I took the kids here years ago when staying at the Silverdale Beach hotel next door. We had a cheese pizza that was good, but what really stood out was the simple side salad we ordered. It came out just covered in shredded mozzarella and sliced olives. The kids loved it. So did I.
I decided to try it again, see if it still had the magic. Its been the same owner for 20 plus years.
I ordered the Mediterranean Caesar. Homemade Caesar dressing, Kalamata Olives, Pepperocini, Tomato, Mozzarella Cheese, croutons and Shrimp on a bed of mixed greens. It was fabulous!
The salad arrived and it was so big, I think even the server was surprised, she asked me if I needed an additional plate to put some on. The salad was about to spill off the plate!
It was layered on top with melted Mozzarella on top of a layer of Tomato slices. Under that was the shrimp. This wasn't salad shrimp, these were nice, big prawn-like shrimp. There must have been 30 or 40 of them on the salad! The next layer was croutons, followed by greens. The pepperocini and Olives were hanging on the side of the plate, barely fitting!
It was really tasty. The dressing was great, the shrimp were good quality. It was a spectacular salad for under $10.
Service could have been better, but, considering its Kitsap, it was on par with most other establishements.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Harbour Pub, Bainbridge Island
I received a gift card from an associate recently, so I had an excuse to go to the Pub.
It's not that I don't like the Pub, I've had some great times there over the years, but now it has turned in to this yuppie destination. A typical night the wait for dinner is at least 30 minutes.
We went on a Wednesday night, around 6:30. It was a grim night, cold, wet and windy. We found one parking place left and we knew what we were in for.
The hostess recognizing our impatience, offered us a place at the bar.
We both ordered the fish and chips. The menu states that the fish and chips are "consistently voted Bainbridges favourite". Yes, they truly spell favorite with a U. Some might find that quaint, I call it strike one. Last I checked, we were in the USA. This is a historical Bainbridge building and as long as Bainbridge has been enhabited by non indigenous people, Bainbridge has spelled favorite with NO U! Yes, the name is also spelled with a U. grrrr.
Bronwen ordered a side salad This is where the menu becomes confusing. The menu lists the side salad, organic greens, blah blah blah, then there is a little line at the bottom that says "Caesar side salad $4.95", but the main side salad is $6.95. Nearly $7 for a plate of Kale... a few leafs of spinach in there, two slices of cucumber, 4 little tomatoes. Not what B expected.
The fish and chips came shortly after. Three large pieces of Cod. I suspect it was previously frozen, the menu does not say. I rate it good to average.
The coleslaw was probably the blandest I have ever had. Generous addition of salt and pepper made it edible. The fries are decent, hand cut, greasy.
I did the math after we finished and since I abstained from beer, I had enough left for dessert. We saw the Carmel Brownie Sundae come out for another table, I had to have it. It was fabulous. That brownie was the chocolatiest thing I have ever eaten. YUM!
When we left, around 7:30, there was an hour wait to get a table.
Frankly, I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would wait an hour for this place. I like the fish and chips at Winslow 122 better. In the summer a fun night on the deck is great, but for a normal night out, I wouldn't go here.
It's not that I don't like the Pub, I've had some great times there over the years, but now it has turned in to this yuppie destination. A typical night the wait for dinner is at least 30 minutes.
We went on a Wednesday night, around 6:30. It was a grim night, cold, wet and windy. We found one parking place left and we knew what we were in for.
The hostess recognizing our impatience, offered us a place at the bar.
We both ordered the fish and chips. The menu states that the fish and chips are "consistently voted Bainbridges favourite". Yes, they truly spell favorite with a U. Some might find that quaint, I call it strike one. Last I checked, we were in the USA. This is a historical Bainbridge building and as long as Bainbridge has been enhabited by non indigenous people, Bainbridge has spelled favorite with NO U! Yes, the name is also spelled with a U. grrrr.
Bronwen ordered a side salad This is where the menu becomes confusing. The menu lists the side salad, organic greens, blah blah blah, then there is a little line at the bottom that says "Caesar side salad $4.95", but the main side salad is $6.95. Nearly $7 for a plate of Kale... a few leafs of spinach in there, two slices of cucumber, 4 little tomatoes. Not what B expected.
The fish and chips came shortly after. Three large pieces of Cod. I suspect it was previously frozen, the menu does not say. I rate it good to average.
The coleslaw was probably the blandest I have ever had. Generous addition of salt and pepper made it edible. The fries are decent, hand cut, greasy.
I did the math after we finished and since I abstained from beer, I had enough left for dessert. We saw the Carmel Brownie Sundae come out for another table, I had to have it. It was fabulous. That brownie was the chocolatiest thing I have ever eaten. YUM!
When we left, around 7:30, there was an hour wait to get a table.
Frankly, I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would wait an hour for this place. I like the fish and chips at Winslow 122 better. In the summer a fun night on the deck is great, but for a normal night out, I wouldn't go here.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Winslow 122
This is the restaurant that used to be knows as Winslow Way Cafe. Let me start out by saying that I do take the ownership group into consideration when patronizing any place of business. Let me also say GOOD RIDDANCE to the former ownership of Winslow Way Cafe.
This new group started out a little rough as well. Inexperienced restaurant owners, they brought in a good, proven management team to set up the new restaurant. Then they fired them. The Chef was a hack from day one but the owners did manage to hire a good sous chef and thank goodness for that. The sous is now the Chef and I hear things are really going well.
We went to Docs last week for our monthly fish and chip feast. It was awful. When walking by one day, I noticed that the Fish and Chips at Winslow 122 were the same price. The challenge was on. We went in on a Saturday night and were seated in the bar. Needless to say, everyone's drinks were more important that us. I expected this.
The Fish and Chips came and as much as I didn't want to say it, they were spectacular, probably in the top ten all time! The tartar sauce was decent, but the chips were those shoe string fries and I didn't care for that.
In conclusion, the food is good, everything else sucks. Hey, this is Bainbridge, I will take it!
OH and they only charged me $2.00 for a bottle of Pacifico, I suspect that was an error on someones part.
This new group started out a little rough as well. Inexperienced restaurant owners, they brought in a good, proven management team to set up the new restaurant. Then they fired them. The Chef was a hack from day one but the owners did manage to hire a good sous chef and thank goodness for that. The sous is now the Chef and I hear things are really going well.
We went to Docs last week for our monthly fish and chip feast. It was awful. When walking by one day, I noticed that the Fish and Chips at Winslow 122 were the same price. The challenge was on. We went in on a Saturday night and were seated in the bar. Needless to say, everyone's drinks were more important that us. I expected this.
The Fish and Chips came and as much as I didn't want to say it, they were spectacular, probably in the top ten all time! The tartar sauce was decent, but the chips were those shoe string fries and I didn't care for that.
In conclusion, the food is good, everything else sucks. Hey, this is Bainbridge, I will take it!
OH and they only charged me $2.00 for a bottle of Pacifico, I suspect that was an error on someones part.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Newport Beach Restaurants
Belly Deli - Hwy 1 Newport Beach
This is the young hipster hang out. The menu had a lot of things, Pizza, salads, wraps, sandwiches..
My veggie sandwich was ok, but not great. They had lots of beer. The place seemed at one time to be a tavern, and after dinner it appears to be a tavern.
Shorewood Inn - Balboa Beach
This place had the craziest menu I have ever seen! There was soo much stuff to chose from. They even had 4 or 5 different veggie meat products. It was unreal. The food, however, was average at best. The service was good and we had good entertainment while watching one very young waitress come to work, and proceed to start removing her clothes. It was a cold morning and she came in all bundled up. Every time she walked by, she seemed to have shed more clothes! Soon she had on a sheer top, no bra, tight sweats and those boots all the girls wear. The food was not great, but the view was pretty good.
finally we got it right...
Bluewater Inn - Newport Beach
This place was in the Marina and had a nice outdoor seating area. We went wild here, starved for some quality food. We two appetizers, the Baked Clams, which were excellent and the Seared Ahi which was phenominal. For dinner we both had the Sea Bass. It was an Australian fish, and it was not as good as Chilean Sea Bass, but it was prepared prefectly. Great meal, not too expensive, I think our bill with several drinks was $100.
Great Mex - Balboa
We had seen this place a few times, what a silly name we thought. We went in, they have a counter you order from, then you take your seat and they bring the food to you. The place was packed with mostly high school age kids.
I had the three combination plate. Shrimp soft taco, Chili Relleno and Crispy Potato Taco. OMG! it was out of this world. We still reminisce over this place daily.
They also feature a salsa bar, with all homemade salsas and beer and wine. This little hole in the wall was too good, we will definately return. In fact, we dined there several times during our short stay.
Baja Fresh - Corona del Mar (various other CA locations)
This fast food chain features all fresh food, nothing frozen or premade. It also has a salsa bar and some locations (Hollywood BLVD from a previous trip) feature beer and wine.
I ordered fish tacos and they were spectacular. We couldn't go wrong eating cheap mexican in Orange County.
Del Taco - various
Crappy chain restaurant similar to Taco Bell. We saw the commercials everywhere and the restaurants everywhere. On our last day, for lack of anywhere better to go at the time, we tried the Del Taco. First thing I see is an Egg and cheese burrito (it was breakfast time). I have never seen a fast food place offer a non meat menu item. I always have to ask for a "egg mcMuffin with no meat" or whatever. This place actually had what I wanted right on the menu. It was better than any Mexican food that I have had in the Seattle area in some time, since the place on 7th and Stewart closed anyways..
Cappys - Newport Beach, HWY 1
This place was a trip. It looked like a restaurant/lounge that you have been too a million times. A Dougals, or Capt K's for my local readers. One problem, they closed at 3! It was very close to the hotel and we so wanted to go there for a drink.
One morning we did go for breakfast. It was unreal. Again, like Shorewood, it had a huge menu. I have never seen anything like it. There must have been 20 different omelets, in addition to scrambles, hot cakes, waffles.. it was amazing.
The food was good too. We ate here twice for breakfast. Simple, greasy, homecooked food. Huge portions!
They had a beautiful, fully stocked bar. And they close daily at 3 pm. We never could figure that one out..
This is the young hipster hang out. The menu had a lot of things, Pizza, salads, wraps, sandwiches..
My veggie sandwich was ok, but not great. They had lots of beer. The place seemed at one time to be a tavern, and after dinner it appears to be a tavern.
Shorewood Inn - Balboa Beach
This place had the craziest menu I have ever seen! There was soo much stuff to chose from. They even had 4 or 5 different veggie meat products. It was unreal. The food, however, was average at best. The service was good and we had good entertainment while watching one very young waitress come to work, and proceed to start removing her clothes. It was a cold morning and she came in all bundled up. Every time she walked by, she seemed to have shed more clothes! Soon she had on a sheer top, no bra, tight sweats and those boots all the girls wear. The food was not great, but the view was pretty good.
finally we got it right...
Bluewater Inn - Newport Beach
This place was in the Marina and had a nice outdoor seating area. We went wild here, starved for some quality food. We two appetizers, the Baked Clams, which were excellent and the Seared Ahi which was phenominal. For dinner we both had the Sea Bass. It was an Australian fish, and it was not as good as Chilean Sea Bass, but it was prepared prefectly. Great meal, not too expensive, I think our bill with several drinks was $100.
Great Mex - Balboa
We had seen this place a few times, what a silly name we thought. We went in, they have a counter you order from, then you take your seat and they bring the food to you. The place was packed with mostly high school age kids.
I had the three combination plate. Shrimp soft taco, Chili Relleno and Crispy Potato Taco. OMG! it was out of this world. We still reminisce over this place daily.
They also feature a salsa bar, with all homemade salsas and beer and wine. This little hole in the wall was too good, we will definately return. In fact, we dined there several times during our short stay.
Baja Fresh - Corona del Mar (various other CA locations)
This fast food chain features all fresh food, nothing frozen or premade. It also has a salsa bar and some locations (Hollywood BLVD from a previous trip) feature beer and wine.
I ordered fish tacos and they were spectacular. We couldn't go wrong eating cheap mexican in Orange County.
Del Taco - various
Crappy chain restaurant similar to Taco Bell. We saw the commercials everywhere and the restaurants everywhere. On our last day, for lack of anywhere better to go at the time, we tried the Del Taco. First thing I see is an Egg and cheese burrito (it was breakfast time). I have never seen a fast food place offer a non meat menu item. I always have to ask for a "egg mcMuffin with no meat" or whatever. This place actually had what I wanted right on the menu. It was better than any Mexican food that I have had in the Seattle area in some time, since the place on 7th and Stewart closed anyways..
Cappys - Newport Beach, HWY 1
This place was a trip. It looked like a restaurant/lounge that you have been too a million times. A Dougals, or Capt K's for my local readers. One problem, they closed at 3! It was very close to the hotel and we so wanted to go there for a drink.
One morning we did go for breakfast. It was unreal. Again, like Shorewood, it had a huge menu. I have never seen anything like it. There must have been 20 different omelets, in addition to scrambles, hot cakes, waffles.. it was amazing.
The food was good too. We ate here twice for breakfast. Simple, greasy, homecooked food. Huge portions!
They had a beautiful, fully stocked bar. And they close daily at 3 pm. We never could figure that one out..
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Changes to the Bainbridge eatery scene...
Its been a while since I have had anything to say about my dining experiences. Frankly, I haven't had a meal out that was any good for some time.. But, there have been some changes to our local eateries that should be mentioned, for better... or WORSE!
Winslow 122
First off, the Winslow Way Cafe finally caved. I would like to tell you what I really feel about the former owner, but lets move on. A new place was opened by a rich couple with ZERO restaurant experience. They hired two competent managers to set up the restaurant. They were to be silent owners, step back and let the pros make them money. They decided to be vocal, they fired the only experienced people in the restaurant before it opened. Left with an unchecked inexperienced Chef, they quickly tailspinned right out of the gate. The Chef was fired, the Sous Chef took over. The Sous Chef graduated from CIA, so he probably has skill, but lacks experience. Its been open four months now. What are the signs of a restaurant going out of business? "Kids eat free" and "Now serving Brunch" Good bye Winslow 122, you won't be missed.
Penelopes
A new Italian place opened up in the Pavilion, right next to the Casa Rojas Lounge. We were very excited to have an Italian restaurant open up. When it finally opened, we dined there.
Let me start off by saying, the food was good. Not great, but good, and affordable.
The owners have never had a dine in restaurant before and it shows. The place wreaks of inexperience. They try real hard, but the menu is complicated and many dishes take much too long. The long line to get in is not so much because they are great, its because they are slow.
The Menu is horrible. It simply lists the name of the Entree. No description whatsoever. When ordering pizza togo, this probably isn't a problem
I have hopes that they will learn as they go. I have heard that some of the complicated items are being reworked. Now, they need to add a better beer selection. They have two beers, an Italian and a micro brew.
I will return to this place, I am hopeful, however, there is another new Italian place opening up on Winslow way, so we will see who wins this battle.
Richies 305 Diner
Yeah yeah, you saw it on Diners Drive ins and Dives.. it still went out of business, and rightfully so. Its a DINER, not a gourmet yuppie cafe in France or something.. come on....
Two new owners with limited experience opened the place up a few weeks ago. Hard to tell, no press, no nothing, one day they just opened the shades and turned on the sign. Clearly they missed the class on Marketing and Promotion....
We went there last weekend. I was happy to see that it has DINER FOOD! Thank you. They kinda have a tex mex thing going like the diners in Colorado. They offer green and red chili. I don't eat meat, so I can't comment on whether its good.
I had a three item omelet with hashbrowns and toast. They have biscuits listed all over the menu and the young waitress asked me if I would like a biscuit instead of toast. I asked if they make their own biscuits? They don't. Why they hype the biscuits is beyond me. I had sourdough.
The omelet was beautiful, cooked perfectly. The hashbrowns looked great, but were a little undercooked in the middle. They were alright though.
My daughter had the French Toast combo, which came with a choice of meat. She chose bacon.
The toast looked great, and, I did try one slice. It was crusted with cinnamon and was pretty good. The bacon was a thick cut type. I, of course, didn't try it though.
So, the new owners have the Diner food going ok, there is one problem, they kept the yuppie French Cafe pricing. The worst offender, Steak and Eggs for $17.99. Who are they kidding?
My omelet was $9.99 and the French Toast combo was $8.99. Too high for a diner. Do they not see the sandwich boards that the Salmon Creek Cafe have posted all over town? 2 eggs, toast and bacon for $5.99. Get with it Richies or meet a similar fate of all those before you.
Winslow 122
First off, the Winslow Way Cafe finally caved. I would like to tell you what I really feel about the former owner, but lets move on. A new place was opened by a rich couple with ZERO restaurant experience. They hired two competent managers to set up the restaurant. They were to be silent owners, step back and let the pros make them money. They decided to be vocal, they fired the only experienced people in the restaurant before it opened. Left with an unchecked inexperienced Chef, they quickly tailspinned right out of the gate. The Chef was fired, the Sous Chef took over. The Sous Chef graduated from CIA, so he probably has skill, but lacks experience. Its been open four months now. What are the signs of a restaurant going out of business? "Kids eat free" and "Now serving Brunch" Good bye Winslow 122, you won't be missed.
Penelopes
A new Italian place opened up in the Pavilion, right next to the Casa Rojas Lounge. We were very excited to have an Italian restaurant open up. When it finally opened, we dined there.
Let me start off by saying, the food was good. Not great, but good, and affordable.
The owners have never had a dine in restaurant before and it shows. The place wreaks of inexperience. They try real hard, but the menu is complicated and many dishes take much too long. The long line to get in is not so much because they are great, its because they are slow.
The Menu is horrible. It simply lists the name of the Entree. No description whatsoever. When ordering pizza togo, this probably isn't a problem
I have hopes that they will learn as they go. I have heard that some of the complicated items are being reworked. Now, they need to add a better beer selection. They have two beers, an Italian and a micro brew.
I will return to this place, I am hopeful, however, there is another new Italian place opening up on Winslow way, so we will see who wins this battle.
Richies 305 Diner
Yeah yeah, you saw it on Diners Drive ins and Dives.. it still went out of business, and rightfully so. Its a DINER, not a gourmet yuppie cafe in France or something.. come on....
Two new owners with limited experience opened the place up a few weeks ago. Hard to tell, no press, no nothing, one day they just opened the shades and turned on the sign. Clearly they missed the class on Marketing and Promotion....
We went there last weekend. I was happy to see that it has DINER FOOD! Thank you. They kinda have a tex mex thing going like the diners in Colorado. They offer green and red chili. I don't eat meat, so I can't comment on whether its good.
I had a three item omelet with hashbrowns and toast. They have biscuits listed all over the menu and the young waitress asked me if I would like a biscuit instead of toast. I asked if they make their own biscuits? They don't. Why they hype the biscuits is beyond me. I had sourdough.
The omelet was beautiful, cooked perfectly. The hashbrowns looked great, but were a little undercooked in the middle. They were alright though.
My daughter had the French Toast combo, which came with a choice of meat. She chose bacon.
The toast looked great, and, I did try one slice. It was crusted with cinnamon and was pretty good. The bacon was a thick cut type. I, of course, didn't try it though.
So, the new owners have the Diner food going ok, there is one problem, they kept the yuppie French Cafe pricing. The worst offender, Steak and Eggs for $17.99. Who are they kidding?
My omelet was $9.99 and the French Toast combo was $8.99. Too high for a diner. Do they not see the sandwich boards that the Salmon Creek Cafe have posted all over town? 2 eggs, toast and bacon for $5.99. Get with it Richies or meet a similar fate of all those before you.
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