Thread: Found a new favourite restaurant

On May 27, 3:11*pm, Dave Smith <adavid.sm...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> My wife and I went out for dinner last night to celebrate our
> anniversary. I had a reservation at the restaurant of a local golf club,
> but, no pun intended, I had reservations about it. The food has always
> been good and their prices were reasonable. *I checked out their menu
> online and was disappointed to see that their prices had risen
> dramatically and there wasn't anything on it that really appealed.
>
> My wife suggested a couple other places, and was eager to go to a place
> in a nearby city. She had been there with a friend and had been
> impressed and she thought that I would like it. I cancelled our
> reservations and we tried the other place.
>
> I wasn't all that impressed with the ambience. It was more of a bar and
> grill and was a little rowdy due to the bar aspect of it. The food was
> great. My appetizer was samosas, and they were the best I had ever had.
> For an entree there was no way I could turn down lamb shanks braised in
> dark beer. *There were served on garlic mashed potatoes and there was a
> medley of stir fried vegetables; carrots, zuccini, beans and asparagus.
>
> Nuts to the foo foo dining and outrageous prices. I will be going back
> to this place. There were several other interesting dishes that I might
> have liked, but the lamb shanks are worth going back for.
>
> Come to think of it, now that I am collecting a government pension and
> essentially got a huge raise, maybe we should be going there on a
> regular basis just for the lamb.

Froo froo is fine one in a great while, for me anyway, I can't see
forking out the bucks for what I can do better at home.

I love great little joints like the one you liked. It's one of the
reasons I watch Diner's Drive In's and Dives, I like to see what
the little joints are coming up with. Creative and innovative food
in a friendly fun atmosphere.

On Fri, 27 May 2011 18:11:50 -0400, Dave Smith
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I wasn't all that impressed with the ambience. It was more of a bar and
> grill and was a little rowdy due to the bar aspect of it. The food was
> great. My appetizer was samosas, and they were the best I had ever had.
> For an entree there was no way I could turn down lamb shanks braised in
> dark beer. There were served on garlic mashed potatoes and there was a
> medley of stir fried vegetables; carrots, zuccini, beans and asparagus.
>
> Nuts to the foo foo dining and outrageous prices. I will be going back
> to this place. There were several other interesting dishes that I might
> have liked, but the lamb shanks are worth going back for.
>
> Come to think of it, now that I am collecting a government pension and
> essentially got a huge raise, maybe we should be going there on a
> regular basis just for the lamb.

Yum! I love lamb shanks and order them whenever I see them. Sounds
like your anniversary dinner turned out well.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Fri, 27 May 2011 15:22:43 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I love great little joints like the one you liked. It's one of the
> reasons I watch Diner's Drive In's and Dives, I like to see what
> the little joints are coming up with. Creative and innovative food
> in a friendly fun atmosphere.

I can honestly say I haven't seen one place on DD&D where I'd want to
eat... I don't base my opinion on the decor, I base it on the food I
see which isn't innovative, IMO, and is served in serious
disproportion to the volume of food people eat at one meal on a normal
basis.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

i haven't ever seen that show, but i love these types of places, the food in
mom and pops is usually wonderful, reasonably priced and plentiful enough
that if you eat it for dinner there is enough for lunch or dinner in a day
or two, and when you factor how many meals you get out of it its even more
reasonable... often dh and i find someplace like this, we get soup and split
an entree, fun/cheap night out, Lee
"ImStillMags" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
On May 27, 3:11 pm, Dave Smith <adavid.sm...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> My wife and I went out for dinner last night to celebrate our
> anniversary. I had a reservation at the restaurant of a local golf club,
> but, no pun intended, I had reservations about it. The food has always
> been good and their prices were reasonable. I checked out their menu
> online and was disappointed to see that their prices had risen
> dramatically and there wasn't anything on it that really appealed.
>
> My wife suggested a couple other places, and was eager to go to a place
> in a nearby city. She had been there with a friend and had been
> impressed and she thought that I would like it. I cancelled our
> reservations and we tried the other place.
>
> I wasn't all that impressed with the ambience. It was more of a bar and
> grill and was a little rowdy due to the bar aspect of it. The food was
> great. My appetizer was samosas, and they were the best I had ever had.
> For an entree there was no way I could turn down lamb shanks braised in
> dark beer. There were served on garlic mashed potatoes and there was a
> medley of stir fried vegetables; carrots, zuccini, beans and asparagus.
>
> Nuts to the foo foo dining and outrageous prices. I will be going back
> to this place. There were several other interesting dishes that I might
> have liked, but the lamb shanks are worth going back for.
>
> Come to think of it, now that I am collecting a government pension and
> essentially got a huge raise, maybe we should be going there on a
> regular basis just for the lamb.

Froo froo is fine one in a great while, for me anyway, I can't see
forking out the bucks for what I can do better at home.

I love great little joints like the one you liked. It's one of the
reasons I watch Diner's Drive In's and Dives, I like to see what
the little joints are coming up with. Creative and innovative food
in a friendly fun atmosphere.

On May 27, 6:11*pm, Dave Smith <adavid.sm...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> My wife and I went out for dinner last night to celebrate our
> anniversary. I had a reservation at the restaurant of a local golf club,
> but, no pun intended, I had reservations about it. The food has always
> been good and their prices were reasonable. *I checked out their menu
> online and was disappointed to see that their prices had risen
> dramatically and there wasn't anything on it that really appealed.
>
> My wife suggested a couple other places, and was eager to go to a place
> in a nearby city. She had been there with a friend and had been
> impressed and she thought that I would like it. I cancelled our
> reservations and we tried the other place.
>
> I wasn't all that impressed with the ambience. It was more of a bar and
> grill and was a little rowdy due to the bar aspect of it. The food was
> great. My appetizer was samosas, and they were the best I had ever had.
> For an entree there was no way I could turn down lamb shanks braised in
> dark beer. *There were served on garlic mashed potatoes and there was a
> medley of stir fried vegetables; carrots, zuccini, beans and asparagus.
>
> Nuts to the foo foo dining and outrageous prices. I will be going back
> to this place. There were several other interesting dishes that I might
> have liked, but the lamb shanks are worth going back for.
>
> Come to think of it, now that I am collecting a government pension and
> essentially got a huge raise, maybe we should be going there on a
> regular basis just for the lamb.

I hear ya. One of the best places I ever ate was a bar with food in
Nyack, NY. I think the booths harked back to turn of the century. Not
sure if it's still there, but we always made a point of stopping there
in the 80s and 90s. Name was something like O'Donaghue's on one of
the main drags. If no one had been looking, I'd have licked the
platter clean, the sauces were that good.

Dave Smith wrote:

> My wife and I went out for dinner last night to celebrate our
> anniversary.

Happy Anniversary. Especially sweet after the year you had, I bet.

> I wasn't all that impressed with the ambience. It was more of a bar
> and grill and was a little rowdy due to the bar aspect of it.

That's my kind of place. Even the white tablecloth place that is
my favorite is comfortable and reminds me of a bar. A really nice
bar, don't get me wrong.

> The
> food was great. My appetizer was samosas, and they were the best I
> had ever had. For an entree there was no way I could turn down lamb
> shanks braised in dark beer. There were served on garlic mashed
> potatoes and there was a medley of stir fried vegetables; carrots,
> zuccini, beans and asparagus.

I've gotten some great meals in places like that.

> Nuts to the foo foo dining and outrageous prices. I will be going back
> to this place. There were several other interesting dishes that I
> might have liked, but the lamb shanks are worth going back for.
>
> Come to think of it, now that I am collecting a government pension and
> essentially got a huge raise, maybe we should be going there on a
> regular basis just for the lamb.

Congrats on the 'raise', too.

nancy

one of the benifits of being raised a hillbillie... you always get enough
bread to clean up the plate... according to my grandfther, it helps the
grandmother do the dishes easier. Lee
"Kalmia" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
On May 27, 6:11 pm, Dave Smith <adavid.sm...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> My wife and I went out for dinner last night to celebrate our
> anniversary. I had a reservation at the restaurant of a local golf club,
> but, no pun intended, I had reservations about it. The food has always
> been good and their prices were reasonable. I checked out their menu
> online and was disappointed to see that their prices had risen
> dramatically and there wasn't anything on it that really appealed.
>
> My wife suggested a couple other places, and was eager to go to a place
> in a nearby city. She had been there with a friend and had been
> impressed and she thought that I would like it. I cancelled our
> reservations and we tried the other place.
>
> I wasn't all that impressed with the ambience. It was more of a bar and
> grill and was a little rowdy due to the bar aspect of it. The food was
> great. My appetizer was samosas, and they were the best I had ever had.
> For an entree there was no way I could turn down lamb shanks braised in
> dark beer. There were served on garlic mashed potatoes and there was a
> medley of stir fried vegetables; carrots, zuccini, beans and asparagus.
>
> Nuts to the foo foo dining and outrageous prices. I will be going back
> to this place. There were several other interesting dishes that I might
> have liked, but the lamb shanks are worth going back for.
>
> Come to think of it, now that I am collecting a government pension and
> essentially got a huge raise, maybe we should be going there on a
> regular basis just for the lamb.

I hear ya. One of the best places I ever ate was a bar with food in
Nyack, NY. I think the booths harked back to turn of the century. Not
sure if it's still there, but we always made a point of stopping there
in the 80s and 90s. Name was something like O'Donaghue's on one of
the main drags. If no one had been looking, I'd have licked the
platter clean, the sauces were that good.

On May 27, 7:47*pm, Kalmia <tweeny90...@mypacks.net> wrote:
> On May 27, 6:11*pm, Dave Smith <adavid.sm...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > My wife and I went out for dinner last night to celebrate our
> > anniversary. I had a reservation at the restaurant of a local golf club,
> > but, no pun intended, I had reservations about it. The food has always
> > been good and their prices were reasonable. *I checked out their menu
> > online and was disappointed to see that their prices had risen
> > dramatically and there wasn't anything on it that really appealed.
>
> > My wife suggested a couple other places, and was eager to go to a place
> > in a nearby city. She had been there with a friend and had been
> > impressed and she thought that I would like it. I cancelled our
> > reservations and we tried the other place.
>
> > I wasn't all that impressed with the ambience. It was more of a bar and
> > grill and was a little rowdy due to the bar aspect of it. The food was
> > great. My appetizer was samosas, and they were the best I had ever had.
> > For an entree there was no way I could turn down lamb shanks braised in
> > dark beer. *There were served on garlic mashed potatoes and there wasa
> > medley of stir fried vegetables; carrots, zuccini, beans and asparagus.
>
> > Nuts to the foo foo dining and outrageous prices. I will be going back
> > to this place. There were several other interesting dishes that I might
> > have liked, but the lamb shanks are worth going back for.
>
> > Come to think of it, now that I am collecting a government pension and
> > essentially got a huge raise, maybe we should be going there on a
> > regular basis just for the lamb.
>
> I hear ya. *One of the best places I ever ate was a bar with food in
> Nyack, NY. *I think the booths harked back to turn of the century. Not
> sure if it's still there, but we always made a point of stopping there
> in the 80s and 90s. * Name was something like O'Donaghue's on one of
> the main drags. *If no one had been looking, I'd have licked the
> platter clean, the sauces were that good.

It's O'Donoghue's, Main Street, just east of Broadway. Tripadvisor
gives it top billing.

On Fri, 27 May 2011 18:11:50 -0400, Dave Smith
<[email protected]> wrote:

>My wife and I went out for dinner last night to celebrate our
>anniversary. I had a reservation at the restaurant of a local golf club,
>but, no pun intended, I had reservations about it. The food has always
>been good and their prices were reasonable. I checked out their menu
>online and was disappointed to see that their prices had risen
>dramatically and there wasn't anything on it that really appealed.
>
>My wife suggested a couple other places, and was eager to go to a place
>in a nearby city. She had been there with a friend and had been
>impressed and she thought that I would like it. I cancelled our
>reservations and we tried the other place.
>
>I wasn't all that impressed with the ambience. It was more of a bar and
>grill and was a little rowdy due to the bar aspect of it. The food was
>great. My appetizer was samosas, and they were the best I had ever had.
>For an entree there was no way I could turn down lamb shanks braised in
>dark beer. There were served on garlic mashed potatoes and there was a
>medley of stir fried vegetables; carrots, zuccini, beans and asparagus.
>
>Nuts to the foo foo dining and outrageous prices. I will be going back
>to this place. There were several other interesting dishes that I might
>have liked, but the lamb shanks are worth going back for.
>
>Come to think of it, now that I am collecting a government pension and
>essentially got a huge raise, maybe we should be going there on a
>regular basis just for the lamb.

Congratulations on the anniversary and the raise.
But, you're keeping the location secret? ;-).

Ross.

On 28/05/2011 10:07 AM, Ross@home wrote:

>> Come to think of it, now that I am collecting a government pension and
>> essentially got a huge raise, maybe we should be going there on a
>> regular basis just for the lamb.
>
> Congratulations on the anniversary and the raise.
> But, you're keeping the location secret? ;-).


It is Office Tap and Grill in St.Catharines Ont.

http://www.theofficetapandgrill.com/us.html

On 27/05/2011 6:33 PM, sf wrote:

> I can honestly say I haven't seen one place on DD&D where I'd want to
> eat... I don't base my opinion on the decor, I base it on the food I
> see which isn't innovative, IMO, and is served in serious
> disproportion to the volume of food people eat at one meal on a normal
> basis.
>


There does seem to be a lot of oohing and aahing over the size of the
proportions and the specialty techniques...usually deep frying, and then
again over the size of the portions. But if you think that is bad check
out Outrageous Food. I have only seen the promos for it. I am not
interested in watching the preparation of meals that are remarkable
primarily for their size. I am even less interested in watching some
overweight buffoon showing off how much he can eat. according to the
Food Network website for the show it features thinks like a five foot
pizza delivered by crane, a five pound breakfast, a burger with two
dozen toppings. etc. Not at all appealing.

On May 27, 6:52*pm, "Storrmmee" <rgr...@consolidated.net> wrote:
> one of the benifits of being raised a hillbillie... you always get enough
> bread to clean up the plate... according to my grandfther, it helps the
> grandmother do the dishes easier. *Lee

LOL

On Sat, 28 May 2011 10:26:10 -0400, Dave Smith
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 28/05/2011 10:07 AM, Ross@home wrote:
>
>>> Come to think of it, now that I am collecting a government pension and
>>> essentially got a huge raise, maybe we should be going there on a
>>> regular basis just for the lamb.
>>
>> Congratulations on the anniversary and the raise.
>> But, you're keeping the location secret? ;-).
>
>
>It is Office Tap and Grill in St.Catharines Ont.
>
>http://www.theofficetapandgrill.com/us.html

Thanks.
Just happen to have some Tankhouse Ale in the fridge right now. Pretty
decent brew. And, lamb shanks braised in it sounds excellent. When we
get down that way again we'll give 'em a try.
95.3 km door to door from here, according to Google maps.

Ross.

On 28/05/2011 3:28 PM, Ross@home wrote:

>>
>> It is Office Tap and Grill in St.Catharines Ont.
>>
>> http://www.theofficetapandgrill.com/us.html
>
> Thanks.
> Just happen to have some Tankhouse Ale in the fridge right now. Pretty
> decent brew. And, lamb shanks braised in it sounds excellent. When we
> get down that way again we'll give 'em a try.
> 95.3 km door to door from here, according to Google maps.


I have braised lamb shanks in dark beer and it was delicious. I got the
recipe off the internet. I will have to get some dark ale and try it. My
son's microbrewery makes some good dark beer. Maybe I can coax him to
bring me some. It shouldn't be hard to fake a braising recipe. I rarely
follow them strictly anyway.