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Friday is hub and I's 4th wedding anniversary. I knew I wanted it to be on an equinox, and I got my wish. Father-in-law gave us some money to go eat somewhere nice. We decided to give Cheesecake Factory another try, mainly because we don't actually eat out at nice places much and couldn't think of anything else that sounded good.
I've always loved their appetizers. They had a whole artichoke that looked tempting- most places if they bother with artichoke at all it's vinegary-tasting canned bits in spinach alfredo sauce served as dip. I don't mind that, but you don't get much of an idea of what artichoke itself tastes like, and you miss out on the whole artichoke experience. But they're not really in season, so I gave it a pass.
For an appetizer to split, we had the avocado eggrolls. Basically, your standard fried eggrolls stuffed with chunks of avocado, and served with a sauce that tastes vaguely Indian, and is sweet. I also had a Godiva chocolate martini, which uses Godiva dark chocolate liqueur- not creamy, just chocolaty and alcoholic. They dipped the rim of the martini glass in chocolate powder too, yummy. I got a buzz from just the one, but I'm also a bit of a lightweight since I don't drink often.
For my meal, I had another appetizer- the corn tamale cakes. This is corn mash baked and covered with more avocado chunks and an avocado sauce, a bit of cheese and sour cream, tomatoes and cilantro. Hub had the blackened chicken sandwich which had some kind of soft white cheese that had a nice sharp flavor to it. The fries that came with it were really thin and not very exciting; they salted them with kosher salt instead of table salt which made them quite a bit saltier than I was expecting. Table salt is little, teeny cubes; kosher salt is big, flat flakes and delivers a lot more salty taste. Anyway, hub's meal was not bad, but it was pretty expensive for what it was and he grumbled good-naturedly about it.
His thing is that TCF tries to offer so many different things on the menu that they end up not doing any of them really well. I think their appetizers are pretty tasty, but there's never been anything else that's been really impressive. Well, okay, there's the cheesecake- but oddly, neither of us were really in the mood for it. Right next door is the more local Amy's Ice Cream so we headed over there.
Hub had cinnamon ice cream. The thing about Amy's is, they don't just put a hint of flavor, or a waft or a tinge. They put a whole bunch of flavor, and it's solid ice cream (most ice creams have a lot of water in them which dilutes the flavor) so it packs a wallop. I though the cinnamon was like taking the powder left in the bottom of a box of graham crackers and eating that- so it was the brown cinnamon, not the red cinnamon that goes in red hots. Mine was black forest cake- chocolate ice cream with cherry flavor in it, and chocolate chips. I was able to eat a small amount then could not go on, and have the rest waiting in the freezer for me, along with leftovers from dinner.
It was a great meal. We went late, since I get home around 8, so we didn't get home 'til 10- enough time to watch Futurama and Good Eats then fall into a digestive sleep. We wanted to eat out yesterday because today is St. Paddy's day (not wearing green; I have no problems with the Irish but a certain Catholic saint who reportedly beat pagans with a cudgel can toss my salad; I'm listening to 'Holy Well' again today so that's my nod) and Friday is when the group gets together for Oestara. We reflected a little and both agree that it's been a pretty good 4 years, and signs seem to point to it only getting better. Huzzah!
I've always loved their appetizers. They had a whole artichoke that looked tempting- most places if they bother with artichoke at all it's vinegary-tasting canned bits in spinach alfredo sauce served as dip. I don't mind that, but you don't get much of an idea of what artichoke itself tastes like, and you miss out on the whole artichoke experience. But they're not really in season, so I gave it a pass.
For an appetizer to split, we had the avocado eggrolls. Basically, your standard fried eggrolls stuffed with chunks of avocado, and served with a sauce that tastes vaguely Indian, and is sweet. I also had a Godiva chocolate martini, which uses Godiva dark chocolate liqueur- not creamy, just chocolaty and alcoholic. They dipped the rim of the martini glass in chocolate powder too, yummy. I got a buzz from just the one, but I'm also a bit of a lightweight since I don't drink often.
For my meal, I had another appetizer- the corn tamale cakes. This is corn mash baked and covered with more avocado chunks and an avocado sauce, a bit of cheese and sour cream, tomatoes and cilantro. Hub had the blackened chicken sandwich which had some kind of soft white cheese that had a nice sharp flavor to it. The fries that came with it were really thin and not very exciting; they salted them with kosher salt instead of table salt which made them quite a bit saltier than I was expecting. Table salt is little, teeny cubes; kosher salt is big, flat flakes and delivers a lot more salty taste. Anyway, hub's meal was not bad, but it was pretty expensive for what it was and he grumbled good-naturedly about it.
His thing is that TCF tries to offer so many different things on the menu that they end up not doing any of them really well. I think their appetizers are pretty tasty, but there's never been anything else that's been really impressive. Well, okay, there's the cheesecake- but oddly, neither of us were really in the mood for it. Right next door is the more local Amy's Ice Cream so we headed over there.
Hub had cinnamon ice cream. The thing about Amy's is, they don't just put a hint of flavor, or a waft or a tinge. They put a whole bunch of flavor, and it's solid ice cream (most ice creams have a lot of water in them which dilutes the flavor) so it packs a wallop. I though the cinnamon was like taking the powder left in the bottom of a box of graham crackers and eating that- so it was the brown cinnamon, not the red cinnamon that goes in red hots. Mine was black forest cake- chocolate ice cream with cherry flavor in it, and chocolate chips. I was able to eat a small amount then could not go on, and have the rest waiting in the freezer for me, along with leftovers from dinner.
It was a great meal. We went late, since I get home around 8, so we didn't get home 'til 10- enough time to watch Futurama and Good Eats then fall into a digestive sleep. We wanted to eat out yesterday because today is St. Paddy's day (not wearing green; I have no problems with the Irish but a certain Catholic saint who reportedly beat pagans with a cudgel can toss my salad; I'm listening to 'Holy Well' again today so that's my nod) and Friday is when the group gets together for Oestara. We reflected a little and both agree that it's been a pretty good 4 years, and signs seem to point to it only getting better. Huzzah!
