KevinS1

Not so hot. We came there with a large party (17) and the waitstaff encouraged us to order family-style, as the portions were ‘huge.’ Hardly the case!

I shared a Green Papaya Salad appetizer and the 5-spice chicken entree with my gf. Both were tasty but just too small, especially for $30.

Decor is nice, and waitstaff is friendly and accomodating, but it didn’t help that we were still hungry afterwards!

This place is great! I’m not a ramen connoissour, but I do loves me some noodles. We came here later on a Wednesday afternoon, at 1:35ish. The place is very small and even then, there was a bit of a wait. Decor is nothing special and the service is sparse, but once you get your bowl you just dig in and that’s all I need, really.

My companion had mentioned that the pork broth was definitely the broth to get, but they routinely run out of stuff and sure enough, there were several small signs informing us that they were currently out of the pork broth and boiled eggs.

Ordering is a little confusing – there’s an array of placards on the wall that show the base broths – shoyu, pork, and soy bean (miso). Under each base broth, there are a variety of toppings – extra pork, noodles, fresh seaweed, roasted seaweed, bean sprouts, etc. The base level broths show prices like, shoyu $7.00, pork $7.50, miso $7.50 or something like that. Underneath, you’ll see stuff like boiled eggs $8.50, fresh seaweed $8.95, etc. This does NOT mean that the toppings cost $8.50, but rather, it’s the total price (assuming that you get the broth at the top of the column). I thought that wasn’t that intuitive.

Anyway, on to the food. Being out of the pork broth, I got the miso broth with extra pork and fresh seaweed. My companion got the shoyu broth with bean sprouts. I also ordered the chicken karage don, which is only $1.25 extra on top of your meal. You get a couple pieces of chicken karage (breaded and fried chicken pieces) on top of some rice.

The ramen was chock full of stuff – there was bamboo, roasted seaweed, bean sprouts, scallions, and then my pork and fresh seaweed. The broth was amazing! It was bursting with flavor and really infused the ingredients with savory goodness. I looked a little more closely at the broth and noticed lots of little white particulates – you guessed it, fat!! My companion said that it’s probably pork fat. It really makes the broth very savory and not greasy at all. I cringed a little at the quantity of it, but it tasted so good that it didn’t matter.

Would love to go back – great value! Some of the best ramen I’ve had in the Bay Area. Gotta get there early to ensure that they still have pork broth. And the atmosphere/decor is what you’d expect from a place like this. As I’m writing this they still have not moved to their new location, and when asked about it, they simply replied, “We don’t know.”

2nd impression: good planning/restauranteur backing, but so-so execution. Bambara feels like it would be a high-class, fine dining experience, and it has all the components to be a great restaurant – nice decor, prompt service, etc. However, the cuisine just isn’t there, and pricey dishes just don’t make it worthwhile.

We had a flight to catch so we stopped by Bambara for a quick breakfast before heading out. We both had some Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, and split a Fruit Plate. I ordered the Atlantic Smoked Salmon Benedict, and my companion had an omelette with Spinach, Tomatoes and Salmon. Her dish also came with some sourdough toast.

The fruit plate was definitely sub-par. I was expecting more melon and stone fruits (being fall) but instead got a spread of apples, oranges, grapes, grapefruit, and kiwi (and one lone strawberry). There was a bit of cantaloupe and honeydew, but not as much as I had hoped. Fruit wasn’t that fresh and wasn’t that high quality either – definitely tart. They also left the skin on the kiwi slices – that’s just sloppy.

My entree was only decent. My eggs were definitely overcooked – I like the yolk to be runny and to spill out over the dish, but no such luck – the yolk was pretty firm. The smoked salmon is what made the dish. The hollandaise sauce was good. The dish also came with some country potatoes, which were decent, but in various states of being overcooked and undercooked.

My companion’s omelette looked pretty good. She mentioned, however, that the eggs were too buttery for her tastes, but the omelette itself appeared to be cooked pretty well – good texture. Her toast was nothing special – but they were pretty generous, providing 2 big slices of bread. There was a LOT of butter on the toast, though, but I didn’t mind that.

Total came to $40. Yeah. I get the feeling that Bambara is really catering to people on business trips with money to spend that isn’t theirs. I’ve had better and more filling breakfasts for more reasonable prices. We looked around the restaurant (Wed morning) and saw that pretty much everyone in the restaurant was a business traveler of some kind.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that we had a solid eating option in Bambara just down in the lobby. Still, it’s not markedly better than other eating options in Salt Lake City.

First impressions – pretty good, but I’ve had better. I’m trying to decide if it’s necessary to scale back my expectations in terms of the market (being in Salt Lake City). I have to say, it’s some of the better food I’ve had in Salt Lake City, but that’s not necessarily that impressive (sorry slc)

I’m still wrestling with my seafood expectations v. how much I need to account for Utah being a landlocked state. I suppose, though, that it comes down to how satisfied I was after the meal, so for better or worse, I’m going off of that.

We sat down with a party of 3 on a Tuesday night. Restaurant wasn’t all that busy and no reservations were needed. Decor and atmosphere is swanky, but also light – lots of dark woods, but also curlie cue edging and good light. Service was prompt and attentive.

For apps, we ordered the Blue Cheese Potato Chips, Tuna Tartare and the hazelnut-dusted Calamari. The chips were highly recommended on yelp and all that, but I’m not much for strong cheeses. They were pretty good – chips were freshly made and crisp, not overly greasy. The cheese was pretty intense, but that’s probably how cheeseheads like it. The tuna was very good – standard ahi tuna and avocado, with a splash of cilantro infused oil. The cilantro was subtle, but definitely came through, and smoothed out the taste of the avocado and brought together the dish. I felt, though, that the tartare could’ve been more interesting with some additional flavors – as it was, it was pretty much just tuna and avocado with a slight hint of something else. The calamari was alright – it was pretty fresh, but I wasn’t able to taste any hazeldust. It was pretty much just standard fried calamari. Sauce wasn’t bad.

For mains, two of us had the scallops, and the third ordered the halibut. The scallops were great – nicely seared and seasoned well. The buerre blanc and celery root puree was also great – nice and smooth, and very creamy for celery root. However, I have to say that the scallops were a little smaller than I was expecting. That would be the one thing that I would change about it. Overall though, a good dish, but just slightly stingy on the scallop serving. The halibut looked very good, and our companion said it was excellent.

For dessert, we shared the strawberry shortcake and a bittersweet chocolate ganache. The strawberry shortcake was good – the shortcake itself was laced with lemon zest, which was interesting, cutting effectively through the creme freche. It was good for the first couple bites, but quickly became tiresome. I would’ve preferred zest on the side and the option to add or subtract it as needed. I typically prefer warm, buttery shortcake in my strawberry shortcake, so maybe this shows my bias. The chocolate ganache was very tasty – the bittersweet chocolate was very evident and very good. The mousse was nothing special (but still good) and the chocolate ladyfingers were good. What made the dish shine was the extras on the side – the assorted crushed nuts (macademia/hazelnut i think) and caramel sauce.

Overall, I liked this place, but it wouldn’t crack my top 10 fine dining experiences. It’s not super pricey, but it’s not cheap either – cheapest entree was $21 and ranged up to $35. I had a good meal and I enjoyed it, but I would probably go to other places before coming back here. This place has some tasty morsels but isn’t terribly inventive. If you’re passing through SLC I would say it’s worth a visit and you’ll get a solid meal.

great little local bakery! loved the chocolate croissants and the ham quiche. can be crowded, but no worries, get your food to go and take a walk around nearby mission/dolores park.

would like to go back and try all the other yummies that people are talking about.

First impressions: Not bad, but definitely not great, especially for the price. Seafood isn’t that fresh, but what do you expect from a landlocked state. Perhaps I’m spoiled from being in California so long, but I don’t think I had unrealistic expectations, especially for a $50 meal. I mean come on, for that much money you should at least be able to outdo what I could do in my own kitchen!

This is my first night in Salt Lake City and after doing some searching around we decided to go to Market Street Grill. My companion loves oysters, and not having any other competitive seafood options, we opted to come here.

Luckily, on Mondays, they have a special on certain oysters that they offer ($0.59 each!). We started out with a half-dozen each of Blue Point, Fanny Bay and Tomales Bay oysters. I’m not an oyster aficionado, but my companion said that she liked them. I thought they were decent – not as gritty as I’ve had. However, I felt the cocktail sauce was too tomato-y and overpowered the oyster.

This also affected our next app, a combination Bay Shrimp and Dungeness Crab Cocktail. This app was pretty poor by any standards – meager portions and pretty tasteless. It was pretty watery, as if they just scooped out the seafood from some ice, rinsed it and plopped it on a plate with some lettuce. Would recommend steering clear of this one.

We both got clam chowder with our meals, and it was nothing to write home about. Good texture, and creamy, but not that much clam and a little bland.

Finally, for mains, I got Alaskan King Crab Legs (2) and my companion ordered the Australian Steamed Lobster Tail. My king crab legs were pitifully small – I could’ve done a lot better just buying king crab legs from Costco and making this myself. For $34 and $9.99/lb I would’ve ended up with a lot more meat. As it were I got two smaller, thinnish legs. The first was cooked perfectly and was great, but the 2nd was definitely overcooked and was too tough. Come on guys, even I know how to boil water to reheat King Crab Legs!! I got rice pilaf as a side – it was terrible! No effort went into that at all – flavorless, and clearly more of the Uncle Ben’s variety.

My companion’s lobster tail definitely looked more appetizing and potentially more worthwhile. I sampled it, and it was pretty good, but a little overcooked and rubbery. She got the fries and some weird squash side – both nothing special. The fries were rock solid and had too much batter, and the squash was just oddly textured and didn’t go very well with the lobster.

Probably the only thing I would recommend here are the oysters if that’s your thing. Can’t vouch as much for that as I’m not that into it, but for $0.59 each on Mondays I’ll give it a shot. They had a pretty large selection of oysters so they have that going for it. Would definitely recommend staying away from the more expensive items on the menu. It definitely feels like the place is cutting corners and you probably want to minimize being on the receiving end of that as much as you can. I would guess that it’s probably a halfway decent place to get some normal bar type food.

Initial impressions: Good prices, generous portions, and a slightly more Spanish take on traditional Filipino cuisine.

It definitely doesn’t look it from the outside (just a canopy and a small patio) but the interior was surprisingly light, colorful, and well-appointed. Service was quick and responsive, and the food came quickly.

I noted that there was a paella on the menu, but we decided against it. Something to keep in mind though!

For 6 of us, we ordered the Crispy Pata (fried pork shoulder), Chicken Adobo, Kare Kare (Oxtail with Peanut Sauce) and Pansit Canton (noodles), as well as Garlic Rice and Regular Steamed Rice.

I have to say, the Crispy Pata was excellent. Just the right textures with crispy fried skin, and moist, succulent pork shoulder. It’s great with the soy sauce vinegar, but you should definitely ask for the liver sauce (I forget what it’s called) to dip the meat into.

The Pansit was pretty good – more similar to chow mein. I am used to having pansit with thinner rice noodles rather than the thicker spaghetti noodles, but my girlfriend assures me that this is more traditional. Not bad, but I prefer the vermicelli version.

The Cihcken Adobo was pretty good – standard chicken chopped roughly, stewed in adobo, and served with fried plantains. The plaintains were a nice touch and really complemented the adobo. Definitely a dependable dish.

Lastly, the Kare Kare – definitely more of an ethnic dish. I normally enjoy braised/stewed oxtail, but this dish wasn’t as flavorful as I would have liked. It looked more like a curry than a stewed/braised dish. The peanut was evident, but other than that it wasn’t seasoned that well. My friend mentioned that you were supposed to eat it with the provided shrimp paste, but even with that, I wasn’t that impressed.

Dessert: 3 Halo Halos, served inside a coconut and topped with a heaping scoop of taro ice cream. Definitely get this one to share – it’s huge! The taro ice cream was bursting with artificial taro flavor, but I didn’t mind that. Inside the coconut was a treasure trove of various jellies and mixed beans, plus you could actually scrape the inside of the coconut to get the sweet coconut meat. I really enjoyed this dessert, and there are many others that I wanted to try!

I would definitely go back to sample other dishes. Would highly recommend the Crispy Pata and Halo Halo dessert. Very reasonable prices, considering the volume of food that you get, and definitely higher quality atmosphere/cuisine than Goldilocks!

Horrible. I’m usually more accomodating but it’s hard after you get food poisoning! My stomach (and my wallet) didn’t feel right after the meal, and I had to leave work early the next day to fend off the onset of stomach cramps and fever.

But maybe I should’ve known better than to order seafood on a Sunday. I had the calamari starter, salmon special entree and banana bread pudding for dessert. The calamari was greasy and super soggy. The salmon was overseasoned and the sides (a white bean puree and some veggies) were a mess. Dessert, though, was pretty tasty.

All this for $40 and a case of food poisoning! Won’t be coming back.

Great little Cantonese spot. Small and gritty, it’s not fine dining, but you can get some good eats at good prices!

I love how there’s a complimentary soup and dessert, which really adds to the family-style atmosphere. It’s also great after 9pm, when they start serving a selection of dishes at reduced prices. Probably the best thing to do is come for a late dinner (they’re open until midnight)

I highly recommend the Roast Squab/Chicken, the Twice-Cooked Fried Rice with Abalone and Chicken. You can also get a full 3 course serving of Peking Duck (with the soup, duck w/buns and stir-fried entree) for something like $14! Good selection of rice porridges as well.

Was initially dubious – chicken wings from a chinese restaurant? but after getting a table, i looked around and saw that everyone had a heaping plate of these wings on their table.

Chicken wings are nice and tangy, crispy, and sauced just enough. Try the dry fried fish for a little variety (and also if you don’t want to get your hands dirty from the wings!). Great dumplings and fresh noodles as well.

Excellent deep dish pizza, and affordable too! I went to school in the Chicago area and have had some of the best deep dish pizzas there, and I really enjoyed Little Star.

The pizza texture itself feels a little lighter to me than traditional deep dish – not as much cheese, not as much sauce. Felt more California style – fresher and crisper ingredients, not the heavy Italian sausages and meats that I’ve usually had.

Would have to say the crust at Zachary’s is still better, and the sauce at Patxi’s is better, but overall, you get a good pie at a good price. Can be very crowded and difficult to get a table, but worth it.