So tonight my boyfriend and I decided to stay home and cook some food.
=O <--- scared face!
I am a very inexperienced chef. My specialties are oriental flavored ramen noodles and cinnamon toast. So let's just say, my technical skill is limited. My boyfriend doesn't really do a lot of cooking either, so it's kinda like the blind leading the blind...
We decided to do something a little more exciting than grilled chicken on the Foreman and canned vegetables. So, I did some research for cheap recipes for amateur home cooks. I found a recipe for Tortellini with Smoked Sausage and Edamame. My boyfriend is a big meat guy (no pun intended), so he was really into the idea of some smoked sausage. It said it was around $.85 per serving, so we gave it a try.
My boyfriend boiled some three cheese tortellini and some edamame while I sauteed some red pepper in with the smoked sausage. Then we threw it all together in a large pot and tossed it with some italian dressing. It actually tasted pretty good. I was very proud of us:). His parents actually came over and had a couple bowls themselves.
The whole recipe costs me $13.62. Not too shabby.
I think we could definitely make this a couple-days-a-week thing.
I give it 3 stars out of 5 ***
I give it: 2 stars out of 5 **
And you might be thinking, what does a young girl know about critiquing a restaurant's food?
Well, I have taste buds, and I know what tastes good to me:) I'm not saying my opinion is the right one, it's just another piece of the puzzle.
So, last night I went to a place called Piranha Killer Sushi. Sounds interesting right? I am a sushi-lover so my boyfriend and I decided to check it out.
When we arrived it was about 7:30 PM and they were suprisingly slow. We walked in and I immediately fell in love with the decor. Its modern, clean, and the lighting was dimmed to allow for a romantic dinner;) It is much smaller than I expected, but my mother always taught me good things come in small packages (or most things). So we were seated by the host. Everyone was dressed semi-casual so I wasn't expecting fine dining, but at least a higher quality experience. We waited a little while before we were greeted, about 3 minutes. Seemed a little long for me. The waitress got our drink order, water with lemons as always for me, and a simple ice water for my boyfriend. Then I noticed a table of four business men was being seated in our server's section. She immediately greeted them within 25 seconds and had their drinks returned to their table before she brought us our waters. Strike number one. About 5 minutes after she dropped off the gentlemens' drinks, she brought us ours. We had our menus stacked neatly at the end of the table and she said "So I guess your ready to order, huh?" Strike number two. I order a Dragon Roll, and a simple California Roll. And my boyfriend got Salmon Teriyaki with a house salad and a bowl of fried rice on the side. Our waitress warned my boyfriend that the sushi might come out before his entree, which was fine with us. I used to work in a Vietnamese restaurant, and that is pretty normal. The waitress grabbed our menus and disappeared.
About 10 minutes go by, and my boyfriend's salad finally arrives. It was extremely small, and underdressed. The house dressing tasted like sweet and sour sauce and had the texture of old ground up tomatoes. The salad was pretty, but tasted unwashed, like "straight picked from the garden greens" is how my boyfriend described it. We took about three bites, and we were done.
Then about 10 minutes after the salad came, my boyfriend's entree arrives, my sushi did not. I had to wait an additional 2 or 3 minutes before my sushi came to the table. The food looked really pretty. I tried my Dragon Roll first. I love cream cheese so I added it to the roll, but usually it comes with tempura shrimp and asparagus and its topped with salmon. As I picked up the first piece of sushi, it started to fall apart. The roll wasn't tight enough, so all the ingredients fell out. The California Roll wasn't any better. It was bland, mushy, and tasteless. My boyfriend's Salmon Teriyaki came with grilled squash and a small herb salad on top, both inedible. The vegetables and salad were smothered in a sweet sauce, making them taste candied. The salmon was a dingy pink color on the top and in the middle, and the bottom was brown, obviously burnt. The texture was similar to tuna. It was dry and chewy, and underseasoned. My poor boyfriend was so hungry, he devoured it all. When the waitress returned, our meal was over and our drinks had been empty for around 12 minutes. I asked her to remove the California Roll from the ticket, since I had barely touched it. She grabbed the plates, and went to go get our check. She didn't even notice our drinks were bone dry. Strike number three, you're out.
I'm usually not one to complain, but I thought it was just a tad ridiculous. The waitress neglected us because we look really young, and the trend is that teenagers don't tip. Little does she know, I have worked in the food industry for almost five years, and I know a thing or two about tipping. My rule is no less than $5, unless the service is just inexcusable. Our meal was around $33 without the California Roll. We tipped the waitress what she deserved and headed out.
I was extremely disappointed in my experience at Piranha Killer Sushi. I will never recommend this place to anyone. I was extremely optimistic and wanted to give this place a chance, and I was let down. The only reason I chose to give this restaurant 2 stars instead of just 1 star was because of the decor. It really was a beautiful place, it just didn't have the food to back it up.
P.S. The business men seemed to have a fantastic experience. They were laughing and talking with our waitress all night.
