nick w.'s Profile

We were hugely disappointed:
- Our bruschetta appetizer was based on badly burned toast
- One of our fried chickens was pink and even a little bloody inside. When the plate came back from the kitchen, they just removed that piece are rearranged the others!
- The plating and presentation was miserable. Plates came out 1-2 minutes apart for the 4 of us. No garnish, no veges, just a big blog of entree with no artistry
- My lamb special was a grey blob of unrecognizable meat on top of ~12 peas. The mint chutney was was just a splatted brown/grey spoon of goop, with a few bits sprayed around the plate. It was so unappetizing I almost thought it was a joke.
- 2 of 4 chicken eaters had upset tummies later
- zero decor

A few good things:
- Great beer selection
- Friendly staff

Am I being picky?  I think not.  For what we paid, we could have had a far superior experience at Salt, Kitchen, L'Atelier, or Mateo.

Four of us, Friday night 3/18/11, not quite a full house.

This has got to be the quintessential strip-mall chinese food joint, right down to the placemats with an explanation of your birth-year animal.

Satisfies the basics, nothing more or less.

As you walk in, you are greeted with a small, friendly atmosphere that quickly makes you feel comfortable.  Lots of great touches: the metal tree motif wrapped around a glass divider, leaf designs on the chairs, lots of healthy houseplants, and stylish place settings.  The menu wanders all over with no apparent need to make a commitment to any region or style of food, but it all sounds wonderful.

Drinks were only okay: hibiscus cooler is rather bland and not as special as it sounds.  Mint lemonade is delicious but the huge chunks of mint kept coming up the straw.  The "thai lemondrop" and "posmo" weren't the tastiest concoctions.

The house-made fococcia was fairly good, particularly the sprinkling of australian black river salt.  Poblano-potato soup was tasty, but too thin, and the sliced green onions overpowered a rather subtle soup.

The Indian curry was quite good, and a huge portion.  A nice mix of vegetables with good cream-based curry and a dollop of rice.  Thin break that looked remarkably identical to their pizza crusts accompanied it, which was a disappointment in itself, and certainly did not go with the curry.

As others have said, the Thai mango curry is a little dull and not well put together: far too much thin broth and huge vegetables for you to cut.

The chocolate cake dessert was a disappointment, as most vegan cakes are.  You just have to break a few eggs...

I really wish I liked this place more - it seems virtually designed for my eating.  They make lots of varieties of bread of course, which are mostly quite good.  But it seems like they're becoming more interested in a prepared lunch place.  Pizzas, salads, sandwiches, quiches, and the like can be bought from a refrigerator or made to order.  Unfortunately, the pizzas and quiches I've had are downright bad, and the pre-made sandwiches are nothing to get excited about.  On top of that, it's quite pricey.  It would be worth it if the quality matched the appearance, but it comes out lacking.

Just aweful.  You get what you pay for, which is remarkably little.

Nice place for a lunch panini/sandwich/wrap/soup/salad.  Almost all the options are healthy and tasty.  Order your food at the counter and either wait there or have a seat and they'll bring it out.  Comfortable and simple seating area with a pile of board games in the corner.  Free wifi.

My one complaint is that they pack so many tasty things into an item, the flavors can get lost.  Today I had a chicken, sun-dried tomato, mushroom,  provolone, red onion, and balsamic glaze - too many delicious things between the focaccia!

So I like the place, but there's over 100 of these across the country.  I hope Pearl Street can stay locally owned and resist the ever-dominant national brands, so I'll usually stick with the other excellent options (even with the same block) that keep all the revenue in town.

Radda seems to be THE place to eat now days.  Looking around I have to wonder if I'm hip enough to be welcome, but then I look out at mall signage that hasn't had all the light bulbs working since the 70's and remember we're in just another Boulder strip mall sandwiched between the dry cleaners and grocery...

Anyways, the staff is young, fun, friendly, enjoy their job, and seem to care that you enjoy yourself.  Great menu full of variety and interest. Inexpensive, small portions - you should try many things.  I've had about half the things on the menu and not been disappointed yet (though once my boar ragu was a little too salty).  Wine service is amazing: great wines, great advice, and no attitude.

To nitpick, I guess I could complain about the decor - it's plain and clean, but not contemporary, and comes out boring.

I haven't ordered from the menu yet, but the buffet is the best in town.  They offer it for dinner as well as lunch.  An enormous variety of dishes at the buffet - more than any other I've seen - and half or more are vegetarian.  Standard decor but really nice owners who kept checking on us and wondering what we thought of the different dishes.

Absurdly popular on weekend nights, so I must be missing something.  Standard bar beer/drinks (Guiness included, of course) and a standard bar menu.  The food is somewhere between forgetable and just plain bad.  Oh, and the service won't win any friendliness awards.

Best North Indian food I've had in Boulder.  Bengan Bartha (my favorite) was just right - subtle, complex, not too sweet.  Vindaloo is solid but not special.  Our naan wasn't too fresh, and slightly overcooked.  The chai is excellent.  Not a great location in the bottom of a shopping center looking out on a parking lot...but come for the food.