Monday, April 27, 2009

Fire & Ice

Fire & Ice

What they advertise on the internet:

What's on the menu at FiRE + iCE? Whatever you want! Our market is stocked and re-stocked throughout the day with fresh vegetables, seafood, chicken, beef, udon noodles, pasta and more. All you have to do is take a bowl and pile it high with whatever you want. We even have a hamburger bar, with fresh ground beef and all the fixins'.After you decide on what you want, choose from one of our sauces, like Greenberg's Teriyaki, Fajita and more. Take our sauce and your bowl up to the grill and watch as our chefs prepare your meal for you. We'll even bring warm tortillas and rice to your table for you to enjoy with your meal.



Our experience:

After a great day at the festival on Saturday, we decided to continue our “southside” outing and invite some friends out for dinner. Our choice was Fire & Ice and what was even better, no one in our group had ever been – which thrilled me, I would have their honest opinion and reaction to this restaurant!!

We arrive at Fire & Ice and there was a good crowd - - the atmosphere was buzzing and people were all over the place. Our wait was not long at all which was very surprising and even greater because we were all starving !!

We are seated and happily greeted by a server. And, of course, we were asked that dreaded question, “Have you ever dined here before?” We all answered “no” and off we went for a guided tour of the different food stations. I couldn't believe how much food they had – and simply just displayed like a buffet style restaurant but uncooked. As our tour and instructions were coming to an end, we were handed a salad sized bowl, not a soup bowl, a salad bowl and we were told, “Now just put your different food selections in this and take it to the Chef’s and they will cook it from there.”

Since I wasn’t prepared for this type of dinner service – I asked the server one simple question, “Do you have a menu or something that suggest or tells us what to combine for the different dishes?” And, the answer was "NO" which did not surprise me.

With bowl in hand, I stood and starred at the food selection and tried to figure out what I wanted to eat, what I had a craving for and where in the world I needed to start at. I decided to check the meats out first – the selection ranges from Chicken, beef and all types of seafood. I picked chicken as my meat and only because the seafood that was displayed did not look appetizing, at all. What I believe to have been scallops, was sitting in a thick milky substance. The shrimp appeared mushy looking and the fish looked like last weeks fish selection and smelled like it. There were a few other selections of meats which I didn’t even think twice about and I honestly thought I would be safe with the chicken and worse case scenario, they do have a “hamburger” bar.

Now, time to pile on the vegetables. The selection of veggies range from onions, green peppers, garlic, nuts, broccoli, snow peas, tomatoes, black olives, roasted peppers, mushrooms, squash, zucchini, etc and some different types of pastas. I am still clueless on what I am trying to construct as my meal, so I just pick out the best looking veggies, a little pasta, a bit more chicken and few more veggies here and there. How can I go wrong with chicken, veggies & pasta.

Next is the sauce bar……..there are several types of sauces to “compliment” and add to your meal – from zesty to sweet, the choice is yours. So, my selection on the sauce for my mound of food was a fajita sauce, which I guess means it’s a Mexican tasting sauce. But, at this point, I didn’t even know what to call my dish; Oriental, American, Mexican...... much less what sauce would be good on it !!

I am finally done with the constructing (and destruction) of my meal and decided to wait a moment on my friends before heading to the chefs cook bar. Secretly, I am really just hoping that their bowls look just as disastrous and huge as mine – but, there’s nothing like standing in the middle of the restaurant balancing a bowl of uncooked chicken and chicken juice soaked veggies & pasta in order to just see what they had come up with.

Finally, they are done and we all gasp and mumble different things at the sight of what all we had created and needless to say, our creations did not look very appetizing but hey, we hoped that the Chefs would do a better job than us. We dropped off our bowls at the cook bar and we headed back to our table to enjoy our cocktails and apparently to indulge in the plain rice that was waiting on us.

Our meals arrive and I must say, these meals were not appealing to the eye. But, looks aren’t everything and we all dove in. Normally, within our group of friends and our outings, it is always an exciting and very talkative time for all of us, but this night and during these particular moments, I do believe we were at a loss for words.



My chicken dish was extremely over cooked and dry, I found it to be tasteless and bland. The "look" of the seafood didn't stop some in my group from piling it in their bowl, which one commented, "This is like eating a rubber band." One other had chosen beef and he referenced to his "beef stir fry" as to being like a leather belt cut up into small pieces and sauteed in soy sauce.



Our server came by to check on us and she asked about our meal, we did explained to her how we were not so-thrilled with it and she enlightened us that we could go back up to the food bar and “try again." Now, the "try again" comment would have wonderful, if the first attempt had been successful but why in the world would anyone want to recreate something so wasteful..... we requested and paid the check and never looked back.



Our overall experience and thoughts of Fire & Ice: I must take into account that some people might enjoy this type of restaurant and this type of food. But, personally, I feel that when we go out to dinner, my expectations are a bit higher. I do expect food to be presented, cooked and prepared better than what I could have done at home. This restaurant is somewhat inexpensive for the amount of food you are offered but it is still food and it must be edible.
We have no desire to give this restaurant another try and I am thankful that there were some other places still open that night !!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

PF Changs

What they advertise on the internet: The goal of a PF Changs meal is to attain harmony of taste, texture, color and aroma by balancing the Chinese principles of fan and t'sai. Fan foods include rice, noodles, grains and dumplings, while vegetables, meat, poulty and seafood are t'sai foods. At PF Changes we are committed to providing you with an exceptional dining experience every time you walk through our doors. Each dish on our extensive menu is prepared to order using only the freshest and highest of quality ingredients. 233 Summit BlvdBirmingham, AL 35243Fax: 205-967-3661

Well, first off, the parking lot was packed but when is it not. Every time we ever come to the Summit shopping center, it always appears that the restaurants are busy..... but little did we know that PF Changs would be wall-to-wall with customers.

After we made it through the door, we managed to nudge ourselves closer to the bar and tackled the first two seats we saw. We ordered our drinks and figured we would be "sitting" for quite a while but much to our surprise, we were seated within about 15 minutes.

Although, there's not much small talk going on at the bar between the bartender and customers, we did manage to strike up good conversation with others sitting at the bar.

Upon being seated at our table, we were already ready to order our food, we were quite hungry but once our waitress showed up, we did allow her to go thru the "Welcome to...." and "have you ever been here before" spill. Since we already knew the routine of the different sauces, we decided to say, "No, we have never been here." Which then she instructed us on how the sauces are to be mixed and what meats/veggies they are paired with. So far, so good. Then our server said, "I will let you look over the menu for a few moments" and she left us to venture through the menu as first comers to the restaurant.

When she returned to the table to take our order, we asked for suggestions since we had "never" dined there before. Her response was, "Well, all the chicken is good and the rice. If you like spring rolls, there really good here." "Also, the Mongolian beef is good."

We, then, ask for recommendations on an appetizer. Again, we got the answer, "The spring rolls are good here, I love those."

She then stated she would give us a few more moments to review the menu and she walked away. Within about 3 minutes, we had made our decision and were ready to order. We sat. And, sat. And, sat. Finally, we asked a server that happened to be walking by, "Can you please get our server for us?" His reply was, "Who is your server?" Hmmmmmmm, I said to myself, I have no idea, she didn't introduce herself and how should I know, you work with her !!!

Finally, our server shows back up. And, instead of asking anymore questions, we ordered the Lettuce Wrap as an appetizer. We also ordered Wonton Soup for the next course and then for our main meal, we ordered Kung Pai Chicken and Mongolian Beef with a side order of Chicken Fried rice and the Spring Rolls.

Our lettuce wrap arrives and if you have never tried this dish, you must. Although, I like to think it is not so fattening because of the lettuce - I can definitely overlook the extra calories and eat this dish all by myself.

The soup arrives and in both of our opinions, it actually was not the best that we had tasted before. Maybe it was a bad night for them or just the bottom of the pot. Regardless, we did eat some of the soup but left enough still sitting on the table, that you would have thought we didn't touch it !

Next, the spring rolls arrived. Well, when I eat spring rolls, I like to enjoy them along with my meal. I said to our server, still her name unknown to us, "Oh, the spring rolls are already out??" She stated, "Oh yes, I'm sorry, I can take them back and hold them until your meal comes out."
I instantly said, "No, that's ok I don't want them just sitting back there." She apologized again and off she was.

So, we sat there with our empty cocktail glass, our soup and soup bowls and now the egg rolls while we waited on our main dishes to arrive. Approximately, 10 minutes pass and our server comes back with our main dishes.

Our soup/soup bowls are removed from the table and the waters are refilled and dinner is served. Both dishes, the chicken and beef, were large orders, we could have actually shared just one plate, but the inner pigs came out in both of us and we splurged on two dishes and just a big meal, for only two people.

We both enjoyed the Chicken and Beef dish and have no complaints with either. The chicken fried rice we ordered ended up being shrimp fried rice, which was still good but we weren't really in the mood for that but we did not bring the servers attention to this mistake. And needless to say, the spring rolls just got pushed off to the side. By the time we received our dinner, the spring rolls were cold and didn't look to tasty and we just decided to include those in our "To go" box.

Our overall experience and thoughts of PF Changs: The restaurant was packed but don't always assume the wait will be a long time. Try just going in and putting your name on the list and waiting, you might be surprised how quick they turn the tables. We received large portions of food and were not able to clean our plates and were gladly given "To go" boxes. We have no real negative complaints to speak of about PF Changs - Service could have been a bit better and we could always blame a portion of this on how busy they were. All in all, we were pleased with the food except for those little red pepper things - which took my friend 20 minutes to cool his mouth off !!! So, the next time you see a PF Changs, give it a try - You will enjoy the experience, the atmosphere and the fact that you can feed an army by just ordering two entrees.



















Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Ocean

What they advertise on the internet: Voted Best Restaurant, Best Chef and the recipient of The Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence for the past five years, Ocean offers fresh seafood in an exciting and contemporary atmosphere. The menu features fresh oysters and fish from around the world. Locally owned and operated by George and Harriet Reis.
Dinner Tues-Sat. starting at 5:30pm. Reservations recommended. 933-0999.



We decided to have dinner on Tuesday night and as we were riding around on SouthSide, we saw Ocean, although we both have dined here before, we thought this could really put the restaurant to the test, with our truthful thoughts about them and being able to come back and write about it, anonymously.

Ocean was not busy this night. We were able to walk right in. The hostess greeted us and we told her we were going to the bar first. Most of the time we have a few drinks at the bar then head to a table. This night, we really wanted to try Ocean out. We decided to have our drinks and meal at the bar.

Our bartender/server was Eric. We ordered our drinks, which came pretty fast as well as the set up for dinner at the bar. (place setting/water/menu/etc.) Eric told us of the nightly special and even recommended a few things. Immediately, we were served with a variety of breads and a dippng sauce and a nice little bowl of a cucmber/tomato greek mixture, which was divine!!

As we indulged ourselves in the "pre-appetizer" appetizer, We decided we would enjoy our first drink then decide on our real appetizer.

Our appetizer - we picked oysters. It was hard not to - since we were sitting right next to them. We were able to watch the oyster shucker shuck these babies and within minutes, we had our appetizer of full and pretty large sized oysters. The oysters came with several dipping sauces, all three were fantastic but I am still a fan of the traditional cocktail sauce and horseradish sauce. Overall, the oysters were good but I personally do not like big oysters and these were quite big. We will request next time, smaller oysters, much smaller.

Our next course was a salad. We ordered just a house salad. And, to be just a house salad, it was fantastic. A must try, is the fried feta cheese. All I can say on that is Yummy !!

Now, for our dinner choice. We choose a pan seared black grouper with vermont white cheddar cheese grits, haricot vertstasso ham in a wild mushroom cream and a wood grilled certified “hereford” filet mignon with hot red skin green bean bacon and maytag bleu potato salad with homemade worcestershire.

After we made our dinner selection, we were able to finish off our drinks and enjoy some good conversation between ourselves as well as with the bartender/server, Eric. He was very polite and was able to answer each of our questions about the different foods and the restaurant history. We were even able to pull out of him, his past experience of working in the food industry.

Our dinner arrived and I must say, what a nice presentation. On both of our first bites, we were both delighted. The fish was fantastic, not real fishy tasting nor dry. The steak was cooked to perfection. The sides that came with the meal, which are not large portions, were just as delicious ! We both nibbled on each others food and I was just as impressed with my friends dinner as he was with mine.

Overall thoughts of our experience, "we will be back." Everything from start-to-finish was great. The overall appearance of the restaurant was very clean even down to the restrooms. Service was great and we thank Eric. We, also, thank the Chef for the wonderful food that was prepared.

Definitely, Ocean restaurant is a place you need to check out. Even if you have to wait to be seated, it will be well worth it !









Monday, April 20, 2009

The Idea

Hello all and welcome to the introduction blog of the "Alabama Food Fan."

With each blog, you will get to read about my experience in a restaurant. I will write about my initial impression, the host/hostess, the wait time, the cleanliness, server/bartender and the service. But most importantly, about the food.

I have read so many articles and writeups on different restaurants in our town (Birmingham, AL) and often wonder, if that "critic" would have been a normal person, what would their words consist of. I have wondered if the restaurant was not aware of the "critic" -- would it have been a different type of write-up.

I love good food !! And, even I, with my favorite restaurants, don't always get the perfect dish or the perfect service. And, I think it is time, that the owners/managers start listening to what we feel.

So, I raise my wine glass and toast to the good eats and the bad eats that I will come across. Just always know, I will speak the truth as I eat it.