blog.thelemur.com

I’ve been debating whether to do a review of this place. Our experience was so bad it makes me upset every time I think about it.

The gawdy atmosphere looks like a senile grandmother did all the decorations. No shitty restaurant would be complete without: creepy porcelain dolls, tacky lights, faux roman pillars, and fake plastic ivy. The place just wreaks of tacky.

They bring plain white bread rolls out to your table. They are room temperature. The butter is in those little plastic containers with the peelable lids.

The salad was OK but the tomatoes weren’t fresh and the house dressing was lacking of any real flavor.

We ordered the calamari appetizer which was barely edible. The sauce tasted like Prego marinara.

The entrees are overpriced and the portions are small. We ordered three cheese ravioli and the salmon pasta special. Neither one of us could touch our food it was so bad.

This was the worst “Italian” food we’ve ever had, and it cost $60 for the meal (calamari, one Stella, two entrees w/ salads).

I give Nick’s Roman Terrace a 1 out of 5.

Shishkabob is an Indian/Pakistani restaurant located in a small strip mall off Old Parham Rd. I heard about it from Google maps while looking for food. Reviewers said, “The ambiance isn’t that great but the food is fantastic!” I was sold immediately.

We didn’t get to eat inside but got to check out the place while our food was prepared. They have a large refrigerator up front with sodas, lassi, and other beverages. There’s a small buffet at the front (maybe 10 small trays of food). It reminds me of a pizzeria from the 80s with the decor, faded sign out front, and menu on white-board with prices on small pieces of cardboard.

We ordered the chicken and chicken/beef combos. One of the sides was chickpea something, and the other was okra. The okra was Indian hot. The chicken and beef were cooked to perfection and very spicy. The rice was plain white rice – which was kind of a let-down, but the hot-off-the-stove naan made up for it.

The food was served to-go in Styrofoam containers and foil. It was delightfully tacky.

I give Shishkabob a very solid 4 out of 5.

The building contains a Latin American grocery store and a Peruvian/Latin American restaurant. There’s a glass display case with mozarella and a few other items as you walk in. The seating area is very tight. By tight I mean, the entire seating area is 10×10 (and this space includes the cash register and display case). The max capacity of the restaurant is 16. I was the only white person there; all the other customers were Mexican.

I ordered one steak taco, one cheese pupusa, and a shrimp burrito. I could’ve just ordered the burrito because it was so !@#$ing huge.

I ordered the pupusa simply because it was cheap and I’d never had one before. It comes with a side of curtido (think savory coleslaw).  The cheese pupusa reminds me of a cheese-filled pancake. The coarse corn tortilla and curtido balance out the smooth texture of the cheese. This dish came with a side of red salsa which was pretty mild.

The steak taco was delicious. The meat was lightly seasoned and warm. The only other toppings were chopped onion and cilantro. You’d think it would be boring because there was no tomato, salsa, cheese, etc. but it tasted great. The soft flour tortillas were warm and soft. Best steak taco I’ve ever had.

The taco and burrito came with a little plastic container of green salsa. It looks like runny guacamole and I was afraid to try it at first, but man is it good. It cranks up the heat nicely.

The restaurant offers other dishes as well. Some of them come as combos with fries (which I thought was a little odd). I didn’t see a single “nacho” dish on the menu. When I went, they had a special that looked like a rotisserie chicken which a side of spiced apples.

The service is slow but friendly. I had to walk over to the grocery store side of the building to buy a soda. I bought a bottle of “Tamarind Drink.” It is by far the strangest juice drink I’ve ever had. I still can’t figure out if I like it or not.

Despite the service, I give El Jardin a solid 5 out of 5 for fixing the best authentic Mexican food I’ve ever had.

I found this via Google maps while looking for a place to eat. I would not have found it otherwise. It is a hole in the wall place. No signage of any kind except a small wooden sign out on the sidewalk with the restaurant name. If you drove by it you wouldn’t even blink twice.

It is a tight little spot, rectangular with a bar on one side with stools and booths along the edge. Probably seats about 30 comfortably.

Wine list is two and a half pages long and the beer menu is one side of an index card. The bar has three taps but one was out of service when we went. They had a really good blonde ale from Sünner brewery and the Richmond “#4″ Brown Ale.

The wooden booths force you to sit upright. They are not comfortable. Warped painted ceiling tiles look weathered. There’s big colorful artwork around all the walls and the paintings just rest on molding on the wall. The lights are all covered with paper so it gives the place a warm atmosphere.

I ordered an apple and onion soup which was unlike anything I’ve had before. It was delicious. My friend and I scarfed down the entire bowl very quickly.

Next up was an appetizer with blue fish, goat cheese, capers all on a crunchy piece of toast. Looking at it gave me bad vibes, but once I tasted one – the plate was empty.

The bread plate (that’s brought out as a standard appetizer) was kind of a let down. Bread wasn’t toasted. There was no butter. The bread was fresh, but boring.

The restaurant was empty but it took 30 minutes to get our main course. I was a bit upset by this point, but when we dug in I realized it was worth the wait.

I ordered the Greek Pork. It literally melted in my mouth. I could break the meat apart with my tongue. The tangy yogurt, the layer of pepper and spices on the outside of the meat, the soft pieces of potato, the feta. And kale. I ate kale for the first time without throwing up. It was amazing.

My friend ordered the Roasted Salmon. It is a deceptively simple dish. The sweet potato kind of masks the fish taste when the food first enters your mouth. After a few seconds the fish flavor “pops.” It’s an interesting combination that tastes really good.

If you go, be sure to go to the bathroom. You need to experience the same Twilight Zone shit I went through.

The prices are fair; I felt like I got my money’s worth. I give Café Rustica a 4 out of 5.

The interior reminds me of an old grocery store that – for some reason – just hasn’t gone out of business. The building looks like it was constructed in the 70s or 80s.  The floor is lined with little square black and white tiles in diamond patterns. Big jars of pickled vegetables sit on shelves along the wall. There’s a refrigerator with sliding doors with assorted beer, soda, and other wet drinkable things. Next to the fridge is a small grocery section with miscellaneous items you’d find in the Italian section of a grocery store (olive oil, biscotti, pickled peppers, mushrooms, and so on). The ceilings are fairly high but there’s a huge painted ventilation pipe coming out of the ceiling at weird angle and another ventilation pipe extending the length of the building. The ceiling fans are straight out of the 80s and look like they’re about to fall down and hit someone. Meats can be ordered a la carte and there’s a few side items like potato salad, pasta, etc.

The restaurant is laid out as one big rectangle. Customers occupy one half, the kitchen occupies the other. The kitchen area is completely open. Tables inside seat about 20 people.

I ordered their “Industrial” sub. The lettuce and tomato were very fresh, but there was no evidence of the Mexican that picked them. The sandwich contents were grilled separately and then everything was assembled and brought out to me. The sandwich arrived piping hot. The bread was lightly toasted. The sandwich was full but not difficult to handle. There were hot peppers which took me by surprise but it was a pleasant amount of heat. I wish I had brought a notepad in with me because I finished the sub so fast I forgot to take mental notes. Let’s just say – “This is one of the best (if not the best) Italian subs I’ve ever had.”

I give Cappola’s Deli a 4 out of 5. I’ll be back here soon.