Random Taste for Thursday 2/15/18

Here we go again for the 3rd year ... a brand new set of tastes for 2018 ...

 here's the SIXTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

(coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!

Establishment:  Uncle Lui's Restaurant
Location:  Sunrise
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  Not a Coke (Maybe a Root Beer?)
Appetizer 1:  Chicken Livers
sautéed with onions. tomato and green peppers
Appetizer 2:  Corn Chowder
Appetizer 3:  Bread Basket
Appetizer 4:  Potato Pancakes
served with butter, sour cream, and applesauce
Main:  Hunter Schnitzel
veal cutlet sautéed with mushrooms in a sour cream-paprika sauce
Side(s):  Spetzle PLUS Red Cabbage and Cream Spinach (the last two served family style)
Dessert:  Home Made Apple Strudel
with whipped cream
Server:   the Bodnar family's son (I'm guessing)
Website:  http://uncleluisrestaurant.com/?home
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Uncle-Luis-Restaurant-118161088199185/

Ever since one of the first tastes in this series from when it started back in 2016 resulted in a disappointing German meal (I won't put them on blast again here, but you'll find it easily on the blog using the helpful hyperlinks on the right side) ... and ever since we've been mentioning that experience to our frequent tablemates JL/AL ... THIS restaurant has been offered up as THE place for the most authentic food of its kind in the area.  Admittedly, it's authentic Hungarian food as opposed to German, but the similarities in cuisine are clearly evident -- although, what with me having Prussian ancestors on my father's side, I want to make sure to not stir up any ill will from centuries ago.  To that point, here's where this family business ended up with their Troy-score:

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (oh Florida and its strip malls so full of restaurants ... where one never knows what one will find when one walks inside, and, in this case, one will find a brightly lit square of a room with a classic European style woodwork and pics from the home country blown up large on the walls [as seen in the accompanying photos] ... not pictured are the half a dozen wooden china cupboards filled with figurines and Herend Porcelain [which I now know is a Hungarian source of pride] ... if anything, it just might be a little TOO bright [a point deduction] and some mood lighting might go a long way)

FOOD:           9/10 (not since we did our last thing in an Italian restaurant [and by "thing", I mean order enough to feed everyone on the family tree all at once] have we seen so much food on the table ... and rare is the time that I can't clean my plate, but I took almost half of my main meal home with me 'cause I was already so full of potato pancakes, rolls, soup, livers, etc., etc. ... of course, no matter how good everything was [and it was!], in my opinion, no place will be able to score perfectly in this category without carrying CocaCola products [hence the point deduction]) 

SERVICE:      9/10 (we're pretty sure that it was the son of the family that took our order ... and we're just as sure that it was the momma who brought the dishes from out of the kitchen as soon as they were ready [everything was served piping hot that was supposed to be] ... and things were fine until the end of the night, when we awkwardly found out that they closed at 8 and NOT 9 when they started to turn the lights out, and so the half hour we stayed in conversation with those in our party was actually long after they were all ready to go home ... and so I have to deduct a point that they didn't *say* anything about our staying past closing time -- which I would have thought would have been the proper course of action prior to turning off the lights)

BACON:         9/10 (seeing as how it wasn't disclosed exactly how the momma made everything taste so delicious, I'm figuring that there's more than a good chance that she was using some szalonna (Hungarian fatback bacon) in some of the sauces ... had anyone in our party ordered the calf's liver, we would have seen the one dish on the menu that included bacon ... but no one did [note that the garlic chicken and chicken paprikash that they *did* order are part of the photos below] ... all that said, I wouldn't have minded if the liver it had been with was that chicken liver appetizer [which explains the point deduction in this category])

BONUS:         6/10 (+3 for those portion sizes and all that authenticity [so much paprika!] and +3 for bundling dessert in with the meal)

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a B

Random Taste for Thursday 1/25/18

Here we go again for the 3rd year ... a brand new set of tastes for 2018 ...

 here's the THIRD of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

(coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!

Establishment:  Giardino Gourmet Salads
Location:  (new to) Ft Lauderdale
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  Coca-Cola in a can
Appetizer:  Boccata Sandwiches
one Curry Turkey and one Wild Alaskan Salmon Capperi
Main:  My Way Salad
romaine base with broccoli, cucumber, shredded parm (?), double dose of bacon with a scoop of roasted chicken topped with country garlic dressing and herb parmesan croutons
Side(s):  n/a
Dessert:  n/a
Server:   Victor and the guys
Website: http://www.giardinosalads.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/giardinonorthftl/

Eating healthier is always a good thing -- and sometimes one gets a hankering for a salad on a hot day here in the FTL.  Funny thing -- before the big move down here when we were just vacationing in town, we actually went looking for a grocery store salad bar one afternoon and couldn't find one (and we didn't know the area well enough to find the Sweet Tomatoes on the outskirts of town).  Since then, Whole Foods expanded to include a section -- but now with a brand new location of an existing (mostly FL) chain, the area just got an even better option.  And when I say "brand new", I mean the official grand opening is still a week or two away!  For an accounting of the Troy-score, see below:

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (clean ... bright ... gigantic food-porn style photos of everything on the menu ... a little bit of soft jazz playing on the sound system -- plus absolutely everything looked brand new -- and that's 'cause it literally was! [as referenced above] ... I have a hunch that a mathematician created the menu, because the amount of permutations of potential options is mind-blowing considering there are 10 bases with 42 toppings from which to choose and 16 possible addable scoops to be dressed 21 different ways with 7 flavors of croutons that could be put on top for extra crunch ... which leads me to my single point deduction 'cause all of those possible paths toward a gourmet salad made my brain hurt)

FOOD:           8/10 (you know how sometimes you just have to marvel at how those little Chinese take out boxes seem to be bottomless pits of never ending food? ... somehow these bowls of gourmet salads perform the same way ... the ones pictured are actually the piccolo size [a bit smaller than the basta] and halfway through the meal, it looked like the same amount was still there ... [by the way, the additional salad that is shown here is the country cobb] ... we did observe that different employees took different approaches to the portioning [one did level scoops of everything and one did overflowing scoops] so a point is lost for the inconsistency there and a second point comes off the total because the homemade croutons, while delicious, are simply too big to get on the fork WITH anything else)

SERVICE:      8/10 (it was a nice touch to offer a sample of the soup while the customer is deciding what to order and every subsequent interaction -- including carrying your tray out to your table for you -- came off as authentic and was executed with a smile ... the deductions come from having ordered shredded parm for my salad cheese of choice but being given cheddar instead and for the fact that clearly everyone is told to greet the customer as soon as they walk in the door ... the only problem with that is there were at least five folks working that night, and the greetings got a little jumbled and felt a little bit aggressive [hence the point deduction] ... maybe there can be just one designated greeter moving forward?)

BACON:         10/10 (here's how you get a perfect score on the bacon section ... you provide real pieces of bacon as a choice instead of processed bacon bits ... you let your customers pick bacon TWICE when listing the ingredients they want in the salad ... you let your customers even add a scoop of bacon as a SOUP topping [yes I said SOUP!] ... and you hire employees who are overheard saying "I loooove bacon" as they build the product ... and you do all of that under the auspices of a healthy eating place)

BONUS:         7/10 (+3 for those special bite size sandwiches on potato rolls -- which you should consider the next time you need any catering [something the place offers], +3 for some delicious salad dressing choices [creamy cheese dressing and guacamole dressing are both on the list of things to try next time] and, to that point, +1 for being a place to which we will return [but NOT on a Sunday, since that is the one day a week that they are closed])

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a B

Random Taste for Thursday 3/23/17

And so it continues ... a brand new set of tastes for 2017 ...

 here's the ELEVENTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

(coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!

Establishment:  Everglades Gator Grill 
Location:  Homestead
Meal:  Snack
Drink:  can of Coke
Appetizer:  n/a
Main:  Gator Bites
(5.5 oz of gator tenderloins with homemade sauces)
Side(s):  Plantains
Dessert:  n/a
Server:   order taker at counter
Website:  n/a
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Everglades-Gator-Grill-1486203718372225/

The first time I had gator, it was on a stick and at the Taste of Chicago back when we lived in the windy city.  The second time I had gator was just last year, and it was an appetizer of BBQ Gator Ribs at a location featured in the 2016 version of this series (just google gator on the blog to find that review).  The third time I had gator was at this cute little roadside eating establishment when family were visiting and the menfolk spent the day touring the Everglades National Park.  The main difference this third time -- we had literally just seen a whole gaggle of gators (the extra pic that is posted) minutes before we pulled in for a snack of Gator Bites.  See how this place got its Troy-score below:

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (to be fair, it's a bit of a wooden shack ... but it's a wooden shack that has been freshly painted and has been expanded upon with an outdoor seating pavilion in addition to the shelf type barstool level area that lines the walls of the room with the main counter and kitchen ... it has lots of parking for all the cars that pull in on impulse from all of the signage on the way in or out of the Everglades National Park down the road ... just a point deduction because of the row of menu item pictures taped to the counter ... admittedly, they might be presented that way in order to communicate with international travelers who might be making a day of it at the park, but surely there's a better way to highlight the options)

FOOD:           9/10 (unless you're a gator connoisseur, chances are that your experience would be just like you'd expect -- that is, it's going to taste like chicken ... the good news is that this chicken [er ... gator] was well seasoned and juicy -- but it was those homemade sauces [one orange-ish and one green-ish] that kicked things up a notch ... the point deduction here comes from the side dish of plantains, which were a little dark for my taste)

SERVICE:      9/10 (it's a counter service kind of place and the ordering experience was conducted by an employee who was efficient and friendly ... but we also showed up in the middle of a bit of an afternoon rush, so we were kind of "just a number" as they hurried and scurried to push out the food quickly, which explains the point lost)

BACON:         8/10 (it's a limited menu, but the good news is that bacon appears four times on it -- to be added to burgers, to be put on a BLT or to be served on two different breakfast sandwiches [so two points per menu reference] ... it does beg the question why the bacon can't be paired with the main dish of gator)

BONUS:         7/10 (+3 for its location as the first food place you see after leaving all the *live* gators in the national park, +3 for all the non-food photos and clippings you can view while you're waiting for the food to be prepared and +1 for being a place to which we will return the next time we're headed in or out of the Park ... 'cause tradition)

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a B

Random Taste for Thursday 2/23/17

And so it continues ... a brand new set of tastes for 2017 ...

 here's the SEVENTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

(coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!

Establishment:  The Diner 
Location:  Boynton Beach
Meal:  Breakfast
Drink:  Hot Chocolate
Appetizer:  n/a
Main:  The Lumberjack
3 eggs (I asked for scrambled), 3 slices bacon, 2 sausage links, home fries and your choice of 2 pancakes or 1 slice of French toast or 1/2 an order of biscuits and gravy (I chose French toast)
Side(s):  n/a
Dessert:  n/a
Server:   in an unfortunate trend for this year, her name wasn't recorded
Website:  http://www.dinerongateway.com/index.php
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Diner/553195471392059

This is the third diner already this year (which puts us on pace to beat last year's record of visiting six of them as a part of this series) -- but there's something extra special about this one because it has the confidence to be THE diner ... not A diner ... but THE diner [as if it were THE one and only diner in the world].  It's a bit farther out of the way from home base, but family was visiting and we were taking a little road trip so we ended up here.  With just a few tweaks, it could be one of the higher ranked diners on the list ... but to see where they need to improve, check out the Troy-score below:

AMBIANCE:   7/10 (it's a great big room, with an open kitchen off to the side, and it has the hustle and bustle of a place everyone wants to be ... although with the practice of pushing tables for two around to accommodate groups, I was frustrated that they handled our group of five by throwing a chair on the side of two tables instead of giving us the comfort of a six top [so a point lost] ... and there was an odd almost militaristic procedure where the cooks would yell that the order was up and the server had to yell back "heard!" which was a definite mood interrupter [so a second point lost] ... and I just can't forgive being sat at a table that hasn't been cleaned of its stickiness [which accounts for the third point lost])

FOOD:           8/10 (they were two relatively small "infractions" [each worth a half a point deduction] -- butter that wasn't thawed when served and home fries that were giant potato pieces so much so that they lost all the good flavoring because the middles were just all potato [see photo] ... and one big "infraction" [so a full point deduction] in that my hot chocolate apparently wasn't refillable ... but let me tell you that every other part of the lumberjack breakfast was delicious -- especially the bacon [see category below])

SERVICE:      7/10 (lookit -- a host or hostess needs to understand that it is his or her job to smile ... and this was the second week in a row where the employee in that role didn't do that one bit -- and that's worth a double point deduction [host/hostesses at future establishments:  consider yourself on notice] ... as for our regular server, things went efficiently but it took her until the end of the meal to loosen up and appear personable -- likely because she was busy with the rush at the onset or maybe because she was scared she might miss yelling "heard!" back to the kitchen -- so that's the other point deduction)

BACON:         10/10 (the menu count returns 19 hits for bacon so you know it's a pretty safe bet that this diner won't disappoint -- especially when the bacon they serve is of the thick cut variety ... breakfast, lunch, dinner or on the kiddie menu -- there's plenty of opportunity to "bacon up" at this place ... plus see the first bonus comment below)

BONUS:         10/10 (+3 for giving a breakfast option that serves sausage AND bacon instead of sausage OR bacon, +3 for an amazing burger [not pictured] that my nephew ordered that immediately made me rethink what I chose for breakfast, +3 for those all natural jelly choices from Smucker's and +1 for being a place to which we will most definitely return the next time we're in the area -- 'cause that burger is calling out my name!)

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a B

Random Taste for Thursday 1/12/17

And so it continues ... a brand new set of tastes for 2017 ...

 here's the FIRST of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA 

(coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!

ADMIN NOTE:  This location is now closed, but other ones in the area are open.
Establishment:  Rubio's Coastal Grill
Location:  Ft Lauderdale
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  Fountain Sproke (half Sprite/half Coke)
Appetizer:  n/a
Main:  Rubio's Coastal Trio
The Original Fish Taco® - Our signature recipe that started it all in 1983.
Salsa Verde Shrimp Taco - Shrimp, pan-seared and topped with salsa verde.
Wild Mahi Mahi Taco - Grilled Wild Mahi Mahi topped with fire-roasted corn, creamy chipotle sauce, cilantro/onion mix, and cabbage.
Side(s):  n/a
Dessert:  Churro
Server:   Shad (although it was counter service)
Website:  https://www.rubios.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/RubiosFortLauderdale302/

It's a NEW year ... and a NEW set of tastes ... so why not start it all for 2017 with a brand NEW eating establishment?  Well, actually, if you're reading this and you're from the coast of California, then you already have heard of this company that just NEWly expanded into Florida by taking over the locations of the local Lime Mexican Grill that recently closed.  With a concept committed to fresh quality ingredients, they succeed in making healthier food taste great.  As for how they fared on the Troy-scale, see below:

AMBIANCE:   8/10 (it was indeed bright and clean and shiny ... which is to be expected for a location like this that is brand spanking new ... just a point lost because the table at which we sat was sticky and a second one lost because there was a homeless man wandering around talking to himself while the manager was out cleaning tables [sadly, he was too late for ours] and nothing was done [he said afterwards he thought he was with someone])

FOOD:            8/10 (they might still be working out the mahi mahi, what with it being a special add for the Florida menus, and a point is is being docked because it was the least successful of the tacos in my trio [and in my tablemate's option of a mahi-mahi bowl, also pictured below] and that may have been because it was the tiniest piece ... the signature fish taco had a much "meat"ier chunk of fish ... but the shrimp taco was clearly the star as it was packed with flavor and had toppings that heightened the taste of every bite ... the churro was hot and fresh and dusted liberally with good stuff ... just one additional point lost because it's a taco place that somehow doesn't serve guac on the side)

SERVICE:      8/10 (as a counter service location, it's all about that ordering interaction, and the employee taking our order was knowledgeable and right on top of the greeting as soon as we stepped up to the register ... corporate would also be happy to know that he was on top of the upselling opportunities and even found a way to bring it up multiple times without being too annoying, although his constant repetition of the customer's name was slightly off-putting, so a point lost ... and a second point is docked because it did seem to take a bit long to get the food after ordering [perhaps the price to pay for freshly cooked quality meals])

BACON:         8/10 (somehow the special featured plate I ordered didn't include bacon as any taco topping [how did I miss that?] ... but it was listed five times on the special Florida menu, so a point for each of those references and then another three bonus points because their website calls out [all natural] bacon in their mission statement)

BONUS:         10/10 (+3 for having an outdoor patio [even if it was too cool to sit outside that night], +3 for NOT having any tip pressure at a counter location [which is rare for Florida even thought the service interaction is limited at that type of establishment], +3 for a membership club that has already sent some free entree coupons our way and +1 for being a place to which we will most definitely return, especially to get some of that [all natural] bacon)

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a solid B

Random Taste for Thursday 12/8/16

[My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the FORTY-EIGHTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

Establishment:  Shuck and Dive
Location:  Ft. Lauderdale
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  Sweet Tea (Carolina style)
Appetizer:  Dollar Oysters!
2 each of ...
Black n' Blues:  topped with our compound butter, a Iil' blackening spice, crumbled blue cheese & finished under the broiler
Rockefeller:  a French Quarter classic, creamed spinach, onion, garlic, simmered with Penrod Liqueur
Bienville:  invented at Antoine in New Orleans - shrimp, bacon, onions, & green peppers in a cream reduction & topped with parmesan cheese
Appetizer 2:  Pork Boudin
from Breaux Bridge, LA
Main:  Fried Gulf Shrimp New Orelans Po'Boy Sandwich
butterflied & flash fried
Side(s):  Tater Tots
Dessert:  n/a
Server:  Tara
Website:  https://shuck-n-dive.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/shuckndive1/

When we lived in Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale was the go-to vacation spot.  Now that we live in the FTL, we're pretty sure New Orleans is the *new* go-to vacation spot.  That being said, we're still figuring out the best time of year to visit -- having gone last year in early December, we started having a craving for it ... and so 'Shuck and Dive', with its commitment to providing authentic Cajun and Southern cuisine, was the answer.  Plus we saw Cap'n Lee (and took his picture surreptitiously, although he seems to have noticed by the look on his face)!  As for how this New Orleans spot scored on the Troy-score, see below:

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (cozy is the polite way to say that it was a bit smaller than we expected [we can't imagine what it's like during a Saints or LSU game], but luckily they have a bigger outdoor seating area that seems like it doubles the capacity ... and the New Orleans vibe extends to the tree outside with lower branches covered in beads [see the photo below] ... inside the music for most of the meal was Bourbon Street-esque, and then it suddenly switched over to current country, for which a point is lost for the sudden mood change)
FOOD:            9/10 (with the oyster special of the night at a buck apiece, we were worried that the quality might be lower, but we were pleased at the variety and at the tastiness all around for each of the preparations -- admittedly, one or two might have been a touch salty, but that's to be expected with fresh oysters ... as for the other appetizer, it might have been our general ignorance of the particular regional item, but we were not prepared for the liverwursty texture of the boudin -- which turned out to be more of a spread for crackers and not so much a fancy sausage [so a point lost] ... there were no complaints about the po'boy though, which was stuffed full of fried shrimp on a toasted roll ... and the tots were crunchy, crispy and well done [as they should be])
SERVICE:      8/10 (direct, to the point, efficient, straightforward -- all applied to the level of service, but a point lost because it took us asking about the bathrooms [clarifying that although there were breasts on display in the men's room a la New Orleans and beads, there weren't penises on display in the ladies' room] to get her to break out of her worker shell, and a second point lost because we're pretty sure the server misidentified which oysters were which)
BACON:         6/10 (sure the bacon was nice as one of the many ingredients on the oyster prepared Bienville style, but I would have liked to see it offered in a few more spots on the rest of the menu ... could you imagine if the stuffed po'boy was "over"stuffed by adding bacon?)
BONUS:         10/10 (+3 for scratching that itch of wanting some New Orleans style food, +3 for doing so with authentic tastes, +3 for a Bravolebrity sighting and +1 for being a place to which we will return -- maybe again on dollar oyster night -- when maybe that's all we'll eat for the whole meal!)

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a solid B

Random Taste for Thursday 11/24/16

[My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the FORTY-SIXTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

Establishment:  Moonlite Diner
Location:  Ft. Lauderdale
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  fountain Coke
Appetizer:  Chicken Noodle Soup
Main:  Turkey Cuban Panini
oven roasted turkey breast, smoked ham, pickles, Swiss cheese, garlic mustard spread
Side(s):  Loaded Fries
Dessert:  Monkey Bites
warm cinnamon and sugar glazed monkey bites with creamy vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce and topped with whipped cream
Server:  Maria
Website:  http://www.moonlitediner.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MoonliteDiner/

Knowing that this particular taste would be posted during Thanksgiving week, the charge was to find a place that had a few options of turkey dishes of one kind or another, and this one in a set of Moonlite diners (there are three in the area) met the challenge.  From the signs on the way out, it seems to be a Greek diner, but the menu didn't come across as having overly Greek influences ... and what a menu with lots of choices.  As for which turkey dish got chosen and how the Troy-score was earned, see below:

AMBIANCE:   8/10 (it was just what one wanted from an old fashioned diner, with the booths and the counter and the neon and the shininess everywhere and the curved ceilings -- all that was missing was a jukebox at every table ... speaking of which, there *was* classic rock playing -- but the twist was that it was music from the *80's* instead of the *50's* as someone of my age might expect, so a point lost for making me feel old and a second point lost because as old time diner-y as everything was, there was a feeling that it was a manufactured environment instead of the real authentic thing)
FOOD:            8/10 (the panini was crispy and packed full of goodness, with pickle juice that was running down my arm as I ate it ... the fries, ordered loaded, came with just the right tasty amount of additions [see the bacon category below] ... and that dessert looked beautiful upon arrival ... but a point lost because the chicken noodle soup of the day was greasy [I thought maybe it was through the use of buttered noodles?] and a second point lost because the "monkey bites" tasted like the morning's leftover french toast that had been microwaved before being included in the dish -- a definite disappointment seeing as how pretty it looked)
SERVICE:      9/10 (I'm glad we got Maria, because the table across from us got served 2/3 of their dishes but had to wait a long time for the last one to arrive, and the table behind us of two ancient looking ladies who wanted "small" sundaes had to go through an ordeal about the rules before a compromise was reached ... as for our Maria, the only problem was that we waited longer and longer as the meal went on for her to visit, and she stood in plain view texting on her phone during one of the waiting spells [although, to be fair, the layout of the establishment didn't seem to permit a place for servers to go out of the sight of customers] which is why there is a lost point)
BACON:         10/10 (the bacon was everywhere on the menu as an option [helped by the fact that this diner serves breakfast all day], but what earns all the points in this category is that the loaded fries came with big chunks of "fresh" bacon ... not just little tiny bacon bits, but pieces of bacon almost as big as the small fries [as seen in the photo])
BONUS:         7/10 (+3 for having a booklet full of dessert options [seen in the photo] that reminded me of the old school Friendly's back home in central PA, +3 for having an outside section [although this was "fall" in Florida in the evening, so it was too "chilly" to eat out there], and +1 for being a place to which we will return whenever the classic diner mood hits again)

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a solid B

Random Taste for Thursday 10/6/16

[My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the THIRTY-NINTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

Establishment:  Funky Buddha Brewery
Location:  Oakland Park (Oktoberfest)
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  should have been a Buddhafest, but they ran out, so it was some craft brewed Blonde instead (not pictured)
Appetizer:  n/a
Main #1:  Grilled Bratwurst
a funky buddha specialty, beer-braised then grilled and served with our brewer's cabbage, doc brown ale mustard, and caramelized onions on a fresh baked poppy seed bun
Main #2:  Chicken Schnitzel
hefweizen marinated chicken cutlets pounded thin and served with doc brown ale mustard and beer pickles
Side(s):  Kartoffelpuffer
shallow pan fried potato pancakes with muy bonita applesauce, sugar and cinnamon
Dessert:  Tap Room Pretzel
our famous pretzel is made with spent grain from floridian hefweizen and the beer itself, served with whole grain doc brown ale mustard and fuhgeddaboudit red ale beer cheese
Server:  Name unknown
Website:  https://funkybuddhabrewery.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/FunkyBuddhaBrewery/

This was a doubly unique stop on the tastes of Florida tour.  The rules state that it has to be a place to which we've never been ... and we've been to the Oakland Park Oktoberfest celebration each year since the big move to Florida in 2014 -- however, this year, the food supplier from years past was *replaced* with the Funky Buddha, and that was a place at which we had never eaten (although we did poke our heads in the door to use the bathroom during a pet event they sponsored).  Secondly, it was a festival as opposed to a sit down meal in the establishment.  However, as you'll see below, that had no affect on the score tabulation:

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (it was an oompah-oompah party, with emphasis on the oompah and double emphasis on the party, so it was an ambiance that couldn't quite be beat ... just one point lost for the band playing the chicken dance song -- probably to get more people out on the dance floor than were going out for the traditional polkas -- which took me out of the Oktoberfest spirit)
FOOD:            9/10 (it's an outdoor festival ... so normally the expectation would need to be lowered ... but I have to say that there wasn't a single dish that disappointed ... now that I've reviewed the descriptions and realize that almost every dish had a doc brown ale mustard component, maybe it's just that I'm a big fan of that being added to any food, but every single thing was super flavorful ... and the brats were good and juicy, as was the chicken schnitzel ... plus that pretzel, though [as the kids say] ... just a point lost because the potato pancakes could have been a little thicker)
SERVICE:      9/10 (the lady who took the order originally informed us that there would be no pretzels, but after I insisted that we had just the number of tickets to get exactly what we wanted, she double checked and the order was fulfilled after all ... the food, once ordered, came quickly [and hotly] by the well coordinated crew behind the order taker ... the only complaint was that the lines were soooo long, which was a sign that the food was soooo good, but still it was an annoyance)
BACON:         5/10 (so I didn't see any bacon on the menu ... but I'm also not exactly sure that bacon and Oktoberfest are traditionally companions ... as such, I'll split the difference and chalk it up to cultural sensitivity [as I do for the Mexican restaurants in this countdown])
BONUS:         10/10 (+3 for being such a difference in quality of food from the restaurant that supplied the meals in years past, +3 for an amazing soft/hard pretzel, +3 for the funnel cake [not pictured and not from this restaurant, but also available at the festival] and +1 for being a place to which we will most definitely return [if not at next year's Oktoberfest {our fourth in a row}, then for sure in the main restaurant some other time])

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a solid B (it would have been higher had they found a way to work in some Speck into the dishes ...)

Random Taste for Thursday 9/1/16

[My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the THIRTY-FOURTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

Establishment:  Qbar Burgers and Blues
Location:  Ft. Lauderdale
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  Beer Flight (four 5oz drinks)
from left to right in the photo:  Hollywood Stout, Mutha Fuggle EPA, Schofferhofer and Left Hand Milk Stout
Appetizer:  small (?!) meat & cheese charcuterie board
Main:  The King
1/2 lb. burger with duck bacon & cheddar cheese on a fresh toasted bun
Side(s):  Shoestring fries
Dessert:  n/a
Server:  Lynn
Website:  http://qbarfl.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/qbarfl

Earlier in this series, the "taste" was Sage French Cafe (#18), and this establishment is right next door -- which makes sense as it is owned by the same people (and as it serves as the bar for that restaurant).  Taking New Orleans as inspiration, it features live music every night of the week, and offers more than just the usual items on the bar menu, including chili and gumbo (although neither person in our party actually ordered either of those specialties).  Notwithstanding that oversight, see the details making up the score below:

AMBIANCE:   8/10 (it was the kind of place to take someone for a conversation over drinks ... and even when the live music started, it wasn't too overwhelming, what with the stage being positioned *behind* the bar ... the chandeliers were something to see, and all the pictures were taken in that glow ... a point lost because it was a bit sticky when we first arrived [although the AC did kick in at some point], and a second point lost because neither the bar's website nor its facebook page was updated with performers, so we didn't know what live music to expect the night we arrived)
FOOD:            8/10 (I'm not complaining, but that charcuterie plate that's pictured is a *small*! ... and every single thing on it was the perfect way to start a meal ... extra nice touches were the pear pieces with the blue cheese crumbles and a healthy sliced mini loaf of warmed toasted bread ... interestingly enough, it was so unexpected that it raised the bar a little too high for the burger, which was good, with fresh toppings that made me think "picnic" as I was eating it, but I was expecting a bit more panache when it came to plating, so a point lost there ... and a second point lost because the fries were a bit straightforward and could have used a little adventurous upgrade of some kind)
SERVICE:      10/10 (for the last few weeks, we've been on a run of servers who do well representing their profession, and this place's staff continued the tradition ... she was low key in a good way [I'm slowly beginning to realize that servers who rush make guests feel rushed, something I wish I had known back in my server days], and although I thought I heard her sigh when the beer flights were ordered [that's a lot more work on her part], she more than made up for it with her approach throughout the night, including knowing the menu items well enough to tell us the temperature to order for the sandwiches ... and it may be something simple, but it's endearing to hear someone take the time at the end of the night to say, "come back any time ... see you soon")
BACON:         9/10 (two words for you:  DUCK BACON! ... which, thankfully, is not trying to pass off something like turkey as bacon [which is a peeve of mine], but is, instead, a fattier and richer bonus bacon, as seen on my burger [even if it did taste like ham ... maybe because it looked like ham] ... just one point lost because I didn't have the courage to add regular bacon TO the duck bacon as an extra topping, since I didn't know what to expect with the duck bacon in the first place)
BONUS:         7/10 (+3 for having a well established dog-friendly approach that includes a special menu of quality homemade food just for puppies, +3 for all of those draft beer choices, shown on the chalkboard in the photo and +1 for being a place to which we will return, with friends, to listen to live music again)

TroyScore:  42 out of 50 -- aka 84, a solid B