Date
1/29/09
Location
Elliewood Avenue, across from the Biltmore
11 Elliewood Avenue
What I ate
Artichoke cheese bake, house salad with Thai peanut dressing, and pesto chicken sandwich
Who went
Suzie, Miles, and Matt
Website
http://marthascafe.com/homepage.html
Thoughts
Miles and Suzie lamented more than once that they had never visited this place before. Martha's is in an old house and there isn't much space, but what is there is quite cozy. Sadly, the place is for sale so it might not be around for much longer. Go while you still can! It's a great little place.
Our food was out quickly and finished in even less time. The appetizer wasn't much different from a lot of artichoke dips around the Corner, but it was quite tasty. They like to put cheese on a lot of things (get a quesadilla, trust me) which almost always helps. My sandwich could've used a little more between the bread, but what was there was delicious. The pesto was present but not overpowering and the goat cheese (see?) was a great addition. I'm usually partial to Asian salad dressings and the Thai peanut didn't disappoint.
Martha's is great for small groups. In addition to tasty food, the service is almost always quick, efficient, and unobtrusive. Sometimes, it's nice to have a waiter who wants to make conversation, but you're usually out to dinner with friends so you can talk to them. The place is also quirky enough (fish in the tub of the bathroom, art on the walls, etc.) to provide some conversation starters. If you're looking for a low-key place to go with a friend or three, you could do a whole lot worse.
Recap
Pros - The food is really good and the prices aren't high at all.
Cons - The beer list is in it's infancy, so we can't count that against them. Just don't take a big group because there's little room.
Overall - Tasty food, good prices, cozy atmosphere - all's well here if your part is less than 6.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Dr. Ho's Humble Pie
Date
1/21/09
Location
About 10 miles south of Charlottesville along 29
3586 Monacan Trail, North Garden
What I ate
16" pizza, whole wheat crust, with green peppers, caramelized onions, and artichokes
Who went
Anjie, Suzie, Matt, Nora, Miles, and Patrick
Website
http://www.doctorhoshumblepie.com/
Thoughts
It's about as hole-in-the-wall as a pizza place can get and it wasn't my discovery, but I've been a big fan for a while now. This review is partly based on tonight's trip and partly on the other times I've gone; I think it gives a more useful picture.
Dr. Ho's is foremost a pizza place. They have some standard pizza-place specials but a few interesting ones you won't find most places. You have a lot of flexibility if you want to design your own pizza (we did this time) and they use great ingredients. I can't speak to the quality of the meats other than the chicken (great, especially the BBQ), but I typically hear sounds that indicate happiness from the people eating pizzas with bacon or pepperoni on them. The veggies usually stand up against the sauce and cheese.
The service isn't the friendliest, but it's usually efficient. The tables are a little on the small side; this is made more evident when your pizza arrives. That said, drinks are refilled quickly and the pizza arrives piping hot. In fact, you probably want to wait a little bit before eating your first bite.
The place is quite small and made even smaller once or twice a week when they bring in live music. As cool as the music can be, there's no separation between it and the diners, and it takes away some seats often leading to a wait to sit down. They only have two "large" tables, so don't bring a party there. The tables seat 4 easily and can be combined with some flexibility. The place is run by a bunch of hippies, but I mean that in a nice way. The mood is very laid-back.
Recap
Pros - The pizza is delicious. The menu is surprisingly varied (look past just pizza sometime) and I really like the atmosphere.
Cons - I didn't feel quite full afterwards. Also, cramming a band into the already-small space makes things quite cramped and conversation difficult.
Overall - It's still my favorite pizza place around here. I'll probably try to avoid nights when there's music, but it's always fun.
1/21/09
Location
About 10 miles south of Charlottesville along 29
3586 Monacan Trail, North Garden
What I ate
16" pizza, whole wheat crust, with green peppers, caramelized onions, and artichokes
Who went
Anjie, Suzie, Matt, Nora, Miles, and Patrick
Website
http://www.doctorhoshumblepie.com/
Thoughts
It's about as hole-in-the-wall as a pizza place can get and it wasn't my discovery, but I've been a big fan for a while now. This review is partly based on tonight's trip and partly on the other times I've gone; I think it gives a more useful picture.
Dr. Ho's is foremost a pizza place. They have some standard pizza-place specials but a few interesting ones you won't find most places. You have a lot of flexibility if you want to design your own pizza (we did this time) and they use great ingredients. I can't speak to the quality of the meats other than the chicken (great, especially the BBQ), but I typically hear sounds that indicate happiness from the people eating pizzas with bacon or pepperoni on them. The veggies usually stand up against the sauce and cheese.
The service isn't the friendliest, but it's usually efficient. The tables are a little on the small side; this is made more evident when your pizza arrives. That said, drinks are refilled quickly and the pizza arrives piping hot. In fact, you probably want to wait a little bit before eating your first bite.
The place is quite small and made even smaller once or twice a week when they bring in live music. As cool as the music can be, there's no separation between it and the diners, and it takes away some seats often leading to a wait to sit down. They only have two "large" tables, so don't bring a party there. The tables seat 4 easily and can be combined with some flexibility. The place is run by a bunch of hippies, but I mean that in a nice way. The mood is very laid-back.
Recap
Pros - The pizza is delicious. The menu is surprisingly varied (look past just pizza sometime) and I really like the atmosphere.
Cons - I didn't feel quite full afterwards. Also, cramming a band into the already-small space makes things quite cramped and conversation difficult.
Overall - It's still my favorite pizza place around here. I'll probably try to avoid nights when there's music, but it's always fun.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Creo
Date
1/2/09
Location
A mall up by Lisa's place
1475 Western Avenue, Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, NY
What I ate
Tagliatelle with caramelized onions, wild mushrooms, parmigiano, and white truffle oil
Who went
Lisa, Rob, and Matt
Website
http://www.creorestaurant.com/
Thoughts
First, let's just talk about the concept. Poke around their website to get a better idea, but it's a sustainability-centric restaurant with gourmet food. They're LEED-certified with awesome things like a grass roof, a floor made of recycled materials, and energy efficient equipment. They get high marks in my book before I even look at the menu.
The score just keeps going up after I do indeed look at the menu. They have a good variety on the menu and each item is thoroughly described. Every table gets a small bowl of edamame and a basket of bread, which were both tasty. My pasta was good and all of the flavors came through well, except maybe the truffle oil. Then again, that's probably because I haven't ever had it before and just couldn't pin down the specific flavor; there was an underlying but unidentifiable deliciousness to the dish, so I'll just assume that was the truffle oil. Everyone else finished their dishes with relative ease while making noises that suggest they were quite happy, but I'll leave it for them to describe their experience.
Our waiter was very helpful. He wasn't particularly conversational, but the place was packed and I'm sure he didn't have time to dawdle. He was friendly while answering our questions and giving advice. His manner of speaking suggested a good deal of familiarity with both the dishes on the menu and cooking in general. No one ever had an empty glass and our food arrived promptly.
The ambiance was a little busy, but nice overall. There is conversation everywhere and the odd lighting scheme surprisingly keeps the place well-lit without being too bright. I love that they have the kitchen open to view, though it can be a little distracting from table conversation. It's just too bad it's a 400+ miles trip from Charlottesville.
Recap
Pros - focus on sustainability, generally well-done, great food
Cons - it's too far from me, there are a few sustainability issues (some small things) that could make it even better
Overall - As if you couldn't already tell, this place is awesome. I highly recommend it to anyone who lives within about an hour. I'd say longer, but you don't want to drive too far while you're fighting the food coma.
1/2/09
Location
A mall up by Lisa's place
1475 Western Avenue, Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, NY
What I ate
Tagliatelle with caramelized onions, wild mushrooms, parmigiano, and white truffle oil
Who went
Lisa, Rob, and Matt
Website
http://www.creorestaurant.com/
Thoughts
First, let's just talk about the concept. Poke around their website to get a better idea, but it's a sustainability-centric restaurant with gourmet food. They're LEED-certified with awesome things like a grass roof, a floor made of recycled materials, and energy efficient equipment. They get high marks in my book before I even look at the menu.
The score just keeps going up after I do indeed look at the menu. They have a good variety on the menu and each item is thoroughly described. Every table gets a small bowl of edamame and a basket of bread, which were both tasty. My pasta was good and all of the flavors came through well, except maybe the truffle oil. Then again, that's probably because I haven't ever had it before and just couldn't pin down the specific flavor; there was an underlying but unidentifiable deliciousness to the dish, so I'll just assume that was the truffle oil. Everyone else finished their dishes with relative ease while making noises that suggest they were quite happy, but I'll leave it for them to describe their experience.
Our waiter was very helpful. He wasn't particularly conversational, but the place was packed and I'm sure he didn't have time to dawdle. He was friendly while answering our questions and giving advice. His manner of speaking suggested a good deal of familiarity with both the dishes on the menu and cooking in general. No one ever had an empty glass and our food arrived promptly.
The ambiance was a little busy, but nice overall. There is conversation everywhere and the odd lighting scheme surprisingly keeps the place well-lit without being too bright. I love that they have the kitchen open to view, though it can be a little distracting from table conversation. It's just too bad it's a 400+ miles trip from Charlottesville.
Recap
Pros - focus on sustainability, generally well-done, great food
Cons - it's too far from me, there are a few sustainability issues (some small things) that could make it even better
Overall - As if you couldn't already tell, this place is awesome. I highly recommend it to anyone who lives within about an hour. I'd say longer, but you don't want to drive too far while you're fighting the food coma.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)