Most disappointing meal (1 Viewer)

El Caliente

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Today the kid’s school had their quarterly spirit night, where we were asked to patronize a local eatery that donated a portion of proceeds to the school. Ms. Caliente and I didn’t care to cook, and the restaurant was a seafood place here in the Houston area, so we were game.

We took the kids, and 3 of the kids ordered chicken strips while the other ordered macaroni and cheese with crab, Ms. Caliente ordered a salad with crab meat, and I ordered a shrimp poboy. The 3 kids who ordered chicken strips probably had the best meal.

Both the salad and the macaroni had little crab meat, and that’s fine as both of them eat like rabbits.

The Poboy though. Oh, the poboy. I swear, if my wife came out to me over dinner that she was a tranny and leaving me with the kids so that she could join the circus I wouldn’t have been as disappointed as I was with that sandwich.

I am used to poboys from Parran’s, Short Stop, Danny and Clyde’s, Bears, etc., real poboys this abomination that I ate tonight wasn’t fit to be called a sandwich. The first sign that I was in for an experience was when I asked for my “authentic” New Orleans poboy to be “dressed”. The waiter looked at me sideways like I was speaking Greek. I had to explain what “dressed” was, and they were out off half the things I wanted on it.

When the poboy did come through I wasn’t sure if another sandwich would be coming out. The thing was 3/5 the size of a traditional poboy. The shrimp in the poboy must have gotten lost from the rest of the group as there were only 7 total shrimp in the sandwich. I think I chewed more Mayo than bread or shrimp. The bread was from Gambino’s. When I asked if they had Gambino’s king cake they asked me “What’s that, is it like a Mardi Gras cake?” Does Gambino’s bakery make the bread that is shipped everywhere, or is that a different company?

Anyway, the flavor was horrible, and 3 hours later I am still tasting it. The service was great even if the food wasn’t, so I left a 15% tip, but I won’t be going back to relive that voyage of the damned.
 
From my limited experiences, you could have stopped after the word Houston and I'd have understood. I'm certain there are great places to eat there, but I've not found one.
 
It’s a tie between a ‘new orleans’ meal in Tokyo or Chinese in Italy - but of course those are to be expected
The most surprisingly bad I had was at Landry’s in the French quarter- I later found that landrys was a chain out of Houston which helped to explain how you can have bad seafood in NO but bleck
 
Today the kid’s school had their quarterly spirit night, where we were asked to patronize a local eatery that donated a portion of proceeds to the school. Ms. Caliente and I didn’t care to cook, and the restaurant was a seafood place here in the Houston area, so we were game.

We took the kids, and 3 of the kids ordered chicken strips while the other ordered macaroni and cheese with crab, Ms. Caliente ordered a salad with crab meat, and I ordered a shrimp poboy. The 3 kids who ordered chicken strips probably had the best meal.

Both the salad and the macaroni had little crab meat, and that’s fine as both of them eat like rabbits.

The Poboy though. Oh, the poboy. I swear, if my wife came out to me over dinner that she was a tranny and leaving me with the kids so that she could join the circus I wouldn’t have been as disappointed as I was with that sandwich.

I am used to poboys from Parran’s, Short Stop, Danny and Clyde’s, Bears, etc., real poboys this abomination that I ate tonight wasn’t fit to be called a sandwich. The first sign that I was in for an experience was when I asked for my “authentic” New Orleans poboy to be “dressed”. The waiter looked at me sideways like I was speaking Greek. I had to explain what “dressed” was, and they were out off half the things I wanted on it.

When the poboy did come through I wasn’t sure if another sandwich would be coming out. The thing was 3/5 the size of a traditional poboy. The shrimp in the poboy must have gotten lost from the rest of the group as there were only 7 total shrimp in the sandwich. I think I chewed more Mayo than bread or shrimp. The bread was from Gambino’s. When I asked if they had Gambino’s king cake they asked me “What’s that, is it like a Mardi Gras cake?” Does Gambino’s bakery make the bread that is shipped everywhere, or is that a different company?

Anyway, the flavor was horrible, and 3 hours later I am still tasting it. The service was great even if the food wasn’t, so I left a 15% tip, but I won’t be going back to relive that voyage of the damned.
Root cause; you live in Houston! Game over.
 
Ruth’s Chris NO on my anniversary a few years back.

Took 30 minutes to get seated even though we had a reservation, and another 15 minutes to get drink orders taken.

My soup was cold. Not lukewarm. Cold.

My wife’s salad had lettuce that was wilted, bordering on rotten.

My wife’s steak, ordered medium-rare, was well-done. Mine was cooked properly, but wasn’t seasoned.


Service was literally Popeyes-level until we finally asked for a manager. We got a free dessert (which was by far the best part of the meal) and half off the ticket, which was still about $75.

I’ve eaten all over. For the price, it was easily the worst meal I’ve ever had, top to bottom.
 
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Yeah, there are just some things you should never order when not in their area of origin unless you know beforehand it's okay. New Orleans has a loooooong list. If I do so, well, I take responsibility.

My most disappointing meal was trying to replicate a favorite family dish my mom used to make.
It's a PA Dutch kind of comfort food ham loaf and it takes a specific mixture of ham that is very common up there. Tried to get a butcher down here to make it and it just was awful. I should have known better. By the same token, I guess I wouldn't go to an Amish butcher and ask for a turducken and expect that I knew what I was going to get.
 
It’s a tie between a ‘new orleans’ meal in Tokyo or Chinese in Italy - but of course those are to be expected
The most surprisingly bad I had was at Landry’s in the French quarter- I later found that landrys was a chain out of Houston which helped to explain how you can have bad seafood in NO but bleck
Well, I didn't know that Landry's was based in Houston so that's good to know. I've opined before on the people that come to NOLA and eat at chains like Red Lobster and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (though I don't think that exists anymore). Those people deserve what they get.
 
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Landry's, Inc is a huge restaurant conglomerate owned by Tilman Fertitta. Fertitta is also the billionaire that owns the Houston Rockets of the NBA.

The Pappas brothers also own over 100 restaurants throughout Texas (most all of which are overpriced and just, meh).

If I have a bad meal it's usually my fault. Attempting to dine out on Mother's Day or Valentine's night; going to a new restaurant just a couple of days after it has opened, etc...

Funny (and also somewhat sad) story...

My son's hockey team was playing in the Dallas area on Valentine's weekend a few years ago. Their Sat night game ended at 5:30pm on Valentine's night, and they had to be up early the next morning for a 7:00am game. I ended up being tasked with finding a dinner option for sixteen 13&14 year old boys + parents and coaches (on Valentine's night) to get them fed and then back to the hotel to sleep. For better or worse, we figured, let's call the nearby Hooter's, they shouldn't be crowded. They were able to accommodate us with a private room. Food was about as average as I expected, but the boys (and the parents) had a blast.
The sad part was when we left around 8:00pm on Valentine's night, they had a line of people (singles and couples) out the door and starting to wrap around the building.
Who woulda' thunk it?
 
My son's hockey team was playing in the Dallas area on Valentine's weekend a few years ago. Their Sat night game ended at 5:30pm on Valentine's night, and they had to be up early the next morning for a 7:00am game. I ended up being tasked with finding a dinner option for sixteen 13&14 year old boys + parents and coaches (on Valentine's night) to get them fed and then back to the hotel to sleep. For better or worse, we figured, let's call the nearby Hooter's, they shouldn't be crowded. They were able to accommodate us with a private room. Food was about as average as I expected, but the boys (and the parents) had a blast.
The sad part was when we left around 8:00pm on Valentine's night, they had a line of people (singles and couples) out the door and starting to wrap around the building.
Who woulda' thunk it?
I have never understood how people think. I like going to Hooters because I like their burgers. But for Valentine's Day? I have many, many questions.
 
Ruth’s Chris NO on my anniversary a few years back.

Took 30 minutes to get seated even though we had a reservation, and another 15 minutes to get drink orders taken.

My soup was cold. Not lukewarm. Cold.

My wife’s salad had lettuce that was wilted, bordering on rotten.

My wife’s steak, ordered medium-rare, was well-done. Mine was cooked properly, but wasn’t seasoned.


Service was literally Popeyes-level until we finally asked for a manager. We got a free dessert (which was by far the best part of the meal) and half off the ticket, which was still about $75.

I’ve eaten all over. For the price, it was easily the worst meal I’ve ever had, top to bottom.



Of all the steakhouses in the city, Ruth’s Chris is my least favorite one, at least the one downtown. Last time we went, maybe 4-5 years ago, the sides were absolutely terrible. It was like those meal for one you pop in the microwave.
 

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