My Red Lobster experience:

I'm always on the lookout for a restaurant suitable for the
entertainment of friends, preferring to eat there first, alone, in
order to get a feel for the place. I stopped yesterday at a new eatery
written up in a review as this fantastic new must-visit spot that
turned out to be little more than a snack bar. So I skipped it in
favor of the local Red Lobster, which I'd been driving past for the
better part of a decade without going in (call it intuition).

Suppertime and there was no wait for a table, which can sometimes be a
tipoff to a ripoff, if you know what I mean. And prices were
unexpectedly high. Most meals fell in the $25 to $30 range. I ordered
a meal with lobster, $30.

Salad and biscuits came first, along with the only drinkable craft-like
brew (bottled) on the menu. The others were oversweet/underbitter
beers like Bud, Miller and Coors, along with their lite/light lo-cal
versions (no Guinness). I saw they also had a lot of girly drinks like
pina coladas, tequila sunrises and the like. No bar. Hard-sell on the
drinks.

The biscuits were good, but I only sampled and saved the rest for the
meal. A practice engaged in by many restaurants is to load people up
on bread/rolls/biscuits, salad and drinks in order to get away with
serving modest-sized main courses to people with appetites already
spoiled.

The salad was a disappointment - a small bed of lettuce with way too
much dressing on it, topped with two thin slices from a small tomato,
two onion rings (one slice of onion broken into rings), two thin slices
of cucumber, and seven croutons. Again, I picked at this and sipped my
beer in order not to fill up before the main course.

Comes the lobster, a tail about the size of your basic boot heel, and a
close cousin to a boot heel, as it turned out. Five other items on the
plate were a reasonably good baked potato, a small wedge of lemon, a
tiny syrup dish containing butter for dipping, a serrated steak knife,
and that tiny fork one imagines lies on the tables of Lilliput's
Big-endians and Little-endians alike (I promise, this will be my only
reference to Gulliver's Travels).

The lobster needed that serrated steak knife, which means this was a
case of culinary malice aforethought. I mean, it took some effort to
cut and I was afraid the whole time that I'd slip up and inadvertently
sweep the entire meal off the plate. I was reminded of a steak I'd
ordered at Shari's, but mercifully the lobster arrived without the
generous portion of gristle in what passes for steak at Shari's.
Apparently the cook hasn't learned (yet) how to add gristle to lobster.
Too bad the prison work-release bus let him off here instead of a place
with a... hello! cooking school.

I was able to chew-up and choke-down about half of the lobster before
simply giving up. The dipping butter must have been been on the stove
for days because it had that heated-too-hot-for-too-long off-taste.
The whole time I was wishing I could be elsewhere, maybe eating
hospital food or back in Vietnam for another three tours eating
C-Rations... ummmm, salty ham and lima beans.

$36 and change plus a tip later I'm out of there, mentally crossing Red
Lobster off my list. The best thing that happened was listening to a
couple of city council members in the next booth (having supper before
that evening's public meeting) mocking citizens and their concerns.
It's amazing what comes up while people eat. Well, anyway, I had
nothing "come up," but I woke up at 2am and laid awake until 5am
dealing with digestion or lack thereof.

In a 5-star world, the only star here was a (fake) starfish in the live
lobster tank. Hey, wait a minute, did that thing move?

I'll have good reason now to continue driving past Red Lobster without
stopping in. Like many lessons learned these days, it was expensive,
but at least I wasn't trying to be a cheerful host treating guests to
dinner. That's why I eat alone at a restaurant before entertaining
guests there.

dull knife wrote:
> My Red Lobster experience:
>
> I'm always on the lookout for a restaurant suitable for the
> entertainment of friends, preferring to eat there first, alone, in
> order to get a feel for the place.

I have to say, before I even bother to read the rest of this, I worked at
Dead Lobster in 1978. Pray, continue

> I stopped yesterday at a new
> eatery written up in a review as this fantastic new must-visit spot
> that turned out to be little more than a snack bar. So I skipped it
> in favor of the local Red Lobster, which I'd been driving past for the
> better part of a decade without going in (call it intuition).
>
Good intuition, but you did stop, didn't you?

> Suppertime and there was no wait for a table, which can sometimes be a
> tipoff to a ripoff, if you know what I mean. And prices were
> unexpectedly high. Most meals fell in the $25 to $30 range. I
> ordered a meal with lobster, $30.
>
Did you get to pick your own, out of the tank?

> Salad and biscuits came first, along with the only drinkable
> craft-like brew (bottled) on the menu. The others were
> oversweet/underbitter beers like Bud, Miller and Coors, along with
> their lite/light lo-cal versions (no Guinness). I saw they also had
> a lot of girly drinks like pina coladas, tequila sunrises and the
> like. No bar. Hard-sell on the drinks.
>
No bar? How do you think they make those girly drinks? Do you still get to
keep the glass if you order a 'Lighthouse' or a 'Smooth Sailing'?

> The biscuits were good, but I only sampled and saved the rest for the
> meal. A practice engaged in by many restaurants is to load people up
> on bread/rolls/biscuits, salad and drinks in order to get away with
> serving modest-sized main courses to people with appetites already
> spoiled.
>
Those biscuits are Bisquik with some cheese added. You can do this at home
(why you'd want to, I don't know).

> The salad was a disappointment - a small bed of lettuce with way too
> much dressing on it, topped with two thin slices from a small tomato,
> two onion rings (one slice of onion broken into rings), two thin
> slices of cucumber, and seven croutons. Again, I picked at this and
> sipped my beer in order not to fill up before the main course.
>
Yeah, I remember chopping those salads. Nothing has changed in 30 years LOL

> Comes the lobster, a tail about the size of your basic boot heel, and
> a close cousin to a boot heel, as it turned out. Five other items on
> the plate were a reasonably good baked potato, a small wedge of
> lemon, a tiny syrup dish containing butter for dipping, a serrated
> steak knife, and that tiny fork one imagines lies on the tables of
> Lilliput's Big-endians and Little-endians alike (I promise, this will
> be my only reference to Gulliver's Travels).
>
Do they still serve the baked potatoes in foil? They used to. Threw out
tons of them at the end of the night, too. Best bet there is to get fries.
Otherwise the potatoes and the "rice pilaf" have been sitting there all day
long.

> The lobster needed that serrated steak knife, which means this was a
> case of culinary malice aforethought. I mean, it took some effort to
> cut and I was afraid the whole time that I'd slip up and inadvertently
> sweep the entire meal off the plate. I was reminded of a steak I'd
> ordered at Shari's, but mercifully the lobster arrived without the
> generous portion of gristle in what passes for steak at Shari's.
> Apparently the cook hasn't learned (yet) how to add gristle to
> lobster. Too bad the prison work-release bus let him off here instead
> of a place with a... hello! cooking school.
>
They did used to have decent (notice I just say decent) lobster tails. I
learned how to flip one over its shell and broil it, basted with garlic
butter. But hey, they probably don't want to give people like that knives
these days.

> I was able to chew-up and choke-down about half of the lobster before
> simply giving up. The dipping butter must have been been on the stove
> for days because it had that heated-too-hot-for-too-long off-taste.

Naw... it's in a big kettle with a spout. Gives new meaning to the term
'drawn butter'

> The whole time I was wishing I could be elsewhere, maybe eating
> hospital food or back in Vietnam for another three tours eating
> C-Rations... ummmm, salty ham and lima beans.
>
Would have been better off

> $36 and change plus a tip later I'm out of there, mentally crossing
> Red Lobster off my list.

That's actually pretty cheap.

> dinner. That's why I eat alone at a restaurant before entertaining
> guests there.

Good choice. Keep going

Jill

On 2008-05-07, dull knife > wrote:

>
> I'll have good reason now to continue driving past Red Lobster without
> stopping in. Like many lessons learned these days, it was expensive,

See, now if you'd joined us sooner, say, about ten years ago, we could have
save you this painful revelation (not to mention $36!). Stick around and
read carefully. The food renching (wretching?) stories are neverending here
at good ol' rfc. Welcome aboard.

nb

dull knife > wrote in
news:070520081537125226%ouchimbleeding@ouchimbleed ing.com:

>
> My Red Lobster experience:
>
> I'm always on the lookout for a restaurant suitable for the
> entertainment of friends, preferring to eat there first,
> alone, in order to get a feel for the place.

-snip-

> I'll have good reason now to continue driving past Red Lobster
> without stopping in. Like many lessons learned these days, it
> was expensive, but at least I wasn't trying to be a cheerful
> host treating guests to dinner. That's why I eat alone at a
> restaurant before entertaining guests there.

Hi

95%+ of time I have had great meals at RL. The times I didn't get
the meals I expected, I let the corporate office know and they were
nice enough to send me $$ coupons to use at my next stop at RL. I
can't tell you how many times I've eaten there. I have only had 3
not so great meals. One of the meals was at an opening for a brand
new restaurant in our area and I am sure the cook staff was not up
to par yet.

I like RL.

On May 7, 4:17*pm, notbob > wrote:
>
> See, now if you'd joined us sooner, say, about ten years ago, we could have
> save you this painful revelation (not to mention $36!). *Stick around and
> read carefully. *The food renching (wretching?) stories are neverending here
> at good ol' rfc. *Welcome aboard.
>
Not necessarily. There are folks in another thread acting as though
they care that Arbys bought Wendys. So somebody eats in these
joints. -aem

On Wed, 07 May 2008 15:37:12 -0700, dull knife
> wrote:

>
>My Red Lobster experience:

Fifty million people like itl You didn't....ya don't go.

Were you expecting total strangers to pat your hand and say "I'm
sorry"?

dull knife wrote:

> The biscuits were good, but I only sampled and saved the rest for the
> meal.

> The salad was a disappointment - a small bed of lettuce with way too

> of cucumber, and seven croutons. Again, I picked at this and sipped my
> beer in order not to fill up before the main course.

> I was able to chew-up and choke-down about half of the lobster before
> simply giving up.

> It's amazing what comes up while people eat. Well, anyway, I had
> nothing "come up," but I woke up at 2am and laid awake until 5am dealing
> with digestion or lack thereof.

So it sounds like the only thing you really *ate* (after dabbling with the
bread, salad and lobster) was perhaps the potato (if that). To get
indigestion from that "meal", I'm thinking you must be potato intolerant.



--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
NEW --> Now evaluating a GG-free news feed: http://usenet4all.se

On Wed 07 May 2008 03:37:12p, dull knife told us...

>
> My Red Lobster experience:
>
> I'm always on the lookout for a restaurant suitable for the
> entertainment of friends, preferring to eat there first, alone, in
> order to get a feel for the place. I stopped yesterday at a new eatery
> written up in a review as this fantastic new must-visit spot that
> turned out to be little more than a snack bar. So I skipped it in
> favor of the local Red Lobster, which I'd been driving past for the
> better part of a decade without going in (call it intuition).
>
> Suppertime and there was no wait for a table, which can sometimes be a
> tipoff to a ripoff, if you know what I mean. And prices were
> unexpectedly high. Most meals fell in the $25 to $30 range. I ordered
> a meal with lobster, $30.
>
> Salad and biscuits came first, along with the only drinkable craft-like
> brew (bottled) on the menu. The others were oversweet/underbitter
> beers like Bud, Miller and Coors, along with their lite/light lo-cal
> versions (no Guinness). I saw they also had a lot of girly drinks like
> pina coladas, tequila sunrises and the like. No bar. Hard-sell on the
> drinks.
>
> The biscuits were good, but I only sampled and saved the rest for the
> meal. A practice engaged in by many restaurants is to load people up
> on bread/rolls/biscuits, salad and drinks in order to get away with
> serving modest-sized main courses to people with appetites already
> spoiled.
>
> The salad was a disappointment - a small bed of lettuce with way too
> much dressing on it, topped with two thin slices from a small tomato,
> two onion rings (one slice of onion broken into rings), two thin slices
> of cucumber, and seven croutons. Again, I picked at this and sipped my
> beer in order not to fill up before the main course.
>
> Comes the lobster, a tail about the size of your basic boot heel, and a
> close cousin to a boot heel, as it turned out. Five other items on the
> plate were a reasonably good baked potato, a small wedge of lemon, a
> tiny syrup dish containing butter for dipping, a serrated steak knife,
> and that tiny fork one imagines lies on the tables of Lilliput's
> Big-endians and Little-endians alike (I promise, this will be my only
> reference to Gulliver's Travels).
>
> The lobster needed that serrated steak knife, which means this was a
> case of culinary malice aforethought. I mean, it took some effort to
> cut and I was afraid the whole time that I'd slip up and inadvertently
> sweep the entire meal off the plate. I was reminded of a steak I'd
> ordered at Shari's, but mercifully the lobster arrived without the
> generous portion of gristle in what passes for steak at Shari's.
> Apparently the cook hasn't learned (yet) how to add gristle to lobster.
> Too bad the prison work-release bus let him off here instead of a place
> with a... hello! cooking school.
>
> I was able to chew-up and choke-down about half of the lobster before
> simply giving up. The dipping butter must have been been on the stove
> for days because it had that heated-too-hot-for-too-long off-taste.
> The whole time I was wishing I could be elsewhere, maybe eating
> hospital food or back in Vietnam for another three tours eating
> C-Rations... ummmm, salty ham and lima beans.
>
> $36 and change plus a tip later I'm out of there, mentally crossing Red
> Lobster off my list. The best thing that happened was listening to a
> couple of city council members in the next booth (having supper before
> that evening's public meeting) mocking citizens and their concerns.
> It's amazing what comes up while people eat. Well, anyway, I had
> nothing "come up," but I woke up at 2am and laid awake until 5am
> dealing with digestion or lack thereof.
>
> In a 5-star world, the only star here was a (fake) starfish in the live
> lobster tank. Hey, wait a minute, did that thing move?
>
> I'll have good reason now to continue driving past Red Lobster without
> stopping in. Like many lessons learned these days, it was expensive,
> but at least I wasn't trying to be a cheerful host treating guests to
> dinner. That's why I eat alone at a restaurant before entertaining
> guests there.
>

That's too bad, and has not been my experience. Of course, I've not been
to *that* Red Lobster, but over the years I've been to many and have had
only one marginally unacceptable meal that I can recall.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 05(V)/07(VII)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
Countdown till Memorial Day
2wks 4dys 6hrs 55mins
-------------------------------------------
'. . . So essential did I consider an
Index to be to every book.' --Campbell
-------------------------------------------

In article >, jmcquown
> wrote:

> dull knife wrote:
> > I stopped yesterday at a new
> > eatery written up in a review as this fantastic new must-visit spot
> > that turned out to be little more than a snack bar. So I skipped it
> > in favor of the local Red Lobster, which I'd been driving past for the
> > better part of a decade without going in (call it intuition).

> Good intuition, but you did stop, didn't you?

I passed Red Lobster and saw that the parking lot was nearly empty...

> > ordered a meal with lobster, $30.

> Did you get to pick your own, out of the tank?

I didn't. Maybe I should have, eh?

> > No bar. Hard-sell on the drinks.

> No bar? How do you think they make those girly drinks?

I asked before being seated if I could visit the bar first. I was told
"No bar, you order drinks at the table."

> Do you still get to
> keep the glass if you order a 'Lighthouse' or a 'Smooth Sailing'?

Don't know. I didn't think to ask if I could have the empty beer
bottle since I have plenty of those at home.

> > The biscuits were good

> Those biscuits are Bisquik with some cheese added. You can do this at home
> (why you'd want to, I don't know).

They got that right. I can't remember when I last made biscuits since
I make my own bread and prefer that.

> > The salad was a disappointment - a small bed of lettuce with way too
> > much dressing on it, topped with two thin slices from a small tomato,
> > two onion rings (one slice of onion broken into rings), two thin
> > slices of cucumber, and seven croutons. Again, I picked at this and
> > sipped my beer in order not to fill up before the main course.
> >
> Yeah, I remember chopping those salads. Nothing has changed in 30 years LOL
>
> > Comes the lobster, a tail about the size of your basic boot heel, and
> > a close cousin to a boot heel, as it turned out. Five other items on
> > the plate were a reasonably good baked potato

> Do they still serve the baked potatoes in foil? They used to. Threw out
> tons of them at the end of the night, too. Best bet there is to get fries.
> Otherwise the potatoes and the "rice pilaf" have been sitting there all day
> long.

I make my own fries, too. Baked potato seemed like a good bet.

> > Apparently the cook hasn't learned (yet) how to add gristle to
> > lobster. Too bad the prison work-release bus let him off here instead
> > of a place with a... hello! cooking school.

> They did used to have decent (notice I just say decent) lobster tails.

The one I got was a tough old insect, to be sure. I imagine that at
least a couple of lobstermen died trying to haul that one onto the
boat.

> > $36 and change plus a tip later I'm out of there, mentally crossing
> > Red Lobster off my list.
>
> That's actually pretty cheap.

I take friends, when I'm taking friends, to a hotel for a reliably good
meal. $20 is about as much as their most expensive items cost,
although recent times may have changed that. The hotel has a bar, too.
At home or away I like to have a drink before dinner.

> > I eat alone at a restaurant before entertaining
> > guests there.
>
> Good choice. Keep going
>
> Jill

Thanks for the encouragement. As an aside, it's my Social Security
that frees me up enough financially to get out and splurge once in a
while. I could live without it, but it sure improves my life.

In article >, notbob
> wrote:

> On 2008-05-07, dull knife > wrote:
>
> >
> > I'll have good reason now to continue driving past Red Lobster without
> > stopping in. Like many lessons learned these days, it was expensive,
>
> See, now if you'd joined us sooner, say, about ten years ago, we could have
> save you this painful revelation (not to mention $36!). Stick around and
> read carefully. The food renching (wretching?) stories are neverending here
> at good ol' rfc. Welcome aboard.
>
> nb

Wait a minute. Isn't this alt.cooking-chat? Doh!

In article >, Billy
<Hereiam@hotmaildotcom> wrote:

> On Wed, 07 May 2008 15:37:12 -0700, dull knife
> > wrote:
>
> >
> >My Red Lobster experience:
>
> Fifty million people like itl You didn't....ya don't go.

True enough.

> Were you expecting total strangers to pat your hand and say "I'm
> sorry"?

It's my retirement project -- restaurant critic.

In article >, sandi
> wrote:

> dull knife > wrote in
> news:070520081537125226%ouchimbleeding@ouchimbleed ing.com:
>
> >
> > My Red Lobster experience:
> >
> > I'm always on the lookout for a restaurant suitable for the
> > entertainment of friends, preferring to eat there first,
> > alone, in order to get a feel for the place.
>
> -snip-
>
> > I'll have good reason now to continue driving past Red Lobster
> > without stopping in. Like many lessons learned these days, it
> > was expensive, but at least I wasn't trying to be a cheerful
> > host treating guests to dinner. That's why I eat alone at a
> > restaurant before entertaining guests there.
>
> Hi
>
> 95%+ of time I have had great meals at RL. The times I didn't get
> the meals I expected, I let the corporate office know and they were
> nice enough to send me $$ coupons to use at my next stop at RL. I
> can't tell you how many times I've eaten there. I have only had 3
> not so great meals. One of the meals was at an opening for a brand
> new restaurant in our area and I am sure the cook staff was not up
> to par yet.
>
> I like RL.

Very well. I don't ask for refunds or expect coupons, etc. I feel
like it reflects negatively on the people who serve me. The quality of
the food is not their fault if it doesn't meet my expectations.
Remember, my purpose is to find a place to treat friends. My
experience was not what I expected. Not a big deal. DYODD. On
television and in the movies, how many restaurant critics have been
murdered? Hmmm, maybe I should watch out... I wouldn't want to be an
episode of Monk.

In article . net>,
Blinky the Shark > wrote:

> dull knife wrote:
>
> > The biscuits were good, but I only sampled and saved the rest for the
> > meal.
>
> > The salad was a disappointment - a small bed of lettuce with way too
>
> > of cucumber, and seven croutons. Again, I picked at this and sipped my
> > beer in order not to fill up before the main course.
>
> > I was able to chew-up and choke-down about half of the lobster before
> > simply giving up.
>
> > It's amazing what comes up while people eat. Well, anyway, I had
> > nothing "come up," but I woke up at 2am and laid awake until 5am dealing
> > with digestion or lack thereof.
>
> So it sounds like the only thing you really *ate* (after dabbling with the
> bread, salad and lobster) was perhaps the potato (if that). To get
> indigestion from that "meal", I'm thinking you must be potato intolerant.
>

I must admit that I ate the entire potato, sans the skin, to which
they'd found a way to adhere a very great quantity of coarse salt. At
home, I eat the skin, too.

In article 4>, Wayne
Boatwright > wrote:
>
> That's too bad, and has not been my experience. Of course, I've not been
> to *that* Red Lobster, but over the years I've been to many and have had
> only one marginally unacceptable meal that I can recall.

So you're saying to give them another shot? I wonder if I should tell
them that I'd had an unacceptable meal before so please don't do it
again? At $36 plus tip it's going to be a tough decision to make. I'm
glad that I have other places to try.

dull knife > wrote:

> Salad and biscuits came first, along with the only drinkable craft-like
> brew (bottled) on the menu. The others were oversweet/underbitter
> beers like Bud, Miller and Coors, along with their lite/light lo-cal
> versions (no Guinness). I saw they also had a lot of girly drinks like
> pina coladas, tequila sunrises and the like. No bar. Hard-sell on the
> drinks.

But did they have Dr Pepper?

-sw

Sqwertz wrote:
> dull knife > wrote:
>
>> Salad and biscuits came first, along with the only drinkable
>> craft-like brew (bottled) on the menu. The others were
>> oversweet/underbitter beers like Bud, Miller and Coors, along with
>> their lite/light lo-cal versions (no Guinness). I saw they also had
>> a lot of girly drinks like pina coladas, tequila sunrises and the
>> like. No bar. Hard-sell on the drinks.
>
> But did they have Dr Pepper?

ROTFLOL!!!! Good one, Steve.

--
Dave www.davebbq.com

What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

In article <070520081902088083%ouchimbleeding@ouchimbleeding. com>,
dull knife > wrote:

> So you're saying to give them another shot? I wonder if I should tell
> them that I'd had an unacceptable meal before so please don't do it
> again? At $36 plus tip it's going to be a tough decision to make. I'm
> glad that I have other places to try.

I'm speaking from past experience (twelve years ago). A colleague of
mine and I used to alternate feeding each other for Tuesday lunch. Our
lunches were mundane in various industrial area joints and generally
cost twenty bucks max for two. Sometimes we expanded our horizon.
On my dime, we passed Red Lobster once. I suggested that we dine there.
I've never had better service. I've never seen the price of a simple
lunch for two escalate to fifty bucks so quickly either. Everything
appeared to be entree. The food was O.K., but I left with the strong
feeling that I'd been had. I haven't been back and am not kind in my
recollection when the subject comes up.

leo

In article <070520081848157979%ouchimbleeding@ouchimbleeding. com>,
dull knife > wrote:

> experience was not what I expected. Not a big deal. DYODD. On
> television and in the movies, how many restaurant critics have been
> murdered? Hmmm, maybe I should watch out... I wouldn't want to be an
> episode of Monk.

Is that what your original post was supposed to be * a restaurant
review? Huh.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Hear me on NPR's "Weekend America" on Saturday, May 11,
talking about the best Mother's Day gift I've ever received.
http://weekendamerica.publicradio.org

In article
>,
Leonard Blaisdell > wrote:

> In article <070520081902088083%ouchimbleeding@ouchimbleeding. com>,
> dull knife > wrote:
>
> > So you're saying to give them another shot? I wonder if I should tell
> > them that I'd had an unacceptable meal before so please don't do it
> > again? At $36 plus tip it's going to be a tough decision to make. I'm
> > glad that I have other places to try.
>
> I'm speaking from past experience (twelve years ago). A colleague of
> mine and I used to alternate feeding each other for Tuesday lunch. Our
> lunches were mundane in various industrial area joints and generally
> cost twenty bucks max for two. Sometimes we expanded our horizon.
> On my dime, we passed Red Lobster once. I suggested that we dine there.
> I've never had better service. I've never seen the price of a simple
> lunch for two escalate to fifty bucks so quickly either. Everything
> appeared to be entree. The food was O.K., but I left with the strong
> feeling that I'd been had. I haven't been back and am not kind in my
> recollection when the subject comes up.


I've eaten at the local RL a couple of times. It's not fine dining, but
seemed like a decent deal. Here's the lunch menu:

http://www.redlobster.com/menus/lunc...h_features.asp

Looks likes you can get out of there for under US$10 for salad, side and
entree.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

On Wed 07 May 2008 07:02:08p, dull knife told us...

> In article 4>, Wayne
> Boatwright > wrote:
>>
>> That's too bad, and has not been my experience. Of course, I've not
been
>> to *that* Red Lobster, but over the years I've been to many and have had
>> only one marginally unacceptable meal that I can recall.
>
> So you're saying to give them another shot? I wonder if I should tell
> them that I'd had an unacceptable meal before so please don't do it
> again? At $36 plus tip it's going to be a tough decision to make. I'm
> glad that I have other places to try.

I usually give almost any place a 2nd chance, but not if the food was
spectacularly bad. So...maybe not *that* Red Lobster, maybe give them the
benefit of the doubt. If you go back to that one, I would definitely tell
them of your previous experience. At $36, well, lobster is always going to
be at or near the top of their price scale. There are definitely cheaper
lunches to be had there.

I have a penchant for their fried shrimp, particularly their coconut
shrimp. The closest RL to me does not do suit me with the way they make
it, although the place is always packed. I usually go to another RL where
the very same dish is some of the best I've ever had. I've also had decent
lobster there, too.

BTW, IME, their coleslaw is far superior to their salads.

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In article
>,
Dan Abel > wrote:

> I've eaten at the local RL a couple of times. It's not fine dining, but
> seemed like a decent deal. Here's the lunch menu:
>
> http://www.redlobster.com/menus/lunc...h_features.asp
>
> Looks likes you can get out of there for under US$10 for salad, side and
> entree.

My time there is outdated and laced with menu ignorance. There's no
doubt about that. Nevertheless, I had an unpleasant experience. I did
tip the waitresses and smiled throughout the meal. The guy I took didn't
even know. But you all do now.

leo

On Wed, 07 May 2008 18:50:56 -0700, dull knife
> wrote:

>
>I must admit that I ate the entire potato, sans the skin, to which
>they'd found a way to adhere a very great quantity of coarse salt. At
>home, I eat the skin, too.

I wonder how they did it? Can you elucidate the process for us, Jill?
I'm getting salt intolerant in my old age, but I'd still like to try
that on potato skins at least once.


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On Wed, 07 May 2008 22:44:46 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article <070520081848157979%ouchimbleeding@ouchimbleeding. com>,
> dull knife > wrote:
>
>> experience was not what I expected. Not a big deal. DYODD. On
>> television and in the movies, how many restaurant critics have been
>> murdered? Hmmm, maybe I should watch out... I wouldn't want to be an
>> episode of Monk.
>
>Is that what your original post was supposed to be * a restaurant
>review? Huh.

I read it as a personal episode. I've never eaten at red lobster, but
I know it's a big chain and big chains can be spotty at best.

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On Thu, 08 May 2008 04:21:58 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>I have a penchant for their fried shrimp,

fried shrimp = beginner's seafood

>particularly their coconut shrimp.

Ah, ok - you've redeemed yourself. Coconut shrimp *is* good.
We call it "appetizers"




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On Wed 07 May 2008 09:55:33p, sf told us...

> On Thu, 08 May 2008 04:21:58 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> > wrote:
>
>>I have a penchant for their fried shrimp,
>
> fried shrimp = beginner's seafood

Then I've been a beginner for nearly 60 years. :-) We often had cold
boiled shrimp and fried shrimp at home when I was growing up, and shrimp is
still one of my favorite types of seafood. I also love crab and lobster,
but I detest oysters in any form.

>>particularly their coconut shrimp.
>
> Ah, ok - you've redeemed yourself. Coconut shrimp *is* good.
> We call it "appetizers"
>
>

I like coconut shrimp far too well to eat just an appetizer portion! :-)



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On Wed 07 May 2008 09:46:29p, sf told us...

> On Wed, 07 May 2008 18:50:56 -0700, dull knife
> > wrote:
>
>>
>>I must admit that I ate the entire potato, sans the skin, to which
>>they'd found a way to adhere a very great quantity of coarse salt. At
>>home, I eat the skin, too.
>
> I wonder how they did it? Can you elucidate the process for us, Jill?
> I'm getting salt intolerant in my old age, but I'd still like to try
> that on potato skins at least once.

I can tell you how I do it, Barbara. I rub the potatoes liberally with
solid shortening, then roll in coarse salt, then roast/bake the potatoes on
a rack in a roasting pan. It sticks.


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On Thu, 08 May 2008 05:12:15 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>I can tell you how I do it, Barbara. I rub the potatoes liberally with
>solid shortening, then roll in coarse salt, then roast/bake the potatoes on
>a rack in a roasting pan. It sticks.

Ah! Solid shortening.... honestly, I never would have thought about
that. I'm going to give it a try. Do the skins turn out crisp?

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sf wrote:
> On Wed, 07 May 2008 18:50:56 -0700, dull knife
> > wrote:
>
>>
>> I must admit that I ate the entire potato, sans the skin, to which
>> they'd found a way to adhere a very great quantity of coarse salt.
>> At home, I eat the skin, too.
>
> I wonder how they did it? Can you elucidate the process for us, Jill?
> I'm getting salt intolerant in my old age, but I'd still like to try
> that on potato skins at least once.

They coated them in course salt but then they wrapped them in foil. Never
made much sense to me. I always opted for the fries. They were fresh

Jill

dull knife wrote:
> In article 4>, Wayne
> Boatwright > wrote:
>>
>> That's too bad, and has not been my experience. Of course, I've not
>> been to *that* Red Lobster, but over the years I've been to many and
>> have had only one marginally unacceptable meal that I can recall.
>
> So you're saying to give them another shot? I wonder if I should tell
> them that I'd had an unacceptable meal before so please don't do it
> again? At $36 plus tip it's going to be a tough decision to make.
> I'm glad that I have other places to try.

Was that $36 for one person?

Jill

sf wrote:
> On Thu, 08 May 2008 05:12:15 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> > wrote:
>
>> I can tell you how I do it, Barbara. I rub the potatoes liberally
>> with solid shortening, then roll in coarse salt, then roast/bake the
>> potatoes on a rack in a roasting pan. It sticks.
>
> Ah! Solid shortening.... honestly, I never would have thought about
> that. I'm going to give it a try. Do the skins turn out crisp?

Yeah, they turn out crisp. Now that I think about it, they didn't wrap them
in foil. (Some restaurants do that). Shortening and lots of salt. But
those potatoes, they sit there all day long.

Jill

On Wed 07 May 2008 10:17:28p, sf told us...

> On Thu, 08 May 2008 05:12:15 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> > wrote:
>
>>I can tell you how I do it, Barbara. I rub the potatoes liberally with
>>solid shortening, then roll in coarse salt, then roast/bake the potatoes
>>on a rack in a roasting pan. It sticks.
>
> Ah! Solid shortening.... honestly, I never would have thought about
> that. I'm going to give it a try. Do the skins turn out crisp?
>

Yes, nice crisp and very edible.

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On Thu, 8 May 2008 00:33:22 -0500, "jmcquown" >
wrote:

>dull knife wrote:
>> In article 4>, Wayne
>> Boatwright > wrote:
>>>
>>> That's too bad, and has not been my experience. Of course, I've not
>>> been to *that* Red Lobster, but over the years I've been to many and
>>> have had only one marginally unacceptable meal that I can recall.
>>
>> So you're saying to give them another shot? I wonder if I should tell
>> them that I'd had an unacceptable meal before so please don't do it
>> again? At $36 plus tip it's going to be a tough decision to make.
>> I'm glad that I have other places to try.
>
>Was that $36 for one person?
>
>Jill
>
I think it was dining for one.... no guests at that point.

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On Thu, 8 May 2008 00:35:00 -0500, "jmcquown" >
wrote:

>Yeah, they turn out crisp. Now that I think about it, they didn't wrap them
>in foil. (Some restaurants do that). Shortening and lots of salt. But
>those potatoes, they sit there all day long.

I'll give it the old college try and consume it as soon as it comes
out of the oven. LOL!

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On Thu, 08 May 2008 05:35:26 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>
>Yes, nice crisp and very edible.

Excellent, thanks!

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wrote:

> On Thu, 08 May 2008 04:21:58 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> > wrote:
>
>>I have a penchant for their fried shrimp,
>
> fried shrimp = beginner's seafood
>
>>particularly their coconut shrimp.
>
> Ah, ok - you've redeemed yourself. Coconut shrimp *is* good.
> We call it "appetizers"

Mmmmmmmm. Coconut shrimp. Mmmmmmmm! One of my must-haves at a
particular Chinese buffet I frequent with a friend.


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wrote:

> On Wed, 07 May 2008 22:44:46 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
>>In article <070520081848157979%ouchimbleeding@ouchimbleeding. com>,
>> dull knife > wrote:
>>
>>> experience was not what I expected. Not a big deal. DYODD. On
>>> television and in the movies, how many restaurant critics have been
>>> murdered? Hmmm, maybe I should watch out... I wouldn't want to be an
>>> episode of Monk.
>>
>>Is that what your original post was supposed to be * a restaurant
>>review? Huh.
>
> I read it as a personal episode.

If a restaurant review is not the report of a personal episode, what is
it?


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In article 4>,
Wayne Boatwright > wrote:

> I can tell you how I do it, Barbara. I rub the potatoes liberally with
> solid shortening, then roll in coarse salt, then roast/bake the potatoes on
> a rack in a roasting pan. It sticks.

Now that's a grand idea. I can see it. I can do it. I will do it.
Unfortunately, I can only do it on half a baked potato, because my
sweety doesn't do potato skins.
But I have a plan:

-Take a picture of the potato
-Measure the potato's length and width
-Import the picture of the potato to my computer
-Resize the picture to the actual potato size
-Print the picture of the potato
-Cut the picture of the potato out of the paper
-Slide the paper with the potato hole cut out over the paper until half
is reached
-Carefully grease the bottom half of the potato
-Remove the paper
-Liberally add coarse salt to the larded side
-Bake as suggested

Wayne, it appears that every time I respond to you, there's an
earthquake that's felt in this house. There have been five thousand or
so in our immediate area since February. I felt none until the last time
that I commented on it. Now I'm typing again and the potato skin hater
just said she felt one (I didn't). The news confirms it.

leo

On Wed, 07 May 2008 23:08:02 -0700, Leonard Blaisdell
> wrote:

>Wayne, it appears that every time I respond to you, there's an
>earthquake that's felt in this house. There have been five thousand or
>so in our immediate area since February. I felt none until the last time
>that I commented on it. Now I'm typing again and the potato skin hater
>just said she felt one (I didn't). The news confirms it.

Sounds like you're in big trouble, leo. There's a message trying to
be conveyed. Not sure what it is though.

LOL

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On Wed, 07 May 2008 23:07:40 -0700, Blinky the Shark
> wrote:

> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 07 May 2008 22:44:46 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>In article <070520081848157979%ouchimbleeding@ouchimbleeding. com>,
>>> dull knife > wrote:
>>>
>>>> experience was not what I expected. Not a big deal. DYODD. On
>>>> television and in the movies, how many restaurant critics have been
>>>> murdered? Hmmm, maybe I should watch out... I wouldn't want to be an
>>>> episode of Monk.
>>>
>>>Is that what your original post was supposed to be * a restaurant
>>>review? Huh.
>>
>> I read it as a personal episode.
>
>If a restaurant review is not the report of a personal episode, what is
>it?

A restaurant "review" is meant to influence people. I didn't think he
was trying to do that. I just read it as his experience in one
particular unit of a big chain.

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On Wed 07 May 2008 11:08:02p, Leonard Blaisdell told us...

> In article 4>,
> Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>
>> I can tell you how I do it, Barbara. I rub the potatoes liberally with
>> solid shortening, then roll in coarse salt, then roast/bake the
>> potatoes on a rack in a roasting pan. It sticks.
>
> Now that's a grand idea. I can see it. I can do it. I will do it.
> Unfortunately, I can only do it on half a baked potato, because my
> sweety doesn't do potato skins.
> But I have a plan:
>
> -Take a picture of the potato
> -Measure the potato's length and width
> -Import the picture of the potato to my computer
> -Resize the picture to the actual potato size
> -Print the picture of the potato
> -Cut the picture of the potato out of the paper
> -Slide the paper with the potato hole cut out over the paper until half
> is reached
> -Carefully grease the bottom half of the potato
> -Remove the paper
> -Liberally add coarse salt to the larded side
> -Bake as suggested

Yes, you could do half a potato that way. OTOH, if you're sweetie doesn't
do potato skins, then that half of the skin could just be ignored, eating
only the inside, even if prepared the whole potato with shortening and
salt. No?

> Wayne, it appears that every time I respond to you, there's an
> earthquake that's felt in this house. There have been five thousand or
> so in our immediate area since February. I felt none until the last time
> that I commented on it. Now I'm typing again and the potato skin hater
> just said she felt one (I didn't). The news confirms it.
>
> leo

I speak, the earth trembles. Horrible thought! :-)

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