Tag: restaurant review

Cracker Barrel – A Restaurant Review

By Kiran Jayasinghe

We went to the Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Yuma, Arizona. It had a very old-fashioned, country vibe to it, which we loved. The restaurant also has its own store. They serve breakfast all day, along with their lunch and dinner menus.

The Cracker Barrel Store (image taken by the Jayasinghe family)

I ordered breakfast for dinner, choosing the French Toast Combo, which comes with four slices of French toast, bacon, and eggs. It also comes with a small glass bottle of Cracker Barrel Syrup, which I thought was so cute! The French Toast wasn’t amazing, but it was good enough when doused in syrup. Svara got the grilled cheese sandwich with a side of dumplings (Svara’s in love with dumplings). She says the grilled cheese was good, but the dumplings were a little “soggy and slimy”. Her words, not mine. Simran got the Fresh Start Sampler, which comes with a cup of yogurt, a fresh baked muffin, two eggs, and bacon. She says it was “okay, not amazing, but the muffin was delicious”. My mom got the meatloaf with green beans, carrots, and mashed potatoes. She says the green beans and the carrots were both overcooked, the meatloaf was okay, and the mashed potatoes were good. My dad had the chicken tortilla soup, but it was way too salty (we all tried it).

Our food at Cracker Barrel (image taken by the Jayasinghe family)

All in all, we didn’t particularly like what we ate, especially our dad. The service was good, but we don’t highly recommend Cracker Barrel.

PF Changs – A Restaurant Review

By Kiran Jayasinghe

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One of our favorites – the Long Beach Pike location. (Image from the internet).

"Hurry up! I'm hungry!" (Image by the Jayasinghe family).
“Hurry up! I’m hungry!” (Image by the Jayasinghe family).

July 31st was our grandmother’s birthday. I’m not going to tell you how old she turned, but I can tell you that we decided to go out to dinner to celebrate. We went to PF Changs, at the Pike, in Long Beach. The restaurant is right by the water, and you can see boats go in and out of the little harbor. The Pike is a very busy place, so it’s best to get Valet Parking. After the car was taken, we met our uncle inside. That was one of the highlights, because our uncle is almost always out of town, or at work, and we never get to spend time with him! The restaurant wasn’t crowded at all, and we got a table quickly. To drink, we three (Kiran, Simran, and Svara) had water, and so did our uncle. Our mom, grandpa, and grandma had virgin Pina Coladas, and our dad had a beer. Since we love Pina Coladas, we each had a few sips from our mom’s. We all agreed that there was a little too much coconut, and we’ve had better. While we were tasting Pina Coladas and talking like food experts, our dad was ordering food. We had white rice, noodles, firecracker chicken, sweet chicken, garlic beans, and Mongolian beef. Although we expected the firecracker chicken to be spicy, it  wasn’t spicy at all, and it was delicious. The Mongolian beef was great, and our mom and dad just loved the garlic beans. All of us cleaned our plates, and we had to order another dish of Mongolian Beef, firecracker chicken, and noodles. But there was still something to come, even after all of that – dessert! The staff served our grandmother a scoop of ice cream with fried banana. None of the other adults had dessert. The three of us had a “great wall of chocolate” , a huge slice of chocolate cake with 2 scoops of ice cream and raspberry syrup. It was very rich, but we finished almost all of it! We all loved our visit to PF Changs (as we always do) and I think you will too!

India Princess – A Restaurant Review

By Kiran Jayasinghe

Buffets are my favorite style of eating. I love any type of buffet.  About a month ago, to celebrate Mother’s Day, my family went to India Princess, including my grandparents, for their Champagne Buffet.

The restaurant is relatively small. It has a few pieces of Indian art, but not much. We expected a bit more.

Enjoying the Naan and Tikka Masala (image by the Jayasinghe family)
Enjoying the Naan and Tikka Masala (Image by the Jayasinghe family)

The food was great. My grandparents and Mom all had mango lassi to drink, my father had a diet soda, and my sisters and I had water. I had a taste of the mango lassi – I thought it was really nice. My sisters thought the the buffet has a decent number of choices, but all of us liked the tandoori chicken the best, and I particularly liked the homemade raita. There’s also white rice, biriyani, curries, naan, chutney, and more. The naan can be ordered in two different flavors, plain and garlic. I had a lot of naan, with the tofu tikka masala. For dessert, the buffet offers fruit and mango pudding.

The India Princess is located on Restaurant Row in San Marcos, CA. Their Address is 1020 W. San Marcos Blvd, Suite 100, San Marcos, CA 92078.  For more information visit the India Princess website.

Lazy Dog – A Restaurant Review

By Simran Jayasinghe

Not long ago, we went to lunch at the Lazy Dog restaurant in Temecula. We went on a Saturday, but it wasn’t overly crowded, we only had a 5 minute wait. Since the restaurant was named Lazy Dog, all the decorations had something to do with a dog, including two big statues of dogs made out of nails. The ambiance of the restaurant, the lighting, the lamps, made it look like a fancy restaurant..  However, we thought that the waiter’s outfits, jeans and a black t-shirt, didn’t match the ambiance of the restaurant.

My sisters and I ordered the ‘Build Your Own Pizza’. After a long wait, waiters brought us raw dough, parmesan cheese, cherries, pineapple bits, and pepperoni. We got to put the toppings on the pizza and then they took it back into the oven, which meant we had to wait even more!

"Build Your Own Pizza"!
“Build Your Own Pizza”!

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“Build Your Own Pizza” Cooked! Finally!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How should I decorate my pizza?

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We are busy decorating our pizza!

If you are going to order the Build Your Own Pizza, just keep in mind that it needs some time. When we finally got our pizza back, we all agreed that it was good.

 

Our mom and dad both got the Avocado and Swiss Turkey Burger. When they finally got their burgers, after a long wait, they discovered that it was huge! It was so big that neither of them could, put their mouth around it, things kept  falling out. My mom and dad had to eat their burger with a fork and knife! That looked funny!

I think that the wait to get our food was a little too long, and I think that they could have made my mom and dad’s burger at a more eatable size. Overall, I think we all enjoyed our visit to the Lazy Dog Restaurant.

For more information go to the Lazy Dog restaurant website.

Macaroni Grill – A Restaurant Review

By Simran Jayasinghe

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A lovely drawing of fruit! (Image by the Jayasinghe family)

We went to Macaroni Grill to celebrate  my little sister Svara’s 7th birthday. There was no wait, and we were seated quickly. Macaroni Grill is one of our favorite restaurants.  What my sisters and I like about Macaroni Grill is that there is butcher paper over the tablecloth and they give crayons so that kids can draw on the paper while they wait for their food. I was tempted to draw Hogwarts, from the Harry Potter books, but I didn’t have enough room to draw that, so I ended up drawing vegetables and fruit.  My sisters Svara and Kiran both drew Hogwarts.

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Let me eat my yummy dessert!(Image by the Jayasinghe family)

Kiran, Svara, and I all got the kids cheese ravioli.  This is our favorite dish! For appetizers,we got two orders of the spicy ricotta meatballs. Our father got spaghetti with Ceaser salad, and our mother got the penne rustica. As always the food was delicious and we finished all of our food.  For desert, we got one Homemade Chocolate cake to share. The Homemade Chocolate cake was served with a little bowl of chocolate sauce on the side. Yummy! Our mother and father got the tiramisu cake, which they like quite a lot.

We always enjoy coming to Macaroni Grill and this visit was no exception!  If you haven’t been to a Macaroni Grill we recommend that you give them a try.  To learn more about Macaroni Grill, click here.

Buffalo Wild Wings – A Restaurant Review

By Simran Jayasinghe

Wild Wings! We visited the Buffalo Wild Wings location in Restaurant row on San Marcos Blvd not too long ago.  The restaurant is close to where we live and we had seen it being built over several months.  Although we wanted to try out the food as soon as they opened we waited a little till the crowds died down.

My family, together with my grant parents went on a Saturday for lunch.  We were given a buzzer and tolIMG_0095-1d that the wait would be about 15-20 minutes. The wait wasn’t too long, and we were seated in about 5 to 10 minutes. The inside of the restaurant has a lot of television screens, all of them playing some sort of sport.  There were a lot of people and I thought the seating was a little too close together. Kiran, Svara and I got the Kids Cheese
Flatbread, our mother got the  Chicken Ceaser salad, our grandfather got the Hickory Pulled pork sandwich, our grandmother got the Barbecue chicken sandwich and our father got the the Southwest Philly sandwich.

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The range of sauces!(Image from the Jayasinghe family)

The food was good although it was a little messy to eat as the food didn’t come on silverware, they came on paper plates.  We really wanted to try their wings, because that is what they are famous for! We were told that we could sample different sauces, because they had many flavors, for free and then pick which sauces we wanted on our wings. We chose one small size Parmesan Cheddar
wings, and one medium size Honey Barbecue wings.  The wings were delicious, and everyone like Honey Barbecue sauce the best. The wings were the messiest to eat.  There weren’t any plates because we were supposed to just take it from the box and eat them with or fingers. We also got one order of the Fried Pickles.  We enjoyed the pickels, and they tasted a little bit better than the ones we had made with our dad.

For dessert, we picked the Chocolate Fudge cake. The slice of cake came with a scoop of ice cream and chocolate sauce drizzled all over the plate.  Kiran, Svara, and I shared one slice for dessert. Before eating the cake, we had wanted on slice each, because it looked small, but afterward, we thought that it was way too rich to have our own slices.

Our visit to the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant was most enjoyable, the food was good, and we recommend that you try it out at least once. To learn more about Buffalo Wild Wings, click here.

The Cheesecake Factory – A Restaurant Review

By Simran Jayasinghe

Thick creamy chocolate cheesecake with gooey marshmallow dip on the side with whip cream. That is what comes to mind when I think of  The Cheesecake Factory. About a month ago, my grandparents wanted to take us out to dinner to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We decided to go to The Cheesecake Factory. This particular Cheesecake factory, was, at the NorthCounty Fair Mall in Escondido,  200 E. Via Rancho Parkway Suite 370 Escondido, CA 92025 US.

We went on a Saturday, and usually it is so busy, that there is about a two hour wait. But this time, we got lucky! We only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table.  We were seated at a comfortable booth situated in a corner. It was in a half circle, and right above where our heads rested, there were mirrored panels all around.  When we were seated our server bought couple baskets of warm bread with some butter. The bread was so good!  Just remember not to eat too much bread or you will spoil your main course.

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Yummy food! (image by the Jayasinghe family)

For the main course my dad and my grandpa both got orders of the cheeseburger, and salad with a vinaigrette.  My mother and grandmother both got orders of the chicken enchiladas, which they claimed to be very good. My twin sister, Kiran, and I, both got the kids quesadilla which tasted excellent. Kiran had chocolate milk with her quesadilla and I had lemonade with my quesadilla. My little sister, Svara, got the kids spaghetti and meatballs with apple juice.  The quesadilla, and the spaghetti with meatballs, we ordered from the kids menu, weren’t too small or too big.  If you don’t like quesadilla or spaghetti then the kids menu had some other good choices too.

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Delicious Cheesecake! (image by the Jayasinghe family)

For dessert, we of course had to have their cheesecake. They are famous for their cheesecake, and they have 50 different types of cheesecakes! Svara, got the lemon meringue cheesecake. I got the Toasted Marshmallow S’mores cheesecake. Kiran got the Hershey’s chocolate bar cheesecake. Svara did not like her lemon meringue cheesecake. She thought it was too lemony. It was a lemon meringue cake with whip cream on the side and little shreds of lemon peel  and some mint leaves adorning it. The cheesecake had a little bit of melted marshmallow on the side. My Toasted Marshmallow S’mores was a chocolate mousse cake with a rich chocolate frosting, which was very thick, and a dollop of whip cream on one corner of the plate. The cake had a couple of graham crackers sitting on the rich chocolate frosting carpet, that covered the top of the cheesecake slice. There was also melted marshmallow dip covering the rest of the plate to eat with the rich chocolate cake. Kiran had the Chocolate Hershey bar Cheesecake and loved it. It was a very rich chocolate cake with huge chocolate chips in the cake itself, and a squirt of whip cream in one corner of the plate. It also had thick, creamy, chocolate sauce dribbled in a zigzag pattern all across the plate.  All three of us enjoyed trying out each others choices of cheesecake.  For dessert at the Cheesecake factory, you don’t have to have cheesecake. Although they are famous for their cheesecake they also have ice cream on their menu.

I certainly loved our visit to The Cheesecake Factory and will not forget it for a long time.

The Grand Tea Room – A Restaurant Review

By Simran Jayasinghe

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Tea at the English Countryside (image by Jayasinghe family).

The “Grand Tea Room” located on Grand Avenue in downtown Escondido, is a unique eatery. The “Grand Tea Room” serves traditional English teas. This means that they serve many different types of teas, as well as tea sandwiches, salads, and scones in the tradition of a meal known as English tea.
When you enter “The Grand Tea Room”, you find yourself in a little gift shop that has little mini handbags, small jewelry boxes, teapots, china tea sets, tablecloths, and many different kinds of teas (43 different kinds according to their website). The seating area of the tea room is behind the gift shop. All of us admired the ambiance of the tea room. The walls had beautifully framed pictures, and one of the walls was decorated in the scene of a English countryside. Each table had a beautiful tablecloth, ours was made of white lace. The table was also set with two charming white teapots, cups and saucers with pink flowers on them. The side plates were shaped like a flower and were made of glass.
The website suggests that you dress up in appropriate attire, and you should check the website before you visit. If you want to wear a hat you can, but if you don’t have a hat of your own, you can borrow one of the hats they have. Reservations are needed.

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On our best behavior (image by the Jayasinghe family).

We ordered a pot of Ceylon tea with five orders of the “Assorted Tea Sandwiches and Savory” menu item, one for each of us in the family. In one “Assorted Tea Sandwiches and Savory” order, we were served a chicken tea sandwich, a cucumber tea sandwich, an egg tea sandwich, and a Shepherds Pie. The sandwiches were not like a usual dinner, or lunch restaurant sandwich, they were much smaller.The sandwiches and the Shepherds Pie were delicious! We also had four orders of scones to share. Each order comes with two scones, one blueberry, and one plain. The scones came with cream, preserves, and a lemon curd which was delicious! We liked the Ceylon tea so much that we ordered two more pots of tea! My sisters and I drank six cups of tea each!
We were on our best behavior, and exercising our British accents! The visit to the tea room was the highlight of our week, which I will never forget. Although the price was a little expensive, I am most definitely going there again. You must try the “Grand Tea Room”, I am sure it will be a memorable experience.

For more information visit the Grand Tea Room Website.

Souplantation- A Restaurant Review

By Kiran Jayasinghe

vistasouplantationimageThe Souplantation is my favorite restaurant. If you’re unfamiliar with the name, you’re probably thinking, “Okay, she loves a place that sells soup.” True, it has some great-tasting soups, but it also has other food, from many different salads and pastas, to fruit. They also sell ice cream, my favorite part!

There are quite a few salads that you can choose from. They have permanent salads and seasonal salads. The Chinese Chicken Salad, and the Caesar Salad are two of the permeant salads I have seen. The seasonal salads change, and you may have to check out the menu online to see what they have. If you aren’t satisfied with these choices, you can make your own salad. The salad bar provides you with lettuce, spinach, shredded carrots, tomatoes, croutons, dressings, cranberries, and other salad items to make any kind of salad you wish.

When you walk in, you will see trays and dishes on either side of the entryway. Once you have taken a plate (or two) and tray, you can slide your tray down the counter along the salad bar and help yourself to anything you want. Other than salad items, there is Tuna Terragon, (My favorite!) which is a pasta, beans, cucumber, and broccoli salad that is quite famous. But the best part is…Souplantation is a buffet! Which means you can always go back for more.

There is also a small dessert bar, which includes chocolate muffins, chocolate mouse, fruit, and three different kinds of ice cream. To go with the ice cream, there is chocolate sauce, caramel syrup, chocolate and white chocolate chips, and sprinkles. And again, you can always go back for more!

On Sundays, between 9 a.m. and 12 noon, the Souplantation serves breakfast. In addition to the regular eatables, it includes scrambled eggs, French toast, waffles, oatmeal, cereal, blueberry muffins, apples, oranges, and much more. To drink, there is water, orange juice, milk, and coffee.

My family usually goes to the Souplantation in Vista. The restaurant has undergone a recent remodeling and it looks great!  It’s clean, and the staff members are very helpful.

For more information visit the Souplantation website.

Vista Souplantation.

North County Square Shopping Center, 1860 University Dr., Vista, CA 92083-7700.

Boudin S.F. – A Restaurant Review

By Simran Jayasinghe

BoudineSFSanMarcosWe have passed Boudin S.F. in San Marcos so many times in the past few years, and never even thought to try it! Last week we just decided to go and check it out. The restaurant is located in the Grand Plaza shopping center in San Marcos, which is on the corner of Las Posas Road and Grand Avenue.
Boudin S.F. has been around for 156 years! The restaurant is originally from San Fransisco. They sell sourdough in all types of shapes. Boudin S.F. bakes their bread daily. They had bread shaped like lobsters,crabs, fishes and even turtles! At Boudin S.F. you walk in the door and you order your food. Then you go and sit down and they bring the food out to your table. Our family ordered a turkey avocado sandwich, a Chicken Basil Bisque soup, a cob salad, and three grilled cheese sandwiches. My dad had the turkey avocado sandwich, and the chicken basil Bisque which he claimed to be very delicious! My mother had a Cobb salad which she said was great. My two sisters, and I ate the three kids grilled cheese sandwiches. The sandwiches came with applesauce, and apple juice. Kiran (my twin sister) and I thought the kids grilled cheese sandwich was a little too small for a hungry 9 (almost 10) year old! But that may be because we are swimmers, and we tend to eat a lot of food!
The Boudin S.F restaurant in San Marcos was clean and had a good atmosphere. The servers, and staff were very nice and friendly. I enjoyed eating at this restaurant and recommend it.

For more information about the restaurant visit the Boudin S.F. website.

San Marcos
Boudin SF
113 S. Las Posas, Suite 112
San Marcos, CA 92078.

760-761-1150