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Faro, Portugal; Great Expectations, Oustanding View, But A Disappointing Breakfast Buffet

Harune Restaurant - AP EVA SENSES HOTEL Av. da República, 1  8000-078 Faro, Algarve, Portugal  Phone: +351 289 540 100 Email: book.eva@ap-ho...

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Camas, WA: Extremely Underwhelming. An Unfortunate Trend In Recent Weeks

Feast At 316
316 Dallas Street
Camas, WA 98607
Phone number (360) 210-7498
Website: camasfeast316.com
Prices: $$$$

After hearing and reading good things about Feast at 316, we decided to invite some friends from Gresham for lunch after having attended my wife's presentation on Emily Brönte at the Camas Public Library around the corner. The place was empty when we arrived, a relatively small dining room and bar with brick walls, wooden tables and chairs, and chalkboards. At $40 for lunch, including tip, a burger, meatloaf and an IPA ($6), I was not impressed in the least. 


The Plain Jane burger ($10) was as described, a simple, decent size beef patty with cheddar cheese on a basic bun, a small lettuce leaf (with a puddle of water still on it), thinly sliced tomato and onion, and homemade sweet pickle slices that were not very good. The accompanying steak fries appeared to be cut in-house and were seasoned well, but lukewarm, not hot. Not a bad value overall, but the meat had an odd taste.
My McCusker Meatloaf ($15) was wrapped in bacon and a puff pastry, but very dry with no gravy or sauce. It had obviously been sitting somewhere for quite a while because it was, like the fries, lukewarm, had little flavor, and fell apart when cut with my fork, making it difficult to eat. The "smash fried potatoes" seemed more like burnt potato skins than fried potatoes, sitting on a red sauce, apparently their "Monkey Gland" sauce, which tasted as bad as the name sounds. The accompanying brussel sprouts came in a bacon Dijon sauce and were too rich for me to finish. Believe it or not, the same meatloaf is $25 on their dinner menu, but I felt ripped off having paid $15 for the lunch version, neither coming with soup, salad, and/or bread.
Pasta dishes run $22 to $27 and other entrees range from $23 (chicken) to $43 (8 ounce filet) on the dinner menu. At $27, their "Fettucine" Bolognese (misspelled on the menu - it should be "fettuccine" with two Cs) costs three times more than the best and most expensive Bolognese I have ever had in Italy. Based on our lunch experience and their dinner menu prices, I do not see myself spending $100 on a mediocre, lukewarm dinner for two any time soon.
At least they do not have a 5% surcharge for non-tipped employees any longer, apparently having decided to pay their employees a fair wage without gouging customers any more than they already do.

CombatCritic Gives Feast At 316 3 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Three Bombs Equates To:
Translation for Civilians: "Situation Normal, All Fucked Up"

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic:


Yelp - "GOLD" ELITE '14/'15/'16/'17/'18 
  • 650,000+ Views A Year
Tabelog - Official Judge - "Silver"


Zomato - #1 Ranked "VERIFIED" CONNOISSEUR (13) - Over  4 Million Review And Photo Views ... And Counting #1 Reviewer in Portland, Oregon!
Booking.com - Frequent Traveler "Genius"

Google Maps - "Top Photographer" With Over 1 Million Views!

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View my food journey on Zomato!

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Camas, WA: Extremely Underwhelming - An Unfortunate Trend In Recent Weeks

Key Words: Feast at 316, feast, 316, Camas, Washington, Portland, Oregon, steak, house, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp, Zomato, Google, Facebook


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Read Chris S.'s review of Feast At 316 on Yelp

Monday, May 21, 2018

Hoquiam, WA: CombatCritic Was In The Casa ... And It Was Così Così (Italian for "So-So").

Casa Mia Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria
2936 Simpson Avenue
Hoquiam, WA 98550
Phone number (360) 533-2010
Website: casamiahoquiam.com
Prices: $$$$

The place looked inviting from the outside, a typical mom & pop Italian restaurant appearance like you would see back East where, unlike the Pacific Northwest, great Italian eateries are abundant. The inside looked more like a cheap diner with little Italian influence other than the few pictures and paintings adorning the walls.

The place was packed at lunchtime, but we managed to find a booth in the back. The service was efficient and friendly and house wine relatively cheap ($3.25/glass), but the glass was small and the wine obviously low-budget. Nevertheless, not a bad deal for a little wine with lunch.




They did not have veal parmigiana (I asked) and now I know why. The only veal option was the Veal Marsala a la Scallopine ($17) which was not prepared in the typical manner, but prepared in advance and sliced in small strips with mushrooms in a sweet Marsala and looking more like stew than "scallopine". The sauce was decent, but a touch too sweet, even for a sweet Marsala, so they had obviously added sugar or another sweetener. For $17, the serving was rather small as was the accompanying side of fettuccine Alfredo, both looking a bit pitiful on the large, oval plate. It did come with a salad and garlic bread, so compared to Italian restaurants in the Portland area where we live, it was a relative bargain.

My wife had the Spinach Cheese Ravioli (small - $10.50), spinach and artichoke pasta stuffed with cheese and topped with alfredo sauce and pesto. Again, not a big serving by any stretch, but a good value considering it came with garlic bread and a salad. The salads, by the way, were big with too much dressing and topped with a heap of shredded mozzarella and sliced black olives. I had to go see my cardiologist forthwith.


The food was decent, not great, and the prices fair, making Casa Mia a relative bargain in a region where overpriced, mediocre Italian food is the norm. But compared to my favorite Italian restaurants in LA, San Francisco, and NYC, this place was very "middle of the road", hence my rating ...

CombatCritic Gives Casa Mia 6 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!
Six Bombs Equates To:


Translation for Civilians: "Good To Go"

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - "GOLD" ELITE '14/'15/'16/'17/'18 
  • 650,000+ Views A Year
Read Chris S.'s review of Casa Mia Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria on Yelp

Tabelog - Official Judge - "Silver"

Casa Mia Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Zomato - #1 Ranked "VERIFIED" CONNOISSEUR (13) - Over  4 Million Review And Photo Views ... And Counting #1 Reviewer in Portland, Oregon!
Booking.com - Frequent Traveler "Genius"

Google Maps - "Top Photographer" With Over 1 Million Views!

View my food journey on Zomato!

View my food journey on Zomato!

View my food journey on Zomato!

... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube and our sister channel, CombatCounselor Chronicleswith Over 1,250 Subscribers and 1,000,000 Video Views ... HOOAH!

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Title: Hoquiam, WA: CombatCritic Was In The Casa ... And It Was Così Così (Italian for "So-So").

Key Words: Casa Mia Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria, Casa Mia Italian Restaurant, Casa Mia, Italian, Simpson, Hoquiam, WA, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp, Zomato, Google, Facebook

Copyright 2018 - 3rd Wave Media Group And CombatCritic ™ - All Rights Reserved

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!

One Bomb Equates To:
Translation for Civilians: "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - "GOLD" ELITE '14/'15/'16/'17/'18 
  • 650,000+ Views A Year
Tabelog - Official Judge - "Silver"


Zomato - #1 Ranked "VERIFIED" CONNOISSEUR (13) - Over  4 Million Review And Photo Views ... And Counting #1 Reviewer in Portland, Oregon!


Read Chris S.'s review of Petra House on Yelp

Petra House Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Booking.com - Frequent Traveler "Genius"

Google Maps - "Top Photographer" With Over 1 Million Views!

View my food journey on Zomato!

View my food journey on Zomato!

View my food journey on Zomato!

... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube and our sister channel, CombatCounselor Chronicleswith Over 1,250 Subscribers and 1,000,000 Video Views ... HOOAH!
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Title: Vancouver, WA: Petra House Dropped The Ball, Earning A Spot On My "WALL OF SHAME"

Key Words: Petra House Mediterranean Restaurant, Petra House, Petra, house, Jordan, Jordanian, Vancouver, WA, Portland, OR,  Groupon, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu,  review, Yelp, Zomato


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