| rev:text
| - Good Food, Mixed Feelings...
Following a craving I've had for Lebanese Garlic Sauce, I ended up at Byblos for a much anticipated late lunch. I also brought along a printed coupon they had displayed on their web site.
I had called ahead to ensure that their garlic sauce wasn't the garlic mayonnaise mixture (yuk) I had been served at another restaurant in town as garlic sauce. The person who answered my call to Byblos assured me that there was no mayonnaise in their garlic sauce. I set out anticipating a nice mouthful of savory emulsified garlic, lemon juice and olive oil - or something approximating that - like I always used to be served in my favorite Lebanese restaurant in Minneapolis.
I was seated and provided with water and a menu immediately. I arrived after the lunch rush was past so service was not a problem.
I was going to order the grilled chicken breast lunch plate, which was served with garlic dip, but the owner encouraged me to try the chef's special of the day instead. The special was spinach simmered with ground beef and spices and served with rice pilaf and hummus. It included a cup of their tomato soup. I also ordered garlic dip to go, and a glass of their yogurt drink.
My soup was brought almost immediately, and was absolutely delicious. I could eat that soup daily! My main course was not far behind. It was good, but left me wishing I had ordered something with punch to it. I was really glad I had ordered the yogurt drink as it gave my meal additional flavor dimension.
I was left wanting something additional, so I ordered the Honey Pudding for dessert. I really don't know how to describe it, but it was fabulous and wonderfully creamy!
I was feeling that I'd had a good experience overall, and before the check was brought I gave the server the coupon I had printed from their website. It read:
"$5.00 OFF Any Dining Experience of $20 or more.
- Cannot be applied to the purchase of alcoholic beverages
- Coupons may not be combined with any other offer
- Not valid on Holidays or special events
- Coupon void if altered
- One coupon per party
- Expires 07/31/2015"
The server took the coupon and a few minutes later, the owner came over and explained that the coupon was only good for dinner. Nothing on the coupon (above) or the website had indicated to me that it was for dinner only, and I had intentionally spent over $20 on food because $5 off seemed a good reason to do so. Of course, he was the owner so his interpretation prevailed. I didn't make a scene over it, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Finally, the much awaited garlic dip! I opened it at home a short while later. It smelled nice and garlicky, but was not at all what I was looking forward to. I don't know what it was made from, but it had a texture a bit thicker than hummus. It was sort of like dry garlicky mashed potatoes. There was apparently no lemon in it. I should have asked more questions. So, at this point my quest for garlic sauce remains unfulfilled.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)