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| - Ehhhh...I think my expecations were a bit too high.
My first time here after hearing and seeing so much about this place online and on the tube. From Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, to Adam Richmond, who all basically went cuckoo for cocoa puffs over this place. For me, I think the appeal is more about the food shock when this enormous plate of food arrives at your table than it is about spectacular food. Don't get me wrong, the food is pretty good but I would truly want a smaller portion of excellent food than an over-the-top portion of O.K. food.
I ordered the Sage fried chicken benedict and Mark H ordered the Crab cake benedict. Both came with the same sauce over the top which is a chipotle cream instead of a hollandaise. It was pretty spicy (which our server mentioned) and went O.K. with the chicken but Mark H said it obliterated whatever subtle seafood flavors there were in the crab cake. The proteins came atop a split country biscuit which was on top of a mound of griddled mashed potatoes. Carb overkill and definitely why the plate is huger than it should be. The plate also came with a small orange slice and a slice of melon. I guess this small addition of fresh fruit is meant to counter-balance the super-rich carbo-loading dish? Another thing I didn't understand was what seemed like uncooked (or maybe flash fried?) angel hair pasta sticking out the sides of the dish, almost like kitty or catfish whiskers, possibly added for texture but it was more like raw pasta chew that got stuck between the teeth. Very odd addition.
With all this being said, the plates could probably feed two seasoned eaters or a light eating family of four - including a small puppy. The majority of diners (including myself who has been referred to as a bottomless pit before) will take home food for later munching. Two meals for the price of one is sort of a deal I guess but not really since my dish was $18.99 and was pretty much 2/3 biscuit and mashed potato.
One last thing I guess I'll mention was Mark H, who has been to the original one in San Diego, was a bit disappointed with this one because he said it now has that "chain" restaurant vibe, he said he felt like he was in a Chilis but with darker wood but better music...oh well.
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