We finally tried this place on Saturday night. My brother has been coming here for a while and has enjoyed the food.
It helps to know what to expect so reading the review in advance was great. I am not sure why people made such a big deal about the ketchup bottle though. It was fine (PC brand ketchup).
This place is basically a diner. If you looking for fancy fare, you will be disappointed. If you are interested in hearty good food at reasonable prices and huge portions, you will not be. The service was sufficient, if not overly friendly. The previous reviewers were right about the mashed potatoes - they are bland and you will need the gravy if you order them.
I had one of the specials - the Roasted Shoulder of Lamb (at $10.75 with vegetable (fresh steamed broccoli), choice of potato and tangy lamb sauce (which was delicious) it was a steal! I shared my meal with four other adults at the table and still had more than enough. The portion was huge and the lamb was tender and falling off of the bone.
My kids ordered the cheeseburgers. I should have taken a picture of them. They were huge and the kids really enjoyed them. My 9 year old son ate 3/4 of it! My 13 year old daughter could only finish 1/2 of it.
The steaks were very good. Not the best that I have had but still good. We ordered the beef tenderloin with the peppercorn sauce on the side. The sauce was delicious. The steak was a little overcooked for my taste but still very tender and tasty.
The slices of pie (at $3.50 a pop) were huge. We tried the coconut cream, banana cream and lemon meringue and all were very good. I would go with the lemon meringue next time. The chocolate cake slice was huge - split it between two kids and still had to take a portion of it home. It was also very good!
We will most definately be coming back to The Tulip, even though it was very far out of our way since we live north of the City.