Fresh from Facebook

I'm a fan of a lot of midtown restaurants and bars on Facebook, and occasionally I get wind of some great specials. Here's a few from the past couple of days.

• Magpie Caterers has happy hour from 3:00 to 6:00 with $5 Pliny the Elder pints and $4 bites.
• You really can't beat Selland's weekly dinner and wine special. From today through Saturday, get Enchiladas for Two with Ground Beef, Cheddar Cheese and Green Chiles with a Bottle of Spanish Tempranillo for $25.
• And finally, deVere's Irish Pub is having Firestone Fridays - $3 Firestone pints in addition to their regular happy hour specials, from 1:30 to 6:30.

Let's Talk about Parlare

I first went to Parlare on 10th Street a couple of years ago. I wasn't overly impressed, nor did I walk out unhappy. It just didn't do much for me.

Now there is a definite reason to go on Tuesday nights! It's $2 Tuesday till 7:00 and they aren't skimping on the $2 items. For just two bucks you can get house wine, beer, margaritas, mojitos, sangria and I think some sort of bubbly. The food options are equally impressive, including: hummus, artichoke/jalapeno dip, coconut shrimp, a couple of different bruschettas and the crowd favorite last Tuesday - BBQ pork sliders. Five girlfriends and I went and the bill didn't exceed $40! That's about $7 each for more than one drink each and a buffet of appetizers.

There is a catch, of course. In my previous post I wrote about the balance of service and cost. This past Tuesday the service was very slow BUT it was a full house with one bartender working upstairs and one guy running food from the kitchen. They didn't pretend the service wasn't slacking - they were appropriately apologetic and you could tell they were working really hard to keep up with the guests. I guess I'm a little more understanding when there's an acknowledgement of the problem.

What are your thoughts on $2 Tuesday?

Deals vs. Service

When it comes to happy hour, or any visit to a bar or restaurant, what is more important? Great value for the product or great service? Last night I went to Lounge on 20's happy hour with a couple of friends.

First the good news, the place was pretty empty - though it was 5:30 on a Wednesday. Their happy hour special consists of $3 - $6 appetizers (price is progressive depending on the time of the order) and $5 martinis, wine, champagne and their cocktail of the day and $4 selected beers. Last night's cocktail was a yummy tequila concoction with pomegranate and lime complements. It was strong enough where you could taste the alcohol, but it wasn't overwhelming, blending perfectly with the tartness of the fruit flavors. It was definitely worth the $5. The cheese plate, with two minuscule slices of cheese and a dollop or two of what I thought was canned cranberry sauce, wasn't so pleasing. However, the $5 fried macaroni and cheese appetizer was yummy! The cheese and noodle-filled balls were served with a creamy cheese sauce and the portion was enough for more than one person to enjoy. We ordered two servings and basically had a full serving to take home in a doggy bag!

Now the bad news, the service was awful. Our server appeared at the table without any knowledge of what the beer or cocktail of the day was. She said they hadn't printed the new menus yet so she couldn't give us one, yet she didn't have any information memorized in order to share it. I never got the water I ordered until another server came over and asked if I wanted one (remember this lady for later). When our server came back with the beer info, it ended up being the wrong info. When our check came (which we had to ask the second server to get for us), we had been overcharged for three of the appetizers. I explained this to our server, who cheerily agreed to fix it, only to come back with a revised check that only corrected one of the three pricing errors. Oh, and server #2 was the only person to refill our water at any time during the evening.

I spent about $16 for a share of three appetizers, a cocktail and a beer. Not too shabby. But I couldn't get past how inadequate the service was - especially at a place that aims to be on the classier side (they don't allow flip flops, for example). I spent six years as a server and bartender so I get that it's not as easy as some people may think, but because of that experience I think I expect more. What about you?

Have you had good experiences at Lounge on 20? Is it your feeling that "you get what you pay for" and at happy hour service isn't as important? Have you ever refused to return somewhere after having bad service? Let's hear about it!

Prix Fixe

Everyone's getting into the prix fixe dinners these days! I was alerted to two more dinner specials today.

First up, Zocalo! The popular Mexican spot is offering "2 for $20 Tuesdays." That's one appetizer, two entrees and one dessert for $20. Not too shabby, considering the menu has many options including ceviche, nachos, tacos, enchiladas and, of course, flan. I don't understand how people enjoy that, but I like boxed macaroni and cheese. Moving on...

Biba is also offering a new $12 prix pixe lunch (Tuesday through Friday) and $28 prix fixe dinner menu (Monday through Thursday), which changes every day. There are a lot of delicious options on the menu, from seafood risotto to filet mignon, and may be my best chance of dining at Biba anytime soon!

Quick Bites

Esquire Grill has unrolled a new Happy Hour special, "5 for $6 till 7:00." Five cocktails, five wines by the glass and five appetizers are only $6 until... well, I think you get it. Cocktails include Key Lime and Basil Sapphire martinis and the appetizers look pretty yummy.

More details here.

Also, Tuli Bistro has added an "Afternoon Delight" menu. From 2:30 to 5:00 on weekdays, there will be selected beer ($2) and wine ($5) specials as well as Chef's Tasting Boards, which include your choice of tasty bites ranging from risotto balls to a variety of cheeses and meat selections.

You can check out those details here.

World Class Travel?

Sunday's New York Times Travel page will have a great article about spending 36 hours in Sacramento. I thought their assessment of our fair city was pretty fair -- although they seemed to only hit the hot spot eateries (ie expensive) with the exception of Tower Cafe.

You can find the article here.

What do you think? If you had a friend coming from out of town for only 36 hours where would you take them?

Eating Through Asia

I had an unbelievably delicious slice of Zachary's pizza today for my first meal back in the States. The crust was flaky, the cheese was gooey and the tomatoes were chunky and just sweet enough. I'm really looking forward to a good Mexican meal in the next day or two.

However, the Asian food I've been eating the last two weeks has been out of this world! Unfortunately, I started taking photos a little too late in my journey to get pictures of everything. I started and ended (and spent a little time in between) in Singapore, where you can basically get any Asian cuisine you want - Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese, Middle Eastern - it's all there and it's all good! The best place to get inexpensive and yummy food was on the street. Hawker stands are everywhere and the selection is a little mind-boggling. One of my favorites was this noodle dish with a side of soup dumplings (there's soup inside!). The noodle guy makes the noodles by hand while you're standing there. It's amazing to watch. I've seen in twice and I still can't figure it out. The noodles are cooked with bok choy and topped with a savory pork sauce. The dumpling contains a hot soup and some meat. It's like inside out wanton soup!

I've had a lot of Chinese food in my day, but this roasted chicken from a restaurant in Singapore's Chinatown had me wanting seconds and thirds - and it even has bones in it! The duck noodles on the side weren't half bad either.

Next stop, Cambodia! The signature dish is anok, which is white fish baked with coconut milk, chili and lemongrass inside a banana leaf. It was served with steamed rice and an icy cold beer. Yum!

Unsurprisingly, the Thai food was amazing in Thailand. I had more fried rice, pineapple rice, pad thai, pad see ew and other delightful noodle dishes that I probably shouldn't have starch again for the rest of my life. There were many chances to take photos of these dishes but I only remembered when I was halfway done with my chili cashew chicken noodles.

In Kuala Lumpur, I had my first taste of beef rendang. It's a dish traditionally prepared for Malaysian celebrations lowly cooked in coconut milk and spices - like ginger, lemongrass and chilies - for several hours. As most everything else, it's served with a side of steamed rice.

In KL's Chinatown, we had a delicious order of sizzling beef. It comes to the table, literally sizzling. Delish!

I had some other great dishes that I didn't have photos of - many of which included noodles. I love noodles. I don't have a photo, but satay is one of Malaysia's signature dishes as well. The peanut sauce is just a touch spicier than most places here in the US. I am also hoping to replicate a chili oil-based condiment that I fell in love with in Asia.