Post VIII - Brenda's Diner

Let me start by saying that I don't get any kind of reimbursement for any of these entries.  No free pie or coffee or anything like that.  And let me follow by saying I've eaten at a lot of places over the years- places that range from hot dog carts that should have been condemned to steak houses to almost everything in between.

Brenda's Diner is easily one of the best places I have ever eaten, bar none.

I was out last week and wanted to get some lunch, so I started driving and asked OnStar (I should also note I get nothing free from them) for a nearby Diner and they gave me Brenda's as one that wasn't too far away.  So I drove up 31 and pulled in to the fairly crowded lot.  The front room was pleasantly bright and a later inspection of the back dining room proved it to be, while not fancy, very nice.

I sat at the counter and was almost immediately asked what I would like to drink and was given a menu.  I looked it over and didn't see my first choice (meatloaf) but they did have roasted lamb over stuffing.  On a lark, I ordered that and got the mashed potatoes to go with it.

I will be honest here....I wasn't expecting what I got.

Homemade.

All of it.

The lamb was a little closer to well than I like (I like mine on the sunny side of mid-rare, but absolutely understand why it has to be cooked further in a restaurant) but it still had a pink tinge to it to show it wasn't overcooked...a solid medium, which is better than a lot of places do without prodding.  The lamb was tender, flavorful and moist- likely cooked on the bone.  The skin showed definite signs of having been rubbed with a spice blend prior to cooking and the fat had rendered enough to give it an unctuousness you usually only get at high end restaurants.  It was obviously well seasoned, needing no salt or pepper.

The stuffing was amazing.  If there was a superlative of the word amazing (amazingest?) I would use that word instead.  The perfect blend of smooth and crispy, I could tell it had been cooked in a roasting pan in the oven.  There was a distinct, though not overpowering sage flavor and a fair amount of moistness that kept it from needing too much gravy...and since the gravy was a homemade wonder, that's going some.

While it's easy to say the potatoes were just potatoes, it's also unfair.  Potatoes get a bad rap. Sure, as a species (that's the word, right?) they lack a certain joie de vivre - they need that levelness to bring everything else around them up.  These managed to be special though.  They were most certainly homemade- the consistency wasn't exactly smooth, but wasn't chunky either.  And there was a nice level of creaminess that makes me think they were made with heavy cream and butter.  All of this helped them serve as the perfect platform for the gravy.

The gravy was simply some of the best that I have ever had.  I don't even know how to describe it.  It really seemed to be nothing more than thickened lamb juices.  And that's not an insult!  A lot of gravies either taste like a can, have a raw flour taste to them or that kind of chemical underpinnings that indicate gravy powder stuff.  You know the stuff I mean!  It just tasted of lamb, but was thick enough to not run off of everything it was on.  There was a little pepper added, but just enough to give it a kick and not enough to overpower the lamb flavor.

The waitress asked if I wanted dessert and I ordered a strawberry shortcake (as it turns out, I think the last from that day).  I have the feeling that the strawberries were frozen (just because the time of year makes fresh very difficult), but they still had a nice sweetness without being cloying.  The biscuit was (to my palate at least) fresh baked.  It was warmed up prior to the strawberries being applied- a nice change, as many places can't be bothered.  It had that....(biscuitieness?  tang?  sourdoughishness?) that good homemade biscuits have as well as a nice crumble/moistness and was a great counterpoint to the sweetness/softness of the strawberries and whipped cream.

The coffee refills came fast and often, and everyone seemed happy to be there the entire time I was there.

If you are nearby, stop in and get something to eat.  If you aren't nearby, drive to get a full meal to eat.  If you are REALLY far away?  Drive/Fly in, leave a message here for me and we'll enjoy a meal together- schedule permitting, of course.

Iced tea - Soda gun vs. fresh brewed

I have a review of one of the best (like, seriously...the BEST) restaurants I've been to, but am trying to properly write it to draw the most complete picture possible.

But for today, I want to share my thoughts on iced tea.  A few of you may have noticed that I make occasional reference to this in a couple of my posts and those who have eaten with me have seen this as well.

I have never had a soda gun iced tea which was worth the ice it surrounded.  All too often it is over-doctored with lemon and sweetener so that it loses all of the tang and refreshingness (shut up, it is so a word) that iced tea is known for.  While it can certainly be said that soft drinks are largely chemicals, soda gun iced tea is nothing BUT chemicals.  Horrifying, horrifying chemicals.

Now, when it comes to fresh brewed iced tea?  Lots of ways to go on this.  If the tea is Red Rose, it's God awful....don't even waste your time.  Somehow, someway, it manages to be worse than soda gun iced tea.  Lipton fresh brewed can go a lot of different directions.  Freshly brewed and strong it's awesome (the bottled Pure Leaf comes close)...not fresh brewed and made to the strength a lot of people seem to like it (read: weak) it's not as good, but still better than nothing.  There are assorted other brands of tea which work as iced tea and they run the spectrum - Red Rose and Lipton are the two biggies, but most of the rest lean towards the Lipton quality.  It's hard to be as bad as Red Rose...you could brew carpet remnants and still have better tea.

The next major kind of iced tea is hot brewed vs. cold.  Typically speaking, you get much stronger flavor through a long brewing process in hot water.  Something about activating the tannins?  Maybe?  Cold brewing can work, but is not as effective.  I think this has something to do with how cold restaurant refrigerators are- too cold and it just tastes off.

All in all, if there is no iced tea, I'll got for Dr. Pepper (and an idea for a future post about THAT occurs...).  Iced tea is always the tops though.

Post VII - Season's Harvest

Went up here for Lee's birthday this weekend and to do a little gambling.  It was a pretty good adventure.  We (Doug, Steph, Patti, and I in one car; Lee and Erin in the other) left from Camillus at about 4 or so and scooted up the Thruway.  We took advantage of the valet parking and went inside.  After a little while, Lee and Erin met us and we all headed up to get some dinner.

The line at the buffet was medium long, but after about 20 minutes we got up and got our table.  They came around to take our drink orders.  There was no real iced tea, only soda gun iced tea.  I will write more about the evils of soda gun iced tea at a later date.  My second choice was Dr. Pepper (I think I will also write an entry on the laziness of various Dr. Pepper knock-offs), which they also did not have.  But they did have Cherry Coke, so that was an acceptable choice.

My first trip up to the buffet, I got:

• Chicken Teriyaki sushi - not a really strong teriyaki flavor, but an interesting design.  It was chicken in the middle, then the seaweed wrap, then rice.  On the outside there were some blackened sesame seeds which were kind of cool.
• Fried shrimp with cocktail sauce - the shrimp were crispy and fairly good sized...call it 24 - 28 size?  Maybe?  The cocktail sauce was weak, and in desperate need of additional horseradish.  Once this was achieved though, it wasn't half bad.
• Over at the carving station, I got some roast beef and horseradish.  It was flavorful and tender.  A little more well than I like it, but not so much as to be offensive, and closer to the middle may have been more rare.
• A freakish, but delicious, taco - the freakishness was my fault, as I had to build it myself.  The deliciousness was to the credit of the cooks.

My second trip up, I got:

• More fried shrimp
• More sushi
• Orange chicken - this had a nice, fresh flavor to it.  Despite having to sit in the sauce, the chicken was not mushy.  The sauce had a distinct orange flavor and brightness to it which you don't normally see.  It was a nice change to the "normal" orange chicken you get when you're out.
• Finally, I tried a dish which looked scary, but was tasty.  Ham fried rice.
  Ham.
  Fried.
  Rice.
  It was basically pork fried rice with slight background notes of smoke and salt.  Nothing to write home about, but nothing to avoid.
• The coffee, of which I had 2 cups, was some of the best coffee I've had in years.

After we were done eating, we repaired to the line to check in and get cards for the folks who didn't have them.  Then we all went our separate ways to the floor.  I dropped $20 in the slots and lost it in all of five minutes.

I moved on to the Craps table where my luck soon changed.  I was at a $15 table (the minimum bet is $15) and playing the "Don't Pass" line.  Started with $60 in chips, since this would allow me to play and lose 4 times and still walk out with a little cash in my pocket.  Instead, though, I managed to walk out $35 ahead...which ain't half bad.

That's the secret of gambling, kids - if you get ahead, quit.

Other things I saw at the casino-

• A midget with a HUGE pompadour standing on a stool dealing blackjack.
• A woman with one leg, in a wheelchair, wearing a purple sweatsuit, smoking a cigarillo.
• A young lady who appeared to be a prostitute (HINTS: we saw her in close conversation with no fewer than 6 guys throughout the night, she was wearing a dress roughly the size of a men's medium t-shirt, she had matching fleur de lis tattoos on each of her ankles) wandering in the lobby.
• At Wegmans on our way home, I saw a hipster buying seeds at 930 PM.

Post VI -Colonial Inn, Inc.

This is a quick/short entry (about the food anyhow).  Couple of weeks ago, I was going out to Cato to see "Footloose" and decided to get some lunch whilst I was out there.  The Cato Diner was closed for the day, so I doubled back and went to the Colonial Inn, Inc.

By the way, this is actually the name of the place- it's on the building and everything.  It was fairly dim inside.  Not dark, just not brightly lit.  There was, of course, bar seating.  Also a couple tables.  In addition to the ubiquitous pool tables, they also had darts and shuffleboard.

I asked what they had for a lunch menu, and the choice (singular) was a microwave hamburger and some chips.  As far as it went, it was pretty good...I had a Pepsi with it.

The real treat here was the combination of the old guys at the bar and the sign at the pool table.

Old guys had a couple of odd/entertaining quotes

• "I think marijuana should be legal in New York.  I never smoked it, but I grew it a few times"
• "I hate driving downtown.  You can never find any of the streets.  The cab drivers could though...they were all Arabian and couldn't speak English, but they could find any street."
• "You want to see a paper with nothing in it, you should see the [Auburn] Citizen!"

The pool table sign?  Most of it was standard, but there were a couple good bits.

• Money breaks (Standard)
• Combo off your own ball (Standard)
• No riders on table (Does this refer to people heading someplace and getting a lift from the table, or that there is no separate insurance coverage on the table?)
• Ball off table $.25 for Juke Box (I like this idea!)
• Sink the 8 ball on the break, free drink.

The sign over the TV might have been my favorite though-

• "You!  Yeah, you!!  DON'T touch the TV"

Not sure I'd go for lunch again, but for a drink or to see a band?  Probably.