Mediocre "pan-Asian concept" food. I'd rather eat at Ka-Prow: at least I get the feeling there that someone in the kitchen is actually trying.
I don't want to be too hard on this place. It's tempting to give an overly negative review because:
All that is true. And the food? Actually not bad at all. The calamari and hosin lime wing appetizers were pretty tasty (though the wings were undersized for the price), though the potstickers seemed a little thick to me. My Thom Kha-esque soup was cheap and satisfactory (though not in the same league as Thai Kitchen). I liked my pork ribs quite a bit, but my wasabi mashed potatoes (a substitute for green beans) didn't have any detectable wasabi, and they forgot to bring the other side dish listed on the menu.
The biggest problem, besides the service, is economic. Though a chain, the prices here are comparable to a real Chinese restaurant, but the environment is just one step above a fast food joint. It's not really a destination restaurant, and I don't see it as being a "Chinese takeout on the drive home" place for as long as the 183/620 construction zone continues.
I think this location is every bit as good as the original. Certainly, I don't think I could have told the barbecue from the two locations apart in a blind taste test. Good service, too, and I think this location is a bit larger and more comfortable than the Manor Road one.
I also want to commend our waitress, who didn't add on the "manaditory gratuity" for a party of our size. As a result, she got a much larger tip than the minimum.
Save the location, this Hoover's shares the strengths and weaknesses of the original.. The down-home food ranges from average to pretty darn good. The wings were tasty but undersized, and I liked the seafood quesadillas. My muffaletta was every bit as good as I remembered from 2001 (I think I need to do a side-by-side comparison with this and those served at Sambet's just down the road to see which is better). Adequate salad and fries. And the banana pudding cheesecake was every bit as delicious as I hoped it would be. (Now they just need to add some Blue Bell Banana Pudding Ice Cream on the side for the perfect gut-busting, diabetic-coma-inducing dessert). Service from Tanya, our extremely attractive waitress, was exceptional, especially considering the way our large and unwieldy party kept moving around.
The drawback is the same one of the other Hoover's: No Diet Dr Pepper, no Diet Coke, or even Diet Pepsi. Having had the stygian ichor which is Diet RC Cola in the past, I made do with water.
I would like to see them upsize the appetizers, and I'd also like to see this location serve breakfast. Other than that, Hoover's is your best choice for down home cooking in this neck of the woods.
And happy 50th Birthday to unindicted co-conspirator Earl "Shiva the Destroyer" Cooley.
As far as I'm concerned, this BBQ is as good as that served at Cooper's, is somewhat cheaper, and is, of course, considerably closer.
The prime rib, pork spare ribs and sausage remain excellent. The "pit ham" didn't work for me; it's ham, and it's tasty, but not noticeably more than what you'd find in a good deli section. The shoulder was very good, and would make a top ten brisket list on it's own, but I much prefer the moister regular brisket (which they were out of).
Given the decline in meat quality The Salt Lick has suffered over the years, I have to hand off the baton for Best Barbecue in Texas to Kreuz Market. Now if they would add sirloin steak, I might never drive out to Llano again...
Things I liked:
Things I liked less:
Verdict: I'd give it a marginal thumbs-up. It isn't a sure thing, like Mirabelle across the street, but it's worth trying if you'd like something different.
Mesa Ranch has a good concept going for it: A high end Southwestern steakhouse with lots of unique dishes. Unfortunately, the execution seemed to fall short of the concept.
Things started off well with a nice free bread basket. However, the appetizers were a bit disappointing. The batter on the fried cactus was quite nice, but the cactus itself was pretty much tasteless. (That may be the case with all cactus, no matter how you serve it, but if so, why bother?) I did not detect any bacon wrapped around the stuffed jalapenos, and both my venison chili and the venison quesadillas were disappointingly bland (and there was almost no detectable heat in the chili). The salad was good.
My entrée was equally mixed. The broiled bison strip (which I had with crabmeat Pontchartrain on top), though very flavorful, was marred by the unwelcome and unexpected presence of a tough strap of gristle along the side; if you need to cook it with the gristle to get the benefit of the fat lying aside it, fine, but this should have been cut off before being brought out. The "ranch fries" were lackluster. My broiled corn on the cob would have been quite good were it not for the fact that it came out cold. This does not bespeak of a keen attention to detail.
Finally, my Tres Leches cake was good, but not quite up to the standard of other competing offerings from area restaurants. Service was generally very good, and they brought drink refills without my asking.
I don't know what to tell you. I certainly would be willing to try Mesa Ranch again, but I honestly couldn't recommend getting any of the particular items I ordered, especially not at these prices. I think more imagination and consistency is in order.
See the logs for July of 2006.