Very Popular Restaurant Dishes That Tick You Off

[little ms foodie]

I think anyplace that still has coconut prawns on the menu should catch up with 2005, ugh!

I'll also agree with the wrap thing, I hate that! I don't want to see 'low carb' on menus- if you low carb, great! you should know what to eat.

[NulloModo]

I think anyplace that still has coconut prawns on the menu should catch up with 2005, ugh!

I'll also agree with the wrap thing, I hate that! I don't want to see 'low carb' on menus- if you low carb, great! you should know what to eat.

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The problem is, not all wraps are inherently low-carb, depends on what the 'wrap' is made of. In fact, I'd think the low-carb designation would be nice for those against that trend, as it would show them what not to order.

I also love things encrusted with coconut, buffalo-whatever, and caesar salads, and would be quite sad to see them dissapear from menus.

As for what I don't like? Hmmm, can't say really, I love huge menus. I don't really see the point in covering every entree in a sugary/fruity sauce as seems to be the point lately, but as long as there are some options without, I can deal.

[Holly Moore]

I'll second or third caesar salad. Last night I was going to order in from diningin.com. Was in the mood for a good salad, probably a classic shrimp salad platter, maybe with avocados and such.

All any menu had that was even close was a caesar salad with, for a few extra dollars, grilled shrimp or chicken - and about a dozen places offered that choice with the same choices.

Scallops amuse more than iritate me. Back in the 80's large salads were considered downscale and bay scallops, gourmet. Now the tide has turned.

[Tess]

I'm all in favor if the crust on the seared ahi! It stops the outer 2/3 of the fish from getting cooked. Nothing worse than the "seared" fish which is mostly cooked.

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I don't mind crusting seared ahi - it's the multiple ingredients used to crust (recent example seen locally - "sesame seeds, togarashi, black pepper, wasabi, cumin and furikake crusted seared ahi") and the overdressing of the dish itself that bothers me. Must be a market for it though so I may be in the minority. Wouldn't be the first time!

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Wow, that is an awful lot of ingredients! It almost sounds good to me-- time to get back to Hawaii I guess. Did that whole craze start there?

Anyway, I was partly joking. I think most places can't sear ahi right (i.e. without cooking it too much) and a coating may just barely keep the whole thing from getting cooked. Also, if you are cutting it in slices a crust makes it look nice on the plate, I guess.

[fiftydollars]

Baby back ribs are great!

I love them. I really, really love them.

Of course I also love spare ribs and just about any part of a pig or cow that will fit into my smoker. And I do like serving spare ribs. But I love baby back ribs, too. I like their meaty-ness to fatty-ness ratio. I love their size... and how they look on a plate. I like saying the name. I love baby back ribs.

Sure, these are "pork chop bones" but what's wrong with that? Their beef counterpart, the ribs from a standing rib roast (prime rib if you are lucky to have a great butcher like our VerBrugge), are my favorite part of the roast and my true compensation whenever I cook such a thing.

Let's love the whole pig. Even the tenderloin has a purpose and can be delicious when prepared properly.

Edited June 25, 2005 by fiftydollars (log)

[glossyp]

I'm all in favor if the crust on the seared ahi! It stops the outer 2/3 of the fish from getting cooked. Nothing worse than the "seared" fish which is mostly cooked.

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I don't mind crusting seared ahi - it's the multiple ingredients used to crust (recent example seen locally - "sesame seeds, togarashi, black pepper, wasabi, cumin and furikake crusted seared ahi") and the overdressing of the dish itself that bothers me. Must be a market for it though so I may be in the minority. Wouldn't be the first time!

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Wow, that is an awful lot of ingredients! It almost sounds good to me-- time to get back to Hawaii I guess. Did that whole craze start there?

Anyway, I was partly joking. I think most places can't sear ahi right (i.e. without cooking it too much) and a coating may just barely keep the whole thing from getting cooked. Also, if you are cutting it in slices a crust makes it look nice on the plate, I guess.

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To hold you over until you make it back to the Land of Aloha - here's a recipe from Roy Yamaguchi for Seared Ahi and one from Dean Louie (I've had this one and it's a classic) Seared Peppered Ahi. As far as where the craze started, you could ask in the Hawaii forum - we have some serious local food historians over there.

[Tess]

That peppered ahi recipe looks particularly good-- thanks! I'll be making that.

Lately, when I get quality raw tuna, I've been making some variation of poke. (My local Japanese mart sells sashimi quality tuna cut up in poke-sized pieces for less than the whole block.) I do love Hawaiian type food.

[divalasvegas]

Baby back ribs are great!

I love them. I really, really love them.

Of course I also love spare ribs and just about any part of a pig or cow that will fit into my smoker. And I do like serving spare ribs. But I love baby back ribs, too. I like their meaty-ness to fatty-ness ratio. I love their size... and how they look on a plate. I like saying the name. I love baby back ribs.

Sure, these are "pork chop bones" but what's wrong with that? Their beef counterpart, the ribs from a standing rib roast (prime rib if you are lucky to have a great butcher like our VerBrugge), are my favorite part of the roast and my true compensation whenever I cook such a thing.

Let's love the whole pig. Even the tenderloin has a purpose and can be delicious when prepared properly.

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Please, please fiftydollars don't think that I don't want you to have 24/7 access to baby back ribs! I'm not advocating here that people can't get what they want, when they want it--which is an unknown luxury unto itself in most parts of the world today. The only thing wrong with "pork chop bones" is not that I think they are beneath me or anything. Come on, I like chicken feet for God's sake! It's that two things, at least: 1) If they were indeed called what they actually were--pork chop bones, and I love pork chops BTW--would they fetch $20-$25.00 a pop? And, 2. That they have become such a standard choice, at least in the Washington, DC-Metropolitan area, they are rapidly becoming the ONLY choice at many restaurants. All I ask is that I have access to spareribs also..... that's it............ really.

As for prime rib roast bones with a "healthy" IMHO (translated to mean "mandatory") amount of meat and crispy fat, like you, they are also MY FAVORITE PART OF THE ROAST AS WELL.

Finally, about loving the whole pig, this is one of my porky fantasies ........................

The Caja China:

http://www.lacajachina.com/

[lesfen]

Why does anyone buy pork loin?  I just cooked a shoulder blade roast, bone in, and it was FABULOUS.  And I did nothing to it -- slapped some salt/pepper on it cold, shoved it in a 325 F oven and went to sack out for a few hours.  It was so tender, juicy, with a nice crust, falling off the bone.  Pan juices for days.  By contrast, my bud bought a boneless loin, had to brine, babysit the the thing in the oven, check the internal temp.   For what?  A comparatively flavorless, dry roast.  For a lot more money.

How funny... I made my first pork shoulder last weekend (in my crockpot, for pulled pork), and I said to my husband "man, it smells porky in here" and to be honest with you, I didn't mean it in a good way! It smelled like I was at a pig roast. Then, I tasted it. Amazing. Gorgeous. I had been making pedestrian pork for so long that's I'd forgotten what it could be.

[tommy]

i tend to frequent restaurants that offer what i like. whether that's baby back ribs (which is, in fact, what they're commonly known as), or other types of ribs. i don't have a hard time finding what i want. and i don't get down on those restaurants that choose to offer items that i don't like so that they can cater to their client base. let's face it, restaurants have to make a profit, and it's one of the most difficult industries out there as far as profits and success go.

there's plenty to go around. pick the places you like and don't get down on others' preferences. there's no right and wrong answer in matters of taste, and god knows there are more important things to get "ticked off" about...like a place that serves red wine too warm or white wine too cold.

i like baby back ribs and i'm mildly offended when it's suggested that i'm somehow faulted. no baby back rib i've ever made tastes remotely like pork chops...or a standing rib roast (each are beautiful and unique when done correctly). mabye i'm just an excellent cook, though.

[Mnehrling]

Kitchen sink quesadillas.

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I haven't heard of this one, please clarify.

The dish that ticks me off the most is 'wings'.. nuf said.

Edited June 25, 2005 by Mnehrling (log)

[divalasvegas]

i tend to frequent restaurants that offer what i like.  whether that's baby back ribs (which is, in fact, what they're commonly known as), or other types of ribs.  i don't have a hard time finding what i want.  and i don't get down on those restaurants that choose to offer items that i don't like so that they can cater to their client base.  let's face it, restaurants have to make a profit, and it's one of the most difficult industries out there as far as profits and success go. 

there's plenty to go around.  pick the places you like and don't get down on others' preferences.  there's no right and wrong answer in matters of taste, and god knows there are more important things to get "ticked off" about...like a place that serves red wine too warm or white wine too cold. 

i like baby back ribs and i'm mildly offended when it's suggested that i'm somehow faulted.  no baby back rib i've ever made tastes remotely like pork chops...or a standing rib roast (each are beautiful and unique when done correctly).  mabye i'm just an excellent cook, though. 

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Oh Tommy Dearest I definitely agree with patronizing restaurants that offer what you want and avoiding those that don't. However, there are legitimate reasons why such a seemingly reasonable expectations may not be as attainable as you or others may believe:

1. Proximity -- Especially here in the Washington, DC-Metropolitan area finding places that actually offer well made renditions of spareribs, or whatever type of food may not be in favor at the moment, is getting increasingly more difficult. Please refer to another eGullet discussion related to this matter:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=68604&hl=

Note as discussed in that thread, to experience really good bbq, one might have to travel one to two hours away from one's home (or more) to get it. Is this reasonable? I don't think so. Again, I don't see what the big deal is about offering both types of ribs? Of course, such headaches may cause us to just stay home and cook exactly the kind of good food we like and to Hell with the restaurants!

2. Accessibility -- I currently have mobility issues that prevent me from just saying, "oh, gee this place isn't serving what I like anymore; but this place with the only access being 2 flights of stairs up and down does; I think I'll go there from now on." Unfortunately, not an option for me right now. Elective surgery in the near future will most likely rectify this problem. But until then, I don't think it's too much to ask for just a couple of restaurants convenient and accesible to me to offer something so exotic and alien to American cuisine as............ spareribs, for goodness sake.

Well Tommy, since you claim that no baby back rib you've ever made tasted like pork chops, which, as I have said previously, I truly like, how about a real challenge? How about your best recipe for succulent.................... CHICKEN FEET!?

[racheld]

Usually they throw nine million other things in with it - often in a salad setting - and the delicacy of the meat is obliterated in a drunken mardi gras of flavors.

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Perfect expression of a sad syndrome. Vanilla lobster, anyone?

[TheFoodTutor]

Again, I don't see what the big deal is about offering both types of ribs? 

You don't? I've managed kitchens, and I'd say that offering one type of ribs involves a considerable amount of expense, space in the walk-in, and time in prep, all for an item that is very high food cost, and not extremely profitable. Offering both types of ribs is twice the expense, twice the space and twice the prep.

And then, if you don't have enough customers who like both types of ribs, you get to throw away the ones you prepped that didn't get sold. So that's exactly what the big deal is.

[aliwaks]

I happen to be a big fan of pork chop bones, in fact would be pleased beyond belief to find then on a menu..then again I'm a bone gnawer. usuallly when I make pork chops I have the bones one day and reserve the meat for the next

one restuarant in NYC Prune I think had a dish of pan dripping with ends of bread BRILLIANT!!!

back to topic at hand:

Flavored mashed potatoes exhuast me, esp. stupidly flavored ones ( Blueberry Uch!)

Baby carrots that obviously come from a bag also tiring

Excessively overelaborate crab cakes Yawn

I agree with raspberry vinaigrette..unless it is the height of season and absolutely perfect,

I also have a personal vendetta against anyone who serves underripe tomatoes , especially in something that highlights them, Caprese Salad in January shame on you!!!

And for f--ks sake I wish they would stop squiggling any old dessert sauce on plates,

[NulloModo]

Kitchen sink quesadillas.

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I haven't heard of this one, please clarify.

The dish that ticks me off the most is 'wings'.. nuf said.

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Heresy I say! ;) Then again, the only places that offer wings aroung here are wing-joints or bars, well, and your average casual dining place. I've never seen a fine-dining joint doing buffalo-wings (but I'd love to see what they would come up with). Personally, I couldn't imagine drinking into oblivion in a place that won't serve me a mound of deep fried chicken wings covered in hot sauce... but that is just me.

[shelora]

If I may, kitchen sink quesadillas, I believe, would be similar to the many wraps offered in todays market.

Throw a bunch of leftovers with another bunch of cheese, melt the damn thing and make a profit.

I was once served a wrap that had sushi rolls and a bunch of mystery items in it. I threw it out.

God, I wish people would pay more attention to what's being served.

But then again, more power to the people making a profit off the suckers - cause theres one born every minute.

[ingridsf]

If I may, kitchen sink quesadillas, I believe, would be similar to the many wraps offered in todays market.

Throw a bunch of leftovers with another bunch of cheese, melt the damn thing and make a profit.

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Yup, that's what I meant. I don't want to be too extreme -- it's POSSIBLE to riff on a tasty standard like tortillas and cheese, melted, but throwing any old mix in is, in clinical terms, BLEEECHY. I live in fear of a dried cranberry-goat cheese-duck confit "special." I'd much rather they put their creative effort into getting a respectable cheese, tortilla or chorizo. But whatever, it's a freakin' quesadilla.

I guess this kind of exemplifies my real complaint: restaurants that bastardize dishes in the name of creativity or convenience. Babyback ribs fit more easily on a plate and people consume them more quickly. I understand tables gotta turn, yadayada. But c'mon -- bbq is by definition a slow food. Most restaurants just aren't suited/equipped to bbq so I wish they'd leave it alone or stick to stuff like hot links.

But this whole distinction fit rights in with the white-meat lobby that has ruined many a chicken recipe. A rack of spareribs is like dark meat -- more indicative of the animal in flavor and appearance than the more dainty babyback nibbles. Just as the gooey goodness of a shoulder blade roast packs more pig punch than a loin. I'm still stunned at how many people I know won't touch a chicken thigh because, "There's a vein in it!"

Anyhoo... my snobby judgement is that too many restaurants dumb down flavors -- another fine example being Cheesecake Factory's sugar bomb "tamales."

[ingridsf]

How funny... I made my first pork shoulder last weekend (in my crockpot, for pulled pork), and I said to my husband "man, it smells porky in here" and to be honest with you, I didn't mean it in a good way!  It smelled like I was at a pig roast.  Then, I tasted it.  Amazing.  Gorgeous.  I had been making pedestrian pork for so long that's I'd forgotten what it could be.

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Word. And I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that the SAFEWAY blade roast was 10x better then the Nieman Ranch loin chops. And yes, I know how to cook pork chops. It's too bad my organic delivery place doesn't have NR blade roasts.

[dockhl]

How funny... I made my first pork shoulder last weekend (in my crockpot, for pulled pork), and I said to my husband "man, it smells porky in here" and to be honest with you, I didn't mean it in a good way!  It smelled like I was at a pig roast.  Then, I tasted it.  Amazing.  Gorgeous.  I had been making pedestrian pork for so long that's I'd forgotten what it could be.

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My all time favorite pork dish is a pork shoulder with salt and pepper, on the rotisserie for abour 4 hours. Succulent with crispy skin......you don't EVEN know where to start !

Kathy (who REALLY likes pork !)

Edited June 26, 2005 by dockhl (log)

[Jeremy]

Unless you have had the late Jean-Louis Palladin's rendition of this dish, you wil most likely not have any idea of what this dish is supposed to be. I didn't like lobster until I had his dish. No other lobster redition has come close, though I have tried in many notable restaurants. I no longer order it. Long live Jean-Louis, may he rest in peace.

[afn33282]

"Fettucine Alfredo," served routinely with cream.  Why ??

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Er, I could be wrong about this, but as far as I know alfredo sauce = butter, parmiggiano reggiano (sp?), and cream. My gripe is "chefs" who make it from bechamel. (Yes, I have seen this).

BTW, as far as taste being totally subjective (from another post on this thread), I couldn't disagree more. Of course, this issue keeps popping up in various threads, and somebody needs to start the definative thread on this, with arguments that are both reasoned and concise, not so much "yes it is/no it isn't" type posts.......

[chow guy]

Kitchen sink quesadillas.

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I haven't heard of this one, please clarify.

The name probably comes from "everything but the kitchen sink" or worse: ingredients rescued from the drain in the kitchen sink.

They often come with an odd cheese like smoked gouda, and a combo disperate left overs: like chipolte seared chiken livers, brocoli rabe, celery root, canned black olives and sesame seeds. Ingredients are placed on a flour tortilla folded and browned in generic cooking oil or broiled under the salamander. You get the drift. The thing that astounds me is that lots of folks pay $12.95 for helping clean out the fridge.

[...tm...]

Er, I could be wrong about this, but as far as I know alfredo sauce = butter, parmiggiano reggiano (sp?), and cream. My gripe is "chefs" who make it from bechamel. (Yes, I have seen this).

To me, the best fettucine alfredo is made with just butter and parmiggiano reggiano tossed with egg fettucine. I think that this is the original recipe, but I am too lazy to look it up right now. Alfredo with cream is better than a bechamel alfredo, but none is as bad as the artificial cheese sauce alfredo that sometimes makes its way onto restaurant plates. If I wanted Kraft macaroni and cheese I'd make it at home, as I do when I want fettucine alfredo without extraneous ingredients.

[MaxH]

Er, I could be wrong about this, but as far as I know alfredo sauce = butter, parmiggiano reggiano (sp?), and cream. My gripe is "chefs" who make it from bechamel. (Yes, I have seen this).

To me, the best fettucine alfredo is made with just butter and parmiggiano reggiano tossed with egg fettucine. I think that this is the original recipe, but I am too lazy to look it up right now. Alfredo with cream is better than a bechamel alfredo, but none is as bad as the artificial cheese sauce alfredo that sometimes makes its way onto restaurant plates.

First I recall, as ...tm... does, an older version under the same name without the cream. Now I too couldn't find a good account of this in print just now, so could be mistaken, though plenty of older sources do indicate cream intruding into a much more traditional cheese-butter toss of egg pasta. (I haven't tried an "online" search partly from time constraint and partly because of the sheer volume of misinformation they routinely unearth, I could tell you stories ...) If we both do recall correctly though, it puts the "cream" version in the same category as the modern US sense of "French" dressing (formerly a vinaigrette, as it still is in English elsewhere) or of "ketchup." These now have shifted meanings, at odds with most of their history.

Second is my more practical argument. Notwithstanding how many people now understand cream as part of the definition, what does it add? Blandness, gratuitous richness. (Remember that cream originally "dumbed down" an already weak version of Russian dressing to yield the "Thousand Island" product used by some US restaurants to make Reuben sandwiches and crab Louis, at least for customers who accept this). Cream to play off a flavor like lemon juice or a little truffle or mushroom, OK. Cream reduced with meat stock, now you're talking. But just cream? Sweet, bland, and fat.