Anca "it seemed like a good idea at the time" S.'s Profile

I went here the first time because I was sick of poor quality hem jobs on jeans at various dry cleaners around town who outsource the job. It might be too early to tell after two months, but the hem Vladimir did is still holding up.

So I brought him an even bigger job yesterday. The same pair of jeans had some unexpected quality problems and had gotten two glaring pinky-sized holes at the inside ankles from normal wear. The jean manufacturer said they'd reimburse me if I could get it fixed, so I asked Vladimir to work a minor miracle.

I'm pretty pleased with the results, especially since I was not optimistic. But the patch-job is fairly well-blended and $20 to keep a $100 pair of jeans out of the trash is pretty good. The other amazing thing is he had it done within 24 hours despite being busy, along with the other 3 items I brought him (redo a loose tshirt hem $10, repair small holes on the inside of a brand-new double-layer viscose H&M blouse $10, and sew a button back onto a cardigan and reinforce the other buttons $12). (Actually, I brought him the cardigan because I didn't have the right color thread in my sewing kit and he offered to give me the thread for free but I was feeling lazy.)

Decor-wise, I guess The Counter is what Johnny Rockets would be if it had a full bar and a line out the door? On to the veggie burger...if you like yours "meaty", like I do, go to Linda's instead (even if they use frozen commercial ones). If you like yours to be a vegan patty made of mostly-identifiable vegetables, you could come here (though I prefer the one at 22) because it is large and pretty tasty.

There is some appeal to the choose-your-own-high-end-toppings method, in case you're the sort of person who doesn't cling to traditional burger toppings. Although I'm a fan of ketchup/mustard/relish, I do recommend the Counter's ginger soy glaze sauce.

I guess my only real complaint about this place (and it's minor-ish) is that 1) if you order fries they come out as an appetizer (unless you request otherwise) that becomes cold and mostly eaten by the time the burger arrives, and 2) I don't appreciate skinny fries. Oh, and when it says crispy onion strings, you should believe them, at least about the "strings" part. They are not thick rings and they are sort of like eating just the deep fry batter, if you're into that sort of thing.

I wouldn't normally review a place solely one thing, BUT I was really impressed with the house-made vegan-friendly burger (subtract mozzarella) and fries. Prefer it over the veg patty at The Counter. Only downside was the $12 price tag and that I was uncomfortably full for many hours afterward (yes, next time I will share with a friend).

Also, what's the deal with the very inconspicuous restroom signs? An "M" and "W" way up in the dark corner of the doorframes.

I suppose I'd better finally write a review, since I am the Yelp Duchess of Petra. Oh, before I begin I will note that they very recently changed their pita (which was good) and now it is fluffy and fantastic (and still served hot, of course).

Lentil soup (well, there are technically two) is great and unlike any other lentil soup eaten anywhere else. Although to be honest, lately it's lost its luster for me -- might've finally reached my lifetime lentil soup quota. The house salad deserves mention for not being the standard lackluster restaurant house salad.

The hummus is good and baba ghanouje tastes great, though a little richer than how mom makes it and prone to lead to a stomachache if I overindulge (almost always). The dolmathes here are skippable; I can't quite figure out what's wrong with them, but they pale in comparison to the ones Trader Joe's sold at one point. The falafel are decent, a little dry perhaps, and not as amazing as at Zaina.

On to the (vegan-friendly) entrees...let's start with a shout-out to the new menu items (labeled "Petra Specialties"). The Veggie Royale holds a special place in my heart and belly. Also, gotta say I really like the yellow rice in all their entrees. Why does it need to be so oily? So your tongue gets addicted, duh. The Veggie Shawarma is another good option, especially if you don't have the guts to tell your mom you ate fried cauliflower (the Royale) for dinner.

And if you like kalamata olives (salty goodness) or if you're not sure, this is the place to get a side of them. (Watch out for the pits.)

I certainly appreciate that a burger place would try to be vegan-friendly. And having a house-made vegan patty means they're sincere about it. But in life and the restaurant business, trying and sincerity only count for so much. Ok, let's start at the beginning: they have 3 vegetarian burgers...only 1 of which (Sloppy Jane) can be converted to a vegan burger by removing two toppings. The problem is that you're left with just a bun, a patty, and some avocado, and there's ketchup and mustard at the table to add. It tastes as boring as it sounds. Where's the lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions? Why am I paying $6.50 for boring? Boring that doesn't even include sides?! (Which start at a pricey $3.25 by the way.) My dining companion got the happy hour deal (burger+fries+pint for $10-$11) and wanted a vegan mushroom burger. Easier said than done; for the privilege of paying an extra $2 to substitute a vegan patty for the beef (and subtracting the sauce and cheese without subtracting $) on the "original mushroom" burger, he got a bun, a patty, and mushrooms. The caramelized onions and iceberg in the description were nowhere to be found. I can handle disappointing and overpriced, but not both at the same time...

Ate the veggie dim sum from the cart and nothing from the menu. You need to know what you want or else be enthusiastic about whatever the waitress is currently pointing to. Typical service from Asian-run restaurants -- don't expect to be coddled and chatted up, because in Asia waiters don't work for tips. By the time we were done there was only one other table occupied, which might explain why the cart never came around after the first time without having to ask.

If you've had dim sum before you might not be too impressed, but if not then good food plus novelty goes a long way. Some of it was a little boring so we made good use of the soy sauce on the table. Oh, and ask for a plate of the sesame balls to be brought from the kitchen. I really wish we'd eaten here a few more times because I'm still craving dim sum and Hawaii is far away...

Don't be misled by the sign for "Legends Seafood Restaurant". This place is behind it, separate entrance.

I was really excited to come here. Vegan option for every menu item! Spent several minutes talking to the waitress about the vegan options, especially the veggie burger patty. Ordered a veg chicken sandwich and the veg Western burger (BBQ, onion, 'bacon'). Or so I thought. After a very long wait what arrived (via a different waitress) was the non-veg Western burger (beef patty, real bacon). Sent it back and soon received a veg burger, but with no trimmings whatsoever! Also ordered the vegan apple fritters with ice cream. The ice cream was definitely vegan but after what happened with the burger, I couldn't help but have doubts about the fritters (which at least were delicious). The food was good (would have been better if I hadn't received a plain Jane veggie burger) but between the wait (they weren't very busy yet) and the mix-up somewhere between my spoken order and the cooks hands, I was pretty let-down and cranky. Oh, one minor saving grace was that I loved the music they were playing. It's like they secretly knew the content of my music collection.

Well, that's what I get for listening to Frommer's guide on what to see in Honolulu. Being in Hawaii, one has high expectations coming to the aquarium. If this were, say, Omaha or something, it would be a "nice" aquarium, compact but pretty cool. Highlights: some cool-looking fish (frogfish) and several jellyfish tanks. Lowlights: not enough info (like, what's the deal with jellyfish?), small tanks, and one exhibit featuring the American lobster -- of which you will only find on plates in Hawaii. I wish they'd had more on the problem of overfishing for commercial sale of exotic fish, on which I read a very depressing article in the Humane Society's magazine just before my trip. And did I miss it or was there nothing on whales and such?

When you're replacing CFLs, walk into any drugstore, waste time browsing the bulb aisle for 20 mins and done. When you're replacing bulbs that are a little more non-standard and you don't want to waste a hour browsing the web, come here.

If I'd known it would be so easy I wouldn't have had to live in semi-darkness for months due to laziness. We walked in here 30 mins before closing on a Sunday with 2 different types of burnt-out bulbs, showed them to the sales guy, and had new bulbs in minutes. We also showed him a photo of the inefficient halogen bulbs we wanted to replace and received knowledgeable advice (to the effect of: you're stuck with halogen but can replace with a lower wattage one, which they had in stock, or easily swap the light switch with a dimmer). (They also had an intriguing selection of dimmers and also one with an occupancy sensor.)

I'm updating this for any vegans reading the Cyclops reviews. Vegetarians and omnivores, go forth and enjoy. But fellow vegans, I advise you to not bother coming here if the veggie burger (Happy Hippie) is your goal (though the hummus plus pita is yum). In order to make the burger vegan you need to replace/remove the cheddar, the aioli, and the brioche bun. What are you left with? The patty and the caramelized onions, and the bread they will give you to replace the bun. That would be all good and well if you can expect that there is no miscommunication between the waitress (who completely seemed to understand I was ordering a vegan meal) and the kitchen, because what I received was the patty, onions, bread, and *cheddar* plus Parmesan cheese sprinkled all over the salad I substituted for fries. Well, I guess that's what happens when you make too many modifications to your order. And that's what's necessary here, so I'm not planning to try my luck here again.