To Mediocre for a Ticket to Broadway

Friday afternoon my wife and I headed over to Broadway Bar & Grill (345 Preston Street, Ottawa) to investigate this local chain that serves pub and grill food for dinner.

We arrived at 5:00 P.M. to a modern looking bar with a wrap around patio out front with lots of patio seating. There were a couple of tables with people at them and the patio would gain more patrons as the evening went on.  So far things seemed promising at the early start to the Friday evening dinner hour.

We were greeted by the hostess outside and inquired if we would like to sit inside or outside.  We choose inside to get out of the sun.  The hostess sat us at one of three booths along the front.  The middle booth was already taken, so she sat us on the far one from the front door and handed us menus.  For whatever reason, a beam of sunlight streams right across the table at the seat at 5 P.M. at this time of year.  No biggie really.  The other booth was free, so after ordering our drinks and inquiring with the waitress, we switched.  

The drinks came quickly and we were ready to order.

The Order: 1 Beer Battered Fish & Chips with a glass of water and 1 club sandwich with a Pepsi.

While waiting for the food we both zipped off to the washroom to wash our hands.  The restaurant itself is modern and clean looking.  Even the bathrooms were impressively spacious and clean unlike some other restaurants located downtown in the Byward Market and Elgin Street.

Aesthetically and service wise, this place had promise.  That was until the food arrived.

Our waitress dropped off our plates of food.  Sure they looked good and well proportioned overall, but on closer inspection things start heading south towards the mediocre level.

The club sandwich was the first victim.  Sure there were stacks of bacon, lettuce and tomato with chicken.  Broadway, on their menu, claims to add Texas Toast with cheese.  Sure the Texas Toast was there and worked well taste wise with the rest of it.  But neon orange rubbery cheese slice looking fresh from Kraft was a little much.  Really? To add cheese you just went to the supermarket, picked up some processed cheese slices and slid it into the sandwich?  Heck, even Subway would have chosen perhaps Swiss cheese.  But Broadway decided to make the subpar processed cheese noticeable by choosing the "look at me" neon orange colour instead of the more subtle white.

The fries with the sandwich were breaded style fries.  Had not had these in a while but figured out why shortly.  They were dry and needed help from the Heinz Ketchup bottle on the table.  Nothing imaginative about the fries but they weren't terrible either especially with the ketchup.  I guess for an extra $1.49 I could have upgraded my fries to sweet potato fries.  In hindsight I should have, I don't think I've seen breaded sweet potato fries. I wonder if McCain even makes them?  

The beer battered fish was also mediocre as well.  Tasted like regular fish but a little dry tasting.  Same unimaginative breaded fries were also provided. At least this dish was on special at $8.95.

After finishing our meal we waited for our waitress.  No problem I thought, she is waiting for another waitress at the bar to finish pouring a beer.  Our waitress poured hers next and then disappeared.  Not sure where, but thought she would reappear shortly to see how our meal was.  No such luck.  Five minutes later she reappeared further back in the restaurant with her back to us talking to another blonde waitress.  I tried to get their attention, but neither of them would look at me they just kept on chatting.  

Another 5 minutes later our waitress finally appeared to our table and was about to speak. But saw, through the window, one of Ottawa's By-law officers finishing up writing a parking ticket and placing it under the wiper of the large white truck branded with the Broadway restaurant logo on it.  She rushed to the back to grab the manager who went out and scowled.  Our waitress followed outside and watched the manager while I rolled my eyes.

After fifteen minutes of waiting for the waitress to inquire about the bill, she finally did.  Two minutes later we had our bill.  But, as luck would have it, the fish was rung in at the usual $11.95.  We flagged her down again and pointed out the error.

She said it must not have been overridden on the system for the day.   Really?  And you didn't double check the entries on the bill before handing it to the customer to ensure all the entries were correct especially your daily specials?  It is not like the restaurant was busy or anything as the place was perhaps a quarter full and  she did have time to hold a conversation with another waitress.    She returned again with the correct bill this time and we paid and left.

Overall, if you are looking for unimaginative pub food that even Brooklynites wouldn't even touch, this place is for you.  Non impressive fries and basic sandwiches with no effort additives like neon orange plain untoasted cheese slices is what this place offers.  With so many competitors in Ottawa, it is surprising Broadway Bar and Grill has survived to see it's 20th anniversary this year.  I doubt it will see it's thirtieth if it keeps this up.  The only thing "Broadway" about this bar & grill is the name. With food like this, the food wouldn't be served up at an Off Broadway Theatre.

Rendez Vous Rideau Subway

I was passing through the Rideau Centre on Friday during lunch time and decided to stop by the food court.   Unfortunately, before I could descend the escalator from the Colonel By & Rideau Street entrance, a groups of school kids had been released until 1:30 P.M. to find lunch and roam the mall by their teacher.  Of course most of them headed straight for the food court.

I got in line at the Subway (50 Rideau Street, Ottawa) counter and gradually moved forward.  Sure the line had about ten people in front of me who hadn't even ordered with about another five working their way through the sandwich making process.

Service, with a line up this long, would normally be an issue especially at a Subway or similar fast food counter normally.  But this subway has at least five counter attendants who move your sandwich along in assembly line fashion.  There is also usually one extra employee adding ingredients as they become depleted. This Subway franchise was ready for the lunch rush and was working like a well oiled machine.

I slowly moved forward and was greeted by the first Subway employee and placed my order.

The Order: 1 Foot Long Cold Cut Combo on 9 Grain Wheat.

The foot long sub moved quickly through the assembly line.  First the meat, followed by some swiss cheese then onto the vegetables.  The only hang up was the pickles.  They were out of pickles at the time.  But thank goodness for the mayonnaise!  As soon as the mayonnaise was added, the pickles showed up.   Got the pickles, wrapped the sandwich, paid for it and I was out of there.

The next hitch was the seating at high noon on a Friday at the Rideau Centre.  Forget it!  Not a seat to be seen with all of the nearby office workers chowing down. I chose to return to the office to eat my newly made foot long sandwich of meat and veggie goodness.

Taste wise, the sandwich was an average Subway sub.  A little heavy on the toppings, but moving at speed of light with five different pairs of hands adding items it was to be expected.  The bread though was perfectly fresh as obviously the sandwich bread had a high turnover due to the volume of customers.  The vegetable toppings though were average for any Subway sandwich shop. Nothing gourmet special but not terrible either.

Overall, this Subway sandwich shop is built for volume.  Move the sandwiches along and get those people through.  But the quality is there with nothing amiss.  Just don't expect perfect proportions of vegetable to vegetable, if you want that, go elsewhere.  But then again, this place does not skimp on the toppings either.  For a nutritious lunch with good service, this place is pretty good.  Only trouble though is finding a table in the food court during weekday lunch hours!

A Late English Brunch at Baker Street Cafe

On Saturday my wife and I had finished our usual grocery shopping and were looking for adventure.  Where to go?  What to see?  Nothing had really caught our eye in terms of festivals or museum specials.  Hmm....where to go?  How about looking at my foodie wishlist?  Yes, Baker Street Cafe (385 Richmond Road, Ottawa) had been recommended in Anne DesBrisay's book Capital Dining as a good place to go.  Why? I can't remember as it has been a while since I returned her book to the library a while ago.  But after searching around the most talked about part was the breakfast.  Apparently somebody somewhere decided Baker Street Cafe has the best breakfast in Ottawa.

We completed a leisurely walk down Richmond Road looking at the passing restaurants and stores carefully watching for the big "385" where a very late brunch would be served.  We arrived at 2:30 P.M. just in time to enjoy a comfortable meal before the 3:00 P.M. closing time.  Yes, Baker Street Cafe closes at 3:00 P.M. as it's main focus and claim to fame is breakfast so dinner really isn't a meal to them.

We were welcomed by our waiter who was exiting the open kitchen with menus.  He signaled us to head over to the booth and we met them there.  He politely explained on weekends Baker Street Cafe only serves breakfast.  No worries though, as I perused the two menu pages of breakfast options with lots to choose from. The waiter returned with the two glasses of water we asked for and took our order.

The Order: 1 Club Sandwich on White with Home Fries and fruit salad. 1 Two Egg breakfast (scrambled) with sausage, homefries, toast and fruit salad.

Ten minutes after we ordered we were heaped in food!

The Club sandwich, duly listed on the breakfast page, came heaped with the usual bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonaise and turkey between three pieces of bread held together by large skewers. Sure the sandwich was plain average like you would make at home, but the accompanying portions were huge!  There was not a spot on the plate to be seen.  Baker Street Cafe does not skimp on portion sizes.

The home fries were interesting as well.  Instead of the traditional American diner deep fried potato slices, Baker Street Cafe does a boiled sliced potato with the skin left on. Added to the potatoes is sliced green peppers and onions.  Perhaps the most nutritious home fries that I've seen in a while and pretty tasty to with or without ketchup.

The fruit salad comes in a separate bowl on top of the plate.  The bowl is to ensure the usual fruity juices that are associated with the fruit do not go adventure and disrupt the home fries or club sandwich.  The fruit was a mixture of pineapple, grape, strawberry, raspberry and other fruit.  A traditional tasty breakfast fruit salad with as fresh ingredients the cafe could lay their hands on.

My wife enjoyed the Two Egg breakfast.  She devoured the eggs knowing I don't normally care for eggs.  But she knew she would have two wave the white flag of surrender towards most of her plate as there was just too much for her to devour.

The sausage was huge! It separated the egg plate in half better than the demilitarized zone in Korea. One big huge sausage the size you would find at any good hot dog stand worth their salt or any German would be proud of.

The eggs and sausage were accompanied by the fruit salad and potatoes exactly the same as with the club sandwich.

Overall, Baker Street Cafe is the perfect spot in Ottawa if you are looking for a filling breakfast.  The atmosphere is can be loud and lined up apparently due to the cafe's popularity. We lucked out by going later in the afternoon before closing so things were much quieter.  In fact I think we were the last table to leave by about two minutes.  The entire meal was not rushed either as the friendly staff slowly cleaned up the other tables as well as the kitchen while we enjoyed our meals.  Looking for a terrific breakfast restaurant in Ottawa? Baker Street Cafe is a good choice.

Looking for a Sanguiccio Sandwich? Go Early!

On Preston Street just south of Bridgehead at the corner of Poplar Street is a small Italian style café serving up expressos, latte's and other Italian style coffees.  Along with these traditional drinks sandwiches are made to order.

Sanguiccio Deli-Cafe (183 Preston Street, Ottawa) I found on Urbanspoon.com as a well liked placed with some sandiwiches.  A lunchtime walk past confirmed it was there.  A couple of days later, Friday at lunch, a walk down Preston Street in search of Sanguiccio Deli-Cafe almost was missed.  I had walked right passed the front of the store and only knew I had missed it  when I arrived at Preston Street & Gladstone Avenue.  I crossed Preston and headed north believing that perhaps I was mistaken, it was on the west instead of the east side.  I headed north on Preston Street keeping a keen eye out on both sides of the street. Sure enough, on the east side in what appeared to be a  yellow brick semi detached walk up building was Sanguiccio Deli-Cafe.  I jaywalked across the street and up the stairs.

I was welcomed by Genio who was working on preparing some food meat on skewers behind what appeared to be a bar.    Only one young lady sitting in the front window enjoying an expresso was the only customer.  I inquired for the menu and Genio motioned to the wall opposite the bar.

The single sided 8" x 11" tri-folded menu had the drinks on one panel, sandwiches another and the usual cover introduction to the place.  I read through it and being a sucker for assorted subs normally everywhere I go, that is what I settled on.

The Order: Italian Cold Cuts including capoccolo, mortadella, salame, salame all’ prosciutto, salciccia, and mild soppresssata with cheese.

Genio set about to work preparing the sandwich all the while have a conversation about how he makes his food from scratch.  I had been warned about it. This is not your average Subway sandwich shop where in five minutes or less your sandwich will be put together by some pimply faced kid slinging already cut deli meat, lettuce, tomatoes and Italian dressing.  Sanguiccio Deli-Cafe makes all sandwiches from scratch from the best products that Genio can find in the Ottawa area.

The sandwich starts with bread sourced from Art-is-in-Bakery and fresh Italian meats.  The meats are only sliced after the sandwich is ordered and not pre-sliced like at Subway. During preparation Genio talks about how he makes the sandwiches and the weather in a calm Italian demeanor.  He treats each of his customers as if they have returned.  He does inquire nicely if he has seen you before. I did mention in the conversation this was my first time and had heard great things about the sandwiches.

After 10 minutes of slicing, dicing and arranging, I have a sandwich along with a small quartered tomato in a vinaigrette sauce.  I left Sanguiccio Deli-Cafe, stopped off at Bridghead to pick up some coffee and a muffin to accompany the sandwich for lunch.

The Italian Cold Cut sandwich was excellent!  The mild soppresssata provided a little kick but not overwhelming. The bread of course, was the perfect start to the sandwich with the freshness quite noticeable in each bite.  The meats also helped to combine for an Italian sandwich experience.    Fresh tomatoes of course added the perfect amount of moisture to make the sandwich perfect

The side salad I had after eating the sandwich was also great.  The homemade vinaigrette dressing provided a the perfect finish up to the sandwich.  But of course probably the best time to have the salad is as a pause in devouring whichever sandwich you choose.

Overall, Sanguiccio Deli-Cafe is a no rush sandwich spot owned by Genio.  He takes his time to ensure each customer has a custom made sandwich along with positive customer service that will ensure you come back. . In fact just after paying, Genio said he would love to have me back and handed me his personalized business card while inviting me to visit his Twitter feed and website page. After a freshly made Italian sandwich like that, I will be back. Only one piece of advice though, Just make sure you go early for lunch like I did, otherwise you may be waiting quite a long time for your turn at delicious sandwichness!

What's Brewing at Bridgehead?

Recently started visiting this Bridgehead (130 Anderson Street, Ottawa) location. The Anderson & Preston Streets location is home to Bridgehead's main roastery operations with an added bonus of a coffee shop attached.

I recently spoke to one of the friendly employees who explained a lot of customers of the coffee shop complain about the noise.  But what many fail to realize is this location  is a roastery first and coffee shop second.  Thus, a lot of noise while the industrial looking building is put to it's original intended use, roasting coffee beans, is a nothing to worry about.  The hours of the roasting are clearly noted both on Bridgehead's website and on the front entrance to this location.  As well, Bridgehead employees do wear black t-shirts noting their coffee is roasted on Preston Street.

I entered the very noticeably industrial building with modern doors in the morning for a cup of coffee and a muffin. After entering, on your left is the main roasting operation with copious amounts Brute garbage bins strewn along the floor, a computer operation for the roasting line and usually several Bridgehead employees mingling around the industrial operation with industrial head phones on looking like evil scientists in an obscure laboratory inventing the most maniacal potion ever found.  Tours of the roastery operation though are available on Saturdays.  Otherwise watch the roasting in action by attending the open concept factory to watch the action from the comfort of the coffeehouse with cup in hand.

Service wise things are excellent.  The only noted issue is trying to order while the noisy roasting operation is in action. You have to yell your order to the server.  Otherwise pleasantly smiling and knowledgeable staff are on hand to serve up a quick cup of coffee or suggest options for preparing your favourite espresso or scientifically created caffeinated beverage.

On top of the excellent noticeably locally roasted coffee, excellent quality baked goods are also on offer.  Everything from croissants, to sweet deserts to, my favourite, muffins are available.  I have taken a liking to the Rhubarb Streusel Muffins.

Bridgehead's Rhubarb Streusel muffins are the perfect combination of the slight sour taste of Rhubarb but also a unique taste of brown sugar to ensure the Rhubarb is not overwhelming.  These muffins also consistently taste fresh.

The main attraction to any Bridgehead location of course is the coffee. Bridgehead has several coffees to choose from whether it be dark or medium roast or something different.  I estimated about 5 different coffee urns behind the coffee shop counter ready for customers to choose from.  I personally enjoy the medium blend which has the perfect rich blend without being overwhelming like I find a traditional dark roast.  At $2.00 for a medium coffee, it is pretty reasonably priced as well.

Overall if you are looking for excellent coffee with pretty good coffeehouse baked goods you could do much worse. Bridgehead has gradually tinkered their coffee roasting and staff training operations to ensure the best coffee is produced and served by friendly knowledgeable staff.  The only hitch, the loud roasting operation makes it hard to order your awesome coffee beverage or hold a conversation.  But remember, the Anderson Street location is a roastery first and coffee shop second.

A Good Thing They Didn't Call it a Greek Souvlaki Mansion

Friday evening my wife and I thought we found a Greek restaurant we could enjoy in Ottawa.  Since moving from the Toronto area last October, we had been looking for a Greek or Mediterranean restaurant to enjoy some Souvlaki at.  Previously we had enjoyed Jonathan's Fine Foods in Aurora with delicious Souvlaki served alongside potatoes, rice and salad.  Mr. Greek in Richmond Hill also provided a decent Greek inspired meal.  Turns out we were a little spoiled and did not even know it.

Searching through the various online restaurant review databases, we discovered there is not one single restaurant specializing in Greek food that many Ottawa restaurant eaters had labelled as "outstanding" or "definitely go here!".  That is until we saw the Greek Souvlaki Shack (258 Bank Street, Ottawa) which currently has a 94% approval rating on Urbanspoon.com. Lots of general positive comments but nothing mentioning the food as being outstanding.  But with 199 votes and a high approval rating, there might be something to this place.

We arrived at 4:30 P.M. to an empty small restaurant.   Upon entering we were warmly welcomed by a smiling waitress guiding us to a choice of three tables for two along the wall.  Other tables in small 10 table restaurant seemed to be for larger parties of four to six people.  After reviewing the menu I took a look around.  Everything, short of the tables, seemed to have seen an Ikea inspired Swedish feel.  Yes, those were Ikea picture frames with pictures taped inside, yes the chairs I sat on have the same Ikea famous allen key screws.  But if you didn't know the Ikea brand, you would never have known, you would have thought it was a nicely decorated Greek restaurant.

Our waitress stopped by first to see if we wished drinks, which we ordered and then gave our food order.

The Order: 2 Pork Souvlaki Dinners (2 skewers per plate) with rice, potatoes and Greek Salad. 1 Can of Pepsi and 1 Glass of Water.

Fifteen minutes later our waitress returned with our freshly prepared pork souvlaki platters.  Optically the food was well laid out.  But would it also satisfy the taste buds?

I mistakenly dug into the pork souvlaki first.  Sure the pork tasted fine but I nearly burnt my lips off it was so fresh off the grill.  Kudos on the fresh preparedness of the food.  Later on, after the Souvlaki had cooled I noticed the souvlaki tasted pretty good, not overly cooked  and not under.  Add a little tzatziki and you had a decently prepared souvlaki dinner.

The potatoes were the next victim.  Some Greek restaurants like to add a little pizzazz by adding a twist traditional Greek style potatoes.  Jonathan's Fine Foods in Aurora is great at this and usually not only do I have my potatoes but my wife's as well.  The Greek Shack?  Nothing, mediocre throw them on the plate fast food style potatoes.  Not bad, but not great either.

The Greek salad looked promising.  Optically the salad looked fine enough.   The salad parts were all there with the tomatoes, lettuce, 2 black olives and sprinkled feta cheese.   Taste wise the first couple of bites were fine.  Half way through the salad though things started getting worse.  The Greek Salad dressing was getting tangier by the fork full. At the end, I had to basically take my time as my throat could barely take it anymore.  Good thing my wife didn't need two of her three potato wedges.  The potato wedges I used to water down the tangy taste from the salad dressing.

Overall, the Greek Shack has some promising parts.  It is located in a metro area screaming for quality Greek fare in a decent restaurant setting.  The restaurant setting was there with nicely tiled floor, adquate seating and a slight Greek ambiance with framed Greek themed photos.  Service wise the waitress was excellent along with the speed of the food preparation by the cook.  Taste wise though the salad dressing needs some fine tuning with the rest being only average.  My wife probably said it best, "the food was nothing better than what you would find in a food court".  That is probably the main reason why the "Greek Souvlaki Shack" is not yet a "Greek Souvlaki House" or a mansion.  With a little help though this little Greek restaurant could probably go places.  But for now a mediocre Shack it is.

Interesting Starbucks

Yesterday, I found myself transferring buses at that Elmvale Acres Shopping Centre OC Transpo bus station.  With ten minutes to wait, I decided to grab a coffee at the nearby Starbucks (1910 St. Laurent Boulevard, Ottawa).

I visited at 10 A.M. to mostly empty weekday daytime store.  The weird part is that the customer line up instead of being from the front of the store to the back actually is at the back of the store.  Interesting that you have to go to the back in order to work your way to the front instead of the usual other way around.  But since I was the only one waiting to be served I got to place my order right away.

The Order: 1 Tall Blonde Roast Black Coffee.

I paid and left the store returning the nearby plaza bus station.

The coffee itself was perfect black Starbucks coffee with no noticeable difference in taste as to what it was supposed to.

Overall, this Starbucks is a mere suburban plaza edition of this coffee chain.  Good coffee and decent number of usual overpriced baked goods is just the usual what you can find at a Starbucks including this one.

Micro Timmies in a Esso Station

Last week I found myself out in the Orleans area of Ottawa.  Of course being out early in the morning requires a coffee run.  So I visited a Tim Hortons (1980 St. Joseph Boulevard, Ottawa) within an Esso station.

Since the coffee shop is inside a gas station, there is no inside customer seating and it is smaller than a typical Tim Hortons.  But at this particular Tim Hortons counter they make the most of it.  There is two counters inside the gas station, 1 for Tim Hortons and the 2nd for the convenience store and gas station operations.

Service wise, this is one of the better Tim Hortons to visit.  There is normally one server dedicated to Tim Hortons with another 2 attendants at the convenience store counter.  But sometimes if Tim Hortons is busy one of the convenience store attendants will come over to help move customers quickly. This is better considering at other Esso Stations with where the Tim Hortons counter is lined up and the convenience store attendants do nothing but twiddle their thumbs instead of wandering over to help out.

Food wise, this Tim Hortons is like any of the other coffee shops bearing the name.  Decent quality food with the usual addictive coffee. I've visited this Tim Hortons at least three times in the past week and noticed not one time was there a coffee tasting off.

Overall, this Tim Hortons does well in a small space.  Still serves up the usual coffee, donuts and, even more impressively, has full bakery capabilities to prepare your bagels and other sandwiches.  All this while still maintaining the Tim Hortons quality and improved service customers expect.

A Garden of Pad Thai

My wife suggested we visit a Thai food place she had previously enjoyed with one of her coworkers. We strolled over to Queen Street in downtown Ottawa and entered Thai Garden (201 Queen Street, Ottawa) to the main restaurant.  There were signs, after entering, directing us either to the "Lunch Buffet" or the main restaurant area.  I imagine the "Lunch Buffet" would be a hit with the nearby federal government workers that Ottawa is known to contain.

We were greeted by a waitress and was invited to sit anywhere we liked.  The place was empty except for a few workers sitting chatting near the back. Not really worried as it was shortly after 4 so the dinner crowd had yet to appear.  My wife had also previewed this place and enjoyed the food.

The restaurant interior is neatly decorated in modern decor with a flavour of Thai sculptures periodically and flowers on the tables.  The flowers of course were fake, but had to be closely inspected to see.  A very clean restaurant interior with glass top, or perhaps acrylic, tables that are scrubbed clean after every meal.   Flower boxes grace the front of the restaurants exterior on the railing.

We perused the menu as our waitress returned with glasses of ice water.  The water cold water was appreciated with the 30 degree Celsius weather the nation's capital was experiencing.

The Order: 1 Beef Pad Thai with Rice Noodles and 1 Chicken Pad Thai with Glass Noodles.

Our waitress quickly took our order and delivered it to the kitchen in the back.  She returned and refilled our water glasses.

Ten minutes later we received our food in glorious presentation.  There was an intricately cut carrot flower blooming on a other Asian vegetables.

Now for a disclaimer, this is one of the first Thai restaurants I've been to in a long time.  So this definitely will not be an expert Thai food review.

The Beef Pad Thai was enjoyable.  I started using chopsticks to enjoy the rice noodles.  I had chosen rice noodles as they are exactly the same noodles found in the national Vietnamese dish Pho which I have come to enjoy.  The Pad Thai was enjoyable but not spicy like I have had previously.  The only noticeable dislike was I got deeper into the Pad Thai the sauce got more tangy.  This is probably due to the Pad Thai sauce sinking into the plate as I ate and could not be avoided.

The glass noodle Chicken Pad Thai looked interesting.  A clear noodle mixed with chicken it was also slightly tangy the more you got into it.

Service wise our waitress was excellent in refilling our glasses of water and checking in periodically.  The food came quickly.  But this should be expected as the restaurant was not that busy.

Overall, I would return again to Thai Garden.  Delicious Pad Thai with what seemed to be a restaurant that tries to appease the customer with cleanliness, ambience, service and well displayed food that tastes good.

Hopefully down the road I can broaden my Thai restaurant experiences to see how Thai Garden compares.