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| - Three of us dined Saturday noon for $60 with mixed results.
The Good: The omelette and huevos rancheros were both delicious (so I'm told) and generous in size. Service, when we got it, was cheery.
The Bad: Service was painfully slow, 20-30 minutes from ordering to serving, 10-15 between plate pickup and cheque. Much has been said about the dated decor, but my son sat in a chair so dated that had so much give to it that I thought it might topple.
The Ugly: In a word, blintzes. Not that they were truly blintzes (at least the menu acknowledged that they were crepes), and not that the mango compote served with them was truly compote by any definition I understand (more like mango chunks in a juice syrup). There was cheese filling, not enough that I could see, but I could taste it there. I can attest that previous commenter's suggestion that they use canned whip cream wasn't true today; mine could have used another 30 seconds whipping so that it would stand up. Yet, these concerns didn't kill the experience for me.
Killer 1: You need to understand, I'm a sweet tooth. As I write, I'm drowning my sorrows in farmers market fudge. This is a step down in sweetness from the blintzes. It was just shy of inedible (and I'm confident most people I know wouldn't have been as generous). I'm not sure what part was the problem, but in addition to the visible icing sugar, I could feel sweet crystals the size of turbinado sugar as I ate. If I had thought I could have gotten a replacement before the sun set, I would have sent it back.
Killer 2: In the farmers market behind this building, there is a stand that sells crepes for about $8. I'd consider this (pardon the pun) market price. So, when I ordered a $16 dish, I expected 2 crepes. I got one 8" crepe, cut in half. I'd have been happy paying $8-10 for what I got (well, less grumpy), or getting 2 crepes for this price, even with all the previously mentioned shortcomings. Nope. I felt incredibly ripped off, and then to top it off, I got to stew in that feeling while I waited for the bill. (Hint to restauranteurs: if you're going to burn a customer, get them out the door *FAST*.)
If you're not on a budget, you may have a good meal here, but our party batted only 66%. Given the consistently better experiences we've had literally a stones throw from this front door, I'd find it hard to recommend this place.
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