As you might have noticed, I am no longer using the term "Product of the Week" for my weekly recommendations. This way, I can write about products and movies, restaurants, websites, local businesses, or whatever else strikes my fancy.
This week's recommendation is Wok Hay Fresh Asian Diner in Bearden.
I had eaten at Wok Hay before it went through "the change" (not the menopause one), and back then, I would have said that it was okay. The food was good, but the concept, which reminded me of a Panera (but with Asian food), didn't really do much for me. I heard about Ruby Tuesday buying it awhile back and turning it into a sit-down restaurant, but I hadn't eaten there since then, mainly because I had kind of forgotten about it.
Well, after eating there with Philly last night, all I have to say is: Good job, Ruby Tuesday.
When I walked into Wok Hay, I immediately loved its ambiance. It's decorated with lots of red and other deep colors, and it has the appearance of a nice restaurant, even though the food is still priced very reasonably.
Philly and I had just had a couple of beers and some popcorn over at Toddy's when we got there, so we weren't starving, and we decided that we'd each get a cup of hot and sour soup and then split a meal. First of all, the "cups" of soup were a lot bigger than a normal cup! And second of all, we each got our own bowl of crunchy wontons with our soup, which I thought was a nice touch. For our entree, we decided on the Kung Pao Noodle Bowl with beef (we also could've gotten chicken), and when it arrived, they had already split it into two portions for us! I love it when restaurants do that.
The service was good, the food was good, the prices were good...overall, it was a great meal.
What I don't understand is, if Ruby Tuesday can do so well with Wok Hay, why are their "regular" restaurants so crappy? I mean, I'm not saying that I don't like the Ruby Tuesday salad bar or that those little mini burgers aren't delish, but if you ever ate at a Ruby Tuesday "back in the day" (I'm referring to the 80's here), then you know that R.T. has really gone downhill since then. Does anyone remember when they used to have that delicious brown bread with honey butter? Those were the days, man. Those were the days.
But I digress.
Friday, February 01, 2008
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5 comments:
I forgot about the brown bread and honey butter at RT but it was Awesome. I've eaten at the revamped Wok Hay once and it was better than before - I recommend the scallops. -AB
Yes, the scallops are extra good. So is that spicy shrimp appetizer. I didn't know that Wok Hay was a RT brand... how have they avoided the poison that is Ruby's today? In fact, after comparing the two, how is it that RT can get everything so right at Wok Hay and manage to mess everything up at their namesake chain. Just more than a little confused about that one. OBTW the bob is eating the waffelbakers pancakes now, says they are much better than the other brands. Likewise, I tried the Dove deo... another good find! Just call us lemmings! Now I gotta go, gotta jump off the cliff 'cause there's a bunch of other kids who are doing it today and I don't want to miss out!
Ruby Tuesdays, O´Charley´s, TGIFriday´s, Chili´s, and Applebee´s --- Those are the Big 5 for me -- they all are restaurants I avoid like the plague. Food doesn´t stand out, portions don´t stand out, service doesn´t stand out, prices don´t stand. And everytime I leave, I wish I´d eaten somewhere else. It´s like ¨uhhh... it was alright...¨...
Good review on Wok Hay... look forward to eating there next time I´m in town...
-E-
I'm the same way, E. I never ever eat at Ruby Tuesday's, O'Charley's, or Applebee's. I should probably add TGIFridays and Chili's to the list as well since they are pretty much the same. Finally, someone else out there that sees it my way! Those places are always so "blah".
Oh Pepper, stay strong, my friend, stay strong... don´t let the masses talk you into any of The Big 5.
We´re definitely friends. :)
-E-
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