Note About Reviews

Posted on February 6, 2011 by Webmaster

Please note: All reviews currently published will be pulled from the site and re-published at a later date, once the site is more complete. The reason they’re currently displayed is to give those working on the project an idea of what the content will be like.

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Blue Nile’s Zilzil Tibs

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Webmaster
Venue: Blue Nile
Visit Date: Late January, 2011
Visit Time: Lunch

Specific Order
Zilzil Tibs

Presentation
This was a pretty unique dish, unlike anything I’ve ever had before, and the kitchen artfully crafted a pleasant and appetizing presentation. The meal was served on a large platter, with a layer of thin bread covering the entire plate, and the food arranged on top of it. The entree was in the center, a beef strip stir-fry, surrounded by seven little samples of their other items/sides.

Entree
Being completely new to African food, I hadn’t the slightest idea what to expect, but the zilzil tibs was quite tasty. The seasoning blend was unlike anything I’ve had before, and was a very refreshing change for someone who frequently dines at robust ethnic restaurants. It consisted of beef strips stir-fried with onions, ginger, and peppers, in a seasoned butter sauce. The downside is that it was rather tough, which probably would’ve been ok for the siga tibs (same dish with cubed beef instead of strips), but for the zilzil and the lack of a knife, it was a little difficult to eat. Still very tasty, though.

Sides
There were a lot of sides with this meal, so I’ll just list them.
Injera: This was the primary accompaniment, and unfortunately, it was rather disappointing. Between the spongy texture and the rather jarring flavor, it really didn’t appeal to me in the slightest. And while I generally don’t make sweeping judgements about taste, I have a hard time believing that this could appeal to anyone.

Salad: Quite possibly my favorite part of the meal. I have no idea what they put in their salad dressing, but it’s some of the best I’ve ever had.

Beets: I couldn’t find this item on the menu, but it was the only one I didn’t even try. In fact, the smell of it made me a bit nauseous, and I probably would’ve enjoyed the meal if they’d been left off.

The rest of the sides consisted of items I couldn’t identify, including two unknown vegetables, and three bean-based dishes. I wish I knew what they were, to make a better recommendation, but I can say that two of the bean dishes in red sauces (one spicy, one less spicy) were quite tasty. Since I’m not a vegetarian, I generally don’t get that sort of thing, but they were surprisingly pleasant, and I recommend them to anyone. The other bean dish, in a yellow sauce, and the other two mystery vegetables (a chopped green leafy one, possibly collard greens, and a yellow one that’s truly unidentifiable) were ok, but not very appealing.

Overall Opinion
This meal was kind of a mixed bag. The entree and some of the sides were great, but most of the sides were unappetizing, and the portions were extremely small for the price. There are probably other Ethiopian dishes that are better, but if you already like tibs-style Ethiopian food, Blue Nile’s zilzil would be pretty tasty.

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Blue Nile Ethiopian

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Webmaster
Venue: Blue Nile
Visit Date: Late January, 2011
Visit Time: Lunch
Party Size: 1

Blue Nile is an Ethiopian restaurant that’s been around for a long time, ever since I was a kid. I remember when they opened near my childhood home, in a building that formerly housed a failed coffee shop, everyone expected them to be gone in a short period of time. After all, this is rural Virginia, and most people around here don’t even know what continent Ethiopia is on. Now, at least a decade later, not only are they still around, but they seem to be flourishing. A few years ago, they relocated to a great location in downtown Harrisonburg, and as my exposure to ethnic food has increased, so has my desire to give it a try. Unfortunately, I really hate dining alone, and I couldn’t convince anyone from my usual party to try it with me, so it took several months to get around to just going by myself.

Atmosphere
Blue Nile aims to be a very upscale, classy restaurant, and on that note, they succeed admirably. The exterior doesn’t stand out the best, but the interior is beautiful, skillfully constructed and decorated with a pleasant mixture of new construction with historic elements of the building’s original construction. The decor could use a bit more of an African flair, it currently seems a bit generic, but it was tasteful and pleasant, with a nice choice of decorative plants, artwork, and artifacts. Definitely a great experience.

Service and Speed
This was one of the better dining experiences I’ve had in awhile, largely thanks to the staff. I was waited on by a manager, which could explain why she was so good at it, but she was definitely one of the best waiters I’ve had in a long time, at any restaurant. She was extremely friendly and professional, providing plenty of advice to a first-time guest. The kitchen seemed to know what they were doing too, but it took a rather disconcerting amount of time for my food to be ready. Definitely not the place to go if you’re planning to spend less than an hour on a meal.

Food Quality
The quality was superb, surprisingly so. I didn’t really know what to expect, having never had Ethiopian food before, but the atmosphere and pricing were pretty upscale, and the food quality didn’t disappoint. Excellent ingredients, skilled preparation, and a beautiful presentation. The flavor didn’t appeal to me, which was disappointing, but even though I didn’t care for it, I could tell that they put a lot of care into their recipes and ingredients.

Price/Value
Even though I didn’t actually care for the food, I considered giving this place a second try, but price and value were the dealbreakers for me. I’m not wealthy, but I do value a good meal, and I’ve spent as much as $50 or more at a nice restaurant. So, prices generally aren’t an issue when I dine, and it takes quite a lot for me to consider a restaurant overpriced. In my opinion, Blue Nile is overpriced. To put it simply, I paid steakhouse prices for an entree the size of an appetizer, and I was still hungry an hour later. Even if it had turned out to be my new favorite local restaurant, that’s a bit absurd.

Overall Opinion
If you like Ethiopian food, and you’re looking for upscale dining in the Harrisonburg area, you’ll probably love Blue Nile. And, I highly recommend trying it at least once; even though I personally didn’t care for it, it’s definitely an establishment that puts a lot of care into creating a great dining experience, from food to atmosphere to presentation. Just don’t expect a great portion-to-price ratio.

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Wild Woods’ Brisket Platter

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Webmaster
Venue: Wild Woods BBQ
Visit Date: Late January, 2011
Visit Time: Dinner

Specific Order
Smoked BBQ Beef Brisket plate, with sandwich bun, Frenchy Fries, and Onion Strings

Presentation
The presentation was pretty average, nothing special, but by BBQ restaurant standards, they could’ve done a lot worse. Nice plates, decent portion sizes, about what I’d expect from a place like this. The brisket was unsauced, with a cup of BBQ sauce on the side, and the kaiser roll was on a separate side plate. This might’ve been because they initially forgot to bring it with my entree, but it’s a good idea regardless.

Entree
Admittedly, I haven’t had brisket often, but when I’ve had it in the past, it was downright amazing. Wild Woods’ brisket was far from amazing, but it was fairly tasty. The dry-rub spices worked nicely with the meat, and while I’m not a fan of having the sauce separate, it was nice to experiment a bit. I ended up using a combination of carolina vinegar and spicy chipotle sauces on my sandwich, which was pretty decent. Unfortunately, the meat was extremely tough, to the point that a couple of the slices reminded me more of beef jerky than beef brisket. Like I said, I don’t get a lot of brisket, but I do know it’s supposed to be very tender, so hopefully Wild Woods will figure out what they’re doing wrong and fix it.

Sides
Wild Woods gets a big plus for not automatically including cole slaw with the BBQ platters, but aside from that, their sides were pretty uninteresting. The “onion strings” were the better of the two, but with a name like that, I expected something akin to the Onion Straws that Ruby Tuesday used to have. Instead, they were basically onion rings, cut slightly thinner than usual, but not thin enough to justify a unique name. They were decent though, and the honey mustard dip that came with them was a nice touch. It was very similar to the sauce included with onion blossoms at steakhouses, and I wish more restaurants served this sort of blossom dip with onion rings.

The fries, on the other hand, were so bland that they were almost inedible. No flavor, mediocre texture, and very forgettable. Side items aren’t supposed to upstage the main course, but it’d be nice to have at least some effort.

And for a bit of a nit-pick, arbitrary names for side items have always irritated me. Again, sides aren’t supposed to upstage the main course, so why give them cutesy names? Everyone knows what onion rings are, and it’s a more accurate name than “onion strings”, so just say onion rings. And “frenchy fries”? Really? It’s just plain silly to say, and giving your flavorless fries a silly name doesn’t make them taste any better.

Overall Opinion
There are other things at Wild Woods I’d try if I ever go back, but this was decent. Probably not the best choice on the menu, but it was flavorful and of average quality. Just stay away from the “Frenchy Fries”.

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Wild Woods BBQ

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Webmaster
Venue: Wild Woods BBQ
Visit Date: Late January, 2011
Visit Time: Dinner
Party Size: 3

This is a fairly new restaurant that opened in Bridgewater, south of Harrisonburg along VA-42. Unlike other area restaurants, which seem to primarily specialize in pork BBQ, Wild Woods covers all the bases equally, including pork, chicken, and beef. Their menu is pretty typical for an average BBQ place, with average pricing and average selection.

Atmosphere
After getting over the initial deja vu when walking in the door (it was a Daily Grind coffee shop last time I was there), the atmosphere was fairly pleasant, but also pretty generic. It was certainly clean, new, and decorated decently enough, but much like the rest of the experience, it really didn’t leave much of an impression. Perhaps it’s my rural roots, but I’m accustomed to BBQ joints that are rich in culture and character. Wild Woods, on the other hand, was eerily reminiscent of BBQ restaurants I’ve visited in cities like Baltimore; impressively shiny and new, but as unique as a Wal-Mart. And really, that’s about all I can say about the atmosphere at Wild Woods, it’s average and generic, much like the food. Certainly not bad, but it leaves no real impression, positive or negative.

That said, the bar area is nicely designed, and clearly received the bulk of the decorators’ work.

On a related note, Wild Woods prominently advertises their free wifi access, but as far as I could tell, it’s worthless. There’s an open wifi hotspot there, but it doesn’t connect to anything, I couldn’t load data over any protocol/system I tried, including web pages, email, and Twitter. Nothing worked. So, their advertised wifi is a sham, don’t plan on being able to use it.

Service and Speed
No real complaints or specific praise here, the wait staff and kitchen were fairly efficient, accurate, and friendly. We received our orders, drinks, and check in a timely manner, without major mistakes or a lapse in staff performance.

Food Quality
The food at Wild Woods is best described as “average”, a word I’ve used a lot in this review. It definitely isn’t bad, far from it, but it also doesn’t stand out in any way, except for one. Unlike other area BBQ restaurants, they keep a selection of sauces on the table, ranging from mild to hot, to cater to varying tastes. While this is an advantage for those who like to explore, or who have unusual tastes, their food would probably be a lot more flavorful and memorable if they cooked using the different sauces. It’s not like it’s difficult for someone to order “pulled pork with chipotle sauce”, and they could even have the option of bringing the sauce collection to the table for those who want to mix and match, like they currently do. As for the ingredient quality, it was pretty average.

Beverages
This isn’t normally something I mention in a review, but Wild Woods loses major points for its beverage options. With their shiny, new, well-refined atmosphere, it was a major shock to find that they serve canned soda, and they have no fountain. For some small restaurants, I can understand this, to keep initial costs down, but it’s a huge faux pas, and given the atmosphere Wild Woods is aiming for, very unexpected. This could be redeemed by having good iced tea, but they fail at that too, their tea was simply awful. I’m pretty sure it was instant tea, and if not, it was definitely extremely cheap and poorly-brewed. Personally, I find it a little hard to believe that any restaurant in a small Southern town like Bridgewater would dare to have bad sweet tea, but for a BBQ restaurant to make that mistake? Ridiculous. So, if you’re eating at Wild Woods, hopefully you like beer or water, because there aren’t really any other options.

Price/Value
The only area where Wild Woods sticks out is price, and what you get for your money. Restaurants in Harrisonburg are unusually cheap compared to larger cities, but even by Harrisonburg standards, Wild Woods is pretty cheap. With the atmosphere, I expected dinner to be upwards of $10-15 per person, but the most expensive entree at the table was less than $8. In fact, the only items on the menu more than $10 are a full rack of ribs ($17) and the “1/4 BBQ Chicken and 1/3 Rack of Ribs” combo ($13). And if you just want a sandwich with a side of slaw, perhaps for lunch, that’s about $5. So, despite being conspicuously generic, it’s a decent value if you’re looking for dinner on a budget.

Overall Opinion
As I said above, everything about this restaurant is average, which isn’t a crime by itself. In fact, it probably appeals to a lot of people because of this, and it’s certainly better than the fast food chains that surround it. But, with so many outstanding, unique restaurants in nearby Harrisonburg, and so much character and heritage in Bridgewater, it seems almost insulting to put such a generic, character-less eatery there. I would expect to find a restaurant like this in the DC area, where there are enough people to keep in business any restaurant that meets health codes. But in a small town, a restaurant has to really stand out to last more than a few years, and in an area where so many restaurants accomplish that goal, one that’s “just ok” is pretty easy to forget. Especially when that restaurant has local competitors that are vastly better and more memorable.

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