Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Uni pics (uni dinner at Rainbow Lodge)

I have written too much about Randy Rucker and the Rainbow Lodge. So I am not going to write about Randy's uni dinner at the Lodge a few weeks ago.

Instead, here are some photos.









8 comments:

hedrives said...

Randy is one of Houston's most creative chefs. Everyone should do themselves a favor and let him entertain your tastebuds.

alexa.h said...

I enjoy your blog, thank you . Excellent writing when you do, great perspective!

John said...

Finally got to Rainbow Lodge tonight and... wow. What a disappointment. My dinner was reasonable, my dining partner's would probably have been better had it been served at the right temperature. Perhaps the really mediocre service is coloring my impressions of the food - but then, mediocre service is intolerable for a restaurant of this class (& price range).

It was just so disappointing compared to meals I've had at other Houston restaurants such as Feast, Reef, and Mark's, and we left feeling like we'd wasted our time and money. I have to think it was a very off night there, because I've heard so many good things about Rainbow Lodge, but the overall experience almost qualified as dreadful.

anonymouseater said...

John

That's too bad.

I know what you mean about service. My experience at RL has been mixed. Some of the servers - including one who used to work at Jeffrey's in Austin -are excellent. Yet there are at least a few who are condescending to patrons and seem to dislike their job.

As for the menu, I have found the new dishes uniformly outstanding. Some of the older dishes, left on the menu to please long-time patrons, are less interesting. In other words, the steak and game dishes that RL has been serving for years are often not the best dishes to order.

Unknown said...

You are by far my favorite food blogger in Houston. And so far all of your recommendations that I've gone to have been spot on.

But I finally made it to Rainbow Lodge this past Saturday and was extremely disappointed with the tasting menu. I had such high expectations too, but the overly salty lamb sweetbreads and chewy sashimi style yellowtail was inexcusable. As well as the 20 minute minimum wait between courses. It made me wonder if Mr. Rucker was off that night.

anonymouseater said...

Issa

That sounds pretty bad. I've never had either dish there.

John said...

I have not written off, mainly because I have heard so many good things about it. But it was just unfortunate, given how much I'd anticipated the dinner.

I think that had the service been better and our meals brought to the table promptly it would have been a far better experience. (We had salmon and duck, not any of the game dishes.)

The server: not condescending, just rather inattentive, not very interested in what he was doing or the food, and not that knowledgable. (I watched another server talking to the party dining next to us and thought, "I wish we had her.") I got the feeling he'd just left his gig at Chili's and started there.

Here's hoping that they work on this aspect of the restaurant so that when I return, it erases the memory of last Friday.

Offal Waffle said...

That all looks like shit. Bring that to the big boys here in NYC, and you will be out of work in a week.