Fast Food Review - Strawberry Frosty Shake

My wife saw an ad in the window at Wendy's as we were heading to the Del Taco next door. It was for a new line of Frosty Shakes. This did not interest me, as Del Taco has excellent shakes. I gave in and we went to the Wendy's drive through on the way home.

My wife found her shake to be "just okay". Hers would turn out to be much better than mine. My first taste barely made it to the swallow. There was an acrid taste that I had not experienced in a long time. After a few attempts to stomach it I finally remembered the last time I had tasted something so awful. I was working out quite a bit a couple of years ago, and bought a few containers of Whey Protein powder. I enjoyed the chocolate shakes, but the strawberry one was so bad I ended up discarding it. Tonight's shake tasted exactly like the Whey Protein shake.

I tried to stir the shake to see if it just was poorly mixed. It helped a little, but it was still a chore to drink it. I felt that the price alone justified trying to finish the drink, as for the two shakes it was almost $8.00.

If you go to Wendy's, stick with the chocolate Frosty. There is no other frozen drink worth the money there. As good as the Frosty is, I expected much more of the shakes.

Weezer - The Red Album

The new album from Weezer is out, and I couldn't wait to get a copy. My wife and I downloaded the album on mp3 shortly after it was released. I must say that initially I was not too impressed. We burned it to a CD and played it for the first time on a road trip. I am pretty fond of playing Weezer albums at the beginning of a road trip, so this release was timed particularly well.

As I said before, my initial experience was less than I had hoped for. I think part of the reason was a difference in how I listened the first time. Typically I play an album a couple of times through, usually in my car. This time the album was on as background noise. It was easy to compare it to the Green Album, as there were no songs that immediately jumped out at me. I will note at this point that the Blue and Green albums are my favorites so far. I think ultimately this way of listening skewed my initial experience. I listened to it again today again with less distraction. This time I heard what I was looking for.

When one listens to Weezer, one can expect a certain style. There are usually familiar guitar riffs, and the songs vary from soft and harmonious to rockin'. This variety is part of what makes them such a great band. I listened to the album three more times this afternoon on my way home. I think the Red Album is definitely one worthy of the name Weezer. It may not have all the catchy tunes that the Blue and Green albums have, but it is still loaded with the things that make Weezer great.

If you are only a casual Weezer fan I do not recommend this album to you. If you are more attracted to songs like "Beverly Hills", "Buddy Holly", or "Hash Pipe" you will only find one song here called "Pork and Beans". If you are in fact a fan of Weezer though I think you will love this album. It is full of harmony, random compilations and classic Weezer rock. I plan to continue to listen to this album for a long time to come.

I added some Weezer clips in my sidebar, courtesy of Amazon.com. You may also click any of the above links to hear more of this album. Amazon sells DRM-free music. You can play it on your iPods or other mp3 players, and you can burn the album to a CD.

Note: Amazon.com did not sponsor this post, but this author is a member of the Amazon.com affiliate program.

Restaurant Review - T.G.I. Friday's

T.G.I. Friday's
2181 N. Rose Ave.
Oxnard, CA 93030

Tonight my wife and I went to T.G.I. Friday's with one of my best friends. It has been a long time since I went last, and I had yet to try the one in Oxnard. I used to be a weekly customer, so I had higher than average expectations tonight. Fortunately I was not disappointed.

The restaurant was not as crowded as I expected, considering the Lakers played game 3 tonight versus the Celtics. The bar had the usual game crowds, but we were seated quickly.

The waiter came out promptly and took our drink and appetizer orders. He returned quickly with the drinks. I used to regularly order the Jack Daniels Tower, which was a three-plate tower with fried shrimp, bbq ribs, and glazed fried chicken strips. They all had their own unique Jack Daniels sauces. This tower sadly doesn't exist now, but they still have the same type of appetizer. It is now just a single platter and only one sauce is included. It still tastes great though, as I confirmed tonight.

Another reason I love Friday's is the French Onion soup. Every other restaurant gets compared to Friday's when I order the French Onion soup. Tonight the cheese portion was not as generous as normal, but it was close enough for me.

My wife and buddy got pasta dishes, and I went with the Jack Daniels burger. All of the orders were enjoyed. I am particularly fond of the Jack Daniels sauces if you haven't guessed by now. They are a great blend of sweet and tangy. I could eat this stuff everyday if gas prices didn't prevent me. :)

The server could have been a little better, but he was still good. The restaurant was clean and the food was good. 9 out of 10 for service and food. I definitely recommend this restaurant.

Restaurant Review - California Pizza Kitchen

California Pizza Kitchen
Pacific View Mall
3301 E. Main Street
Ventura, CA 93003

My wife has been trying to drag me to the California Pizza Kitchen for a long time, and I have resisted for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons is the perception that it is geared toward the female gender. One doesn't often hear about a group of guys going to the California Pizza Kitchen. Tonight I let her drag me in, and we both regretted it.

To begin, we were promptly seated by the hostess, which was good. We waited more than 15 minutes for our waitress to acknowledge our presence, which was bad. It kept going from there. We finally got our drinks and appetizers ordered, and 10 minutes later the waitress came back with the drinks. The iced tea tasted like it had been brewed too long, and we had to send it back. The Pepsi was good though. Next was the mystery of the bread.

Apparently bread is supposed to be served to the tables. We witnessed many other customers getting bread almost immediately. We finally asked about it. At this point 30 minutes had passed since we arrived. Another 10 minutes pass, and the bread arrives. 45 minutes now, and no appetizers. We notice other couples who sat after us had not only drinks and bread within 5 minutes, they got their food as well. Still no appetizers. We decided to let the manager know that our night was not progressing well. He apologized and offered us a free dessert to make up for it. We accepted this and continued to wait for our food.

Finally our appetizers arrive. They were pretty good. We ordered a flour tortilla spring roll that reminded me of the Southwest Egg Rolls at Chili's. Even my wife liked these, though they normally don't appeal to her. If it hadn't taken the better part of an hour to get them we would have been much happier. The food arrived another 20 minutes later. I had a Tostada Pizza, and my wife had a salad with candied walnuts, blue cheese, and chicken. I can't remember the name of it. Both were just okay. The best part about mine was the crust. It tasted like a Greek flat bread. I wanted to order some Hummus to go with it. Since we knew we were getting dessert free, we ordered an apple crisp.

One would think that they would have tried to redeem themselves by now, but no. The crust was burnt and the apples were mushy and just unappealing. My wife thought they tasted a bit fermented. We told the waitress about the dessert, though hesitating to do so. She offered to replace it but we were ready to get out of there. This was more than two hours since we had been seated. The manager came back and we told him what was wrong. He pulled the dessert off the order completely, and gave us the appetizers for free. We thanked him and finally were able to pay and be on our way.

3 out of 10 for service, and 3 out of 10 for food. The 3 for service includes the helpful manager. I do not recommend this place to anyone.

Wine Review - Mas de Caralt

Label: Mas de Caralt
Vintage: 2003
Type: Tempranillo
Country: Spain
Region: Penedes

I picked up this bottle about a year ago, and finally opened it up tonight. When I first opened the bottle I could smell a pleasant, fruity aroma. It smelled a lot like one of my favorite wines, in part because the Tempranillo grape is part of the blend. I am a huge Tempranillo fan. I let my wife smell the bottle too, even though she is not a red wine person. She thought it smelled pretty good.

When I swirled my glass I was able to see it had some pretty good legs on it. Not too thick, but definitely enough to notice. The taste followed the smell, and I could pick up the fruit pretty clearly. The next test was to put it together with my steak, and it worked perfectly.

I had a grilled 18 ounce New York Strip, with sauteed mushrooms and onions. My wife sauteed them with olive oil and butter, and once the mushrooms had a nice crust, added some salt and some of the red wine. Add some garlic bread and some jalepeno corn, and my meal was complete. The corn recipe involves a fresh jalapeno pepper, white corn, and cream cheese. I was a little nervous that the cream cheese would throw off the taste of the wine, but it worked out.

The bottle says that the wine includes Penedes, Tempranillo, Granache, and Monastrell grapes, and it is aged in oak. It says to expect fresh berries with floral notes, and describes it as smooth and silky. I think the bottle was not exaggerating here. My above description seems to fit with the one from the bottle. I always look at the bottle after the tasting, so it won't influence my interpretation.

If you are looking for a decent table wine, I recommend the Mas de Caralt. Beverages and More (BevMo) sells it for about $5, so it is a really good wine for the price. I think they only sell the 2006 now, but I am sure it will be just as good.

Movie Review - Indiana Jones

I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull tonight. I am going to have to disagree with a lot of the critics on this one. This was definitely an Indiana Jones movie. While I could have done without a few of the scenes, I think it still came out well in the end.

The movie begins in Roswell, New Mexico, which is an indication of where the rest of the movie is going. Meet Indy's new brother-in-arms, who has an irritating habit of calling Indiana by the nickname "Jonesy". "Jonesy." Really? What about "Indy", or "Indiana", or even "Junior?" This was one of my few gripes.

For the first 20 minutes or so, it was hard for me to get behind the fact that it was really Indiana Jones, with the exception of the escape from the warehouse. He wasn't wearing his trademark jacket, and the hat seemed to morph from the trademark, to some bleached out, white-ish hat, and then finally back to the one we know and love. Once he gets to Peru with Mutt, things get back on track.

This movie was full of improbable fights, action sequences, and escapes, which is why we all watch Indy movies. Again, parting ways with the critics, these things are why we watch summer hits. We don't want excellent dialog, or well-manicured lines. We want to see stuff blow up. George Lucas has a habit of ruining dialog, so none of us expected anything good in that department anyway.

If I could change something, I would have Indy use his whip more. He gets it out a couple times, but it seemed like he forgot he had it for a while. Another element missing was the name "Indiana Jones". He went by Henry for most of the movie, only referring to himself as Indiana once, but then catches himself and goes with Henry. I think the point was to honor his dad or something, but I thought it was a little lame.

The above gripes notwithstanding, this is a MUST SEE, though I doubt I needed to tell you that. This installment definitely was more appealing to me than "Temple of Doom", so I would rank this one 3rd place of the 4 movies. As far as comparing to other movies, 8 out of 10. I loved it.

Movie Review - Iron Man

This is a bit overdue, but I have been wanting to write about this for a couple of weeks. If you have not seen Iron Man yet, I would highly recommend that you do so. I am assuming all the comic book fans out there have seen it by now, but this movie isn't just for them. Normal people should like it too.

Iron Man is not as well known as some of the other Marvel, or even D.C. superheroes. He is one of the rare ones who doesn't have a super power. He is just an everyday guy with everyday problems. He is easier to relate to in some ways than even Spider-Man. Marvel Comics itself was showing a vulnerability this time around, as this was their baby all the way. Marvel is now in the movie business in a big way.

All comic book movies have been adapted for the big screen, and this one is no exception. There are some minor changes here, but for an Origin story, I thought this worked out pretty well. Tony Stark is a wealthy playboy who drives fast cars and dates beautiful women. He makes his money selling high-tech weapons to the military. One day his own weapon nearly kills him, and he ends up creating a device to keep shrapnel out of his heart. He then goes on a crusade to undo the damage he has done with his weapons.

The acting was particularly good in this film, especially in comparison to Elektra, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, and Spider-Man 3. Robert Downey Jr. was a perfect Tony Stark. All the weaknesses Downey has been famous for are shared with the character Tony Stark. I am not a Gwyneth Paltrow fan, but I thought she did well in her roll. Jeff Bridges was great. A lot of people didn't even recognize him with the bald head and thick goatee.

While the movie was somewhat predictable, I expected it and was looking forward to it. I don't know where Entertainment Weekly and all the other reviewers get the idea that fans don't like the same old routine. We flock to the same old movies every year, in spite of the critics. I think it is time some of them looked for work elsewhere. I go to a comic book movie to see explosions, to laugh, to be excited as the hero saves the day. I don't care that it has been done a hundred times. A blockbuster is just that...a blockbuster. The critics should leave it at that.

The special effects were particularly good in this film. When Iron Man was flying, it looked like he was flying, not some computer animation. The jet battle was a pretty good example of the realistic look and feel of the movie.

Good acting, good writing, and a good director make this movie a must see. This was a great Marvel debut. I am even looking forward to the Incredible Hulk, in spite of Ang Lee's attempt to mess up the franchise. Summer movie season has begun. I give Iron Man an 8.5 out of 10.

Fast Food Review - Loaded Steakhouse Burger

I went to an Oxnard Burger King for lunch today, since they got the rights to market Indiana Jones. I thought it would be cool to help my son build his collection of useless kid's meal toys, so to Burger King we went. As for cleanliness, this is one of the nicest Burger King restaurants that I have been to.

When I went to Burger King last week I saw they had a new burger called the Loaded Steakhouse burger. Having learned my lesson from the Angus burgers, I chose to stick with a Whopper. Well, today I wasn't so smart. I went for the loaded burger. I was pretty disappointed.

Parts of the burger tasted really good. It reminded me of the Western Bacon Cheeseburger from Carl's Jr. As I got further into the burger I started noticing strange tastes. At one point it tasted as if they put A-1 into the bbq sauce. I like A-1, so I kept eating. The main problem is that they put a mashed/baked potato concoction on top of the patty. I was more than halfway through before I figured out exactly what it was. I finally pulled all the potato out and finished the burger. At least I had learned my other lesson and didn't order the onion rings. My wife made that mistake this time.

Overall, the experience was good. I would highly recommend that you avoid the Loaded Steakhouse Burger at all costs. It was a huge mistake. If Burger King would bring back the onion rings of the early 1980's it would be great too. They changed the recipe when I was a kid and it never tasted good since. So, while this Burger King deserves props for how nice and clean they are, especially considering the Oxnard address, this burger tanked. 3 out of 10.

Restaurant Review - Victoria Pub & Grill

Victoria Pub & Grill
1413 S Victoria Ave, Ventura
Phone: 805-650-0060
Cuisine: American/British, Seafood

I took my wife and son to the Victoria Pub & Grill for lunch today. This was not my first visit, but it was for my wife and son. My friend had introduced me to it shortly after he moved to the area, and I have gone back several times.

From the outside the building looks pretty ordinary. Once you go inside though, you see that it has the look and feel of a British pub. There are two floors, and on a typical evening visit the first floor is packed to capacity. This has served my friend and me well, as there are two dart boards on the second floor, and usually we are the only ones playing upstairs.

I didn't go upstairs this time, so from memory I only recall the two dart boards. I don't recall any other games. The downstairs has one dart board that I saw, though I didn't check near the bar. The atmosphere is dark and you can smell the food from the kitchen as you walk in.

We were told to sit wherever we would like, which to my wife and me means somewhere where there is a booth so we can keep my son from roaming while avoiding the fit that would ensue by putting him in a high chair. We found a nice corner to hole up in, and the waiter came by shortly.

I ordered my usual Guinness, and my wife ordered a coke for herself and water for the boy. For whatever reason, it seems pretty consistent that my first pint of Guinness is from the bottom of a keg, and the second pint is from a newly tapped keg. I am not sure how it seems to always work out that way, but the second pint is usually better. I was unable to test my theory today, though I would have liked to. My Guinness was very satisfying, but it seemed to me that the bottom of the keg experience was playing out. I figured that at 11:30 in the morning my chances of them needing to change out the keg were much smaller, so I stayed with the one pint.

I ordered my usual there, the Cajun Chicken sandwich. This sandwich is so good that I crave it pretty consistently. Today I changed it up a bit when the waiter asked if I would like to add an avocado to my sandwich. I ordered my usual onion rings as well. My wife ordered the fish & chips, and my son was ordered a corn dog.

Typically when I eat at the pub it is pretty busy, as I mentioned before. This usually means that we have to wait a bit for our food. This is never a problem, as we are usually busy throwing darts. Today, since it was early, there were no crowds. We got our food much earlier than normal.

I knew I would be talking about the food, so I made sure to sample my wife's and my son's food. The corn dog had a thick, sweet batter, and it tasted pretty good. I wasn't sure what the hot dog was made of, but it almost tasted like chicken. He enjoyed it quite a bit. My wife's fish was lightly battered, though the batter was pretty tasty. She ordered the Halibut, and it was well cooked. I would order the fish & chips if I could keep from ordering the Cajun sandwich. The avocado made a great sandwich tasted even better. The spices were just right, and had just the right amount of kick, that is for the average person at least. I would love for it to have a bit more kick, but it was still really good.

The waiter was friendly and though he was not the fastest in the business, we felt he did a good job. The service gets a 7 out of 10. The ambiance was great, the food was great, and the Guinness was great. The food gets a 9 out of 10. I highly recommend this pub to anyone.

Restaurant Review - Acapulco

Acapulco Mexican Restaurant
725 S Victoria Ave, Ventura
(805) 644-3952
Cuisine: Mexican

I took my wife and son to Acapulco tonight. As a kid, Acapulco was a family treat, so I have a lot of good memories at various Acapulco restaurants. The last time I went was when my wife and I were first married, and we had a bad experience. I have been trying to convince her to go back ever since. The guacamole there is addictive.

We were seated pretty soon, which is always good when you have a two year old in tow. The waiter asked us what we wanted to drink, and another waiter brought us our chips and salsa, but we didn't get any water. I thought this was a little strange. My son got a little too eager with the salsa and we had to wait for his drink to come in order to sooth his tongue.

The waiter was otherwise friendly, and came back shortly with our order of guacamole. I am telling you, this stuff is so worth the trip to this place. He made the salsa and I asked for the jalapeños on the side, since my son isn't quite as tough as he would have us think. ;)

My wife ordered a carne asada salad, my son got a bowl of fried chicken strips and fries, and I got the chicken fajitas. I find that good fajitas, as well as good chile rellenos can tell you a lot about a restaurant. I usually get the chimichanga or the four item mega platter, so I thought I would change it up a bit.

The carne asada was really good. I had a few bites of my wife's salad. Her pregnancy-skewed taste buds didn't appreciate it as much as I did, but that is becomming more and more common these days. My fajitas were really good, though a little heavy on the bell peppers. My son's chicken was pretty good too.

Though I did like the food tonight, I have had better dinners at Acapulco, so I will go with a 7 out of 10 for the food. The service was a little off. My wife had to ask for a refill. I asked for a refill just before we left, and it was not the drink I had ordered. The first glass of Pepsi had hit the spot. I think he put Diet Pepsi in the refill. He took a long time to give us the bill, and a longer time to process it. The service was much better than my last Acapulco visit (in Moreno Valley), but I have had better. I think tonight's service ranked a 6 out of 10.

These are pretty low marks for one of my favorite restaurants. I will be going back because of my past experiences. Tonight was pretty expensive for the quality we received. I still recommend this restaurant, and you MUST try the guacamole!

Juno - Finally A Movie Worth Watching

My wife and I have been consistently disappointed with the quality of the movies that Hollywood keeps hyping as "Must See" and "The Best Film of the Year". The Academy Awards were full of movies that we couldn't believe made it. The 2 year old pretty much guarantees we don't see many movies in theaters, so we have to rent them usually. This is fortunate due to the high price of movies these days. We suffered through "No Country for Old Men" and "Michael Clayton" among other lame movies.

"Juno" is the latest movie Netflix has delivered. The acting is pretty good. I didn't hear too much hype about it, which probably helped. There are some pretty funny parts, and I was not bored watching it. It has a lot of folk music that really fits the movie.

There are a lot of themes that would probably require further discussion, but that is for another blog.

I think Juno turned out far better than most of the garbage that made its way across the stage on Oscar night. At least it won for writing. Good music, good writing, and good acting. I would recommend this movie. Four out of five on this one.

Restaurant Review - Casa de Soria

Casa De Soria
1961 E Thompson Blvd, Ventura
Phone: 805-648-2083
Cuisine: Mexican

Tonight I took my wife and son to Casa de Soria in Ventura. This was our second visit. The first was on a Friday night and the place was so packed, we waited thirty plus minutes to be seated. The experience from that point on was identical to tonight, so I will talk mainly about tonight.

It was much less crowded tonight, so we were seated immediately. We like to sit at booths since my son rebels against high chairs and booster seats and we can contain him in a booth. The booths here are a little narrow, and sitting across from a pregnant woman and having the table touching both of our stomachs gets a little uncomfortable. This is the only downside to the restaurant.

The service is amazing. Before we had settled in a waiter brought us chips and salsa and asked for our drink order. He was very courteous and promptly brought our drinks back. He came back just as we were ready to order. As we waited for our food the chips began to run low, and a waiter promptly gave us a new bowl of chips. We asked the waiter for some spicier salsa, which he also promptly brought us. More on the salsa to come. A moment later our food arrived. We had waited less than 5 minutes from the time we ordered. This was the same speedy service we received on the previous visit, even with the huge crowd. Our waiter came back and refilled our drinks as we needed them. As we were eating, he noticed that our bowl of chips had a lot of broken pieces. He told us it was no good and brought us a fresh bowl with larger, unbroken chips. Once we were done, he quickly brought us our check. We were in and out in less than thirty minutes.

The food here is among the best I have had in California, and definitely in Ventura County. This counts all food, and not just Mexican food. There are two things I order when I want to get a feel for a new Mexican restaurant: shredded beef and a chile relleno. From those two items I can tell if I am going to like a place or not. Technically the salsa is a third indicator, but it is not something I have to order so I won't count it for the moment. The first visit I ordered a mini burrito with shredded beef and a chile relleno combo plate. For a mini burrito, it was pretty substantial. Between the two items and the chips and salsa, I had a very satisfying and filling meal.

Tonight I ordered the Carne Ranchero, which is basically Carne Asada with a side of guacamole and pico de gallo. The meat was incredibly tender, and there was plenty of it. They served it with a choice of flour or corn tortillas. I favor flour tortillas typically, so I ordered the flour. They served two large, apparently home-made flour tortillas piping hot with my meal. I could have used a third one, but I am trying to cut back a little on carbs at the moment, so I didn't mind only having two. This was the best Carne Asada I have had in a restaurant. My wife was pretty impressed too when she tasted it. She has only ordered the Chile Verde so far, which she loves.

The salsa is pretty mild, and my two year old son has no problem eating it. I asked for a spicier salsa and it was really good. It tasted a little like a Chile Relleno, so I am guessing it had more than one kind of pepper in it. It had a nice aftertaste, and that is when you feel the heat. I have had far spicier salsas, but this one was both spicy and great-tasting. In my opinion it doesn't matter how hot it is if it tastes bad. I would definitely recommend the spicy salsa.

On a side note, my wife has banned myself and my mom from judging heat for anything she eats. Things I thing are ridiculously mild have burned her mouth more than a couple of times. I had her taste the mild salsa tonight so I could be sure I gave a fair review of the heat. Again, my two year old could eat it without drinking any water, so it is a pretty safe bet when I call it mild.

The service and food here are really good. I give a 9 out of 10 for service, and a 9 for the food. My wife and I intend to become regular customers here.

Restaurant Review - Peking Chinese Restaurant

Peking Chinese Restaurant
5960 Telegraph Rd, Ventura
Phone: 805-644-7777
Cuisine: Chinese

A few weeks ago I took my wife and son to the Peking Chinese Restaurant in Ventura. We were driving around indecisively when we stumbled across it. My wife loves Chinese food, and swears by the quality of Chinese food in Oregon. Having received more than an adequate dose of it last year, I came to the conclusion that she was wrong and that California has better Chinese food. So, we have been on a quest of sorts ever since, trying to find Chinese food that we both like. This is why we decided to give this place a try.

When we first walked in, we were greeted cordially. The place was pretty dark, and the decorations were pretty plain, which was fine with us. It seemed that we were in for some pretty basic fare, but we were determined to give it a shot. We found that they had a choice of three different prices for entrees and appetizers. Having been accustomed to Panda Express, we assumed we had to share the appetizers. We ordered the medium priced option, and were pleasantly surprised when they brought us each the appetizers. We had spring rolls, paper wrapped chicken, and a cream-cheese stuffed won-ton. We both had Egg Drop soup, which was pretty good.

The soft drinks were served in large cups, and the refills were prompt. The wait staff was very friendly, and we did not lack anything the entire time.

I ordered the Kung Pao chicken, as I use this dish to determine the quality of a Chinese restaurant. My wife ordered a chicken dish which is escaping recollection at the moment. I will ask her about it and update this post. The ratio of chicken to water chestnuts was acceptable. I hate it when restaurants add tons of celery or water chestnuts and skimp on the chicken. This place passed this particular test. The heat was a little low on my preferred scale, but was too spicy for my wife. This means that it had some measure of heat, though I couldn't taste it. My wife's heat sensors are far more sensitive than mine. It was still pretty good though, and had plenty of peppers to make up the heat.

The wait staff was pretty impressive, as was the food. I give the service an 8 out of 10, and the food gets an 8.5. This is the best Chinese food we have had in Ventura County so far.

Restaurant Review - Mandarin House

Mandarin House
4020 E. Main St., Ventura
Phone: (805) 654-0933
Cuisine: Chinese

Sunday evening I took my wife and son to the Mandarin House. It appears to be a chain, so I will add that I went to the one on Main Street in Ventura. This place got high marks for both food and service at ventura.com.

When we arrived we were cordially greeted and promptly seated. We were seated near the fish tank, which thrilled my two year old son. The waiter arrived with our crispy noodles and sweet and sour sauce, and then disappeared. A few minutes later the waiter came by to ask what we wanted to drink. My wife ordered a Coke, but I, being a Pepsi guy wanted to see what alternatives to Coke there were. This seemed to confuse the waiter, and it turned out the choices were Coke or Diet Coke. I chose an iced tea, and immediately regretted it. It was horrible. I sucked it up and asked for a Coke to replace it. The water came just after we had ordered our drinks.

It seems to be a pattern at Chinese restaurants where a couple can order an all-inclusive meal from one of three categories, with the appetizers and entrees getting better as the price goes up. We tend to settle for the middle road, as we did last night. I tried to ask about the appetizers in the highest price level, since I did not know what Pu Pu meant. He just told me it was a combination, but didn't tell me what was in it. We ordered the other option, since we at least knew what we would be getting.

The lady who seated us came back and brought us more crispy noodles, just as our first batch ran low. The waiter arrived shortly after with the soup. He poured three bowls for us, and left the larger bowl on the table for us to finish. The Egg Flower soup was really good, and my son couldn't get enough of it. Daddy had to eat with his left hand while he fed him with his right hand, as the large spoon was a little awkward for my son.

The appetizers came next, and for the most part were pretty good. The spring rolls were the worst of the bunch, but still not that bad. They seemed to be pretty heavily infused with black pepper. After dipping them in a variety of sauces they became more palatable. The paper wrapped chicken was pretty good, as was the fried shrimp.

The meal came shortly after, and the portions were pretty large. The Kung Pao chicken I ordered was so mild that even my son could eat it without flinching. To me, if you aren't drinking after every bite, it is not hot enough. That being the case, I think this could have used quite a bit more heat. The Kung Pao was pretty much even in the chicken to water chestnut ratio, which is a good thing. A lot of places lately are adding so many water chestnuts or other filler that you don't get to taste the chicken. My wife's Almond Chicken had much more flavor, with a strong hint of garlic. We both liked it quite a bit more than the Kung Pao.

The waiter came back a couple of times to refill our drinks, but made himself scarce for the most part. I found that we had to wait longer than necessary for refills, considering the sparse crowd in the restaurant. That being said, I think I would give the service a 7 out of 10. The food would be about a 7 as well. This was a pretty decent restaurant, and we would both consider going back.