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A Diversion; Acorn Report 1999
Road House Dining: Reviews
An Opnion Article ONLY!
A digression: the official Restaurant guide of the California Acorn Counting Team is strictly the opinion of Wlater Koeing and Jean Knops.. Herewith, we deny everything legal we need to deny. Nothing in here is sanctioned by Hastings, The Regents of the University of California, the American Automobile Association or anyone else with a shred of legal liability.....
Pho Phu Quoc, 1816 Irving St., San Francisco Jean's Imperial roll and charbroiled pork noodle lunch plate was sublime; my charbroiled shrimp over rice were excellent as well, although there wasn't much to put on the rice once the shrimp were finished off. Ambiance isn't exactly cozy, but it's authentic San Francisco, if not Ho Chi Mihn City. 3 acorns, and counting!
Howard's Grotto, Clear Lake This is the first time Jean and I had stopped in Clear Lake, which turns out to be an interesting place if only because it's so obviously gone so far downhill over the past 30 years or so. Once a thriving resort, you can now peruse dozens of lakeside properties desperate for new owners and yuppification. We aren't sure what happened to Clear Lake, although the rumors we've since heard about mercury poisoning might have a lot to do with it. In any case, Howard's Grotto is one of the few remaining restaurants gracing the city, if not the shores themselves. We passed on the day's special (liver and onions), but the normal menu seemed to offer little hope that this former destination was likely to be revived any time soon on the basis of the cuisine du jour. Jean's steak was, well, a steak, while my "California scallops" were kind of an omelette with some sliced scallops thrown in. To their credit, the waitress warned me that it probably wasn't what I was used to. Despite the honesty, we can only offer Howard 1 acorn.
Royal Hong King Lum, 419 J Street, Sacramento Fortunately, our bad luck in Clear Lake was overturned by an outstanding, if somewhat deserted, Chinese restaurant near Old Town Sacramento the next night. The Pot Stickers had too thick a wrapping and weren't great, but the Fresh Squid in Black Bean Sauce was extraordinary and the Sizzling Scallops and Beef in Black Pepper Sauce a definite winner. We kept the leftovers from both and ate them later for breakfast, and would have eaten them for lunch as well if we'd had some way to warm them up. 4 acorns!
d'Medici, Gaslight District, downtown San Diego With Mark Reynolds no longer at Sedgwick, we had to drive down to San Diego to say hello. He took us to the Gaslight district (so named for the gaslights that are no longer anywhere to be seen in the area) for dinner, which was certainly the most happening place of any we visited during the survey. d'Medici was fancier than we were prepared (or at least dressed) for, but they put up with us anyway. All of us had the steamed mussels, which turned out to be a mistake, since they turned out to be those weird green New Zealand jobbers instead of the excellent local variety. Otherwise, Jean's pasta was so-so, my salad very good, and Mark's mushroom appetizer fine. The Sanford Pinot Noir was excellent, but then again it should have been for what we paid for it. Ambiance good, although the Cajun Restaurant down the block looked even better as we wandered around afterwards. Given the tab, I don't think we can offer more than 2 acorns, but if they're willing to offer us a discount we'd condescend to try again next year.
The Mustard Seed, 1655 Mission Dr., Solvang The Mustard Seed proves that you can't win them all and that mediocre food is not the sole province of run-down resort towns. The fries were marginal, Jean's top sirloin, well, a top sirloin, and my chicken pot pie enough to make one wish they'd bought a frozen one from Swanson's. 1 acorn.
McPhee's Grill, Main Street, Templeton Pam Williams tipped us off about this gem, located in the unlikely burgh of Templeton just south of Paso Robles. Unfortunately, we arrived at 2 pm, just as they were closing, and we didn't feel like staying around until 5 pm when they opened for dinner. Consequently, we regret but that you'll have to wait until next year for a report of McPhee's. As an alternative, we certainly do not recommend the delicatessens across and down the street. Better to starve for a few hours. 5 acorns, based entirely on hearsay and anticipation.