Weekly round-up 02/15/08

This week over in the City Weekly, Ted Scheffler gives Cafe Trang some tough love. On the whole I agree with the tone of the article.

I have never been a convert to Cafe Trang, and have always been puzzled by the thronging crowds. I have been numerous times at the behest of various friends and family and tried loads of food there. As Ted mentions, the menu is too big and unfocused. I don’t ever recall having a meal there that I *had* to go back for. Yet it still seems to be continually popular. Here’s hoping they take some of the constructive criticism on board, slim down the menu and knock out some great food.

A relative newcomer to the Salt Lake City restaurant review scene is ASKSLC.com. A definite addition to your RSS reader, they write some great informative reviews. I especially like their section on Wine with tasting notes. I look forward to reading more!

This week sees them give a positive review of Bohemian Brewery, over in Midvale. I must confess I had never heard of this restaurant. After reading their review I’m pretty sure I will end up there sooner or later. I have a crippling weakness for sausages, that coupled with their 32ounce(!) beers will be the death of me. Oh dear.

Vanessa Chang talks about the Left Fork Grill in the Salt Lake Tribune. She seems to like pie as much as I like sausages. Sadly, I don’t have a sweet tooth, but they sure seem popular for pie.

Stacey Kratz of the Deseret Morning News waxes lyrical about Market Street Grill today. A bemusing article I thought. An early statement in the article had me up in arms:

“the best place in the state to indulge in seafood”

Really?

I will concede that my sole experience with this local mini-chain was at the University area location, a couple of years ago. Service was good and the atmosphere pleasant. But the food? *Yawn*. For a seafood restaurant I was disappointed by the food we received that night. It wasn’t bad, just medicore, reminiscent of Red Lobster truth be told. I don’t recall what we specifically ate; I recall we were not too impressed though. That said, Wendi raves about the Market Street location down town, and it is always super-busy. Maybe I should give them a second chance.

That evening was certainly one of the experiences that contributed to a slowly growing catalyst for gastronomicslc.com. For me Salt Lake does lack a really great seafood restaurant. There are plenty of great fish dishes on menu’s at venues like Bambara, Metropolitan etc, but no really great specialised place.

My recommendation is to get down to Aquarius Fish Co and take the matter into your own hands. These guys sell a mind boggling array of fresh seafood, as well as a range of cooking accompaniments. They know intimate details of where and when everything was caught. They will even give you advice on how to cook your chosen fishy. My personal fave is to pick up a piece of ruby red sashimi grade Ahi, sear it ever so lovingly and serve with a side seaweed salad. Heaven!

Finally, another relative newcomer: Salt Lake Chowhounds. This quirky take on restaurant reviews assesses ACME Burger Company this week. Another hit and miss review for Adam Kreisel’s latest venture. I have to agree with their thoughts on the Ostrich burger, conceptually it’s great, flavor wise it’s just too much for a burger.

I am not so sure I concur with their Lamb Burger assessment, my experience wasn’t all that great. ACME Burger Company seems to be evolving all the time, quite exciting to see what’s next from them.

And that concludes the first of a regular update on the weeks reviews. If I have missed any reviews or reviewers out please do let me know. It’s Friday and the ‘ol brain isn’t working at 100%. Happy eating this weekend everyone!