Go With What A Place Is Known For

You hear great things about a place, but end up gravely disappointed when the server sets your plate before you. Everyone else’s plates look amazing. Everyone else is making the “Mmm!” “Oh!” “Yum!” harmonies. You take a bite, hoping that looks are deceiving. And your bummed. But you continue shoveling small bites into your mouth, hoping that maybe, just maybe, it’s going to get better.

But it doesn’t. Your meal sucks. There’s just no getting around it.

You ordered the wrong thing!

This can happen. Even fabulous restaurants can have these temperamental dishes­­, or better yet––bombs. Little neglected runts. The menu’s description sounds so good! It lures you in by containing everything you’re familiar with and fond of.

Here’s a perfect example: I’m a sap for veggie-loaded omelets. Yum! The perfectly seasoned, perfectly sauté vegetable medley; the salty, ooey gooeyness of the cheese; the creamy fluffiness of the egg swath; maybe even add a few chunks of sausage––Oh! But then, you get it. And it’s bad. The veggies are tasteless, undercooked. The egg wrap is… less than fluffy to say the least. And the only decent thing about it is the cheese. In fact, if it weren’t for the cheese, the thing would be gagging. Ugh.

But, hold up, rewind: before ordering, you heard the place was known for something in particular, like maybe their benedicts or their hashes or their pancakes. So why didn’t you just go for what it’s known for? Because you (we) are creatures of habit. We like to stick with what we know. But then, what’s the point of eating out? What’s the point if we always go for the same damn thing?

The lesson: Order whatever a place is known for. You’ll likely save yourself from major dissatisfaction.

P.S. Hot Cakes: located on the south side of SE Powell right before crossing the Ross Island bridge. Order the pancakes! Delicious. Maybe even their hashbrown plate or omelets, but steer clear from the corn beef hash! It’s cat food––in both taste and texture.