Went to the Cheesecake Factory today during lunch...company treat. The whole welcome, intro part was a little over the top for me. How about keeping it simple? I guess not here.
The new girl(she just joined our team) ordered the Thai Lettuce Wraps. Tom ordered something similar. Now they say you can judge a cook/eatery/chef by how they cook a burger. The pride, the patience goes into making one that will have you wanting more. So, I ordered the Old Fashioned Hamburger from their Glamburgers & Sandwiches, even though I should have went for either salad or soup. You see the night before we used one of the Restaurant.com certificate and indulged at the El Aguila Real Mexican, and there was nothing Mexican about it. More on that some other time.
In between conversation, the food arrived. Not too soon, not too late either. The new girl got her lettuce wraps first. Both me & Tom were aghast as to the unimaginative, blend plate. Even the new girl was turned off by it. It wasn't hard to see/figure out how the plate could have been delivered from the truck to the table. How about chopping up the lettuce? Mixing up all the ingredients and present the chicken & the dressings on the side??!! Even the lettuce didn't look appealing. It was dark, not the kind you would want to wrap around a chicken and dip in the sauce. The new girl was not satisfied, she pretty much left her plate untouched.
On my side of the table, both the new girl & Tom were a little jealous of my plate. I mean look at the burger & the fries with mayonnaise. They were both commenting on how good it looked & all. Well, I will gladly share fries but you only get to take a bite out of my burger if you are either my wife or my daughter. Anybody & everybody else, not a chance. Always start with the fries. That's how I like it. Finish the fries first & then work on the burger. After few fries I am having a real hard time going for more, let alone finish it. The fries are warm, cooked just right. It's the salt. I've never had fries with that much salt. My fingers & lips are just covered in salt. I let my colleagues know my disappointment with the fries. Against my will, I start on the burger. After the fries looking at the burger I am suspicious. It seems there's an overflow of salt & pepper on the meat itself. First bite, my jaws are hurting. This is one chewy meat. After few more bites, I am looking for some dressings. I dip the burger in the mayonnaise in vain. This is one dry burger. I can't seem to taste anything except for the meat & some buns. Towards the end, I could taste some mayonnaise which may have been slapped on with a spatula. Was there really lettuce, onion, pickles and tomatoes as the menu said? I didn't taste any of them.
The waitress suggested some desert. I am not big on sweets and after my unforgettable, special encounters with the burger & fries, I am less inclined to order anything else. Tom & the new girl suggested I get some desert to go for the wife. Hmmm...not a bad idea. I got the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake for her to go. She hasn't touched it, she wants to eat it with me tonight...=)
I am sorry honey, but you might be disappointed.
