Comment Archives: stories: Restaurants: Dining Reviews
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Acanthus Cafe”
Agreed. I lost all interest after that sentence. Disgusting!
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Grinnell's”
I have been to Grinnell's many many times and have never had a bad meal or exoerience. I also was extremly surprised by this review. I chose to have my son's wedding rehearsal dinner there because I was so confident in the food ,atmosphere and service. Everything was perfect!! It is a Rochester treasure that has much to offer.
Cheryl Brady
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Grinnell's”
In reading the Dec. 29, 2012 issue of CITY (whose editorials I consider the best), there's a restaurant review of GRINNELL'S RESTAURANT. I am sure Mr. Leach has some basis for what he wrote, but after reading his review I truly wondered if this is the same restaurant I have been to well over fifty times. Yes, I go to other restaurants, but when all is said done I consider GRINNELL'S RESTAURANT the very finest of all for outstanding service, for an outstanding and full bar with the best cocktails, for outstanding food in presentation, texture, and taste, a welcoming decor, and, yes, even reasonable prices for what they offer.
If reading this review precedes your going to GRINNELL'S, it will not be surprising if you do not go for even the first time. For those especially who have never been to GRINNELL'S: try it, try it just once, Don't be surprised if you join the many, many, many more than satisfied customers who go back and go back and go back and go back. Why? Because GRINNELL'S is so good and enjoyable. Is GRINNELL'S worth raving about? You had better believe it!
Foster Rogers
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Acanthus Cafe”
Just found this out on my recent visit... It's unfortunate that this up and coming eatery is no longer employing the cook that prepared the exceptional cooking highlighted in this review! Seems he is no longer employed there, where is he? I will definitely follow him as he has a flare for combining common ingredients to conjure up unique flavors with a mediterranean influence that made this tiny establishment a city treasure. I will not be visiting again as the quality is not worth the price with the current cooking staff. Their loss...the city's also. Please let us know what lucky restaurant scooped him up!
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Acanthus Cafe”
I don't know if your newborn enjoyed the breastmilk, but presumably, he/she did. There's little question that this leading bit of information dampened my appetite for the rest of the article. I'm curious about who might care that your newborn was drinking breastmilk while reading an article about adult dining? Maybe if you ever do an article on early daycare, this might really interest someone.
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Victoire”
Just to reiterate...If you want to be treated poorly, order beers that can be readily found at Wegmans, and have overall mediocre food, then head to victoire. The only thing I liked was the mussels. The dubbel braised wings (which I should have known better to order braised wings) were gummy from the braising and just plain awful. Usually the Old Toad has more one to two far more interesting, if at least rarer Belgian beers and many more in the bottle . I was hoping this would be Rochester's answer to the Blue Monk in Buffalo (Which has a fantastic beer selection both for the Belgian novice and beer hunter, and very good food) but it turns out just to be another bad interpretation from the same group that has brought more blah restaurants and bars to Rochester.
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Victoire”
I couldn't possibly agree more with the poor service. Every time we've been there, you'd think it was a bother that we sat down at all - the waitstaff was so moody and inattentive. The last time we were outside (late fall), seated at the large table with a group to one end that seemed to know our server personally. They got exceptional service. Perhaps our server was just tired after spending so much time chatting it up with his friends that he had nothing left to share with us. We have refused to go back.
The frites were fine when I was last there. I DO love a choice of dipping sauces so I find that quite a plus.
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Victoire”
I was there last night (12/8, about 10pm) and the service was flat out awful, just incredibly awful. I feel I have no choice but NOT to recommend this place to people.
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Victoire”
the frites are possibly on their way up, last time I was there they were better. haven't tried the carbonnade or french onion soup but the duck reuben is very good and the burger is one of the best, definitely in my top 5.
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Victoire”
This review starts out talking about the need for a good belgian beer joint, yet doesn't even address the beer list at Victoire (I refuse to call it Victory). The few times I was there, what turned me off (aside from the inattentive service noted by others) is that Victoire doesn't offer any beer that you can't get at the grocery store. If they want to be an elite Belgian beer bar, they should start by serving elite Belgian beer.
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Victoire”
Totally agree about the sub-par fries and the unfriendly and inattentive service that the first commenter references. While the fry situation may not be insurmountable, even stellar food can't overcome terrible service. I want to like you Victoire, but you make it so hard!
Re: “CHOW HOUND: Fiamma, Finger Lakes Restaurant Week, and more”
Amazing food, nice atmosphere..
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Victoire”
The beer, food, and atmosphere (Need to finish the coming soon fireplace though) are amazing at Victoire, its the employees that ruin the experience for me. They are unfriendly and act as if waiting on you is an inconvenience to them. Id love to give you a great tip Victoire employees, I can afford to tip you well, but your pompous attitude of "I am too good to take your order" is the reason I dont return on a weekly basis. Get your act together employees at Victoire, or find other jobs. You are lucky to tend bar and wait tables in a place like Victoire.
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Victoire”
My fries on Monday night were very good.
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Victoire”
I agree both about the fries and the french onion soup. We have had all the same experiences. Mussels are delicious but the fries are either soggy or burned, and are never seasoned properly. A good fry shouldn't be that hard to make - fry once, cool, fry again at a higher temperature. Easy. A good frite is an essential part of a moules frites establishment, and Victoire only has the moules part down.
Re: “CHOW HOUND: Fiamma, Finger Lakes Restaurant Week, and more”
"Food That Grows" is an amazing cookbook, that makes eating gluten free/cow dairy free an exciting adventure rather than a life sentence! I love the recipes, and the personal anecdotes that are part of each recipe make each dish come to life. And there's a health tip with every recipe, so you learn why those ingredients are good for you and how they help your health.
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Thai Lao”
Right around the corner from my apartment and so lucky to have it! I'm a huge fan of vietnamese and thai foods and it was so cool to see their intersection in the cuisine here.
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Pleased to meat you”
Based on this review, we went to CURE last night. I, too, am cured. Cured, that is, of ever having to go back there. Started off with the Camembert cheese with fingerling potatoes. Was shocked when biting into the potato to find it was stone cold. Cheese would not spread nicely on it. Next moved to the rabbit and mushroom pate you raved about. I always think of pate as something to spread on something else. This was a cold solid slice that never softened up and could not be spread at all. It also lacked any discernible flavor. The bread, mustard and pickles far outshone the pate. Then we indulged in the branzini. I had never had this fish but I found it bland and dry. The small clump of greens on top again outshone the feature. We had a cauliflower gratin which was ok except in the way the pieces were cut which made spooning and eating difficult. All in all the bread and the greens stole the show.
On the positive side the ambiance is very nice albeit a little noisy. The wine was great. And the waitstaff were superior.
The biggest downer was the very high price we had to pay for this very unmemorable dinner. So were we at the same restaurant Mr. Leach?
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Good Smoke BBQ”
Easily my favorite BBQ restaurant in Rochester. Love to go there before every Friday night Amerks game!
Re: “DINING REVIEW: Acanthus Cafe”
Are you people serious? The notion of a baby nursing grosses you out? I feel it's crucial for a writer to set the scene, and the presence of a newborn can certainly affect any dining experience. And while that fact is obviously not of vital importance, many other details are probably irrelevant, too; why not harp on those? I have zero problem with breastfeeding being mentioned in this article. Grow up.