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| - Oh, Spring Rolls. I went to your downtown locations when I was an undergrad, and sitting in an orchid-filled room sipping a lichee martini and eating Thai felt like the height of cosmopolitan sophistication.
The Y&E area Spring Rolls is even prettier than the downtown branches, for my money. It occupies an ill-starred location that was a Fran's a few years ago, a Hooters a few years before that, and back in my childhood was Lime Rickey's, a two-story shiny retro diner with gigantic sundaes that were the pinnacle of indulgence.
The Spring Rolls people have done a lovely job of refurbishing the restaurant, and the second floor is actually gorgeous after dusk - backlit strips of richly patterned glass glow against dark wood and the dark city.
Now, the food. Sigh. Have I become jaded and spoiled, or was it always this bland? I don't think so - I think it has gone downhill. Even the downtown locations don't seem as good as they used to be. Maybe inertia has set in, but portions seem smaller and blander. The lichee martinis are still wonderful, but I can make them at home now.
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