind us, once again is a party of two, on opposite sides of the table. a third person entered into the story by sitting at the other booth, on the far side from the other people. now, that's not a problem. what is a problem is that they all knew each other. and they decided they would have a long conversation with each other, all while seated. since they were covering a decent amount of space, they needed to talk louder. which, of course, meant that we were now also privy to their conversation, their life experiences, their complaints about classes, their thoughts on ballot initiatives, and whatever else they wanted to talk about.
why wouldn't you sit at the same table when you realize you're going to have a conversation that is longer than, "hello, how are you?" do you really think everyone in the section wants to hear your conversation? apparently these people either had no sense of etiquette, or they thought that the wife and i, and anyone else around, did care what they thought.
they were wrong. but what's even worse is that when you're sitting around people like this your whole thought process becomes dominated by them. you try not to listen, you try and have your own conversation, but eventually their stupidity slips into your ear and you're distracted. i tried a nice, passive/aggressive look. not just a glance, but i'm turning and making eye contact with you so hopefully you realize your behavior is improper, but my subtle social control method did not work.
so, while we enjoyed our food, and the first part of the meal, sadly we had to finish our dinner a bit annoyed by rants and misinformed opinions on politics.
now, it's not like we were having some intimate date out or something like that, we were just having dinner. two people were seated @ a booth behind me, and that's fine. the issue started when someone was seated at a second both.
here, let me illustrate with a photo recreation using sugar packets:
we're the packet on the left of screen, oriented sort of north/south, and we're actually @ a table for two along the wall. the other two packets are booths that are next to each other.
seated @ the booth behind us, once again is a party of two, on opposite sides of the table. a third person entered into the story by sitting at the other booth, on the far side from the other people. now, that's not a problem. what is a problem is that they all knew each other. and they decided they would have a long conversation with each other, all while seated. since they were covering a decent amount of space, they needed to talk louder. which, of course, meant that we were now also privy to their conversation, their life experiences, their complaints about classes, their thoughts on ballot initiatives, and whatever else they wanted to talk about.
why wouldn't you sit at the same table when you realize you're going to have a conversation that is longer than, "hello, how are you?" do you really think everyone in the section wants to hear your conversation? apparently these people either had no sense of etiquette, or they thought that the wife and i, and anyone else around, did care what they thought.
they were wrong. but what's even worse is that when you're sitting around people like this your whole thought process becomes dominated by them. you try not to listen, you try and have your own conversation, but eventually their stupidity slips into your ear and you're distracted. i tried a nice, passive/aggressive look. not just a glance, but i'm turning and making eye contact with you so hopefully you realize your behavior is improper, but my subtle social control method did not work.
so, while we enjoyed our food, and the first part of the meal, sadly we had to finish our dinner a bit annoyed by rants and misinformed opinions on politics.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
dinner review qn4u
so, i'd heard a lot of good things about qn4u. a friend of mine, who came with me, had previously eaten there and wanted to go back and try a few more things. we grabbed another friend and off we went. qn4u is sort of on the edge of old town clovis, and is kind of far from our part of town. no worries though, that's what they make cars for.
we were quickly seated and the waitress got us drinks in short order. in fact, the service on the evening was great. tons of refills, she checked on the quality of our meals often, and pretty much did everything to make sure we had a nice experience.
we started our meal off with the "pig candy" appetizer. they take little smokey hot dogs, wrap them in bacon, roll 'em in brown sugar and then bake them. ah, sweet decadence.
i figured i was @ a bbq joint, so i ordered the ribs, especially because they're award winning. full rack. i knew there was no chance i'd actually eat them all, but that meant leftover ribs would be in my future. it comes with two sides, and i went with sweet potato fries and beans. the portion size for the sides was appropriate, while the entrees are a bit excessive. but, we're americans, we like things big. i enjoyed the ribs. they were tender, but not quite fall off the bone. this helped because i was able to actually pick the ribs up and more or less suck the meat off them. good times.
my one friend ordered the texas tommie. it's a huge hot dog, probably around a pound, that's sliced down the middle, stuffed with cheese and green pepper, wrapped in bacon and then cooked. this massive dog comes in a roll, and a side. so much food.
my other friend ordered the bbq chicken, which is three large pieces, covered in bbq sauce. it also comes w/2 sides. he went with the sweet potato fries (copycat) and the cole slaw. the cole slaw was interesting as it had bits of apple and some other fruit along side of the normal cabbage and what not. his chicken was good, although i actually think he was a bit more impressed with the slaw.
so, from my experience:
good food
nice place
great service
we were quickly seated and the waitress got us drinks in short order. in fact, the service on the evening was great. tons of refills, she checked on the quality of our meals often, and pretty much did everything to make sure we had a nice experience.
we started our meal off with the "pig candy" appetizer. they take little smokey hot dogs, wrap them in bacon, roll 'em in brown sugar and then bake them. ah, sweet decadence.
i figured i was @ a bbq joint, so i ordered the ribs, especially because they're award winning. full rack. i knew there was no chance i'd actually eat them all, but that meant leftover ribs would be in my future. it comes with two sides, and i went with sweet potato fries and beans. the portion size for the sides was appropriate, while the entrees are a bit excessive. but, we're americans, we like things big. i enjoyed the ribs. they were tender, but not quite fall off the bone. this helped because i was able to actually pick the ribs up and more or less suck the meat off them. good times.
my one friend ordered the texas tommie. it's a huge hot dog, probably around a pound, that's sliced down the middle, stuffed with cheese and green pepper, wrapped in bacon and then cooked. this massive dog comes in a roll, and a side. so much food.
my other friend ordered the bbq chicken, which is three large pieces, covered in bbq sauce. it also comes w/2 sides. he went with the sweet potato fries (copycat) and the cole slaw. the cole slaw was interesting as it had bits of apple and some other fruit along side of the normal cabbage and what not. his chicken was good, although i actually think he was a bit more impressed with the slaw.
so, from my experience:
good food
nice place
great service
Thursday, March 27, 2008
early retirement
last night, heather and i headed over to north fresno to visit a friend in the hospital. he seems to be doing well enough, but then again, he's in the hospital.
anyway, we figured we would grab a bite to eat while we were out there. there are a ton of food options, and we settled on tgi fridays. why? i don't know. but, every so often it seems like we go there.
so, as we looked at the menu, heather came across something quite funny:
in case you can't read that, the cinnadunkers were forced into early retirement. what's a cinnadunker?
according to the friday's website, they are, "Steaming hot fresh dounuts tossed tableside with cinnamon sugar. Served with cream cheese dipping sauce."
the funny thing is, this is a new item on the menu. the website even says they're new. what i want to know is if they were terrible? or were they just that bad for you that even fridays decided to remove, errrr, retire them?
anyway, we figured we would grab a bite to eat while we were out there. there are a ton of food options, and we settled on tgi fridays. why? i don't know. but, every so often it seems like we go there.
so, as we looked at the menu, heather came across something quite funny:
in case you can't read that, the cinnadunkers were forced into early retirement. what's a cinnadunker?
according to the friday's website, they are, "Steaming hot fresh dounuts tossed tableside with cinnamon sugar. Served with cream cheese dipping sauce."
the funny thing is, this is a new item on the menu. the website even says they're new. what i want to know is if they were terrible? or were they just that bad for you that even fridays decided to remove, errrr, retire them?
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
dinner review - mr. sushi
i've been waiting ages for a sushi place to open in my neighborhood. there was one years ago, but that's history, this is now. so, when i saw that a sushi place was going in a few months ago, i early anticipated the day it would open and i would eat there. i wasn't able to get there on opening day, but four days later is pretty good.
i went there with two other people, and we were quickly seated. the restaurant has twenty tables that seat four, and could be pushed together for bigger groups. they also have a bar that seats twenty or so. we were seated at a table next to the front window, which is nice because it affords some people watching while you eat.
for our dinner, we ordered several rolls, some maguro (tuna) and some edamame. the edamame appetizer came out first and was piping hot. it could have used a little more salt for my taste, but still a good start.
i had the maguro and it was delicious. the tuna melted in my mouth, tasted perfectly fresh, and, well, was delicious. i also had the tiger roll, which was a california roll topped with shrimp and eel. the flavor of the roll was very good, and the eel had a nice little crunch to it.
my wife had a cucumber roll that she thought was sort of average. she felt that there was a bit too much sesame on the roll for her taste. and, she also put a little too much wasabi in her dish so it was pretty spicy, but that was her bad.
our friend ordered the asparagus roll and the spicy tuna roll. he said the asparagus roll was good, and even though the asparagus was steamed it still had a good crunch to it. the spicy tuna roll was fantastic! it's tuna with a spicy sauce and some yellow onion, although the onion was faint if even there. but he loved it.
the restaurant had a nice atmosphere, with good music. my friend ate there the other day and they told him that the owner picks all the music, and it's mostly 80's & 90's stuff.
the food was a good price and the portions were sensible. honestly, i've eaten @ some other sushi restaurants in fresno and felt stuffed after the meal. tonight, just right. and the prices were nice. the only drawback was that we didn't get a refill on our drinks. but hey, it's only the first week they're open, i'm sure they'll get all the kinks iron out.
724 e. olive
fresno, 93728
559.485.3978
and i'm calling it mr. sushi even if the sign and the top of the menu look like mr. mr. sushi. the deal in the window is just mr. sushi.
i went there with two other people, and we were quickly seated. the restaurant has twenty tables that seat four, and could be pushed together for bigger groups. they also have a bar that seats twenty or so. we were seated at a table next to the front window, which is nice because it affords some people watching while you eat.
for our dinner, we ordered several rolls, some maguro (tuna) and some edamame. the edamame appetizer came out first and was piping hot. it could have used a little more salt for my taste, but still a good start.
i had the maguro and it was delicious. the tuna melted in my mouth, tasted perfectly fresh, and, well, was delicious. i also had the tiger roll, which was a california roll topped with shrimp and eel. the flavor of the roll was very good, and the eel had a nice little crunch to it.
my wife had a cucumber roll that she thought was sort of average. she felt that there was a bit too much sesame on the roll for her taste. and, she also put a little too much wasabi in her dish so it was pretty spicy, but that was her bad.
our friend ordered the asparagus roll and the spicy tuna roll. he said the asparagus roll was good, and even though the asparagus was steamed it still had a good crunch to it. the spicy tuna roll was fantastic! it's tuna with a spicy sauce and some yellow onion, although the onion was faint if even there. but he loved it.
the restaurant had a nice atmosphere, with good music. my friend ate there the other day and they told him that the owner picks all the music, and it's mostly 80's & 90's stuff.
the food was a good price and the portions were sensible. honestly, i've eaten @ some other sushi restaurants in fresno and felt stuffed after the meal. tonight, just right. and the prices were nice. the only drawback was that we didn't get a refill on our drinks. but hey, it's only the first week they're open, i'm sure they'll get all the kinks iron out.
724 e. olive
fresno, 93728
559.485.3978
and i'm calling it mr. sushi even if the sign and the top of the menu look like mr. mr. sushi. the deal in the window is just mr. sushi.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
a dinner review of marsol
we've been eagerly anticipating the opening marsol and its new orleans & southern cuisine. i've seen the signs, and have waited and waited. we even went there twice before they were opening, just hoping that it would be open (and i had smelled the food & seen the smoke from their test runs of the kitchen). so, tonight, we decided to stop in for a meal because i had heard they were open, even though their grand opening isn't until december 7 (they get their liquor license on december 5).
as you enter, you'll notice that this is a huge restaurant. really, the main seating area probably will accommodate 150, they have a small seating area for about 20 near the bar, and a private room that i would estimate will sit 40-50 more. the decor is nice, and it'll be pretty cool when they have live music (the waiter said they will on weekends after their grand opening).
to start, we ordered the sampler appetizer plate. it comes with cajun fried shrimp, southern fried wings, and cajun rolls. the plate came with a sweet chili sauce and a cocktail sauce, and our waiter also brought out a "buffalo" sauce as well. i thought the shrimp tasted good, and they were pretty large prawns. the southern wings were full on chicken wings, not just the little bits you normally get with a wings order. they were average. the winner of the plate were the cajun rolls, which were like egg rolls. they were filled with cabbage and a ground, spicy sausage. they were very well complimented by the sweet chili sauce. i'd say 4 or more people should order this appetizer, because it comes with a lot and we actually didn't eat it all because we realized we were filling up before the main course.
for our main course, we thought we'd go out on a limb and see what sort of special dishes this place had to offer. i ordered the alligator, which came with cole slaw and steak fries. heather ordered the crawfish etouffe.
here's where the meal came off its wheels a bit. not bad, but just not great. i would say our mains were mediocre. to me, the alligator, which was lightly breaded and fried, had a consistency and taste similar to pork. but, some of the pieces were also sort of fishy tasting, which wasn't good. most didn't, but some did, and those ones left me reaching for something to clear the palate. heather didn't care much for the etouffe. it's a little unclear on what she expected from the dish, but it's not what she got (i would say it's what i thought from the description). i tasted and liked it, which is good because i'll be eating the leftovers. anyhow, heather didn't care much for it, but she was also filling up from our appetizer dish.
for dessert, we split their whiskey bread pudding. the waiter raved about "how if you weren't a drinker you might need a designated driver." hmm, not so much. don't get me wrong. i actually thought it was quite tasty. and, i liked the raisins and pecans in it. i just wouldn't say i could really taste the whiskey, let alone think that i'd need a d.d. after.
overall, i was surprised at how little spice the food had. i figured that new orleans cuisine would be plenty spicy, but this wasn't really the case. some had decent spice (the etouffe & the cajun rolls) but i just expected more i guess. in my opinion the food was mediocre. it's definitely worth another try, and the menu has a lot of options so i will have no problem finding something to eat. probably a little less exotic than alligator. i'm pretty sure i'll take a group in after they have their grand opening and the bar is open. oh yeah, they're going to offer an express lunch (11-2p) for around $10 which may be worth checking out, when they start doing it.
*cross posted @ fresno famous & yelp (why aren't you yelping?)
as you enter, you'll notice that this is a huge restaurant. really, the main seating area probably will accommodate 150, they have a small seating area for about 20 near the bar, and a private room that i would estimate will sit 40-50 more. the decor is nice, and it'll be pretty cool when they have live music (the waiter said they will on weekends after their grand opening).
to start, we ordered the sampler appetizer plate. it comes with cajun fried shrimp, southern fried wings, and cajun rolls. the plate came with a sweet chili sauce and a cocktail sauce, and our waiter also brought out a "buffalo" sauce as well. i thought the shrimp tasted good, and they were pretty large prawns. the southern wings were full on chicken wings, not just the little bits you normally get with a wings order. they were average. the winner of the plate were the cajun rolls, which were like egg rolls. they were filled with cabbage and a ground, spicy sausage. they were very well complimented by the sweet chili sauce. i'd say 4 or more people should order this appetizer, because it comes with a lot and we actually didn't eat it all because we realized we were filling up before the main course.
for our main course, we thought we'd go out on a limb and see what sort of special dishes this place had to offer. i ordered the alligator, which came with cole slaw and steak fries. heather ordered the crawfish etouffe.
here's where the meal came off its wheels a bit. not bad, but just not great. i would say our mains were mediocre. to me, the alligator, which was lightly breaded and fried, had a consistency and taste similar to pork. but, some of the pieces were also sort of fishy tasting, which wasn't good. most didn't, but some did, and those ones left me reaching for something to clear the palate. heather didn't care much for the etouffe. it's a little unclear on what she expected from the dish, but it's not what she got (i would say it's what i thought from the description). i tasted and liked it, which is good because i'll be eating the leftovers. anyhow, heather didn't care much for it, but she was also filling up from our appetizer dish.
for dessert, we split their whiskey bread pudding. the waiter raved about "how if you weren't a drinker you might need a designated driver." hmm, not so much. don't get me wrong. i actually thought it was quite tasty. and, i liked the raisins and pecans in it. i just wouldn't say i could really taste the whiskey, let alone think that i'd need a d.d. after.
overall, i was surprised at how little spice the food had. i figured that new orleans cuisine would be plenty spicy, but this wasn't really the case. some had decent spice (the etouffe & the cajun rolls) but i just expected more i guess. in my opinion the food was mediocre. it's definitely worth another try, and the menu has a lot of options so i will have no problem finding something to eat. probably a little less exotic than alligator. i'm pretty sure i'll take a group in after they have their grand opening and the bar is open. oh yeah, they're going to offer an express lunch (11-2p) for around $10 which may be worth checking out, when they start doing it.
*cross posted @ fresno famous & yelp (why aren't you yelping?)
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