MaybeKathy "always looking for a new favorite place to eat"

After the last really awful meal we left on the plate at the last restaurant to occupy this space, we were done with eating there forever. But yesterday we found ourselves desperate for some lunch before we hit Decanter for some spring wine buying. So we took a deep breath and went inside Hickory Ridge Grill.

And we’re so glad we did! The husband had the pasta carbonara which was flavorful without being heavy or greasy and had a truckload of bacon. I went with a gyro sandwich, which was very tasty but the real star on the plate was the tzatziki sauce. It was rich and creamy with the perfect garlic bite. I couldn’t resist dipping my fries in it once my sandwich was gone. One note, the fries could have been crispier. I love a good shoestring fry but they have to be crispy to really work.

If the tzatziki sauce is an indicator of the quality of the rest of the Greek specialties, we may finally have relief from having to drive all the way over to the east side for a restaurant that knows the value of a Greek salad with no lettuce.

Now if we can only convince chef/owner George Papas to make dolmades and avegolemono soup, it will be perfect.

I can’t imagine why the new Qdoba next to Mi Casa has any business. People just need to visit Mi Casa once to see the difference between real Tex Mex and the wet, sloppy mess that comes off the Qdoba assembly line.

To start with, Mi Casa has my favorite salsa of any Mexican restaurant in HoCo. It’s spicy but tone down by the unexpected presence of cucumber in the mix. Yummy.

The menu is pretty standard with some special items like the Chile Verde (which I spent months trying to duplicate at home) and the Redwood Enchilada with beef, chicken, and pork.

My usual order is the beef fajita. The meat is well seasoned and cooked so that it has a crust but still tastes like beef. The guacamole that comes with it also rocks.

Not sure what you want? The combos offer a wide variety of Tex-Mex favorites. I love the tamales and chile rellenos but the enchiladas don’t suck either.

I guess I just have pedestrian sushi tastes but I don’t get the cult of Sushi King. I’ve tried it but I just keep going back to Hanamura across the street. The sushi tastes great to me and the people are so much nicer.

By far, the best thing on the menu is the Spicy Kevin Roll. It’s one of those things that makes you think, “how is it possible I have gone my whole life without eating this?” the minute you take your first bite. It’s a spicy tuna roll, tempura fried, with this amazing sauce drizzled over it. It’s huge but we still have to order two, even when it’s just my husband and I at dinner. It’s that good.

Once we went and they had a special, Lobster Yaki. Noodles in sauce with veggies and lobster chunks. Ever since, my husband has them make it special for him whenever we go. It’s worth being a nudge to get the kitchen to make it for you special. If you don’t want to go to those lengths, the Seafood Yaki is a pretty good substitute.

The Tuna Tataki used to be really great but lately it has suffered from not enough tuna. It’s still really tasty, I mean how can you go wrong with seared tuna in ponzu sauce with cucumbers? I guess but not putting in enough tuna…

The one thing that always disappoints me at Hanamura is the tempura. Of all the things they do well, this is not one. It’s usually just a little greasy and the batter doesn’t quite stick the way it should.

The ribs are Bare Bones are pretty good but the rest of the food is just average. The prices are too high for food this average. But the real problem is the indifferent service. It starts with the collection of interchangeable, airhead hostesses who are more concerned with making sure their hair is perfect than actually seating the hordes of people who always seem to be waiting for a table. Then the wait staff picks up the ball and runs with it. Good luck getting the meal you ordered. Most entrees come with a choice of sides. What they don’t tell you is, it’s the kitchen’s choice not yours. And don’t expect the servers to notice when it’s wrong or care when you point it out to them.
If you decide to eat there, stick with the ribs and start with the Fennch Onion Soup. That’s what keeps my husband and I coming back. There’s no better soup on the Route 40 corridor.

Hansung makes great Korean and Japanese food, except for the sushi.

All the Korean food on the menu I’ve tried is really good but what the Koreans in the restaurant isn’t on any menu I have seen and it looks really good! One day I will get up the courage to start pointing at dishes on other people’s tables and asking the server to bring me that. The beef rolls are my favorite.

Hansung makes excellent tempura, some of the best in Howard County. Always light and never greasy. My husband loves their teriyaki.

I’ve never tried to make my own sushi and I’m sure I would suck at it if I tried but some of the sushi I have been served here has been downright laughable. It tastes fine but I don’t think 8 equally sized pieces of sushi with a seaweed wrapper that stays wrapped on the trip to the table isn’t too much to ask.