Flying M Restaurant

I was on my way back from a family reunion in Southeastern Utah when we decided to stop in Panguich for a bite to eat. The Flying M Restaurant presented itself as one of the more established eateries in town which seemed like a nice change to the fast food and gas station fare we'd had so far on the trip. This did turn out to be true, but it really doesn't say much for the quality. I guess it's the best you can get in the literal middle of absolutely nowhere.

<-------- This is their parking lot.

The Atmosphere 2/5

Upon entering the building, you are greeted with the world's worst kitsch gift shop. I've seen my fair share of such things and this wasn't even cute on the scale of backwoodsy americana.

The dining area itself is your standard diner complete with bar stools where the locals sit and drink coffee and discuss how much of the town has changed since they were kids."I remember when this was all farm land"... Well, I guess in this case, it still is. 

The Service 3/5

After we got our little group seated (which took two separate, but adjacent tables) it wasn't long before we met the perfect stereotype of a small town waitress who gave us all menus and took our orders. There was very little on the menu that looked appetizing other than the burger. Yes, THE burger. There was also the groundbreaking option to order it with cheese. I wasn't in the mood for a burger so I optimistically ordered the hot, open-faced turkey sandwich.

The Food 1/5

What I received was this: 

Where do I even start with this? 

Microwaved, pre-packaged deli sandwich turkey slices on butter-toasted white Wonder bread, covered in canned brown gravy and served with powdered mashed potato.

3 seconds in, the "balloon bread" as my mom calls it, soggied into a tan sludge which made the entire plate perfect for an old Englishman with no teeth or taste buds. 

Next road trip, maybe I'll get to pick the restaurants.

Cous Cous

My friend wanted to go out to dinner with me and we happened to be in the Murray area. With no other forethought, we opened the urbanspoon app on my phone and found a wonderful Mediterranean place called Cous Cous.

Cous Cous finds itself in the parking lot of a shopping plaza at 5470 South 900 East in Murray. It's a small place, but its popularity is no secret. They've been receiving awards since they first moved in a few years ago. Despite its accessible and friendly atmosphere, the menu boasts a collection a very authentic dishes of shwarma, hummus, and of course, cous cous.

The Atmosphere 5/5

The place is reasonably small as you might expect from a strip mall restaurant, but they've managed to pack it full of aesthetics that are pleasing and interesting. The kitchen grill is open to the dining room so you can see and hear everything that goes on back there. They have a hummus bar and and olive bar to the far right of the above picture. 

The Service 4/5

The line starts at the door and makes its way to the cashier who was very helpful, but rushed. There weren't that many people in the restaurant when we arrived and I had hoped he'd be able to spend a little more energy making recommendations from the menu for us first-timers. The restaurant manager actually did come later in the meal to ask us how we were and he even personally bussed our table when we finished. 

The Food 5/5

The food was absolutely wonderful. The portions weren't enormous, but I left feeling very satisfied. I ordered the shwarma wrap which was served with their amazing cranberry cous cous. My friend ordered the steak pita with creamy tahini garlic sauce, mushrooms, and avocado... of yeah. The really go overboard with the avocado. Not that it's a bad thing, but but my wrap and his pita were seriously 30% avocado. Anyway...

I would absolutely suggest Cous Cous for anyone looking to break the usual routine and enjoy some multicultural goodness. 

Teriyaki Grill

Shortly after giving birth last September, we discovered that the baby is allergic to dairy. Once we realized why he was crying incessantly, I did what any mom would do and cut everything dairy out of my diet. This also means I cut most restaurants out as well. After a couple regretful attempts at Mexican and American eating establishments, we decided to stick with what we know to be safe-- Asian food! Luckily for me, that's one of my favorites, so I had zero objections to trying out a new place: Teriyaki Grill.

Atmosphere 4/5

There was nothing really overwhelmingly special about how the small strip mall restaurant was decorated. It had a few pictures of Japanese/Chinese (is there even a way to tell between the two?) words on the walls, as well as a giant gong with the name of the restaurant cut out of it. One thing I did love was the tables. They were more modern in style, being a neat translucent green and white. I didn't look at them and think Asian restaurant, I just really liked them. The very best part, however, were three framed pictures of a few of the dishes they offer. If I were to guess, I'd say the manager had gotten a new phone with an 8 megapixel camera and wanted to show off his cool, new toy... *face palm * A "good quality" camera does not a photographer make...

Service 2/5

The kitchen and register were manned by two late teens/early 20's girls who, although nice, didn't seem to really be thrilled about being at work. One was slightly preoccupied by whomever she was texting, and the other looked like she just wanted to make it through the day (even though the restaurant had only been open for the day for literally 5 minutes). My biggest complaint, however, was the large plastic jar with the taped-on, handwritten "tip" sign. Tips are for people who go above and beyond their job description to make the experience pleasurable for their guests. These girls didn't even bring the food out to us. They simply shouted out across the restaurant our order and left it on the counter for me to pick up myself. Sadly, the empty tip jar remained that way.

Food 4/5

Matt ordered his usual: the Teriyaki Bowl with combination beef and chicken, steamed vegetables, and brown rice. I got the Teriyaki pulled pork with noodles and vegetables. We both agreed that the steamed vegetables were cooked perfectly. Even the cabbage was great, having a slight crunch to it! Matt was very satisfied with his meal. I really enjoyed the flavors of mine (though in the future I'll probably stick with my usual order of rice instead of noodles), but I did end up having to grab an extra fork so I could shred my "pulled" pork myself. Don't get me wrong. It looked like they had attempted at pulling it, but with their overwhelming lunch rush of exactly one other person, I can understand they were in too much of a hurry to thoroughly get the job done.

Conclusion 

Teriyaki Grill was exactly what I was hoping it would be: a nice lunch spot with a dairy-free menu for a reasonable price. The food was good, there was a lot of stuff to look at, and with my husband and son next to me, the whole experience was very enjoyable.

Waffle Love

Because this blog was getting to be just a bit too classy... Here's a food truck.

My wife and I were driving home this afternoon were blessed by a local phenomenon. After a quick double-take, I conducted two possibly illegal and dangerous U-turns and  pulled in to the parking lot of a random medical center where, at least for this fleeting few hours, a Waffle Love truck had decided to take up shop. 

Waffle Love, or @Waffluv if you prefer, owns three food trucks. One travels around Utah county, one in Salt Lake county, and one oddly enough in Arizona. They announce their locations for the day over their Facebook page every morning. 

The Atmosphere 1/5

Well, its a food truck... and it was REALLY cold. 

The Service 4/5

I have to give these guys some credit here. I had a great time. We talked about their business model and the menu.They were extremely friendly despite the long-ish line of people waiting for waffles.

I asked them what I should order and they immediately pointed to the Red Wonder, the most expensive item on the menu. 

The Food 3/5

So, This isn't a lot of food for $8 bucks. It was, however, a really fun experience and I would probably enjoy another waffle or two from them among friends. 

The kind of waffle they make is called a Liege Waffle, which is made from a batter that seems to be high in butter content. The result is a scone-like fried waffle that is both crispy and flaky. The Red Wonder tops this with a gigantic glob of thick whipped cream covered in red berries. Underneath the pile of lost New Year's wishes is a layer of Biscoff, a spread made from English coffee biscuits.

Conclusion

If you see a Waffle Love truck around town, you should treat it like the ice cream man and let your 10 year-old self run wild. 

Bangkok Thai on Main

So its been four months since my last posting and I have my little infant son to blame. He has, on occasion, been able to behave himself long enough to enjoy an evening of fine dining, but it happens so seldom, it's difficult to plan around.

We found ourselves in Park City this afternoon and decided to chance having the baby during dinner. My wife is on a dairy-free diet while breastfeeding, so we decided to go with an Asian cuisine.

Bangkok Thai is located on 605 Main Street in Park City on the lower end of the historic shopping district.

The Atmosphere 5/5

The entrance to the restaurant is in the basement (and I do mean creepy old basement) of the Park Hotel which, despite all aging appearances, was built in the 1980's. The restaurant has a traditional dining area to the left and a lounge to the right. We had initially planned on enjoying the all-you-can-eat Pad Thai at the bar before 6pm for $10 a person, but were turned away because you have to be at least 21 years old to be in the bar... We sort of forgot that we had the baby.

The interior of the restaurant is impressive. My 4 month-old spent most of the evening fascinated with the ceiling. The dining room is actually pretty small, but it didn't run the risk of getting too loud or crowded.

The Service 5/5

Despite not being an example of their usual upper-class Après-ski guests, they did an amazing job of taking care of our needs and preventing any issues having our potentially noisy baby would impose on their other patrons. 

Our order was quickly taken with a smile and our glasses were never empty. They didn't hover over the table and allowed us plenty of time to enjoy ourselves, but not so long as to wonder if our food would ever arrive.

The Food 5/5 

I ordered the Panang Curry and my wife ordered the Pad Thai with Chicken (an apparent favorite among all of their guests and the dish that won them 2013's BEST OF STATE award). I was worried about my decision to go with the brown rice instead of the traditional white with my dinner, but the resulting texture sold me. The food was absolutely heavenly. The only downside was the price. I'd have gladly paid $30 for the food pictured here, but the dinner came to $55 after tax and tip.

We were, however, full and satisfied long before any dessert inquiries were made. I'd gladly go again, but the premium price lands this restaurant squarely in the "special occasion" category and will have to wait for me to devise another excuse for coming.

La Frontera

My wife and I wanted to experiment going out to eat with our brand new, 6 day-old son. We've been to La Frontera many times before, but not in a long while. My experience in the past had always been pleasant and timely. We dined close to home at the Sandy location at 61 West 10600 South.

The Atmosphere 4/5

I've always enjoyed the over-the-top stereotypical Mexican decor of this place. Even though this is a strip mall unit, they've managed to find the room to fit a spacious dining hall dressed up like a wild west corral and saloon. They have recently cheapened the look, however, with poorly displayed laminated printouts of the latest so-called specials. 

The Service 3/5

Neither my wife nor I could hear our server. The music wasn't loud, our baby was silent throughout the meal (yay!), and the server's accent wasn't even that terribly thick. He simply spoke so quietly that, standing right next to me, we could not understand a word he said. We found ourselves directing the conversation from context and visual cues alone. 

The server was prompt and otherwise helpful, but we couldn't help the feeling that the restaurant had begun "nickel and diming" us. I don't recall them ever charging for chips beyond the first "complimentary" bowl or the horchata not having free refills or costing a whopping $2.75 a glass. 

The Food 3/5

As my wife is pointing out in the photo, the sour cream was served in a plastic tube which proved difficult to open as it had no "open here" slit. This made us laugh. The plates were both accompanied by the usual warning of "careful, the plates are hot." I have found this to mean the plates are very, very warm. Today, they were scalding. Literally. I actually burned my arm and my wrist trying to enjoy my meal. My enchiladas were a molten liquid of cheese and flavorless sauce. My wife's chimichangas were filled with fine ground beef with less flavor and worse texture than last night's proverbial casserole left-overs. The final straw was the beans and rice. I've had more spice out of a can. It felt like they'd boiled out any desirable character from the whole plate. 

Conclusion

As I mentioned, I've been to La Frontera many times at many locations, but after my surprisingly unpleasant experience, which had nothing to do with my new-family experiment, I fear they might be on a path for decline.  

Pat's BBQ

So, I'm finally getting around to writing this one. My wife and I visited Pat's a number of weeks ago and I'd been procrastinating.

I first heard about Pat's BBQ on 155 W. Commonwealth Ave in Salt Lake while watching a local episode of the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. You can click here to view the segment. It wasn't until the restaurant was featured on a podcast I listen to, however, that I decided we had to visit.

The Atmosphere 4/5

Pat's is located inside of an old manufacturing warehouse and they've made some interesting decisions on how to use the space. When we walked in the the early evening, it was difficult to tell if anyone was in. We cautiously wandered through the hallway, peering into storerooms and kitchen space trying to determine if we had entered from the correct door. We made it all the way into the back of the building, where the dining hall is located, before seeing a single employee. We were greeted there and shown to our seat. The place is set up with picnic tables and feels very much like a backyard barbecue, complete with live music.

The Service 3/5

We had arrived too early for the music. The band was just setting up as we left. There seemed to be plenty of servers and only a few early diners, so I don't know why the servers all seemed a little rushed. Nonetheless, the server was able to give us a rudimentary introduction to the menu.

Featured predominantly in the center of the menu is the Smoked Meatloaf. It was the item that was highlighted on the TV show, so I decided that I would go for that. My wife ordered the brisket. I was surprised at the time by how lightening fast or food was served, but in hindsight realize that all of the food at a real BBQ is smoked for hours before we arrived and therefore would be instantly available.

The Food 4/5

Smoked Meatloaf was an experience and a half. It was absolutely amazing, but it seemed to have the same minor problem as the brisket. The meat at Pat's is prepared really sweet. Everything had a natural honey flavor. It wasn't really a problem, rather it was simply unexpected. Everything on the plate is made from scratch and the mashed potatoes were some of the best I have had in a very long time. The corn had been creamed in such a homestyle method, I'm not sure I'll prefer them any other way again. 

The Conclusion

Pat's is a local gem and I would suggest it to any and all BBQ lovers out there. Go on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night and enjoy the live band.