Fretful Fork

Wed. night - June 17 - El Cotija on Hwy 96 behind Burger King. 

Great service.  Lousy Food.  The refried beans tasted like they had been refried once per day for the past 5 days.  The Burrito meat - very blah - just meat texture with literally zero taste.  The tortilla chips SOUR.  Smelly sour.  Don't ask don't tell sour.  Cruddy overall.  The kitchen cooks should be hauled off and ran out of town.  Seriously.  I think it is as bad as El Jalisco reviewed below.

ONE FORK out of four.  AND that fork is for the live Mariachi Band they had walking around.

Fri. Morning - June 19 - Denny's in Byron on Hwy 49.

I sat for literally 15 whole minutes before a waitress acknowledged me.  Once she did, my food came out quickly and properly prepared.  I saw other tables get sat after me that had their waitress next to them within 2 minutes of them arriving.  I don't make this up, folks.  The waitresses literally passed by me 5 times until one finally stopped.  I was mad to the point where I had my cell phone in my hand looking up the phone number to call the manager and complain.

Service - ONE FORK out of four.
Meal - TWO AND A HALF FORKS out of four.

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Back in the 80's, I had a boss that, when facing unreasonable prices on anything, would always say to the seller "Are you trying to retire early?"  I was reminded of that phrase today when the following flyer arrived in the mailbox.  Papa John's Pizza on Zebulon Rd. is asking basically $1.00 per chicken wing on their Papa's Lunch Express menu. 

$1.00 per chicken wing is VERY expensive when there are already several chicken wing options in that two plus block range.  The Wise Guy Wings place in Kroger strip mall is between $ .65-.75 per wing.  The chinese restaurant on the Chic-Fil-A side of the strip mall is usually between $.45 - $ .60 per wing.  Zaxby's across the interstate is priced like Wise Guy Wings.  Even at Buffalo's Cafe next door, the wings are not even $ .75 each.  There are wings on the $5.49 buffet at Chen's Wok all you can eat.  Sunrise China serves wings, up the hill next to McAlister Deli.

Good Luck on your overpriced Lunch promotion, Papa John's.  I prefer going to a real wings restaurant than going to a pizza place looking for spicy Chicken.  The other prices on this menu seem extra high also, except for maybe the breadsticks @ 2 for $ .99 !

Mentioned twice below, I noticed recently that Ali Baba's has closed.  Must have been from all that lost revenue in the middle of the afternoon.

Oh. My. God.  If I am sick tomorrow, this review will explain why.

I admit - I haven't been motivated much to write on this site - I guess mostly because the novelty has worn out, and it does not pay for itself in any form of the word.  It is strictly an all-volunteer effort.  Whenever something comes along that I feel needs exposure nowadays, that's when I break out my camera and start taking notes.  Tonight is one of those prime examples where I feel everything went wrong.

#1.  There isn't enough service for anyone to even seat you when you walk in.  The guy behind the cashier desk says "Just sit anywhere". 

#2.  After finding my space where I thought I could watch TV, the only thing showing on the television is the song title information for the music that is piped throughout the restaurant.  Might as well not even have it there.

#3.  Because I wasn't officially sat, it took my waiter almost a whole 5 minutes to discover my presence.  The restaurant which I remember being well patroned at 6:30 at night before was barely in business.  This should have been my first clue.  If my waiter had been more busy working other tables, he would have found me much sooner.

#4.  I recognized the waiter (on a professional level) from an earlier point in time.  He lived at an apartment complex on Leverette Rd. and drove a white convertible Sebring back in 2001 - and worked at this same restaurant then.  I guess some things never change.  I feel stagnation also means apathy to do one's job right.  I think what drew me to decide to eat here were some bright poster signs posted outside the door which I couldn't miss when walking in.  I was approached by the waiter who was quite hurried and even though I expected to hear about any of their specials, I was shocked when he said to me "Just ask me anything".  Sure, the BOGO beer offer was appetizing, but he was ready to 'give me a minute' and bring me back some ice water.  I let the water stand as my beverage order since that was all he wanted to sell me.  After my meal, I went by a liquor store and picked up a six pack.  Lost sale.

#5.  Waiter brings out water and obligatory tortilla chips.  He took my order.  I pour my salsa into a bowl, sip on water briefly, and place a chip into salsa and bite.  Immediately, I tasted a funny taste & even a funny smell coming off the chip.  As I chewed, I was wondering if what I experienced was really true.  I tried another chip.  I can honestly say that was the WORST tortilla chip I have ever tasted in Warner Robins, Macon, even the whole state of Georgia.  Cold and stale... and questionably rotton?

#6.  Waiter brings out my plate.  Asks if I need anything (Like a new drink?)  I told him I wanted some fresh chips.  Literally seconds later, he comes out with a basket of warm chips.  My professional amateur opinion is this about Mexican Restaurants... the whole attitude and aptitude of the kitchen is measured in the palatability of their chips.  If I get great chips and fresh salsa, I can bet that the restaurant puts the same amount of care and attention to the food & service they provide.  Got Sucky chips?  Sorry.  I won't be back.  The replacement chips my waiter brought out were warm, certainly, but NOT AT ALL fresh.  In fact, they were more rank than the first basket.  I didn't touch any more of them after the first full taste of them.


Stale tortilla chips, salsa (meh), Ice water.

#7.  Since my whole routine is upset by the absence of good chips, I proceed to start with a 'fretful fork'.  The rice & beans?  The beans were definately pungent - I assume a staple and 'served on every plate' vegetable would be fresh like that.  The rice was passable - but a little dry.



#8.  I then tasted the Chili Relleno.  The filling had a good flavor, but the pepper itself - I'm embarrassed for JG... really bitter and possibly sourish... very unpleasant taste.

#9.  The burrito.  By the time I made it to the burrito, I was ready to be upset again.  This is supposed to be the main part of the entree.  It passed because all of the ingredients were there, but there was nothing really special about it.  Finely chopped beef inside with almost no flavoring other than whatever cooking brings out, and the tomato sauce was thin times two and very watery - weird tasting also.

#10.  When I was finished, I was still waiting for my check.  Except for when he brought out the second basket of unappetizing chips, that was the last time I saw my waiter.  I was jealous of the good service the table next to me was getting.  Their waiter was tableside over there at least four different times while I was sitting there.  I got up from the table and walked to the cashier without having received a check and the cashier took my money, then left the stand to go find my check.  I paid the tab and left.  Never to return.

#11.  Have you ever done something on a hunch, just because NOT doing it would leave you with a worse feeling than if you hadn't?  I can't be certain, with everything I had experienced tonight, but something was telling me that they recycle unused tortilla chips.  SO I drizzled the rest of my bowl of salsa all over the tortilla chips to ensure that they would be thrown away.  I think that's he first time I have ever done something like that.

I'm sad for Jalisco Grill, because it is evidently apparent that they are used to cutting corners wherever possible.  That section of the building already has vacancies, especially with the big gaping hole left by the absence of Kroger there.  I would rather see them change their game and get things in order rather than leave another vacancy in that strip mall.  It will take the efforts of a powerhouse consultant to rebuild their morale from the ground up in order to do so, I'm afraid.

Rating:  One fork out of four.  Seriously.  $2 worth of Taco Bell is better than this.  And the chips would be fresh.

I include Bonaire in the title, but affectionately I like to call this area of town "Warner Perry."  It's not all WR and it's not all Perry, but that vast land between the two that has seen very rapid development over the past dozen years... the biggest news of which was learned last month when this square mile was chosen as the new home for the Southeast division of the National Little League series.

I visited the restaurant on a Friday night at 8:30.  I noticed that the sign on the door says they close at 9:00 pm.  Usually the worst service ever is given in the last 30 minutes of the working day when the staff doesn't like to see last-minute diners coming in the door.  It's human nature, I guess, to respect the customer that doesn't care what time they made it in the door as long as it was before official closing time.

After walking in, the guy that approached me at the counter asked if I was dining in or taking out.  If it was take-out, I'm sure he could have taken my order.  When I said it was dine-in, he said to be seated and a waitress would help me. 

Now.  I know that table service isn't the procedure at the Fincher's on North Davis Drive.  I wondered to myself why it was different here.  Does Fincher's do table service at their other restaurants?  I couldn't remember that being the case either.

Since I knew I was going to be at a bar within minutes of leaving the restaurant, I told the waitress (whose name I didn't catch but there is something written on the ticket that identifies who she is) that I wanted some ice water.  Moments later she brought it out and I ordered the BBQ Chicken plate with brunswick stew and coleslaw as the side dishes.  This is the same meal I ordered MANY times at the Fincher's across town 10 years ago when I lived in that area.

While sending messages to the friends I was planning to meet, my plate of food arrived, being brought out by someone other than my waitress.  He hurriedly dropped the plate in front of me and scurried to the back of the restaurant.

About the time I was trying to take a picture of my plate, the waitress was there with a check and asked if I wanted anymore water.  I declined and as soon as she left, I took the plate's picture posted here.



Now for my takes on taste & quality.  The first dish I tasted was the cole slaw.  The cabbage in this version is FINELY chopped and has a biting vinegary taste.  Once I got past the initial texture & flavor punch, it fell to acceptable levels and not long after, was a competed side.  I remember the Fincher's slaw being lots better, fresher, and larger cut specimens of cabbage in it.  I wonder what precipitated the change.

Ok.  Now rewind to 1995/1996 when a large group of friends and I used to congregate at one house near Wesleyan College at least two or three weekends of every month.  One common dish served was the quart-sized containers of Fincher's Brunswick Stew.  The party we had at Lake Tobesofkee that summer was also catered by Fincher's.  I have eaten my share of their stew in the past and Fincher's had fallen off my culinary map until now they have this restaurant near to my home. 

Now, back to present day... As someone that has always been a proponent of Fincher's stew (see my review below about White Lightning in Macon for a Fincher's stew reference there), I could only think of one word when I tasted this tiny bowl of stew last night:  ALPO.  This bowl tasted like the smell I get when I open a fresh can of canine lovers' best.  I'm sorry that is the reality, but I just couldn't get over the whole mess things have apparently become.  I know that I saw the "Best of 2008" sign on the wall when I came in the door.  My experience did not match the hype.

The chicken - had a great flavor as it was soaked in Fincher's sauce and the meat literally fell off the bone.  It was clear this half-chicken was past its prime, however, as the chicken skin had become hardened and too chewy to eat.  I removed the skin & bones, drowned the edibles in some extra sauce, and lapped up every bit.

I looked at the check and it didn't dawn on me that anything was immediately wrong because it was not totalled with charges and tax on it.



I paid the check and turned to leave.  When reading my receipt that I was charged for a sweet tea (and I had paid tip calculated on the check total).  I returned to the service counter and explained the situation to the counter help.  He refunded me $1.55 in cash.

Speaking of counter help, As i was being served by all of the staff I saw, I was a little surprised that I noticed a basically 'lilly white' staff.  Until I walked out, I noticed an experienced black woman bussing the tables.  I won't insinuate the obvious, but come on Fincher's -- this is 2009!

TWO forks out of five.

I went out today looking for a lunch that included black-eyed peas and rice.  While looking at all the parking lots of the local restaurants that appeared to be open on this Holiday, I was mindful of this fact - since most of their parking lots had only about as half as many cars as you would normally see at that time of day, it must be the BEST day of the year for dining out... little to no wait, lower customer count means you get more direct contact with the wait staff, and quicker in & out times.  The exception to this observation, obviously, are the places that feature big-screen TVs so that you can watch all the holiday bowl games... Hooters' parking lot, for instance, was packed.

I drove east on Watson Blvd, and thought, if anything on this street would have good veggies today, it would be the Picadilly Cafeteria.  I turned in and parked right up front.  There was one couple ordering in front of me, one other woman in front of me that decided she couldn't deal with the meal I guess, and left...  After looking over their typical selection, I settled on the Fried Chicken Platter (with Breast) and chose the rice with broccoli & cheese, the black-eyed peas, and dinner roll.  Including the sweet tea, my ticket came to $8.75 and I left a $2 cash tip for my waitress.

As I would normally expect, a restaurant with a higher percentage of elderly clientele, I was waiting for the vegetables to be bland, there to be little-to-no measurable taste in the chicken, but to my surprise, everything except the rice had a good taste.  The rice was somewhat dry, over-heated, and apparently the ingredients had been in the collective pan long enough to make sure that none had their own instinctive taste - rather the rice tasted like the broccoli bits tasted like the hard cheese.



Pardon the blantant Coca-Cola logo placement - that wasn't intentional!

When the waitress came around finally, I had completed the thigh piece of chicken.  She gave me a drinking straw and some extra napkins, then asked if I had two pieces of chicken (I guess she wondered how could I have eaten one already in the LONG time it took for her first appearance?)  I showed her the bones as evidence, and she left. 

Once she came back by to refill my tea glass, which was out of ice, and she asked if she should bring back some ice.  I told her if she would, just bring me a to-go cup.  She did, and it was also filled with tea and ice itself.  I finished my meal and left the tip.

So.... wish me luck.  I know I should have traditionally had the ham instead of chicken.  PLEASE :)  I had enough ham during Christmas last week.

Three solid forks.  I'd eat there again.

One new feature I've decided to add here is an annual SPORK AWARD.  These go to the biggest failures in each of the following categories in the previous calendar year:

1. Worst Food Quality.
2. Worst Customer Service.
3. Worst Bang for the Buck.

I imagine that sometimes the same restaurant *might* win more than one category.




COMING JANUARY 15TH to this website.

I can tell you already that it's not looking good for Acapulco's in downtown Macon.

The urge to write this review is what brought me out of retirement.  Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing time will tell.

I'm sad that I didn't make it over to Ingleside Village Pizza one last time before they closed the doors on their institution... something tells me that as they cross the road, they will leave the funky fun atmosphere behind and change over to a more stale existence as a 'pizza to go' place rather than a destination and ambiance restaurant.  Hopefully I'm wrong.  I haven't tried their Mercer place yet.

MEANWHILE - what had been my backup favorite pizza joint for the past few months finally left me a little disappointed last night.  I don't always find myself over by the Ingleside neighborhood, but Hartley Bridge Road I pass by every weekday on my way to and from work, so it is convenient to hop off the interstate, side-step to Mr. Pizza (just east of the Kroger about a quarter mile)... grab a few slices, and head home.  After I leave work at six, this is usually a quick deal unless its on a busy Friday at Mr. Pizza...

My coworker and I decided to try this place out one day after having read the good review by the writers at the Macon Telegraph.  The dumpling dough pizza crust is something I miss from a hip pizza joint in Atlanta (R.I.P.) that some of my friends would drive to from 40 minutes away to buy.  Lucky for me, it was within a mile from my house at the time.  For Atlanta pizza places, I've discovered Savage Pizza in Little Five Points and was there for the second time a couple weeks ago.

Now to describe the restaurant.  You walk in, and you find yourself immediately in line to order your pizza at the counter.  There are some take-out menus and an erasable board for the other menu that you order from.  This is about as casual as pizza ordering can get.  If you order slices, they write your order and your name on the bottom of the styrofoam plate that they will serve your order on.  There is an order counter and a pickup counter past the ice-cream freezer.  More about the ice cream later.  Over 90% of the time your order is served from the order counter, though, which defeats the purpose of having a pickup counter. 

The furniture is your typical diner place variety.  Several booths along the streetside wall, some four & six top tables between the booth wall and service counters.  There are a couple of video games in the corner to basically amuse the youngest patrons whose parents don't normally cough up a quarter for them to really play anything worthwhile.  If you go to play them, I advise you to take some antibiotic hand cleaner with you there.  There is a TV mounted high on the back wall, basically too far away from 90% of the seating area to be able to hear anything from it.  But it keeps you company I guess.  After my first visit, I was hoping to find wi-fi internet available, but that is wishful thinking.  The only other hot spot I found on Hartley Bridge is across I-75 at the McDonald's.

All of my visits to Mr. Pizza were dine-in.  None were in take-out fashion.  My best guess is about eight visits to date.  I haven't ordered from the wings part of the menu or the bar-b-q part yet.  My coworker said he has tried to get bar-b-q from there twice now, and both times it was sold out.  I guess the moral of the bar-b-q story is order ahead on that so you can get it... or buy it earlier in the day.

The pizza has a great taste... I think greater than I initially expected.  Forget what you know about chain pizza joints.  They are not equipped to take the proper attention to pizza like Mr. Pizza does.  There is nothing hidden basically about the pizza kitchen here.  Everything is out and exposed so from your seat, you watch the whole order production process.

Three slices overflow one plate... and that is something I hope they can fix in the near future - either ALWAYS serve on two plates or get a bigger plate to put all on one.  Too many times, one slice was served on top of the hot cheese and made that slice hard to manage when it had hot cheese transferred to its crust bottom.



This is the Ham & Pineapple, which, at Mr. Pizza count as only ONE TOPPING!  Good for the pizza buying budget.

The problem I had with my visit last night was that although my order was served immediately from the pizza warmer, making it my fastest turnover visit on record, too many other things were wrong at the time.  EVERY single napkin dispenser except for one was empty.  In a place where there are approximately 18 to 20 tables total and EVERY table's dispenser was empty was amazing to me.  I found a solo dispenser with napkins on the counter next to the pizza warmer.

There were also NO FORKS at all at the pickup counter where I normally go to get them.  All of the tables were uncharacteristically dirty, probably back from the day's lunch crowd.  That always spills over onto the bench seats, which I had to wipe first in order to avoid sitting on whatever crumbs missed the trip from plate to mouth.  With a full restaurant and a line almost out the front door to place orders last night, its my guess that they don't care about dine-in customers' needs like they do for take-out customers.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone buy ice cream there any time during any of my visits.  Maybe its a bigger part of their business during the warm climate months.

The verdict... get your order to go.  The pizza & value are right; I'd add 'commendable'.  The discouraging creature comforts for dining in, however, left me scratching my head.

Two ratings on this one, because of the verdict.
Pizza & Value - FOUR forks.
Dine-in experience - TWO forks.

REVIEW UPDATE:...

A couple of nights ago, I revisited Mr. Pizza.  This time I wasn't as hungry for pizza so I decided to try the chicken wings.  I guess the menu didn't make it clear about what came WITH these wings.  It did show a choice of ranch or bleu cheese dressing... and I chose ranch.  I also chose the MILD flavor because they didn't offer a medium heat sauce.

While waiting for my order, I looked around noticing the following contradictions to my review above.  ALL of the napkin dispensers were full.  TWO people bought Ice Cream.  My name was called about 8 minutes later and I walked to the delivery counter to get the to-go container of wings (as pictured below).



There was no ranch dressing served.  In many places, I know the dressing is for dipping the wings AND in about 80%, some form of vegetable is also included, like carrot sticks or celery sticks to munch on between the wings to cool down the fire in your mouth between chicken bites.  Well, there were no veggies here.  BUT I was pleasantly surprised to see that instead, they give you two pizza-dough bread sticks to go with your wings order.  Nothing to dip the breadsticks in though.

In hindsight, I was glad to have ordered the Mild sauce, because to me, it was plenty strong even in 'mild' form... I'm sure if you REALLY don't like any heat in your wings, to go with the teriyaki or bar-b-que flavor varieties.  I would order the Mild again myself.

Speaking of Bar B Q flavors, I'm almost certain that flavor wing would come from the Sonny's Sweet BBQ sauce case I saw just outside the formal kitchen on a supply shelf.  Is all their BBQ seasoned with this?  If so, you don't have to drive to Presidential Parkway in Macon or Russell Parkway in Warner Robins for Sonny's BBQ any more.

Rerate for Dine-in Service - Three forks (+1 from rating above)

I'm back!  I have lots of pics stored and notes to accompany them - sorry for my brief hiatus from the blog here.  That doesn't mean I haven't been working behind the scenes, however.  My new year's resolution is to get this site back in working order AND put some real ads that readers like you will find valuable enough to actually click on once-in-awhile and help this site support itself.  Happy new year to everyone.

Look for upcoming catch-up reviews from:

Peking Sushi - WR
Brindivan - Macon (now changed its name)
Calvin's - WR
Grillmaster - Perry
El Tapatio - Centerville
Snellgrove's - Centerville
Fish N' Pig - Macon

Meanwhile, check out this lamp I saw in the Peking Sushi restaurant - it's a nice little exotic pendant lamp over the booth tables... with a nicer sticker left on the inside that says: Made In Italy.  Elegant yet ironic??

This is one of my first 'distant' reviews, as most of our readers will not casually have the opportunity to visit the Cypress Grill, which is located in the heart of the Veterans State Park west of Cordele, GA.  To describe the place, I would think "Hooters" but without the hooters in an upscale lake-side mostly outdoor seating establishment.  You can buy T-shirts, coozies, shot glasses, etcetera.  There are drink specials nightly and hardly a real entree on the menu.

My party consisted of several people, all various ages even though I was the youngest.  You will see that honestly, the only entrees are the entree-priced appetizers but none of which themselves made a complete meal.  I believe the menu is that way because of both the lightly treated, laissez-faire attitude that suggests this place is better known for its watering hole than for its meals.

Our party was seated no later than 5 minutes after 12 noon.   We placed and received our drink orders within minutes that you could count on one hand.  A couple of minutes later, the waitress had my four-top tables' orders.  After watching a couple of other tables get their meals about 10 minutes later, we began to wonder what was going on in the kitchen.  Our meal came out at 12:45 pm.  Everyone at my table ordered sandwiches.  One ordered the Havana Cuban.  The other two ordered Hamburgers.  Two had cole slaw.  Me and the other had french fries.  Of our four-table group, ours was third to receive their meals... so that meant one table waited another 5 minutes for their plates.  We half-joked when we said that we should have ordered in advance.  The part that wasn't joking was serious.

I ordered the simple Philly Steak (small steak pieces with onions, peppers, provolone) with the CG-style fries, which were a cross between steak-fries and regular shoestring-cut potatoes, lightly seasoned.  I dove in to the fries immediately because I hate it when they go cold.  I figured they had number 1. sat out waiting for delivery long enough that they were halfway to the cold uneatable threshold, or number 2. were rushed through the fryer trying to get our table served and would wind up being undercooked.  Well, they were a little under-cooked.  The outsides were good and cooked but the middle part fell apart as they were lifted from the plate.


Can you believe this is a picture from a cell phone?

The cheese in the sandwich (which was served in a little wicker basket - more shades of Hooters) stuck to the side of a wax-paper base.  Oh, that meant that the sandwich was going to be great, I remember thinking.  It was good, but honestly I really couldn't taste the steak all that much... or the peppers.  The meat and vegetables had each consumed one another's flavors and added with cheese, made a passable meal which I'm sure is GREAT along with a beer or cocktail.  Since this was a driving event, very few in our party ordered libations.  My total ticket price came in the $9 neighborhood.  Plus the $15 in gas I spent driving round-trip there.  Not worth the expense in getting there, for sure.  BUT if you find yourself playing golf next to the state park, or visiting relatives in the area, it's better than going to Burger King.

The sodas, waters, and cocktails arrive in nifty thick-plastic glasses that you can take with you, I dunno, as party souvenirs...?  So that is a plus in my book.  I'd have to visit in the heat of the night-life to give a true atmosphere interpretation.  I just hope that evening service times are much better than Sunday hangover brunches...

Two Forks.

Last night, I drove all the way down Russell, thinking I wanted to stop somewhere that had wireless internet.  But something more than Krystal or Burger King (the only obvious Wi-Fi hotspots there).  I turned right on Moody and headed towards My Father's Place - yes they do Wi-Fi... but something told me to skip that option... so I turned left on Sandy Run instead and headed for 247... once I got there, I snapped my fingers and thought - Emilio's!

After my waitress confirmed that they did have Wi-Fi, I found my seat next to the front window.  I proceeded to pull out my notebook while also looking at the menu.  I'd never been in a Cuban restaurant before (I still want to try the one in Fort Valley as well), but the menu does a good job at explaining both the native names for the dishes, their enunciation is printed out (rope-ha-v-a-ha), and the contents in English.  Choi's (review below) should study the organization of this menu closely and learn from it.

I ordered a 22 oz draft beer and then dug into the menu's offerings.  I also liked the decor of the restaurant... several posters and accessories feel third-world, but not like tacky items you see hanging on Mexican restaurant walls.  Haven't we seen enough sombreros, panchos and inflatable Corona signs over the past two or three decades?  I decided to order Emilio's Sampler Platter (menu item 65, priced at $14.95)



(Clockwise from 12 o'clock) Boiled Yuca (in its own bowl), Black Beans (another bowl), Fried sweet plantains (dark along right edge), Carne con Papa, Lechon Asado, Ropa Vieja, & yellow rice.

Except for the Yuca (I couldn't imagine anything being called Yuca tasting good - I mean, the name itself conjures up the word YUCK-A), I cleaned the plate of everything else.  The Ropa Vieja is like, a seasoned pulled pork dish, the Lechon Asado was a thick piece of pork roast covered with flavored sauce and the Rice was good mixed one fork at a time with the black beans.  The Carne on Papa was a thick stew of meat & potatos just like Raul would order them himself.

The Yuca was a given, I mean - they were bringing them out with the dish whether I ordered them or not.  They were offered in either boiled fashion or fried.  I took my adventurous spirit and went with the boiled, because Jeannett suggested to try that.  She was very good to attend to my needs and I hope she appreciated the tip.  If you like collard greens, saurkraut, or other prepared vinegary dishes (cold or hot) then you should like these.  I didn't care for them.

What I did miss, though, was some kind of bread or biscuit.  I saw many other tables with bread-like baskets on their table but I didn't get any.  I guess you have to pay extra if you need something to sop up the stew juice or the Ropa sauce onto your fork.  If I had saved some rice instead of mixing it with the beans, I could have smothered a forkful of it and gotten the job done, I guess.

The sweet plantains - took me a second to recognize (the third bite, I'd say) but as soon as I did, the taste suddenly became more appreciated and fuller in flavor.  It's funny the way that the mind can decide for itself how much it wants to recognize or not.  I think taste buds have to be reminded by the dish that they are there.  This mix of dishes does a good job at waking them up between bites.

For that reason, I give Emilio's 4 forks.  You have to try it out for yourself and bring all your Wi-Fi appliances!

402 GA Hwy 247 (shopping center at corner of Sandy Run)

I have to give Kim's Kitchen some credit for the following fact... many years ago my first introduction to Chinese food was at Kim's.  It pains me to affirm that the old gray mare just ain't what it used to be, though.  I truly WANTED my last (and I stress the word LAST) visit there to be a glowing and nostalgic review, but honestly, I think I found much disappointment as have many of its former regulars.  I went last Sunday during the lunch buffet, and you can tell from the following picture, that many of its former regulars are missing in action.  Call it the case of too many new eating choices in town?  Or the realization that the value we once used to get from the Buffet isn't worth it anymore.



You know I always skip the rice.  It's too much filler.  With that in mind, here's what my first plate of choices looked like.



Before you say "Man that's A LOT of food", mind you (grin) I do tend to starve myself before planning to go to a buffet.  That may be backwards thinking, but it's my system.

The usual standards are here.  Plus one surprise... well two.  There's the teriyaki stick, the happy family, the general tso's, the pineapple chicken, the sweet n sour chicken, the egg roll and spring roll - and a couple of corn fritters.

The latter was the PLUS from the plate.  I'd never have expected corn fritters to show up in a chinese buffet, but these were made using sweetened creamed corn and were tasty enough to pick up more on my second go around.  The Sweet and Sour chicken was tough and dry.  The Teriyaki sticks were average... The pineapple chicken - was glazed but where's the pineapple?  The General Tso's tasted like yesterday's sweet and sour chicken reheated with the dish's sauce added to cover up the age.

You know how sometimes you cross your senses and what tastes like something has a similar smell to something else?  Or vice versa.  That's what I felt with the happy family dish.  The taste of it reminded me of that characteristic smell of a freshly burned house.  When I was a kid, we had a next door neighbor who had a house fire.  That smell recognition never leaves you.  Well, that smell was in the taste of this dish.  I tried each element of it independently trying to find out if there was one ingredient to blame.  There wasn't.  Strange after-taste, too.

THEN there was something on my eggroll.  I couldn't positively identify it, even up close but I tried to take a snapshot of it.  Was it once living and wandering around looking for food of its own?  Or was it organically grown and somehow found itself outside of the eggroll wrapper instead of inside of it.  You be the judge.  I think I didn't really want to know the truth.  It remained untouched, nonetheless.

  

OK on to my next plate in search of the good stuff.  I sure wish they had the steamed dumplings out today like they used to.  That was always a plus.




Wow - they put out a NEW pan of happy family.  Certainly THIS one didn't taste like the other one, did it?  Yes it did.  I got some sweet and sour pork, and this was lightly sweet in the breading - was it because of the recipe or was it freshly made?  I liked it much better than the chicken version.  I got more of the corn fritters (in the foreground). Some fried noodles in another dish were chewy.  Those should not be chewy.  They should be crispy.  The solo chicken wing was bland.  Just a greasy chicken wing.  Another plate only half eaten.



So then it was straight to dessert.  I'm not sure why they present the ice cream the way they do, but it's not because it makes the ice cream taste any better.  Open & exposed ice cream forms an outer crust on it.  There is a chest-freezer full of three flavors all hand-dipped and presented in this way.  What more can I say about this lackluster element.

I was done and the waitress never brought out my tab.  I walked tabless to the cashier, paid my bill, thanked her for trying, and left.  Not bitter.  Not angry.  Just on the search for a restaurant that cares about the dining experience it gives to its customers.  This one is apparently on the down-turn.

Fretful Fork rating - 1 and a half stars.

I left my house today wanting to visit a few Oriental Markets in town (which I managed to do after dining at Choi's).  In fact, as I write this review, I'm devouring a box of Chocolate Pocky I got at the market next to the Antique Mall & almost behind Chic-Fil-A.

I'm sure of the fact that for Choi's, having a virtual comissary right next to your restaurant is a Godsend because they can almost always just walk next door to restock their kitchen.  One enhances the other.  But, like the store, the restaurant operates in a very casual mode.  It becomes the social outlet for local Koreans, much like the group of people I know in Byron that call the Waffle House their second home.

At about 2:30 pm, I walked into the restaurant and one table was already there and had received their meal.  I glanced at their table and remember thinking, Wow what a lot of bowls they have (even for two people).

Since nobody sat me at a table, I walked to the cashier's desk along the back kitchen wall and began to look at one of their menus.  Maybe you're supposed to order at the counter, then find a seat for yourself? That's the protocol that worked in this visit.  Odd for a table-service kind of place, if you ask me, especially at the prices in the menu.

Let me say also, for the meals & prices offered, the menu left alot to be desired in the way of describing what they serve.  Printed bilingually in Korean & English, the Black lettering on White paper was very Plain-Jane & very unorganized.  The cashier/waitress asked what I liked - and the first thing I said was "uhhhh Chicken."  She pointed out three separate places on the menu that had Chicken Dishes.  They were Chicken Teriyaki ($11.99) Charbroiled Chicken w/Special Sauce, Chicken Bulgogi ($11.99) Marinated Chicken w/Special Sauce, or Chicken Fried Rice ($8.99).  The waitress did not try to sell me extras, like appetizer or stew, etc. BUT in looking at the menu, I noticed that I had no clue what came WITH the dishes.  So, thinking that I get my share of Teriyaki chicken in all the other Oriental restaurants I visit, I decided to order blindly and went with the Chicken Bulgogi from the Bar-B-Q category.  And a glass of Sweet Tea (naturally).

I then sat at a booth near the door.  The booths are not solid wood but are slatted wood, with thinner boards than you would find on a slatted wood picnic bench.  I guess that is why there are these very thin padded seat cushions just thrown in to try to soften the hardness of the seats.  Let me tell you that for someone of my frame, they were of little practical help.  The waitress brought out my tea and silverware.  By silverware, I mean a long-handled spoon, a set of chopsticks, and a paper napkin.  I quickly regained my chopstick skills and it made this meal a tiny bit more exotic overall, I must say.

Several minutes later while looking thru an all-Korean-language magazine I found on the table, the waitress brought out six small white bowls and a metal bowl of sticky white rice.  As I was checking out (in literal amazement) at the variety presented, I almost forgot about the entree, which came immediately following this spread.  In my best beginner description, I will try to label what is in the picture here.  There is a two or three sentence story to follow about identifying them.


Chicken Bulgogi

Back Row Bowls, L to R: Bean Sprouts, Kimchi, String Beans
Middle Row Bowls, L to R: Watercress (?), Cucumber Salad, Fish Cake
Front Row, L to R: Rice, Chicken with stir-fried onions.

So, where is the "special sauce" I wondered, unless it is cooked into the chicken?
 I figured that would be separate from the "marinade" in the menu description.  Oh well.

Everything in a white bowl was served cold.  Every white dish was vegetable except for the fish cake.  Before I could identify the Fish Cake (by sight or smell), I put my chopsticks on it and decided to try one.  This meal was very much about the adventure of it all, apparently, since my normal disposition is to basically eschew whatever I don't know.  Hmmm that taste was very familiar - very squid-like in taste and texture.  See the picture here.


Fish Cake (Prepared)

Later when the waitress checked in on me, I asked what it was, and in her thickest accent I thought I heard her say "Fish Cake".  Cake?  The English translation of that does not compute.  Which is why I ventured after my meal into the oriental market part of this place and found the following in the frozen food section.  Bingo.  She was dead on correct and so was my hearing.



One package of Fish Cake costs $6.99, and though it was a completely new experience, I would eat this dish again.  Especially after knowing what it is.  My guess (without practical knowledge) is that this may be an ingredient in some sushi preparations as well.

The Bean Sprouts and Watercress - were mostly there for color, because they sure weren't there for taste.  Both were quite bland, my guess, from having been served cold and clammy like.  The bulk of thier portions were left untouched after having tasted a couple bites of each.


Bean Sprouts

The Cucumber dish - was very good.  I pushed the onions aside.  If you even halfway read this blog, you know I don't eat onions whenever plainly visible on the table in front of me. The Cucumbers themselves, however, were very crisp & crunchy and spiced just right, similar in spicing and preparation to the Kimchi dish.  Some of the Cabbage in the Kimchi was a little too clammy and after getting what I wanted from that dish, I put it aside as well.  The waitress noticed my liking of the cucumbers though, and brought me out an extra dish of that bowl.  Thank you!


Cucumber Salad

The chicken was very good, not too tough and my best guess is that they were just a shade south of what the Teriyaki perparation would have been... by south, I mean alternate flavor, not lesser-quality.  The rice was a great neutralizer to the flavors of everything.

The waitress never refilled my tea glass, and with most dishes being on the Korean spicy side, it would have been nice to have a second glass, because I did empty the first.  The waitress got involved in a BFF meeting when she became a member of a party of 8 at a table and was no longer tending to my dining needs, even when it came time to leave.  I walked to the cashier without a check in hand and left $14 plus the two dollars cash I left on the table.

Now that i have a little experience here, I think I could easily tailor a meal to my liking, and eventually hope to visit more of the bar-b-que side of the menu.

Now for my rating - which is difficult because I feel almost like there should be two ratings here in this case, one for the food (three forks) and one for the service (one fork)...  BUT in a combined rating, I would average the two and say Two Forks... and a half... because I'll be back in a few months for sure.

Hours: Mon-Sat 11:00 to 9:00 pm, Closed Sundays. Catering Available. 478-328-1746

I drove down Watson Boulevard today and saw the Real Estate company signs in front of this location.  Although I'm sure my blog review below had NOTHING to do with it closing, I'm sure there are some Sino-Americans out there looking for work.  Let's hope they don't find it in another restaurant.

I chose to visit the Fish N' Pig tonight after work because I know one of the waitresses that was working there tonight.

I gave my name and my request to be in my friend's section.  As I hung around, waiting to be seated, other people walking in were being sat left and right into wherever they requested without any wait... (the Bar, the Patio, first available, etc.).  The hostess came out and said my waitress had two tables seated right now and one had just ordered appetizers and I wasn't clear what she told me about the other table (or why I should care).  But certainly these waitresses must have more than two tables each to work in their sections?

I was told it would be a 20 minute wait to be seated.  I was sure that if my friend saw me standing there that wouldn't have been the case.  SO I chalked this experience up to another case of "wherever there's substandard service, there's the Fretful Fork" and left disappointed.  This makes two times that my server request was not honored at the Fish N' Pig.

I know I'm not Oprah, and I am by no means a regular there... but my readers like to know if they bother driving the distance, what might be waiting for them as they try to find a meal here.

Leaving downtown Macon with the Cherry Blossom Festival behind us, we did good by resisting all that fair food in the park.  But it does whet your appetite.  With a quick lunch on our mind, we headed up Walnut Street.  As we approached the corner of Spring Street, I saw the White Lightning BarBQ restaurant.  I parked behind the restaurant in an empty lot.  This was at about 3:30 pm.

We got in and a few tables were already seated.  The service protocol is like that I remember from Fuddruckers'.  You order, pay at the register, and give them your name.  When your order is ready, they call you to the counter to pick up your order.  Also similar to the way that Zaxby's and Captain D's serves you.

We ordered two barbeque sandwiches, one order of fries and one order of Brunswick Stew, and two sweet teas.  The order came to just over $12.00 in case you are budget-minded for lunchtime visits.

The good news and the bad:  The bad first.  Even though the french fries were VERY fresh, once they were cool enough to eat, we found them to be VERY salty as well.  They apparently used both seasoned salt AND table salt on these.  I tried to soften them some with ketchup and hope that it would absorb the salt flavor (even halfway would be OK) but even that didn't help.

Now the good - or should we say Great!  The sandwiches we found very tasty and full of flavor.  My guest added the sweet bbq sauce to his sandwich and I added the liquidy-Spicy sauce to mine, which made my hands sticky by the time the sandwich was gone.  There is lots of meat on the sandwich and it is good & filling.  Note to WL - you might want to provide some of the hand-cleaner squares like you get at Sonny's with your check.

For a long time, I have always gone for Fincher's Brunswick Stew.  But I have to be honest - in comparison, it is not nearly as good and hearty as that at White Lightning.  For the whole meal, Fincher's should take notice of what WL does better than them and see what they can take from that experience.

Go for a bag of chips instead of fries when you go for a greasy side-dish - or skip potatoes altogether and add a bowl of stew instead (my real recommendation).  You won't be disappointed that way.

Remind me to try the banana pudding next time I go.

Three and a half forks out of five.

Where do you want to be this time next year, oh Thai Pepper (Corner of Carl Vinson & Russell Pkwy)?  It's the kind of visit today why I long ago chose the slogan "Whever there's substandard service, there's the fretful fork."

I walked in the door today and it was about about 12:45 in the afternoon.  You had one couple already seated when I walked in and you sat me solo in the booth by the window, right next to the other couple.  You handed me a menu and removed the other place setting.

I watched you speak to the couple and hurry back to the kitchen.  While I was looking at the nicely decorated restaurant and the many menu choices, trying to decide if I was in the mood for traditional Thai or something from the Japanese part of the menu, about four minutes later you came back out to the couple with something in your hand.

You still had not asked for my drink order and you left again.  You came out another four minutes later walking out and over to the cash register area, came back to the couple's table and refilled their drinks.  I thought for sure this was when you would take two steps to your left to speak with me.  But you didn't.  You walked straight back into the kitchen.

Two minutes later while smelling the food from the couple's table and still very hungry, I decided to leave and go get something good to eat for myself.

You really know how to piss off a blog writer, you know?  For my sake, I won't be recommending anyone to your tables.

Sincerely,

fretfulfork.com
.

I don't know what it is about me and restaurants that don't want to serve me.  I began an aimless trip today not knowing where I would wind up but I knew my stomach was growling and my cabin fever took me out of the house for awhile.

On my way into town, I decided to pass by the 'tried and true' chinese buffet at Wok N Roll by 96 (reviewed on fretfulfork.com below) which also has been going steadily down-hill on even making $5.65 worth the price.  I found myself pulling into the strip mall at Carl Vinson & Russell and parked and walked into the newish "Thai Pepper"  Ten minutes later and with only one two-top seated besides me and their waitress having yet to take my drink order, I walked out.

WHICH brings me to today's review, because as I was walking out, I remembered my experience the first time I visited Ali Ba Ba's and nobody would serve me.  I left the Thai Pepper parking lot and headed to Ali Ba Ba's.  I made sure to look for their serving hours posted since I was accused in a reader comment in my first writing as having come in when they were not serving.  As I walked to the restaurant door, I saw many stickers on the front door but there STILL are no hours posted.  That in addition to my menu photo posting below confirm that I could not have known they were closed at any point of the day.

My waiter was also the only server on duty, and he had about four tables going already when I arrived.  He set me at the exact same table where I saw several workers seated on my first visit.  I experienced good service this trip, which I found refreshing since I'd already been dissed at Thai Pepper.

After ordering and quickly receiving my sweet tea (in a stemmed glass!) I decided to go with the Mixed Grill plate with Greek Salad.  I took photos of both but only the entree plate turned out halfway decent (still shaky but not as shaky as the salad picture).




From left to right, the dipping sauce (I'm sure it has a name but was not labelled on the menu or described by the waiter - I had to confirm with him that it was supposed to be used as a dipping sauce), the greek bread slices, the Kafta Kabob, Chicken Kabob, and the Steak Kabob.

OK First - the greek salad - on the menu, its ingredients are listed as: Romaine topped with Diced tomatoes, Cucumbers, Green Peppers, Onions, Feta Cheese, Oregano, Oil & Vinegar.

I chose it over the other two salads in the menu because I am not a big fan of Olives.  BUT when this salad came out, and I began eating it, I discovered this small 'power olive' was in it and it had the most pungeant olive taste and flavor of them all - Not a welcome surprise to me.  But I separated the rest of them and put them to the side.  Also included in the salad was this odd dark green thing, with very wilted greens encasing a soft gel-type filling - I opened it up and tasted the filling to see if it was appetizing at all - I couldn't tell what it included visually but I had hoped that by taste I might could recognize it.  Well, I didn't.  Do you know what it is that I'm talking about?  Maybe someone could explain.  It wasn't on the menu here either.  I LOVED the flavors of the ingredients I did like; the dressing was very tasty and not over the top.

The salad plate was removed as the entree appeared.  I began first on the Steak Kabob, which is odd for me, because I usually subconsciously leave what I perceive to be premium flavors for the end of the dish.  I have a suggestion to the Ali Ba Ba crew - please deliver this dish with a steak-knife.  Several of the meat pieces on the kabob were too big to eat in one bite, and cutting them with the butter knife (which is otherwise pointless since you don't bring out butter for the bread) just wasn't working too good.  Also, you should offer the standard levels of cooking the steak kabob (rare, medium, well-done) since it would have been nice to order mine medium.  One of the bites turned out to be very chewy and over-cooked.  The dipping sauce had a good complimentary flavor to the grilled meat.

After the steak kabob, I tried the Kafta Kabob.  Now, Kafta is a preparation that is brand new to me.  The Kafta is described on the menu as Fresh Ground Beef mixed with Parsley, Onions, & Spices.  It is presented as a long stick with a hollow center (Tube shaped) but isn't round as much as it is thin and wide (think steak fries). I was ready for it to taste like a generic hamburger without the bun, lettuce & tomato but I was pleasantly surprised at the moistness and grilled-in flavor it had.  It was also enhanced by the use of the dipping sauce.

The Chicken Kabob was marinated for flavor, but not worth saving for last.  I should have started with it.  It's also where a steak knife would be handy, as parts of it were larger than a fork-full.

The meal compliments (bread and rice) were equally present as good calmer-downers to the flavor-infused meats.  I can picture myself returning here often and letting it give Shahenshah a run for its cultural money.  I'd like to return when there is more life in the place, though, and let the full experience hit me head on.

Suggestion to Ali Ba Ba: try a fondue dish to perhaps bring on some Moroccan feel as well... I would think that would be a good complement to the Hookah crowd.

Three and half forks so far - maybe more with returned visits. :)

During a tornado watch period we had today, one of the flag's ropes came loose at Hardee's on Watson Blvd. in Warner Robins from the tall white flag pole where you see others standing. Employees came out to catch it before it got out of hand. Kudos!

I don't know how this review escaped me, because I posted the two pictures on Flickr on November 24 - maybe I had already written a couple reviews that week?  Regardless, this should be relatively short and sweet, going on captions I placed on both of these pictures when I uploaded them.




LtoR rear: Fried Wonton noodles, Wonton Soup, cup of water, sweet/sour sauce.

On plate LtoR: Fried Shrimp, Chicken & Broccoli, Teriyaki Chicken on a stick, Spring roll, General Tso's Chicken, half-eaten Egg Roll, and Pepper Chicken in foreground.

Literally NOTHING to write home about here, guys.  I remember the Teriyaki Chicken was very tough, the shrimp was dry dry dry, and the egg roll taste was criminal with them using some unorthodox red spicy filler.  I didn't want anything from it after the first bite, and I gave each dish a fair try.



On the buffet, NCR3 serves Vanilla pudding topped with Nilla Wafers - and on the other side of the dessert bar they serve Bananas in the sweet red sauce...  BUT no banana pudding itself.  So I got the bright idea of taking a small bit of each and marrying the two to create banana pudding, right? WELL that might have been a good idea if the pudding & wafers were fresh, but they weren't.  I wound up 'unmixing' them and eating the bananas with as much of the pudding as I could scrape from them.

Maybe the weekday buffet is better than the weekend.  I remember what was happening here - this was the day after Thanksgiving while I was taking vacation time from work to do a little Black Friday shopping. Who wants to 'work' during vacation?