7.12.2004
food review for July 11
Three places today.
1) Carol's Cafe, Lenox Center, Lenox MA
This used to be a nice dive of a diner, a counter for regulars, decent coffee, low prices. Somehow, three years ago, the owner (presumably Carol) decided that holistic faith healing, pastel walls, paintings of waif-like angels that, I kid you not, resemble Bjork, and a resident psychic (Saturday Mornings) would make interesting decor. The food is still the same, but now it's not a diner anymore, it's a "cafe" serving truck stop food at high prices. Today I had the "Paisano Omelette", which was an onion and pepper omelette with cheese served over two spicy italian sausage links over toast. Weird; like being at a ballpark and eating breakfast. Next time I go (it's a family tradition when we're in the Berkshires), I'll try the "Deli Omelette", which is a pastrami, onion, and cheese omelette with horseradish sauce. Intriguing...
2) Napa, Church Stree, Lenox MA
This opened in 1999, but we just noticed it. It's supposed to be California Cuisine, but I'm a pretty bad judge of what is or is not California Cuisine. However, we tried Napa for lunch today and it's pretty good. Except that my pasta did not look like it was supposed to. I don't know how you cook "garlic, roma tomatoes, basil, cheese, and chicken" into a brown gravy. It's not supposed to happen. I'd bring my friend from California here to explain to me what's going on, but she's pretty opposed to serving chicken on pasta, so I may not get an answer. My brother's shrimp and avocado salad would have been a better choice.
3) Shiro, Great Barrington MA
This is, like, the 6th year in a row we've had Andrew's birthday dinner at Shiro, save the one summer he spent in Beijing. It's a sushi/hibachi restaurant, and we always go for the hibachi option. Ambiance needs help, as does the hibachi grill guy, whose performance was, say, lackluster. This might have been because there was this really cute little girl eating with her parents who was FREAKED by the fire. Adorable, though at times a bit loud in her vehement dislike of flame. The filet mignon was exactly what one might expect a filet mignon to be: tender, a bit flavorless on its own, but with all of the flavor of the garlic and soy in which it was cooked. The chicken was pretty awful: dry and unpalatable, with a sticky teriyaki sauce which was unable to mask the cardboard-like chicken underneath. The sirloin was cooked far too long in general, and far too long without any sort of flavoring around it. The result was, like the chicken, an acceptable sauce on a very disappointing little cube of meat, which had prior held such promise. Finally, the shrimp was a bit on the overcooked side, and I notice that they've stopped chopping the shrimp in half. Whole shrimp, while nice, are much more noticable when they're rubbery. All in all, not bad, but I've had better. Not that we'll do anything differently next year.
ps. one potential review: Fin on Housatonic Street in Lenox MA. This just opened, it doesn't even have proper signage, and I wasn't able to get a meal. I did grab a menu though. Whatever place serves Tonkatsu at $20 and NY Strip Steak with Wasabi/Soy glaze for $23 is doing something very wrong. How on earth can you charge $20 for Tonkatsu. For shame... Looks good, though; might have to try it. I'm pretty sure what I'm NOT going to order, though.
1) Carol's Cafe, Lenox Center, Lenox MA
This used to be a nice dive of a diner, a counter for regulars, decent coffee, low prices. Somehow, three years ago, the owner (presumably Carol) decided that holistic faith healing, pastel walls, paintings of waif-like angels that, I kid you not, resemble Bjork, and a resident psychic (Saturday Mornings) would make interesting decor. The food is still the same, but now it's not a diner anymore, it's a "cafe" serving truck stop food at high prices. Today I had the "Paisano Omelette", which was an onion and pepper omelette with cheese served over two spicy italian sausage links over toast. Weird; like being at a ballpark and eating breakfast. Next time I go (it's a family tradition when we're in the Berkshires), I'll try the "Deli Omelette", which is a pastrami, onion, and cheese omelette with horseradish sauce. Intriguing...
2) Napa, Church Stree, Lenox MA
This opened in 1999, but we just noticed it. It's supposed to be California Cuisine, but I'm a pretty bad judge of what is or is not California Cuisine. However, we tried Napa for lunch today and it's pretty good. Except that my pasta did not look like it was supposed to. I don't know how you cook "garlic, roma tomatoes, basil, cheese, and chicken" into a brown gravy. It's not supposed to happen. I'd bring my friend from California here to explain to me what's going on, but she's pretty opposed to serving chicken on pasta, so I may not get an answer. My brother's shrimp and avocado salad would have been a better choice.
3) Shiro, Great Barrington MA
This is, like, the 6th year in a row we've had Andrew's birthday dinner at Shiro, save the one summer he spent in Beijing. It's a sushi/hibachi restaurant, and we always go for the hibachi option. Ambiance needs help, as does the hibachi grill guy, whose performance was, say, lackluster. This might have been because there was this really cute little girl eating with her parents who was FREAKED by the fire. Adorable, though at times a bit loud in her vehement dislike of flame. The filet mignon was exactly what one might expect a filet mignon to be: tender, a bit flavorless on its own, but with all of the flavor of the garlic and soy in which it was cooked. The chicken was pretty awful: dry and unpalatable, with a sticky teriyaki sauce which was unable to mask the cardboard-like chicken underneath. The sirloin was cooked far too long in general, and far too long without any sort of flavoring around it. The result was, like the chicken, an acceptable sauce on a very disappointing little cube of meat, which had prior held such promise. Finally, the shrimp was a bit on the overcooked side, and I notice that they've stopped chopping the shrimp in half. Whole shrimp, while nice, are much more noticable when they're rubbery. All in all, not bad, but I've had better. Not that we'll do anything differently next year.
ps. one potential review: Fin on Housatonic Street in Lenox MA. This just opened, it doesn't even have proper signage, and I wasn't able to get a meal. I did grab a menu though. Whatever place serves Tonkatsu at $20 and NY Strip Steak with Wasabi/Soy glaze for $23 is doing something very wrong. How on earth can you charge $20 for Tonkatsu. For shame... Looks good, though; might have to try it. I'm pretty sure what I'm NOT going to order, though.
