TravelValue: Restaurants Across The U.S.: Vancouver

Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Vancouver, WA: No Bitterness Here, Amaro's Happy Hour Is Sweeeeet

Amaro’s Table

1220 Main Street, Suite 100

Vancouver, WA 98660

Phone number (360) 718-2942

Website: amarostable.com

Prices: $$$$

I was a little hesitant after seeing the exterior of Amaro's Table ("amaro" means "bitter" in Italian), a

small, glass fishbowl environment with modern, minimalist furnishings in the corner of a sterile, boring, multi-story office building in downtown Vancouver. I usually prefer warmer wood tones over glass, steel and concrete, but we decided to give them a try anyway ... and am I glad we did!

They have a reasonably priced menu with an eclectic selection of starters ($5-$12), salads ($6-$16), burgers and sandwiches ($10-$14), and entrees ("large plates" - $14-$26), but their Happy Hour menu (2pm-5pm daily in the dining room) made me very happy! With a widely varied selection of tasty savory and sweet treats, prices start at $3 for House Made Chips and Ranch Dressing or a Caesar Salad and top out at just $5 for a Bavarian Cheese Fondue (with a giant pretzel), Cheeseburger, Fish & Chips, or Flatbread.

We ordered an iced tea ($3 - minimum drink order for Happy Hour pricing) and an (IPA - $5) as well as the Carnitas Tacos ($4) and the Bavarian Cheese Fondue and Pretzel, a Cheese Burger, and Fish & Chips ($5 each). The portions were not very big as we were warned by Stephanie (our server), but appropriate for the price. It was nice to sample several dishes in one go, allowing us to determine if will return in the future. We shall.

The Cheese Burger ($5) looked smallish and very lonely on the plate, a 3-4 ounce patty on a toasted brioche bun with caramelized onion, tomato, pickle and house sauce, but it was tasty nonetheless.

The Fish and Chips ($5) consisted of two small breaded, deep-fried fish filets, a small portion of fries, and tartar sauce. The fish was crispy and very good, and the fries came in handy while chowing down on the burger.

Our Bavarian Cheese Fondue ($5) was rich and savory with a hint of chardonnay and Swiss cheese along with the massive, soft pretzel. There was more than enough fondue to go around for pretzel dipping with a little leftover.

The two Carnitas Tacos ($4) had two large corn tortillas each and were stuffed with shredded pork shoulder in an adobo sauce and topped with shredded cabbage, accompanied by a homemade salsa verde. In my opinion, the tacos were the best value on the menu at just $2 a pop, a relative bargain in my eyes, as well as being scrumdiddlyumptious.

Stephanie was very attentive, efficient and friendly as were her numerous tattooed comrades who greeted us a we entered and said goodbye when we left. The place was nearly empty when we arrived at 3:45 PM, but was packed when we left just before 5 PM, a good sign.

At $42, including tax and tip, Amaro's Table is a definite "TravelValue" and worth a visit in my opinion, whether for happy hour, lunch or dinner.

CombatCritic Gives Amaro's Table 7 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Seven Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "Shits & Grins"

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Camas, WA: No Horsing Around, This Place Is A Definite Neigh ... I Mean Nay

Los Potrillos Mexican Restaurant

1735 SE 192nd Avenue, Suite 101

Camas, WA 98607

Phone number (360) 838-2431

Website: lospotrillosweb.com

Prices: $$$$

I do not know what happened since 2014 when Los Potrillos was selected "Best of Vancouver" (award in the entry), but if this is the best Mexican food in Vancouver, the bar must not be set very high. It was not the worse Mexican food I have eaten and there are more shoddy Mexican restaurants in southeast Clark County (there are two in Washougal), but this place is the poorest "value" by far.

Prices are very high by Mexican restaurant standards with combo plates running $13 to $15 and meat dishes (carne asada, carnitas, etc.) in the $17 to $19 range. One of the few positive things I can say is that the service here was very good. Everyone I came in contact with was friendly and efficient.

Only the margaritas have prices listed on the menu with all of the other mixed drinks, beers and wine displaying no prices. I do not know about you, but I am not going to ask how much a drink is and I refuse to order one not knowing how much it costs, so I normally bypass the alcohol at places like this. Because the margarita prices were listed, I decided to try a medium ($6.50), blended with salt. It was a decent size and not bad with a slight kick, probably being the best value on the menu.

My very small side of guacamole was $4.99 ("Market Price" - price not listed on the menu), the consistency was odd (probably cut with a cheap filler of some kind, probably mayo), and the flavor bland. $2.99 would have been a more realistic price based on the fact that it was probably made with less than one small avocado ($1 retail). The chips were most likely out of a bag, stale, and room temp - YUK - the salsa was oddly sweet and they were accompanied by a plate of cabbage with a couple of slices of jalapeño on top.

I ordered a large combo ($13.95 plus 75¢ for shredded beef on my taco - $14.70 total) with a chile relleno, cheese and onion enchilada, and shredded beef taco. The taco, like most places in the Portland metro area, came on a pre-fab shell (a large one nonetheless) with too much lettuce and not enough cheese - WEAK. I could not tell the relleno and enchilada apart by appearance and the flavors were nearly identical except for the green chile in the middle one. Both were somewhat flavorless.

For someone who loves good Mexican food - me - Mexican restaurants in the Portland and Vancouver metro areas have been a massive disappointment. There is a decent taqueria near our house and I found some pretty good Mexican places in Gresham, Tigard, and Tualatin, but, otherwise, there is a dearth of good Mexican food in the area. Unfortunately, this gringo can make better Mexican food than the supposed experts, so I will likely continue to eat at home, especially with inflated prices like those at Los Potrillos. It should be no surprise that the place was mostly empty at 7PM, having paid $34, including tip, for a dinner for one.

CombatCritic Gives Los Potrillos 3 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Three Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "Situation Normal, All Fucked Up"

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Vancouver, WA: Petra House Dropped The Ball, Earning A Spot On My "WALL OF SHAME"

Petra House

1900 NE 162nd Avenue

Vancouver, WA 98684

Website: petrahousewa.com

Prices: $$$$

I will not waste too many brain cells on Petra House because they have zero business acumen and I refuse to spend my time or yours on a business that has such poor customer service. Long story short ...

I would not have even known about Petra House if not for a Groupon email that arrived in my inbox yesterday, so I bought one knowing that it was our anniversary and my wife loves Mediterranean cuisine even though we were planning on going somewhere else that night.

Groupon - Note that it states "Only valid for traditional MENU", not traditional "DISHES"

Being a business owner who has used Groupons, I know that businesses lose money on the deals (40% percent off in this case PLUS a hefty 40%-60% commission for Groupon on the purchase price). The only reasons for a business to use Groupon is to let people know they are there and get them in the door, win them over as future customers, and hope many purchasers do not use the Groupon at all (which happens more often than you would think).

I saw that the table next to us was having a problem with their Groupon (he was extremely irate) after we had ordered , so I decided to check and see what the problem was. The server, Simone, explained that their Groupon (and ours apparently) was good only for the "Traditional Menu" as it clearly states on the Groupon. What they MEAN is that you can only order off of the menu page entitled "Traditional Dishes", so our orders did not comply (like the other table). I told her that there was obviously confusion regarding the terms "menu" versus "dishes" (see my menu photos and Groupon) and that we thought there was a "Special Menu" other than the regular (traditional) menu that we had ordered from, asking to reconsider her position. She staunchly refused, stating that "the manager isn't here and I can't make a decision like that". Are you telling me that here is no manager on the premises who can resolve customer issues? Who the hell is in charge here? Needless to say, we cancelled our dinner order, ate and paid for the appetizer we had ordered, and left.

Traditional "Dishes", Not Traditional "Menu"

I refuse to frequent businesses with poor or non-existent customer service and there was absolutely no reason for this business not to make an exception to policy (which they have the ability to do) based on the language confusion in the Groupon. I told Simone that they had lost two customers (the other table and us) that night and that I would be cancelling the Groupon, which I did the following morning. Instead of winning customers over with a positive first impression, Petra House dropped the ball and lost two customers plus all of our friends and acquaintances who will be hearing about our horrible experiences. So much for our anniversary dinner.

CombatCritic Gives Petra House 1 Bomb out Of 10 And A Spot On My "WALL OF SHAME" ... More Bombs Are Better!