Ruby Tuesday-Rt 70

       This past Monday night, Ryan and I decided to go out to Ruby Tuesday on Rt. 70.  Although Ruby Tuesday isn't the fanciest place, I like to eat there often.  I like it there because their food is a great value for the price.  I usually eat at the Freehold location, and I have never been to the one on Rt. 70 before.  Upon entering, we realized that it is pretty small in there, but it is very clean and looks brand-new inside.
        One thing Ruby Tuesday is known for is their complimentary and unlimited garlic cheese biscuits.  Our waitress, however, did not bring us any.  We both love shrimp, so as our appetizer, we ordered the Shrimp Sampler, which is described as:

Shrimp Sampler

Golden fried shrimp served three ways-Asian sesame with a peanut glaze, Thai Phoon shrimp with a sweet chile sauce, and cajun shrimp served with a side of ranch sauce. $7.99

 

 

         They did not supply us with the side of ranch sauce for the cajun shrimp, and it was too hot to eat without it.  The waitress was spending most of her time chatting with co-workers at the bar instead of checking on her tables, so we were not able to ask for it.  I didn't mind though, because the rest of the appetizer was great.  The Thai Phoon shrimp was my favorite, and the Asian shrimp was also great.  The sesame peanut sauce tasted very authentic.
       Another thing Ruby Tuesday is widely known for is their great salad bar, which can be added onto any entree for an additional $2.99.  Of course I added it to mine.  The salad bar was well stocked and fresh.  They were advertising that they had added ten new items to the salad bar.  For my entree I ordered their Crab Cake Dinner:

Crab Cake Dinner
One crab cake made from fresh, premium jumbo lump crab meat and seared to a golden brown. $12.99

       Ruby Tuesday offers two sides with any entree.  Instead of choosing two, I asked for an order of broccoli cheese soup as my side.  When she brought my food out, I was surprised with the size of the crab cake.  It was bigger than I had expected.  It was served with a sweet chili sauce and a lemon.  The portion of broccoli cheese soup was also pretty large.  It looked and smelled delicious, and there was melted cheese sprinkled on top.  It was good, but not as good as I was expecting.  Panera Bread's broccoli cheese soup is better, but it was still good.  The crab cake was delicious.  As you can see, I like seafood, but I am usually pretty picky about it.  I have no complaints about the quality of this crab cake.

       However, I did have some complaints about the quality of the service.  As i mentioned, the waitress did not really make herself available for help, and when she did, it was disappointing.  On one occasion she was walking by and we stopped her to ask for some biscuits.  She said she would bring them to us. but she never did.  By the end of the meal between the shrimp, salad, crab cake and soup I was probably too full for biscuits anyway, but I still believe in good service as someone who works in the restaurant business myself.

Applebees- Toms River, NJ

      This past Friday, my boyfriend and I went out to eat at Applebee's at the Ocean County Mall.  I am usually not a big fan of this chain of restaurants.  However, it was open late and there was no wait to sit, and we were pretty hungry.  When I go to Applebee's, I usually go to the one on Route 9 in Howell, and the food is usually pretty mediocre.  So, my expectations were not very high.  We ordered the classic boneless buffalo wings for an appetizer.  They are described as:

lightly breaded boneless chicken with your choice of sauce. $8.99

      I am a huge fan of buffalo wings and can be very critical of how they are made.  I do not normally like the boneless buffalo wings from Applebee's because they usually taste like they were made in a microwave.  This time, however, I was pleasantly surprised.  Maybe it was because we arrived sort of late, but this time they actually tasted freshly-made.  They were not as good as the wings from The Cheesecake Factory, but they are also cheaper.

    For my entree, I decided to order a salad.  Sometimes, a good salad can be even better than a dish that is high in fat and carbs, for example, a pasta dish.  The salad I ordered happened to be on the Weight Watcher's menu.

Paradise Chicken Salad

A Tropical blend of pineapple, mandarin oranges, fresh apple chunks, and pico de gallo topped with slices of blackened grilled chicken and balsamic vinegarette. $9.99

       Although I am not on a diet I decided to order off of the Weight Watcher's menu

because I wanted to see if it would still taste good, and I also wanted to see the size of the portion.  Another reason why I chose this dish is because I just can not get enough pineapple.  Pineapple chunks, pineapple juice, you name it, I love it.  To my dismay, when I received my salad, there was hardly any pineapple in it, even though it was listed as the first ingredient in the salad.  The chicken was extremely dry and bland.  There was not much dressing on the salad, which made it taste even more dry.  I guess that's what you get when you order from the Weight Watcher's menu.
      Since I was not exactly satisfied with my order, I decided to give dessert a try. I wanted to try something different than my usual dessert order at Applebee's.  I normally order the Triple Chocolate Meltdown.  It is delicious, but for the purpose of this blog I decided to try something different for a change.  So, we settled on:

Sizzling Apple Pie

Skillet cooked, layer upon layer of apple atop a light, flaky crust.  Topped with walnut streusel, rich caramel butter sauce, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  $5.49

        They brought the pie out, on a skillet and sizzling.  It looked delicious.  The photo is a bit dark but you can really see the sauce sizzling.

      The combination of the walnut, apple, caramel, and vanilla flavors was amazing.  This dessert was designed perfectly.  The hot, sizzling sauce with the chilly vanilla ice cream was a great contrast.  I had no complaints at all about the dessert.  The waitress, however, did not pay us much attention and mostly hung out at the bar, chatting with co-workers.  My experience at Applebee's this past Friday was once again a mixed one.  The appetizer and dessert were great, but my entree along with the service was not up to par. 

Jackie's Birthday at The Cheesecake Factory

            This past Wednesday (February 23^rd) was my best friend Jackie’s 19^th birthday.  She is very close with my family because she also dates my brother on an on-and-off basis.  Since they are currently “off” my stepbrother and I decided to take her out to lunch for her birthday instead.  So, we went to a place that we all love: The Cheesecake Factory.  I know I recently reviewed the Cheesecake Factory, but as I said, I dine at the Cheesecake Factory frequently.  This time, however, the experience was not as great as usual. 

            We arrived at the restaurant at around 2:30 in the afternoon.  We were sat immediately, but not in a quiet booth away from the other guests.  Instead, it felt like we were all on top of each other in the crowded area of the restaurant.  Also, our waitress this time was not very knowledgeable it seemed as if she might have been a new employee to the restaurant. 

            I had eaten a large breakfast that morning so I was not really that hungry.  So, I ordered an appetizer as my meal instead of an entrée.  I ordered the same Buffalo Blasts that I wrote about in the previous post, because they are my favorite. My stepbrother is a vegan, so he ordered the eggplant sandwich without cheese. I did not try any of his sandwich because I think eggplant is disgusting.  Jackie enjoys the same type of food as me, so she ordered Buffalo Chicken Strips, which are boneless, unlike their regular buffalo wings, but are not as fried and bad for you as the Buffalo Blasts.  I tried one of the strips dipped in the ranch sauce and they were delicious.  I am probably going to try them for myself the next time I visit The Cheesecake Factory.  We also ordered the Hot Spinach and Cheese Dip, for all of us to share.

Hot Spinach and Cheese Dip

Spinach, Artichoke Hearts, Shallots, Garlic and a Mixture of Cheeses. Served Bubbly Hot with Tortilla Chips and Salsa. Enough for Two.

            The Dip was okay, not too great but definitely not bad.  Maybe it is because I am not a huge fan of Spinach, but I did not eat a lot of it. 

During the course of our meal, the waitress got my stepbrother’s food and drink orders mixed up with Jackie’s.  In the restaurant business, this is not something that makes guests happy, especially when one guest is a 250 pound man and the other guest is a petite girl.  This is why I concluded that perhaps the waitress was new, because not only did she confuse their orders, but she was not very knowledgeable of the menu.  I have a few friends that currently work or have worked in The Cheesecake Factory in the past, so I know that it is a restaurant that is run very strictly. This employee was not up to their standards in my opinion.

For dessert, Jackie was full, and my stepbrother doesn’t eat cheesecake, so theyr brought Jackie a small cake for her birthday.  I ordered a slice of cheesecake to take home for my mom.  Out of their huge selection, I chose one of their newest cakes:

Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake

Chunks of Reese’s® Peanut Butter Cups in our Original Cheesecake with Layers of Delicious Fudge Cake and Caramel. 25¢ from the sale of each slice will be donated to help feed hungry Americans in our communities.

I brought it home and my mom loved it.  I tried a bite and it was amazing.  Reese’s has always been my favorite candy, so the Reese’s cheesecake was a garunteed hit.

Although I did not have the best experience this time, I will definitely visit the Cheesecake Factory again soon.

IHOP- Rt. 37 Toms River New Jersey

         After visiting The Cheesecake Factory on Friday, my boyfriend and I decided to go to IHOP the next day.  Due to the fact that the restaurant is located near Seaside, and it was a Saturday night at 11:45 PM when we arrived, IHOP was considerably busy. 

However, we were seated immediately in a booth upon request.  We followed the hostess to a section away from all of the drunk, rowdy guys that were also in the restaurant.  The restaurant was surprisingly clean.  I had been there before and was not completely satisfied, but it seemed as if they had really improved in that area. 

The waitress greeted us promptly and brought both of us a glass of water, as well as a pot of freshly brewed coffee for us to share.

Shortly after looking over the menu, I knew exactly what I wanted.  They had photo advertising a new pancake dish they were offering, and it sounded like it was right up my alley.The is the dish as described in the IHOP menu:

 CINN-A-STACK™ Pancakes

A stack of four fluffy buttermilk pancakes layered with a luscious cinnamon roll filling, drizzled with rich cream cheese icing and topped with whipped topping.

Instead of ordering four pancakes, I ordered the IHOP combo, which comes with two eggs cooked to order, a choice of bacon or sausage, and hash browns.  I ordered my eggs over easy, and I chose to order bacon with my meal.  

When the food arrived, I immediately went for the pancakes.  Not only am I a huge fan of pancakes, but ever since I was a child I have always loved cinnamon buns as well.  The CINN-A-STACK Pancakes came out looking delicious, just as they had looked in the photo on the menu, which is something I really appreciate while dining out.

Just as they looked, the pancakes also tasted delicious, just like a cinnamon bun from one of those stands that they have in shopping malls.  The eggs and bacon were  both cooked to perfection.  The hash browns, however, could have been cooked for a little bit longer.

We did however, receive great service even though the restaurant was pretty packed with young kids coming and going to the local bars.  I would recommend this IHOP in Toms River to my friends for a cheap, quick meal. Or, perhaps you have been to this restaurant and have had a bad experience. In this case I would recommend giving this IHOP a second chance.

 

The Cheesecake Factory

        Let me begin this review by saying that The Cheesecake Factory is one of my favorite restaurants and I dine there frequently.  I have never left the restaurant unsatisfied.  I myself work in the restaurant business, so I am very knowledgeable  of proper procedures that should be followed in order to achieve excellent service and a memorable dining experience.  I feel that The Cheesecake Factory pulls this off perfectly, and on a consistent basis.

           This Friday, my boyfriend and I went out to the Cheesecake Factory.  We arrived at 10:30 PM.  The restaurant seemed very busy, however, we were immediately seated by a gracious host. He sat us in a booth in a quiet section of the restaurant.  Our server, Ken, was very knowledgeable and informative.  He was also extremely patient with me, as I tend to be very indecisive.  As an appetizer, we ordered our favorite:

Buffalo Blasts®  

• Chicken, Cheese and Our Spicy Buffalo Sauce all Stuffed in a Spiced Wrapper and Fried until Crisp. Served with Celery Sticks and Blue Cheese Dressing.

       

  As usual, they were delicious.  They are crispy on the outside and the buffalo chicken combined with the ranch flavor compliments each other perfectly.  For my entree, I ordered another one of my favorite dishes from The Cheesecake Factory, Pasta Carbonara.  I ordered it without the chicken, because the food is very filling, especially pasta. 

  Growing up in an Italian family, I ate pasta carbonara about once a week, and it was always my favorite.  The first time I went to The Cheesecake Factory, I ordered this entree to see how it measured up to my mother's version of this classic Italian dish. When my food arrived I was very pleased.

  Pasta Carbonara

  Spaghettini with Smoked Bacon, Green Peas, and a Garlic-Parmesan Cream Sauce. Available with Chicken

  
  

  .

      

           This entree is always great, every time I order it.  There are small differences in the Pasta Carbonara from The Cheesecake Factory and the version that my mom makes, but for the most part they taste the same (although I must admit that my Mom's is better). The pasta carbonara was made with linguini and was coated in a delicious, creamy Parmesan cheese sauce.

         The food was so filling that I didn't even finish half of it.  I didn't mind at all, however, because the leftovers are great.  I would recommend both of these dishes, as well as The Cheesecake Factory as a whole, to any one of my friends.