Oh, San Antonio.......
She Said:
So, I had never been to the great state of Texas, and after enjoying a celebrity chef experience, we decided to hoof it around the River Walk and get dinner (well, that and we didn't have a car, so bi-pedal locomotion really was our only option)
That said, it Texas! It's BIG! Ranches! MEAT!
I WANTED STEAK! BIG TEXAS STEAK!
That was my first mistake.
As it was a Saturday night, we expected a wait. Hey, what's that? A bar? Well, alrighty then. I had my first Coronarita.
It won't be my last.
Hello Lover.
We were finally seated at the farthest table from the entrance. It was really freaking cold. In the whole place, outside, there were 2 working heaters (That were near the front. People were huddled around them like characters in a Jack London novel)
Appetizer:
We decided to share the stuffed jalapenos. Please note, I'd had my first stuffed jalapeno the day before (yes, I'm a hot food sissy) and liked it. A lot. So, we decided to try them again.
I get that it's a busy restaurant, but these were so obviously frozen (and not good frozen) I could pick these up in the grocery store.
Salads:
Wow, iceberg, a tomato wedge, ranch dressing and some dead bread. Last time I dined that well I was having lunch in the cafeteria at North Farmington HS.
Seriously, why did they bother?
Entrees:
So I had the rib-eye (my absolute FAVORITE CUT EVER), the big guy had a strip.
My Steak was cook properly, but paper thin. Kudos to the chef who can get a mid-rare on a steak you could read a newspaper through. Seriously, I want that guy at my next BBQ.
Side was a baked potato. It was so steaming hot the butter wouldn't even melt. Seriously. Or, it may have been piping hot but froze on it's journey through the wasted tundra; the location of our table.
The Big Guy's steak was also a perfect medium. Their grill-man is a genius.
We decided to splurge and go for the extra charge for his side to be mac and cheese.
BLECH!
This was a disaster. Cold (perhaps again the tundra effect), pasty, unseasoned drek. Awful.
Dessert:
OK, we're in the south...Peach Cobbler! Perfect!
Yea, not so much. OK, when 2 people who are still hungry can't finish their dessert, it's bad.
SO MUCH CORNSTARCH
SO MUCH SUGAR
Seriously, we had trouble identifying the peaches they were so overpowered by starch and sugar.
Luckily, one thing did manage the passage to the tundra successfully, the ice cream on the cobbler! Yes, it was still perfectly frozen!
Overall:
Major suckage, and that's not the residual effects of hypothermia talking.
NOTHING except the cocktail was good. And the service. Our waiter was pretty good. Oh yea, and the bartender was kinda cute. But I came for dinner, not to find a date (had one!)
Overall, D- (because neither of us got sick afterwords. I figured they deserved a little love for not giving us food poisoning)
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Luke, San Antonio TX
Ok, I think we can all unashamedly admit we're suckers for a celebrity chef. Along that vein, being in San Antonio, we decided to try Luke.
She Said:
Admittedly, we were early for our reservation, but the restaurant wasn't full yet for Friday service, so they were easily able to seat us immediately. Big point there.
They showed us to likely the worst table in the dining room. Seriously, in what appeared to be an atrium in the middle of the room. Cozy? Intimate? Not so much. Feeling like a monkey at the zoo? Yep, that captured it.
My beloved, though, stopped the hostess in her tracks, and requested another table. Whew.
Our server greeted us promptly, and took the order for our pre-flight cocktail. Off to a great start!
Appetizer:
I need to preface this whole review with a bit of knowledge on one of our dining idiosyncrasies.
I know this is not the feminist point of view, but I like it occasionally when I don't even look at the menu and my beloved makes all the decisions. I know, I know...but it's true. I ask, and he delightfully obliges.
So, for my appetizer, Gulf Oysters on the half shell.
They were OK. Serviceable. I guess I just like our NW variety better. Not bad, nothing to write home about.
He had the lump Blue Crab Salad with Avocado.
This was so freaking good we almost came to blows. We share, but I didn't want to share this. I would have happily wrestled him (and potentially added a few illegal jabs and pokes to get more than my fair share). It was perfectly seasoned, clean fresh and crisp.
Entrees:
He ordered me the Shrimp Etouffee. Now, Etouffee is defined as "Étouffée or etouffee (pronounced: [e.tu.fe] ay-TOO-fay) is a dish found in both Cajun and creole cuisine typically served with shellfish over rice"
This came on penne pasta. Why not call it a Cajun Shrimp Pasta? This in no way resembled etouffee. It was, OK. Again, serviceable, but not worth ordering again or the price. Maybe a step above Olive Garden. Maybe.
And yes, so you know, I don't have a beef with Olive Garden.
He had the steak. It was flavorful and cooked perfectly. The sides...oh so so sad.
The kale was a horrible drab greyish green. Taste matched. There was also this weird piece of marble rye Bread on the plate under the kale. It was like a piece of bread trying to escape "Midnight Express" style from the kitchen, just peeking out to make sure it hadn't been followed by the Sous Chef.
Dessert:
So we decided to share, even though we were hoofing it back to the hotel (CARDIO!) but hey, there are limits.
We had the lemon tart with candied cranberries and fresh ginger ice cream. Each component was really really good. The ice cream was amazing. Together though? The ginger ice cream with the lemon tart was just...weird. Not too bad, but not completely pleasant. The tart, however, rocked.
Overall:
Our server was just a delight. Amazed us when we found out it was her first solo night on the floor (we only discovered this when we flummoxed her on the wine list).
Wine selections were nice. We actually ended up having a great conversation with the manager about Russian River wines vs. Napa. He was delightful, and the service was top notch. Really. And I can be a bit of a bitch when service sucks.
Overall, Service A, food B. Feeling generous, I would rate the whole experience an A-.
She Said:
Admittedly, we were early for our reservation, but the restaurant wasn't full yet for Friday service, so they were easily able to seat us immediately. Big point there.
They showed us to likely the worst table in the dining room. Seriously, in what appeared to be an atrium in the middle of the room. Cozy? Intimate? Not so much. Feeling like a monkey at the zoo? Yep, that captured it.
My beloved, though, stopped the hostess in her tracks, and requested another table. Whew.
Our server greeted us promptly, and took the order for our pre-flight cocktail. Off to a great start!
Appetizer:
I need to preface this whole review with a bit of knowledge on one of our dining idiosyncrasies.
I know this is not the feminist point of view, but I like it occasionally when I don't even look at the menu and my beloved makes all the decisions. I know, I know...but it's true. I ask, and he delightfully obliges.
So, for my appetizer, Gulf Oysters on the half shell.
They were OK. Serviceable. I guess I just like our NW variety better. Not bad, nothing to write home about.
He had the lump Blue Crab Salad with Avocado.
This was so freaking good we almost came to blows. We share, but I didn't want to share this. I would have happily wrestled him (and potentially added a few illegal jabs and pokes to get more than my fair share). It was perfectly seasoned, clean fresh and crisp.
Entrees:
He ordered me the Shrimp Etouffee. Now, Etouffee is defined as "Étouffée or etouffee (pronounced: [e.tu.fe] ay-TOO-fay) is a dish found in both Cajun and creole cuisine typically served with shellfish over rice"
This came on penne pasta. Why not call it a Cajun Shrimp Pasta? This in no way resembled etouffee. It was, OK. Again, serviceable, but not worth ordering again or the price. Maybe a step above Olive Garden. Maybe.
And yes, so you know, I don't have a beef with Olive Garden.
He had the steak. It was flavorful and cooked perfectly. The sides...oh so so sad.
The kale was a horrible drab greyish green. Taste matched. There was also this weird piece of marble rye Bread on the plate under the kale. It was like a piece of bread trying to escape "Midnight Express" style from the kitchen, just peeking out to make sure it hadn't been followed by the Sous Chef.
Dessert:
So we decided to share, even though we were hoofing it back to the hotel (CARDIO!) but hey, there are limits.
We had the lemon tart with candied cranberries and fresh ginger ice cream. Each component was really really good. The ice cream was amazing. Together though? The ginger ice cream with the lemon tart was just...weird. Not too bad, but not completely pleasant. The tart, however, rocked.
Overall:
Our server was just a delight. Amazed us when we found out it was her first solo night on the floor (we only discovered this when we flummoxed her on the wine list).
Wine selections were nice. We actually ended up having a great conversation with the manager about Russian River wines vs. Napa. He was delightful, and the service was top notch. Really. And I can be a bit of a bitch when service sucks.
Overall, Service A, food B. Feeling generous, I would rate the whole experience an A-.
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