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We picked up a pizza (to go) Sunday evening at CiCi’s Pizza (2500 N Meridian Ave, Oklahoma City). Ci Ci’s isn’t new to us, so we knew what to expect. This particular CiCi’s seems to put more toppings on their pizzas than usual, which is a very nice feature. Nevertheless, it is CiCi’s, so the food is mediocre – at best – in sort of a “you get what you pay for” kind of way. It is most certainly cheap. Our mushroom pizza was fairly good (for CiCi’s, at least), but the soft crust and bland, but (apparently) salty sauce only warrant 2.5 stars. CiCi’s (in general, not just this site) overall rating is 1.5 stars. At least it’s very inexpensive….

It was late. It was very late. Well, okay, it wasn’t that late, but it was about 10 p.m., and not much else was open last Saturday evening. So, we went to the restaurant that now occupies the building formerly known as the California Cafe – at 2336 N.W. 23rd St. in Oklahoma City (across from Shepherd Mall). We were immediately amused by the top item on the specials list: silver fish. Fortunately, it was, in fact, two words. The menu is in English, Chinese, and Vietnamese, and the food is rather authentically Asian. We found such things as duck and goose on the menu. I ended up getting chicken with snow peas, and Stu got some sort of mushroom & vermicelli dish. The food wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad, either. Service was very good, and I was pleased to find chopsticks on the table when we sat down. Overall I suppose the rating comes to 3 stars (on a 0 to 5 scale) this time. Perhaps there are better things on the menu…? This article suggests that there are. Note to self: must go back.

(See the introductory post for background info.)  Our Friday evening dinner was at The Thai House. I had my favorite dinner, and, even though it wasn’t quite as perfect as usual (perhaps a tiny bit too spicy), it was still excellent. 4.5 stars.

Update 2012-03-14: Unfortunately, this restaurant closed last year.

We tried to go to 221B Baker St. Pub & Grill (2701 West Memorial, Oklahoma City) last evening, but there were problems. The most significant problem was that smoking is allowed in this restaurant/bar, and none of us wanted to have dinner in a smoky environment.  Combine that with a rather uninteresting list of specials and….

We went to Chili’s Grill & Bar (3601 West Memorial Road, Oklahoma City).  Chili’s is an international chain, so I shouldn’t have to explain much.   I had a new item this time, though (new on the menu, not just new to me): Chicken Club Tacos.  They are standard soft tacos, but with grilled chicken, and small amounts of lettuce, tomato, cheese, and a tiny amount of bacon. There’s also a small amount of chipotle sauce, and ranch dressing is supplied on the side. The meal also includes rice and black beans.  Guacamole is extra, and was a welcome addition to this otherwise fairly dry meal.  My impression was that this was a better meal than the average for Chili’s. I also noted that they have another “new” item (we suspect it was an original item for Chili’s many years ago) that looked interesting: Terlingua chili – named after the town in southwest Texas. I may try that next time. Rating (this meal): 3.5 stars, overall: 3 stars.

See the first Mimi’s post for details. This visit (Saturday evening) was the same as that one. I had the same (scallops) dinner, and it was just as good as the first time.

See the entry in the original restaurant post for details.  We went to Misal last Friday evening.  There was a Dungeness crab special, and I love crab, so I tried it, not really knowing exactly what to expect.  What I got was a spicy crab dinner with rice.  I really don’t know exactly what was in it, but it was good, whatever it was.  The hummus appetizer and Lebanese tea helped make this a meal worthy of the many stars I generally give this restaurant.  This time:  4.5 stars.

Like several other things that didn’t deal well with the stupid new Daylight Saving Time schedule, the blog times are off by an hour.  They still show what should be the correct (i.e., Standard) time.  I’ll try to look into it whenever I get some time.  Can’t tell if it’s a WordPress problem, a host problem (probably not, since the time on the front page is right), or something else.

Death to Daylight Saving Time.  (Change work/school  hours, NOT the clocks!)

Baluu Vietnamese restaurant (7925 NW 10th Oklahoma City) is very close to Stu’s house, and very convenient when there isn’t much time for lunch.  We went there on Sunday, and I got a pot of seafood and vegetables (in a brown sauce) with steamed rice.  It was a departure from my “usual” lemongrass vermicelli with shrimp meal.  This meal included such seafood as shrimp, mussels (just one, actually), and squid.  The vegetables were fairly typical Vietnamese fare – broccoli, pea pods, little corn-like things, celery, and probably other things.  I liked it, although I wouldn’t recommend it for someone who doesn’t like squid.    Rating:  3.5 stars.

We occasionally go to “the Med” (Mediterranean Imports & Deli – 5620 North May Avenue, Oklahoma City) for lunch on Saturdays.  We did it again this past Saturday.  I always get one of three of their meals:  Falafel, Mediterranean Platter, or Combination Platter.  This time, I went with the latter, substituting hummus for the meat/spinach pie, as usual.  I also got a “bird’s nest” for dessert.  The combination platter consists of meat (not exactly sure what kind, but I assume it’s some sort of lamb), small lettuce salad, pita bread, and dip, plus the hummus.  All three items are always good, and this visit was no exception.  One warning, however – the restaurant is small, and service should be expected to be somewhat on the slow side.  There is a small grocery within the same building (there is no divider between the restaurant and the grocery) that has a wide variety of imported foods, mostly from the Mediterranean region.  Restaurant rating: 4 stars.

Day/night, white/black, apples/oranges. That’s about how these two restaurants compare with each other. I’ve already written my opinion of The Thai House (see the introduction to the restaurant section), and this visit (early afternoon Sunday) was typical, except that I had the lunch buffet. The buffet has a variety of Thai and Vietnamese items, many of which are excellent, and many of which are unusually authentic (like the corn and tapioca dessert that I didn’t try). In short, 5 stars.

Golden Corral (520 S MacArthur, Oklahoma City) is a national chain, specializing in steak and general buffet items. Although I really liked Golden Corral about 10 years ago, they have become sort of a “Wal-mart” of steak restaurants. The seating has changed from the cozy, semi-private, booths to wide open rooms of tables, while the serving style has changed from menu to buffet. As far as I’m concerned, it is no longer viable as a steak restaurant because made-to-order steak isn’t available (or if it is, it is not at all clear how one gets it), and what shows up on the grill isn’t identifiable, at least not to me. There is some good food on the buffet, though, but what I ended up with last evening was curiously entirely vegetarian (and I’m not a vegetarian, and this is a steak restaurant!). Nevertheless, the dining experience at Golden Corral is not usually very pleasant, unless you’re there when the crowds aren’t there, and the (good) food tends to be rather limited, despite the wide variety. Rating: 2 stars (1 to 1.5 during busy periods).