Summerhay's Halibut & Chips

Address: 4870 S. Highland Cir., Salt Lake City, UT 84117. 801.424.9000.

Review: Summerhay's Halibut and Chips was a "I've-driven-by-this-joint-a-thousand-times-let's-check-it-out" decision. Oftentimes such a decision uncovers hidden culinary gems. This was not one of those times.

Summerhay's, obviously, prides itself on it's halibut and chips meal; so much so that when I asked the cashier what I should order, he said, "our halibut is what makes us famous." Um, not so much. For $12 I received three small breaded halibut pieces and a mess of ho-hum fries. The halibut, in addition to being under-seasoned, was overcooked. The malt vinegar served with the meal was an industrial vinegar anyone can buy at Walmart.

There were two things I enjoyed at Summerhay's: the fry sauce, and the cole slaw. I'm a sucker for fry sauce, and Summerhay's makes a pretty darn good hickory version. The cole slaw was a shredded slaw with a sweet yellow sauce. While I'm not sure what made the sauce yellow, the sweetness and acid were nice contrasts to the fattiness of the fries and fried fish.

Bottom line: the signature dish was expensive and not very well done.

Rating: 3.5/10 (5/10 is average)

Little America Coffee Shop

Address: 500 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, UT 84101. 801.596.5700.

Review: Restaurants in hotels are usually hit and miss. Often, it seems the hotel proprietor thinks, "Hey, we have a captive audience here, so let's serve them marginally-okay-although-thoroughly-overpriced food." Alright, I'm not sure how often that actually happens, but that sure seems to be what the proprietor of Little America was thinking when he opened his restaurant.

I had the buffalo burger. (Note: The American buffalo is actually bison, but we've been using the wrong name for centuries now.) Having lived in Nebraska, where Ted Turner has annoyed everyone by buying every plot of land and turning it into a buffalo range, I've eaten buffalo before. It's a good and tasty meat. This burger, however, was not. The meat was bland and lifeless (no pun intended). The menu indicated it came with grilled onions and blue cheese. Hogwash. The onions were barely cooked, and the blue cheese was so minimal I could barely taste it. Additionally, the bun was soggy and started breaking apart within forty-five seconds of the burger arriving at the table. The whole thing was a total loss, and at $10+ it was an overpriced total loss to boot.

I wasn't the only one in the group who felt this way about his lunch. We all disapproved of the quality of the food. In fact, we unanimously decided that next month's networking lunch would take place at a restaurant not in a hotel, and preferably one with far better food.

Rating: 4/10 (5/10 is average)

Bombay House

Address: 2731 E Parley's Way, Salt Lake City UT, 84109. 801.581.0222.

Review: I have a confession: I love Indian food. I love it almost as much as I love Italian food. In fact, when I enjoy a little Indian, it sort of feels like I'm cheating on Italy. Oh well, a little cheating never hurt anyone, right?

Seriously though, both cuisines are as delicious as they are divergent. Italian food is the ultimate rags to riches story. At its heart, it's a pauper food, based on severe poverty, simplicity, and quality of ingredients. Only relatively recently has it been elevated to a rich man's food. Indian food (in a broad sense), a pauper food in its own right, is based more on complexity of spicing, heat, and extracting maximum flavor from lower quality cuts of meat. Indian food's strong vegetarian strain also sets it apart from other cuisines. Anyway, does the Bombay House do Indian food justice and make me feel okay about my cheating ways? Hell yes.

I've been going to the Bombay House since a friend recommended it at BYU during our ungrad days. The place had me at chicken coconut kurma. Since that first time, oh so many years ago, the Bombay House has extracted untold amounts of money from my wallet. And the quality has only increased over the years. It is one of the better restaurants I have ever frequented. Tonight's dining experience was no different.

We started with the saag shorba (a soup of cream, spinach, tomatoes, and spices).

Sure doesn't look like much, but add a little lemon wedge and this stuff is money. The spinach and the cream make it substantial. The spices make it complex and flavorful. The tomato and lemon cut through the fat of the cream and make the soup refreshing. Goodness, I'm salivating just lookin' at it.

We then moved on to the main event: bhuna gosht. (At least, I think it's called bhuna gosht. It's a new dish, so I might be off base with the name. In any case, it's a lamb dish cooked with potatoes, tomatoes, onions, ginger, and various spices.)

Here's a picture of the entire spread.

Top right hand corner is the rice, and mango chutney populates the right bottom right. The lamb dish was had a good acidic quality on the tongue, which played well against the inherent fattiness of the lamb. The potatoes were really well cooked: mostly soft, but with just enough texture left to make them interesting. This, coupled with a little mango chutney, made my mouth happy.

And let's not forget the naan.

Light, carbonized in the right way, not doughy. Good stuff.

While we only had water tonight, the mango lassi is very good, as are the desserts. The kheer is a rice pudding with cardamom, cashews, and golden raisins. If you like cardamom (and why wouldn't you?), you'll dig kheer.

A note on price: the Bombay House ain't cheap. The saag shorba is $3.50. The entrees range from $12 to $15. A full dinner for two will run you about $35 to $40. But who gives a rip? Buck up and pay the cash. You'll be better for it.

Rating: 9/10 (5/10 is average)

Bruges Waffles and Frites

Address: 336 West Broadway, Salt Lake City, UT 84101. 801.363.4444.

Review: First things first, Bruges ain't no McDonald's, nor is it a Waffle House, although it sells both fries (a.k.a. frites) and waffles (a.k.a. gaufres). While I don't usually comment on ambiance (because, in the end, who really cares? It's all about how the food tastes), this place is wonderfully unpretentious. It's small like a phone booth is small. In fact, more institutional space seems devoted to the mayonnaise container than to customer seating. Eat outside or take the food to go. And now, the food.

Bruges's frites are made in the Belgian vein. They are thicker than the shoestring potatoes, yet they are smaller than steak fries (thankfully, because, really, who's ever had a good steak fry?). The key to frites like these is the cooking, or rather double cooking. They are initially partially cooked in oil in order to cook them through. Then they are cooked a second time in order to crisp the outside. This procedure produces a light, airy, and crispy frite. These fatty little crunchy gems are paired with hand-made mayonnaise. (This is as it should be. Once you try a good mayonnaise with fries, you'll never want ketchup again.) The mayonnaise selection is wide-ranging. I tried the aioli (mayo with garlic) and a spicy version, the name of which I can't remember. Both were quite good. These were the best fries I've had in a very, very long time.

And then there are the waffles. These waffles are yeast risen, and are not poured; the dough is far too thick for that. They are sweet and dense, with a good amount of crispiness on the outside. My wife and I ordered ours with creme fraiche. This decision is a departure from our wont to put nutella on bready desserts, but what a grand departure it was. The creme fraiche was both light and lightly sweetened -- a great compliment to the waffle.

I dig this joint, a lot. It has become the go-to place when I need a fix for fat, salt, and potatoes. My one disappointment was the price. Usually, this stuff is simple street food in Europe, and is priced accordingly. At Bruges, however, the food is priced as if you were sitting down at a restaurant. That said, I'll be paying whatever they want in perpetuity.

Rating: 8/10 (5/10 is average)

Update: Last night, I took a friend to Bruges's for his birthday. He ordered the torpedo (two chocolate bars melted inside a liege waffle). Said it was grand, he did. I went the savory route and purchased a machine gun sandwich. It's a baguette stuffed with lamb sausage, topped with frites, and smothered in sauce andalouse. Yeah, two words describe this sandwich: big, money. Each component was quite good, and each was designed to accentuate the the meaty nature of the sandwich. In all, great combination of savory flavors. I would suggest, however, sharing this sandwich with a loved one. Eating the entire thing is almost a sisyphean undertaking.

Pizzeria 712

Address: 320 S State St #185, Orem, UT 84058. 801.623.6712.

Review: Pizzeria 712 is a newish pizza joint opened by former Sundance employees. It's location doesn't appear terribly auspicious (it's right off State Street in Orem on the bottom floor of a partially defunct condo-commercial complex), but none of this has anything to do with the quality of the food. So, on to the food.

My buddy Marc and I started with 712's rendition of the insalata caprese.

It included Jacob's Cove heirloom tomatoes (local organic tomatoes), house-pulled mozzarella, olive oil, basil, balsamic vinegar. I can't say enough good things about this salad. Pulling the mozzarella in house removes the graininess found in many commercial mozzarellas. And the tomatoes, oh the tomatoes. They were perfectly ripe and garden sweet with a beautiful texture. Wonderful, just wonderful.

We then moved on to the pizzas.

Mine had soppressata, speck, garlic, tomatoes, and mozz.

It was disappointing. The crust was light and non-doughy, which is good, but it was pulled in such a way that portions were thicker than others. Because of this, the crust was altogether too thin is some spots. Additionally, cooking the speck (a form of smoked prosciutto) caused it to lose all semblance of smokiness and gave it a leathery texture; a true shame.

Marc's had marinated tomatoes, arugula, grana padana (an aged cow's milk cheese in the parmesan vein), ricotta, and shaved garlic.

The ricotta was creamy and wonderful. The marinated tomatoes were money. Everything else worked well, although the arugula was wilted and tasteless. Unfortunately, however, this pizza suffered the same crust problem as the first.

In all, a little hit and miss. That said, I'll certainly be back to try more dishes at 712.

Rating: Tomato and mozz salad 9, pizza 6, overall, 7.

The Kathmandu

Address: 3142 South Highland Dr., Salt Lake City, UT 84106. 801.466.3504.

Review: I heard about The Kathmandu (TK) the day I arrived in Salt Lake. I asked for restaurant suggestions, and a friend recommended TK because it was right down the road. He was especially sold on the lunch buffet. Well, it took me a couple months, but I finally followed his recommendation.

We began the meal by ordering the Kathmandu Combo Platter, which includes Lamb boti kabab (a type of lamb sausage), chicken tikka, chicken tandoori, paneer pakora (fried homemade cheese), aloo tikki and sami kabab.

At $10.95 this is a little pricey for an appetizer, but well worth it. The lamb boti kabab was flavorful and well seasoned, as was the chicken tikka and tandoori. (To be truthful, the chicken tandoori was a little dry, but still good.) Perhaps the best part of the platter were the vegetables, which, even after cooking, retained their structure and fresh flavor. The cauliflower spiced with tandoori spices was especially tasty. Now, on to the entrees.

We ordered three entrees: khashi (goat curry), chicken coconut korma, and prawn curry. Let's look at each individually.

1. The khashi, a Nepali specialty, was spicey goodness.

The thing I most appreciated was the goat was still on the bone, complete with sinews. In all, the goat was tender and not particularly gamy. As they always do, the bones imparted additional flavor.

2. The chicken coconut korma (one of my favorite dishes ever) was not particularly well spiced. In fact, it fell flat. There was none of that Indian depth of flavor that comes from its complex and heavy spicing. Additionally, the sauce had a mayonnaise consistency to it. Just a bit thick for my taste.

3. I was divided on the the prawn curry. The sauce was good enough (although nothing particularly special), but the actual prawns were overcooked and tough. Overall, substandard.

Now, on to the sides. The naan was slightly more dense than I usually enjoy, but had good taste to it. The mango lassi (mango and milk drink) was the best I've ever had. Thick with lots of mango flavor, and not too sweet.

In all, I really enjoyed some items, and some others had some significant problems. TK was about average as far as Indian-Nepali restaurants go.

(Note: I have heard the lunch buffet is quite good. I obviously haven't tried it, but I'll blog about it when I do.)

Rating: 5/10 (5/10 is average)

Vinto

Address: 418 E 200 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84111. 801.539.9999.

Review: My buddy's law firm is across the street from Vinto's. I've passed it a hundred times. Today, I partook.

Vinto is based on an increasingly popular concept: the wood-fired oven pizzeria. It's interior is hip and trendy. My son quite enjoyed the ceiling lights suspended in large white-weaved hollow balls. Yeah, trendy shmendy. You know what's really trendy? Good food, and good pizza in particular.

My buddy Todd and I (we have both lived in Italy) began with pizza. I ordered the margherita (tomatoes, mozzarella, basil).

I actually wanted a prosciutto cotto (pizza with tomatoes, mozz, and cooked ham); but when I asked the waiter if they had prosciutto cotto, he stared blankly for a few seconds before saying, "We have prosciutto." I realized at that point things would not be going well. The margherita was not terribly good. The crust, while light and thin as a good crust should be, was stiff and tough. The tomatoes, while of sufficient quality, were too few. The pizza felt dry. The cheese was good, but nothing special. Additionally, the portion size was small. (Now, Italian style pizza is not about size, it's about quality, but this was small even for an Italian style pizza.)

Todd ordered the tuttabella, i.e., "all things beautiful" (sausage, caramelized onions, sliced tomatoes, garlic, roasted bell peppers, fresh mozzarella).

The sausage (made on site, to Vinto's credit) was the best thing on the pizza. The roasted peppers lacked flavor, and the caramelized onions were lost in the mix. This just didn't work well.

We ended the meal with dessert. I ordered the Vinto Taster, a collection of Vinto's house-made gelati (flavors: coconut, amarena, strawberry, mango, pistachio, chocolate).

Now, when I eat gelato, I expect the flavors to hit me in the face, and then yell, "You like that!? You taste me now!?" Vinto's gelato did nothing of the sort. While creamy and smooth, the tastes were not assertive on the palate. The fruit gelati tasted like milk and sugar with some fruit as an afterthought. The chocolate possessed an odd bitter component (I say odd because I love bitter chocolate) that overtook the taste and made it almost unpleasant. The only gelato that really worked was the coconut. It's mild coconut flavor made me actually desire coconut: a true feat.

And Todd ordered the apple crostata.

(Wow, what a gorgeous presentation.) Having enjoyed a fair number of crostate in my day, I can't say this was one of the better ones. The apples were entirely dry (and I mean dry, like English sitcom dry), and the vanilla gelato lacked a pronounced flavor of vanilla. (Do we see a theme here?) The dough, which should be the star of the show, was just okay.

Rating: 4/10 (5/10 is average)