I just spent 7 days in Salt Lake City in a hotel right next to the Temple.
Pretty country, nice people.

It was not easy to grab good cheap food there though, probalby because we
were downtown. The restaurant attached to our hotel served what seemed like
truck stop food - although I'm picky being from the San Francisco Bay Area.
By day 3 I was having biscuits and gravy for breakfast and I was always
really happy to see watermelon on their buffet. Salads were iceberg lettuce
and sugary dressing.

I did find one good place, the Red Rock Brewing Company. Good weak beer and
excellent pizza and onion rings, and their coleslaw and salads were good and
green.

All in all though I came home feeling overfed and malnourished.

RE COOKING: I also tried chicken fried steak for the very first time while
in SLC. A battered slab of chopped beef with white biscuit gravy all over
it. What's good about chicken fried steak? And if you think there is
something good about it and have made it, could you post a recipe? Thanks.

cheers, Rox

rmg wrote:
[snip]
RE COOKING: I also tried chicken fried steak for the very first time while
in SLC. A battered slab of chopped beef with white biscuit gravy all over
it. What's good about chicken fried steak?

Chicken fried steak is just an excuse for eating breading and white
gravy. You like it, or you don't, or you crave it once a year or
so.... -aem

rmg wrote:

RE COOKING: I also tried chicken fried steak for the very first time
while in SLC. A battered slab of chopped beef with white biscuit gravy
all over it. What's good about chicken fried steak? And if you think
there is something good about it and have made it, could you post a
recipe? Thanks.


Rox,

Try a few other restaurants for chicken-fried steak and gravy. Don't form
an opinion of it based on your first time.

What's good about it? It's Southern Comfort Food!!! Usually enjoyed with
eggs and biscuits with MORE gravy. I prefer sausage gravy with mine, it
ups the comfort factor!

Andy

rmg wrote:
I just spent 7 days in Salt Lake City in a hotel right next to the Temple.
Pretty country, nice people.

It was not easy to grab good cheap food there though, probalby because we
were downtown. The restaurant attached to our hotel served what seemed like
truck stop food - although I'm picky being from the San Francisco Bay Area.
By day 3 I was having biscuits and gravy for breakfast and I was always
really happy to see watermelon on their buffet. Salads were iceberg lettuce
and sugary dressing.

I did find one good place, the Red Rock Brewing Company. Good weak beer and
excellent pizza and onion rings, and their coleslaw and salads were good and
green.

All in all though I came home feeling overfed and malnourished.

Cry of joy! And all this time, I thought it was just me!!

I'm in Salt Lake City. I've been here for years. It may be the most
food-challenged zone on the planet.

Restaurant food preparation here is abysmal, across the board. I don't
know what forces shaped the overall tastes and sensibilities here, but
they not only accept terrible flavor, texture and appearance, but herald
it as fabulous!

And the price vs quality issue was not due to your being in the downtown
area. It's like that wherever you go.

The tone of the food here (unless its one of those ubiquitous Tex-Mex
supersonically spiced to the point of pain melanges) tends to be bland
and sweet. I remember my first trips to the restaurants here, small
local places as well as the chains. In one, I ordered a fettuccine
Alfredo and was put off by the gooey pasta and sugary sauce. It was so
disgusting, I not only refused to eat it but refused to pay for it,
while all around me folks were chowing down and effusing about how
wonderful it all was. Over time, I have found that it is the same way
all over this area, from one end of the state to the other.

General Conference just ended. Were you here for that?



RE COOKING: I also tried chicken fried steak for the very first time while
in SLC. A battered slab of chopped beef with white biscuit gravy all over
it. What's good about chicken fried steak? And if you think there is
something good about it and have made it, could you post a recipe? Thanks.

When it's well made, it's great!

In article ,
pennyaline wrote:

Restaurant food preparation here is abysmal, across the board. I don't
know what forces shaped the overall tastes and sensibilities here, but
they not only accept terrible flavor, texture and appearance, but herald
it as fabulous!

I've heard that the restaurants in Provo are actually quite nice,
possibly catering to the tastes of the returned missionaries. Any truth
to that?

Regards,
Ranee

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

In article ,
"rmg" wrote:


RE COOKING: I also tried chicken fried steak for the very first time while
in SLC. A battered slab of chopped beef with white biscuit gravy all over
it. What's good about chicken fried steak? And if you think there is
something good about it and have made it, could you post a recipe? Thanks.


If they didn't do anything else right, why did you expect this one to be
different?

:-)

Try posting to ba.eats and ask where a good CF steak place is, if there
is one here. Be sure to post where you are, as half the people there
assume that everyone lives in MV, which, believe it or not, is *not*
Mill Valley!

Ranee Mueller wrote:
pennyaline wrote:

Restaurant food preparation here is abysmal, across the board. I don't
know what forces shaped the overall tastes and sensibilities here, but
they not only accept terrible flavor, texture and appearance, but herald
it as fabulous!

I've heard that the restaurants in Provo are actually quite nice,
possibly catering to the tastes of the returned missionaries. Any truth
to that?

Not in my experience. They are bland and awful everywhere, from what
I've tasted in my travels through the state.

RMs return to all parts of Utah (and Idaho, and Oregon, and California,
and Illinois, and to other countries and... they come from and return to
practically everywhere!), not just to Provo. It's possible that Provo
restaurateurs might tweak their restaurants to please the missionary
crowd, but its more likely that they only think they are doing so.

And having listened to RMs describing their experiences "abroad," one
thread is common among them: there is no substitute for the food they
grew up with.

None of the above addresses the Sundance experience, which is something
like an endless crawl of every Starbucks in existence. But when you do
finally get a table at a real restaurant, the food is typically Utahn.

pennyaline wrote:
Ranee Mueller wrote:

pennyaline wrote:

Restaurant food preparation here is abysmal, across the board. I
don't know what forces shaped the overall tastes and sensibilities
here, but they not only accept terrible flavor, texture and
appearance, but herald it as fabulous!


I've heard that the restaurants in Provo are actually quite nice,
possibly catering to the tastes of the returned missionaries. Any
truth to that?


Not in my experience. They are bland and awful everywhere, from what
I've tasted in my travels through the state.



I had some decent Mexican food in Hurricane, UT a few months ago. Not
particularly spicy but OK. The tamales were good. I thought it was
interesting that they didn't even serve 3.2 beer. IIRC it was about the
only restaurant that was still open after dark on a Friday night.

We spent a week in Utah (mainly camping and hiking) and that was the
only meal we bought. Mostly we ate sandwiches, apples, canned beans,
and beef jerky -- and lots of water (it was really hot.)

Best regards,
Bob

In , on 10/05/05
at 02:34 AM, "rmg" said:


I did find one good place, the Red Rock Brewing Company. Good weak beer
and excellent pizza and onion rings, and their coleslaw and salads were
good and green.

I used to live in the Salt Lake City/Orem-Provo area and was a regular
visitor to this place during those years. Salt Lake Roasting Company
(coffee roaster) used to have some decent eats. The Golden Braid
Bookstore/Coffee House also had some.

Up at the corner of Ninth & Ninth, there were a few good places too.



RE COOKING: I also tried chicken fried steak for the very first time
while in SLC. A battered slab of chopped beef with white biscuit gravy
all over it. What's good about chicken fried steak? And if you think
there is something good about it and have made it, could you post a
recipe? Thanks.


Chicken fried steak comes in a lot of variations. The batter can be made
with flour-egg-four or with milk or beer, cornflakes, panko . . .

-----------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------

In , on 10/05/05
at 04:55 AM, Andy q said:



rmg wrote:

RE COOKING: I also tried chicken fried steak for the very first time
while in SLC. A battered slab of chopped beef with white biscuit gravy
all over it. What's good about chicken fried steak? And if you think
there is something good about it and have made it, could you post a
recipe? Thanks.


Rox,

Try a few other restaurants for chicken-fried steak and gravy. Don't form
an opinion of it based on your first time.

What's good about it? It's Southern Comfort Food!!! Usually enjoyed with
eggs and biscuits with MORE gravy. I prefer sausage gravy with mine, it
ups the comfort factor!

Mashed potatoes with the gravy, man, mashed taters. Hold the gravy for
breakfast and then biscuis and gravy with fried or scrambled eggs, sausage
or bacon . . .


jim

-----------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------

In , on 10/05/05
at 10:50 AM, Ranee Mueller said:




I've heard that the restaurants in Provo are actually quite nice,
possibly catering to the tastes of the returned missionaries. Any truth
to that?

There was a Chinese place there in 93-95 (China Lily) that was very good
and a few others. They had a knock-off Tommy's hamburger joint and the
Mexican food was passable but very bland - some of the places not even
stocking hot sauce or salsa.

I was told the reason was that salsa releases endorphines and a big blast
of them can make someone feel "high" and THAT was not viewed positively by
the Mormon Church. Needless to say, I used to sneak my own into that
restaurant. Of course there were Mormon jokes about this and other things,
too.


jim

--
-----------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------

In , on 10/05/05
at 12:46 PM, pennyaline said:



Ranee Mueller wrote:
pennyaline wrote:

I've heard that the restaurants in Provo are actually quite nice,
possibly catering to the tastes of the returned missionaries. Any truth
to that?

Not in my experience. They are bland and awful everywhere, from what
I've tasted in my travels through the state.

There are good restaurants but you have to live there or be lead to them.
I've mentioned Ninth & Ninth, there was another place to the East of the
Zoo. Microbreweries and coffee places . . .



RMs return to all parts of Utah (and Idaho, and Oregon, and California,
and Illinois, and to other countries and... they come from and return to
practically everywhere!), not just to Provo. It's possible that Provo
restaurateurs might tweak their restaurants to please the missionary
crowd, but its more likely that they only think they are doing so.

Provo/Orem has a very high percentage of Mormons compared to SLC and that
is the crowd the restaurants markets to. I think the figures I remember
hearing ('93-'95) were 80% for Orem/Provo and 40% for SLC.



And having listened to RMs describing their experiences "abroad," one
thread is common among them: there is no substitute for the food they
grew up with.

As is the case for most people.


None of the above addresses the Sundance experience, which is something
like an endless crawl of every Starbucks in existence. But when you do
finally get a table at a real restaurant, the food is typically Utahn.

Sorry to hear that Sundance has fallen so low. I used to really enjoy
their food and buffets and ate there about twice a month. It was one place
where the fruit and, especially, vegetables were really fresh and well
prepared.


jim

--
-----------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------

"rmg" writes:

I just spent 7 days in Salt Lake City in a hotel right next to the Temple.
Pretty country, nice people.

It was not easy to grab good cheap food there though, probalby because we
were downtown.

Only good cheap place I've eaten in SLC is Red Iguana, 736 N Temple.
Reasonable Mexican food.

For high-end eats, Bambara is quite good, I've been there twice.

Otherwise, I'm sure there a good places hiding, but good eats in SLC
is a challenge.

I did find one good place, the Red Rock Brewing Company. Good weak
beer

Yeah, you missed the brief "Winter Olympics Alcohol Renaissance" which
was quite nice (for around a year the rules were noticeably relaxed).
Every other time I've been to SLC the act of drinking a beer is more
of a bureaucratic accomplishment than anything else...

All in all though I came home feeling overfed and malnourished.

Remember, this is the state where "Fry Sauce" is the condiment of
choice for french fries (50/50 blend of mayo and ketchup)

--
Richard W Kaszeta

http://www.kaszeta.org/rich

Richard Kaszeta wrote:

Yeah, you missed the brief "Winter Olympics Alcohol Renaissance" which
was quite nice (for around a year the rules were noticeably relaxed).
Every other time I've been to SLC the act of drinking a beer is more
of a bureaucratic accomplishment than anything else...


Somewhat south of Provo I stopped for gas, and the gas station had
12-packs of beer -- Miller Lite, I think, was on sale for about $8. It
was cheaper than Coke. As I was buying it, I asked the lady if it was
3.2 beer or real beer. She said in Utah you can't even buy strong beer
in the liquor stores. (think about that statement for a minute and your
head will hurt)

-Bob

pennyaline wrote:

I'm in Salt Lake City. I've been here for years. It may be the most
food-challenged zone on the planet.

Restaurant food preparation here is abysmal, across the board. I don't
know what forces shaped the overall tastes and sensibilities here, but
they not only accept terrible flavor, texture and appearance, but herald
it as fabulous!

And the price vs quality issue was not due to your being in the downtown
area. It's like that wherever you go.

The tone of the food here (unless its one of those ubiquitous Tex-Mex
supersonically spiced to the point of pain melanges) tends to be bland
and sweet. I remember my first trips to the restaurants here, small
local places as well as the chains. In one, I ordered a fettuccine
Alfredo and was put off by the gooey pasta and sugary sauce. It was so
disgusting, I not only refused to eat it but refused to pay for it,
while all around me folks were chowing down and effusing about how
wonderful it all was. Over time, I have found that it is the same way
all over this area, from one end of the state to the other.


Sounds like typical Midwest food...it's simply sustenance, nothing more.

In any case Mormons are bland, boring, and cheap. Looks like these traits
are reflected in their food.

--
Best
Greg