Our posters aren't printed
yet, we're gonna miss the movie, let's just go to dinner. Some time
ago the “don” of secret burger joints took us to Ido Bar & Grill for
what I remember to be pretty good burgers. We have been trying to
get back to include the burgers and maybe even the rangy dinner menu
for our little written adventures here. Their hours and our hours
haven’t worked for lunch so we decided to start with dinner. The
same dated and well-worn interior greeted us, as did much of the
staff. The service staff is diverse, in attitude at least, from
super cheery/happiness to the one whose arms never uncrossed from
her chest, fixed in place just as scowl appeared no less permanent
than the dull presidential countenances in South Dakota. |
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Forebodes Disappointment |
Then there is the manic bus boy who spent a lot of time on the floor kinda staring at people.... The special appetizer for the day was a pork and cabbage egg roll. We had just had a superior version of such in Florida and decided to give them a go here. The AYCE fish fry and a dish of steak alfredo followed. The egg rolls were clearly burned nearly black on one side in the fryer. Maybe they were pan fried…not sure how you burn one side so much more over the other immersing them in grease. Not a great start. They were nice enough to spin the black side to the bottom…which rested on a scoop of salsa/relish/chutney rice mixture with slivered almonds which actually turned out to be the best part of the dish. There was a pool of a
purported spicy/mustard based sauce on the side but it lacked any
spice and didn’t add anything but lubrication. Of course,
lubrication is more helpful given the dark shards of wonton wrapper
in the rolls. |
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The fish was better, far from my favorite Friday fish fry, but better than the pork rolls. The breading had a sandy sort of texture to it and was clearly too much for the fish. The filets themselves appeared fresh and were fried to flaky and steamy goodness so they were easily the top of the town. Fries, slaw and hot rice were all standard at best. My steak and pasta entrée came with salad (average) and Italian bread (way good with real butter and sesame seeds on the crust). Changed my mind easily the best thing about dinner was the bread followed by the fish…by a fair margin. Our first inkling my dinner
was going back in the direction of the pork rolls was the fact that
our server (she was one of the friendly options) didn’t ask how I
wanted the steak done. But then again, she said she really loved the
dish and it was a good choice….The steak was well plus whatever
level follows that. I'm not sure if there is an official term for
it. If not, I suggest leather-upper. |
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The pasta was cooked
functionally but the alfredo was a lot of cream and little cheese
except for the single mound of gorgonzola stacked in the middle of
the bowl. I had already tired of eating the stuff by the time I
found the extra-advertised cheese and it wasn’t enough to rekindle
any interest. It was supposed to have broccoli but had enormous
leaves of spinach instead which mostly left cheese-less warm cream
dripping down my chin. This was the opposite of the super tasty find
at Muscarella's in PA. Nice idea, poor production. There were quite
a few people having dinner, I hope they were having some thing else.
We will probably make it back for a burger or sandwich, but‘ve had
enough of dinner. Idon’t. Iwon’t. |
Ratings | |||||||
Food |
Service |
Ambiance |
What's Best |
What's Worst |
Overall |
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D- | C- | C- | N/A | F | D- | ||
Bought Bread | Steak Dinner |