Wednesday, September 26, 2007

2007 Scam, I mean Taste of Old Pasadena

$25 to eat around Pasadena as much as you want?! And to dip it in chocolate...Old Town Pasadena? Sure, it's a chain junk pile but underneath the corporate facade, there actually are a lot of respectable restaurants around there. And if that wasn't sweet enough, the site made it seem like EVERYONE was participating in this realtor-funded event. I was actually excited over something for something, a rarity nowadays.

Twenty-seven restaurants, in bolded sixteen point font. As if to force the list to barely fit the little leaflet, with such lovable establishments as Hooters, Barneys Beanery and Johnny Rocket's. All with fifteen-twenty minute lines of poor souls waiting to get a different variation of a cold, deep-fried concoction.

I can't say it wasn't a total loss. Here are a brief synopsis--in order of preference--of some surprising samples that were actually scrumptious.

Cafe Bizou: Chicken and Tofu stuffed Mushroom in Balsamic Froth, Salmon And Lobster Mousse Ravioli, Spinach and Shrimp Phyllo Pastry

Barcelona (surprisingly): Seafood Paella, Crab Cake

Sushi Roku (another surprise): Spicy Tuna Hand Roll

Tibet Nepal House:This thin curry with Naan-ish flatbread

All India Cafe: This puffed rice sweet & sour dish with Chicken Tikka Masala

...that was about it. I knew it was too good to be true

1 comment:

H. C. said...

Sorry it turned out to be a bust -- I saw the Website about a week ago raised all sorts of red flags for me (esp. the part of them listing ALL the restaurants, with some sort of bottom page disclaimer that only italicized/asterisked (or something like that) restaurants are actually participating).