sugar520 "Yum"

Today I got out voted and ended up having lunch at Koto of Japan on College Drive. I have eaten at Koto numerous times and never really had anything good or for that matter bad to say about the experience. Well today changed all of that. I had lunch with 7 of my co-workers and we decided that most of us would like the Hibachi Lunch. Being not a big fan of sushi I thought this would be a good choice. We were shown a table near the back of the restaurant which seated patrons around the hibachi grill. The decor was dark and rather drab. Many parts of the carpet were much worn and my shoe actually stuck to the floor on one occasion. At this point I’m thinking the very low light in the restaurant is a good idea. The restaurant just seemed grimy at this point. After looking over a fairly extensive menu I chose the steak hibachi lunch with comes with mushroom soup, a salad, teriyaki vegetables, fried rice and steak cooked to order. This sounded like a great deal for 10.00. The soup was tasty. A light broth that was a little greasy but had a pleasant mushroom flavor. The soup contained a scant portion of mushrooms and scallions and some other bits I couldn’t really identify. The salad arrived next and consisted of a tired mix of iceberg lettuce and julienne carrot strips with a dressing that looked and tasted like an overly gingered 1000 Island that for some reason had separated. Finally the chef arrived to start the show. First he cooked the fried rice, which I was highly anticipating. All of the ingredients looked fresh so I was hoping I’d be in for a treat. Wrong, the rice was both mushy and crunchy. A combination I’m not sure how one arrives at, but this rice managed. The rice was tasteless and I’ve had better at countless quick stop Chinese restaurants here in Baton Rouge. I’ve even had better from the freezer of a grocery store. The vegetables were ok. Fresh but under seasoned. The steak again was just OK. It was thin sliced ribeye cooked to order and was fairly tender but again had no real taste to speak of. My greatest complaint about my lunch was the view. I had the end seat at the table which afforded me a view of behind the grill. So what’s so bad about that you ask? I’ll tell you, it was the dead roach laying legs up right by the foot of the chef. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of it. After starting off merely thinking the restaurant was grimy I now know it to be NASTY. I can’t really imagine a good reason to go to Koto of Japan but if you want a cheap lunch with some entertainment it might be an OK choice, let’s just hope the view doesn’t spoil it for you too.

Friday night my friend and I dined at Ninfa’s. It had been a few months since we visited the restaurant where we had previously been frequent patrons. Of course the first thing I noticed was the new decor. I have to admit I didn’t like it. For new decor it seemed very dated. It reminded me of a cheap furniture store. But we came for the food not the decor. The food was ok but several things were a disappointment. My friend and I shared chips and salsa, an order of beef quesadillas, Jackie fajitas with the Chihuahua topping and each had a bowl of xochitl soup. Granted this is a lot of food. We always plan on leftovers for the next few days; however the lack of freshness of several items made this a bit difficult. Chips and salsa were their standard quality. Crisp chips and fresh green and red salsa, no complaints there. The quesadilla was ok. After an extended wait, which we understood given it was a Friday night; I was disappointed in the lack of flavor and excess of grease I experienced with the quesadillas. Next came what I had been waiting months for, my all time favorite xochitl soup. The soup was hot and had several nice pieces of chicken hanging out in the bottom of the bowl. Then I noticed that the cilantro, one of the main ingredients that make this soup awesome, was mainly a mix of yellowing stems, brown leaves and down right mushy green rot. We both picked around until we could find a few salvageable leaves to put into our bowls. The fajitas were good if again lacking seasoning. The meat was plentiful and tender and the tortillas were nice and fresh. All in all the meal was just ok. If more attention to detail had been made in the kitchen the meal would have been good

I’ve eaten at The Buzz numerous times and for some reason failed to write a review. It’s not because the food doesn’t deserve praise, let me assure you it does. Today was the perfect example, I ordered online and made a special request and I fully expected to return to my office with something amiss with my order. To my delight everything was perfect, as always. Maybe I have been taking The Buzz for granted. They consistently provide delicious, fresh and affordable food. I have to recommend the Southwest Salad with either the grilled chicken or steak. This salad is wonderful. Fresh romaine lettuce, corn and black beans finished off with chopped red onion, shredded cheddar, crispy tortilla chips and a little cilantro. It’s perfect. The steak is the best but can be a bit on the fatty side while the chicken is good I’m just not that fond of thigh meat. The only change I suggest is to have the red pepper vinaigrette instead of the chipotle ranch dressing. I could drink this stuff it’s so delicious. The service is very good though there can be a bit of a wait during the lunch time rush but the atmosphere will keep your mind off the wait and once the food arrives you will forgive even a lengthy wait.

Saturday my mother and I were driving through St. Francisville and decided to stop and have breakfast. I had high hopes, as previous stops in the town had yielded pleasant experiences, not so this time. From first impressions Birdman Coffee and Books looks as if it has lots of potential. The inside is an interesting mish mash of art studio, book store and coffee shop. To start off we both ordered iced tea (1.50) and I also ordered coffee (1.60), so far, so good. The place was packed with local residents, who for the most part all seemed to know each other but we received our teas fairly quickly. The trouble started when we ordered. I ordered the low-carb selection (4.50), which consisted of 2 scrambled eggs with diced tomatoes, shredded cheddar and green onions with your choice of bacon or sausage patty, of which I chose bacon. My mother opted for the old stand by of a sausage biscuit (2.50). As mentioned earlier there were lots of diners that morning so when our meal took an inordinate amount of time to arrive I blamed it on the crowd and the likelihood that someone was in the back making fresh biscuits and frying bacon and sausage. Wow was I wrong! When our meal did arrive my 3 slices of bacon looked suspiciously like the pre-cooked kind I buy and warm in a skillet at home when in a rush and my mom reported to me that her sausage was actually cold. Upon greater inspection the sausage looked like the pre-cooked sort as well and the biscuit was of the frozen variety to boot. So, I returned the biscuit for my mom who is all too ready to forego breakfast at this point. And by this point I mean close to 45 minutes from when we arrived. While we are waiting for the return of a hot sausage biscuit I start on my eggs which appeared to be very well prepared. Not so, as I began to cut them with my fork I see the inside is a blob of unset and under done egg whites. By this time I’m ready for the check and to chalk this experience up to where not to spend a Saturday morning or any other morning for that matter. I will say the coffee was good but I had to request cream which came by way of 2 soggy individual containers and the wait staff was polite and apologetic as to the coldness and length of wait, neither of which were her fault . With all the traffic through the town of St. Francisville, plus the number of nice restaurants in the area I would have hoped places like Birdman would be held to a higher standard by the numerous amount of regular customers than they obviously are and I think we would have been better off at the local McDonalds.

On a trip to Boston for a conference my friend and I had a late lunch at the Black Rose and found it a real treat. The atmosphere was great and our waitress taught us a bit of Gaelic. The food was hearty and fresh and well worth the price. My friend had Irish Stew and could only manage to finish half of the stew due to the large portion. I had the lobster special and was surprised at the nice size and great flavor of the meal especially considering the price of only 10.99. The location is nice and you can certainly spend a few hours there just hanging out with friends

I was so in the mood for a good sandwich and bagel chips this weekend at NY Bagel. I had the smoked turkey with havarti and pepper mayo on toasted white bread and it was good. I was somewhat disappointed in the quality of the smoked turkey as it appeared to be store bought and sliced of the variety you get in one of those zip lock containers at any grocery store. The pepper mayo was good and I always request it on any sandwich I order. The bagel chips were nice and crisp with a small but really smooth and creamy veggie cream cheese dip. Everything was as I hoped until out of the corner of my eye I notice that a small cock roach has taken a seat on the napkin dispenser on my table. That was the end of my nice lunch. The staff apologized when I told them of the situation but there is nothing that could undo the roach. The sanitation of NY Bagel has always been suspect in my estimation as the bathroom is often very nasty but to see that such lack of basic cleanliness has spread is very sad indeed. I have been a frequent diner at this location but I think I’ll try the Jefferson location before I totally write them off.

I’ve eaten many times at Pastime and I have to say I’m never disappointed. Yesterday was no exception. I had my usual Turkey Sandwich (6.00) on Texas Toast and it was good. The smoked turkey was plentiful, moist and as fresh as the shredded lettuce and sliced tomato that it shared the bread with. I also had a slice of my co-workers shrimp and mushroom pizza and while the shrimp where nice and plump the mushrooms were of the canned variety and pretty tastless unless you can count rubbery as a taste component. Oh well I guess that’s what Tony’s is for. All in all Pastime is great place to eat in or get something on the go with reasonable prices.

Tuesday I had the pleasure of dining at the latest incarnation of 333 3rd Street. I joined a few co-workers for a late lunch and was pleasantly surprised by the really good food at 333 Bistreaux. The restaurant has a nice outside dining area that offers both street side tables and a covered area closer to the entrance of restaurant. The service was very good and the food was better. I had the lunch special of crab au gratin served with rice pilaf. The portions were small but very much in line with the price of 7.95. The rice pilaf was moist and contained a whole host of tasty bits ranging from spinach, carrot and onion to nicely toasted pine nuts. The crab au gratin was just short of excellent. It was creamy, fresh tasting, included numerous medium sized lumps of crab and just the right amount of cheddar cheese and bread crumbs on top baked to perfection. So why was the crab au gratin just short of excellent you might ask, well that has to do with the mound of crab shell on my plate that increased with every bite. I would have thought maybe it was just my bad luck but two of my lunch companions ended up with similar piles. Lack of attention to the detail of picking crab almost spoiled an otherwise delicious dish. The lunch ended with a nice gesture from the kitchen of on the house slices of chocolate cake. While the gesture was exceptional the cake was just ok. It was a rich chocolate cake studded with chocolate chips and a chocolate genache. The taste was over powering with nothing there to balance it out. A simple dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream would have been a nice addition and would have made this a much better option for ending a nice meal. In all, I’m looking forward to returning to explore more of 333 Bistreaux’s menu.

Yesterday, along with several co-workers I dined at Mike Andersons. Service was great. We were a party of 8 and were accommodated rather quickly, especially for the lunch time rush. I wish I had such praise for my lunch. I had the Thursday lunch special which was the Jason (9.95). The Jason was a filet of white fish stuffed with crabmeat dressing and deep fried covered in crawfish ettouffee with rice and your choice of side and salad. I opted for the stuffed potato and house salad. The salad was average. A salad plate of relatively fresh ice berg mix, one slice of red onion and 4 overly hard croutons with my choice of light ranch, which I have the feeling was a bottled variety. The fish was unidentifiable. I actually had to take the batter off just to make sure it was fish. I’m still not convinced. The crab stuffing was pleasant. It was nicely seasoned claw meat. The stuffing was hot which is much more than I can say for the ettouffee. However being cold wasn’t the ettouffee’s only sin. While it contained a more than average number of nice crawfish tails the ettouffee had a rather fishy taste that wasn’t appreciated. The star of this lunch was the stuffed potato. It was hot and filled with a cheesy, bacon studded filling that was very enjoyable. All in all the lunch was rather uninspired. Again I must mention that the service was very expeditious . Frank is a great server and our table was never without refills. Also, he handled the dizzying task of splitting checks for a large party with a smile.

First off let me say I work within 100 feet of PJs on Lafayette and I go there often. I usually will forego the nearby CC’s and other coffee shops because the coffee is very good. However, the service, while usually pleasant, was awful today. My co-worker and I went in about 3pm today (6/2) for a little caffeine pick-me up. I ordered a doppio con panna, and yes this is not on the menu, however any decent barista knows how to make a double shot of espresso with whipped cream on top, right?? Maybe not. The barista and I use that term lightly, looked at me and said “what” and not in a nice way. So I tell her just two shot of espresso with whipped cream on top, I mean geez they have a macchiato on the menu, how hard could this be? Then I made the mistake of ordering a lemon scone (which is on the menu), for which she scowled at me and stated that she didn’t have any lemon scones so I got a biscotti instead. At this point I don’t dare tell her what she is making me is a cappuccino and not a doppio con panna. At least it was a good cappuccino. I don’t know who owns or runs that PJs but it’s a real disservice to the coffee to have baristas with such nasty attitudes and again I know it’s not an easy job having worked for one for at least half of my time in grad school but it isn’t that hard to just be pleasant either.