Text 6471, 114 rader
Skriven 2006-10-12 10:29:38 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
   Kommentar till text 6413 av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
Ärende: LOBSTER & DAIRIES 61
============================
Hi Dale,

 DS> you   want that particular night (e.g. Texas Roadhouse).

 RH> Does Texas Roadhouse season their meat as salty as  Outback and
 RH> Longhorns seem to?  We've given up on Outback for that reason;

 DS>    Difficult for me to answer that since I have not noticed a high
 DS> salt    level at Outback.  We like them as well, but they are often
 DS> much more    crowded.  As to Longhorns, we went to one local here and
 DS> although I
 DS>    don't have any bad things to say -- it was just not a place we
 DS> would    want to go back to, especially given the other choices just
 DS> as near.    There is a Red Robin just next door and we really like
 DS> their fish and    chips.

We will probably skip Longhorns in the future.  We'd been getting less
and less happy with Outback over the years, then, two or three years ago
they started with some ads that were (in our opinions) rather tasteless.
Those pretty much decided for us that Outback was off our list of places
to go, especially when there were (and are) other, better options.


 RH> Longhorns was an unknown entity for us until a couple of weeks ago.
 RH> Then, besides putting too much "Prairie Dust" (their name for salt,
 RH> salt, salt and a bit of other seasonings), they did a great job of
 RH> mixing up our orders. We decided not to go back to them again, if we
 RH> have a choice.  There's a TR in the area but I don't want to go there
 RH> if the meat is too salty.

 DS>    Let Michael and Dave Sacerdote speak to that -- all I can say is
 DS> that    I did not notice a high salt level.  OTOH, I often put salt on
 DS> my
 DS>    steak after it is cooked.  We'd think that you ought to be able to


We've cut way back on the amount of salt we use overall; the steaks at
Longhorns had probably several times our normal consumption for a week
on them.


 DS>    ask the server to have your steak lightly seasoned, or not at all.
 DS>    After all -- they let you pick a particular hunk of meat from the
 DS>    display case is you choose to do so and so I'd think they'd listen
 DS> to    how you want it cooked as well:-}}

At Longhorns, we didn't have the opportunity to pick our own meat.  If
we ever go back, I will ask about the option of having a reduced amount
of seasoning put on the meat.  I suspect tho, since they do crank them
out so fast, the meat is somewhat preseasoned.


 RH> OTOH, we went to a Carraba's (Italian cooking chain) with Deborah for
 RH> the first time when we visited her and liked it enough that we went to
 RH> one down here.  They have a completely different menu than Olive
 RH> Garden, concentrating more on the red sauced dishes.  When we went to
 RH> the Carraba's down here, we ordered the 4 cheese ravioli; it tastes the
 RH> closest to what Steve's mom uses for her cheese mix for ravioli or
 RH> stuffed shells than a lot of Italian places we've tried .

 DS>   Carrabba's is on our favorites list.   Olive Garden is on our never
 DS>   again list, although I used to like them.   Carrabba's is a sister

We usually don't do OG either.  We took Steve's great aunt to one (her
choice) while we visited her on our cross country trek; she and Steve
like the pasta fagole soup.  I tried their shrimp and asparagus pasta
dish; they used too many stem parts of the asparagus that were tough,
despite their relative thinness.  After getting down here, we tried the
neighborhood OG and I had something else--pasta and chicken parmagain
IIR.  Better, but again not impressive. IMO, their salad and breadsticks
are the only things they do relatively well.

 DS> to   Outback.  We like a number of dishes from there.   They make a
 DS> sausage   and lentil soup that is very good.   Gail has made an
 DS> version that
 DS>   duplicates it quite nicely.   I like their fried calameri appetizer.
 DS>   Crisp, tender, and you get the whole squid (in pieces).

OK, we'll have to try it.  We generally don't do appetisers but split
one last night.  There's a small (about 8 locations in/around Charleston
& Savannah) chain called Cary Hilliards.  They started out doing bbq but
now do seafood as well--not super great but reasonable in price.  We got
a couple of the menu standard  seafood things last night--scallops for
me, shrimp for Steve, both broiled vs fried.  They come with choice of
baked potato or fries and cole slaw or (boiled to death) green beans and
3 hush puppies, about 2 1/2" long each.  The slaw isn't too great; well
chopped cabbage, carrot & who knows what with a light dressing but
better than the beans.  I think the main reason we've gone there more
than once is that the seafood is ok (not super fantastic but good,) at a
decent price.  Last night we split a cup of crab chowder--very thick
white chowder with lots of crab and mushrooms.  It's probably made &
canned at a central point, then distributed to the restaurants but was
an interesting taste for both of us. Possibly a pat of (real) butter and
a good grind or two of black pepper would have enhanced it. Steve wants
to try their oyster stew (probably on our next visit) as well.

Used to be a time when we thought we were eating good to have all that
but we've been spoiled by so much fresh and higher quality cooking, both
at home and when we go out.  Cary Hillards is good for either an
inexpensive seafood meal for a tourist or regular customers who want
something reliable, tho mediocre and fast.  It is not the place to go
for a romantic meal meant to be lingered over or for sealing the deal
on an expensive contract.


---
Catch you later,
Ruth
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