Ten at the Eldridge - Lawrence, KS

Ten is a contemporary American restaurant located in the historic Eldridge hotel in the downtown area of Lawrence Kansas.

We ate here several nights and each night was a little different. This was due to a major change in the menu and the fact we never had the same person waiting on us twice. The last night we went there I was fairly disappointed, the waiter was not very attentive and we had to keep chasing him down. The food that night was good, but not exceptional. I blame this one the waiter for letting our food sit and get cold.

Our other two experiences here were great and no complaints. We had a variety of things to eat, so I'll just list our favorites;

Crab Cake Appetizer was cooked perfectly

Pan Seared Walleye with crispy pasta & mozzarella cake and lemon pesto sauce was probably one of the best Walleyes I have ever had.

Garlic & Thyme Rubbed Bison Short Ribs were very tender and flavorful (told to me by my guest)

Vanilla Poached Sea Bas with Lemon Risotto and Saffron broth, to die for...

I was told by people that go here often to make sure I order the Filet Mignon, they said it was the best steak in town. I had it the night with the bad waiter and it was over cooked and cold. I should have returned it, but frankly I was tired of arguing with the guy.

Regardless of the last night, two out of three stellar performances are not bad. I will return here the next time I am in town.

http://www.eldridgehotel.com/restaurant_bar.htm

Twin Oaks Country Inn - Wilmot, WI

We have dined here many times - I'm actually surprised we've never reviewed it before.

This place can be hit or miss, more hit than miss, but the misses are not bad enough to cross this restaurant off our list. Sometimes the service is slow to start, but once they get started, it's usually pretty good after that. This particular visit we had great service and they became quite busy while we were there.

We started with a crab cake appetizer, which was served with a red pepper sauce, yellow pepper sauce and a bernaise sauce. The crab was very good and the sauces went well.

For my main course I had the Pesto Chicken, which was a seared breast of chicken on top of a portobello mushroom. It was to be served with a red pepper sauce and a pesto sauce. I asked for the sauces on the side and they were both good individually, I'm just not sure how they would have been on the plate. It came with a Three Cheese Polenta Cake which was very good, I didn't really notice the cheese.

My husband had a special which was pork lightly breaded and sauteed stuffed with provolone cheese and smoked chicken served over fettucine. He loved it. I had a couple bites too and really liked the flavors together.

No complaints this visit.

The Billabong Australian Restaurant & Bar - Winnipeg, MB Canada

The restaurant was recommended to us by a woman that worked at the hotel we were staying at.  Always a bit skeptical, we did not know what to expect, but in the end we were very surprised by the quality and variety of the food.

We started our meal with:

Sydney Rocks Yum Cha (Dim Sum) - Served with ginger-chili dip.

2 Alligator and Manitoba Pickerel Pot stickers
2 Barramundi Shrimp, and Black bean Spring rolls
2 Pork, Scallop, and Shark Wontons

Wow - this was fantastic and the flavors just came together so well. I like to try different things when I go back to a restaurant, but I might have to have this again. If you were not sharing this could be a main course

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For my main course I had Barbecued Kangaroo - Barbecued Kangaroo Loin medallions served with fried quail eggs, pumpkin and sweet potato pouches, pineapple and beetroot relish, then drizzled in a carrot and horseradish cream. Once again, fantastic. The meat was moist and cooked a perfect medium rare. I think if you cooked it more it might have gotten tough. The pumpkin sweet potato pouches are a great side.

My coworker had the Barramundi Wrap - Australia’s premier native fish, steamed in a banana leaf with shitake mushroom sticky rice and lime-coconut broth. Served with seasonal vegetables. This was not only delicious it was more or less healthy, at least it looked like it. I was able to steal a taste and it reminded me of being in Hawaii.

The restaurant was slow that night, but I have a feeling they get crowded on the weekends. It is not that large of a place, so you might want to call ahead. Prices are between $20 and $30 for the main entrée, but the price seems fair for the area.

If you get stuck in Winnipeg, it is worth stopping by.

They don't have their own website, which they should remedy, but you can find them at: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=billabong+winnipeg&fb=1&gl=us&hq=billabong&hnear=winnipeg&cid=12511849320540702790 or http://www.menumanitoba.com/billabong.htm

Chop Steakhouse & Bar - Winnipeg, MB, Canada

I happened to be up in Winnipeg on business and was tired of eating at the same old restaurant, so I was looking for a treat. Well, I found it at Chop!

This restaurant is by far the best place I have dined at in Winnipeg. The food was prepared perfectly and the service was exceptional. We were there on a night they were not so crowded, so maybe we got better attention.

They had a special Lobster menu when I was there so I got the lobster salad and it was fantastic. For my main course I wanted to try their lobster risotto, but they had run out, so I had the Halibut Chop which was on their regular menu. I thought it was very good, but it did have too much lemon for my liking. I do not think I would have it again.

My guest had the Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio appetizer and for his main course he had the Wasabi Crusted Ahi Tuna. He said both were exceptional. He ordered a side of Wasabi mashed potatoes and let me have a taste, make sure you order them.

Since we had been eating at less charming restaurants, it was nice to see a full wine menu. I was tired of only haveing the choice of white or red wine. The pours would good, but a little pricey, like everything else in Canada.

Winnipeg is generally very expensive when it comes to eating. The main course at Chop will run you around $30 US, so this is not really expensive. You will pay the same amount going to most chain resturants.

Next time we are in the area, we will be going back to this restaurant.

http://www.chop.ca/

Twisted Cuisine, Kenosha, WI- UPDATE

I still like the idea of this restaurant, but they have some issues. First, I really don't like that there is no hostess station when you first walk in. It's not a problem when they are not busy, because someone usually sees you pretty quickly, but when they are busy, you could be standing there for too long. This particular time, they were very busy and they are not good at being busy. Mainly the service really suffers.

A pet peeve of mine is when it takes forever for your server to come to your table, then they want to take your drink and food order at the same time! If you give both at the same time, you are guaranteed a long wait for drinks. This happened on this visit. I had never seen this server before, so I don't know if she is new. We had a favorite server, I believe her name was Tanya, but she has not been there the last few times. Too bad.

Now to the food. Normally I order the scallops wrapped in bacon with a lemon buerre blanc sauce. The last couple times the scallops were so salty I didn't want to risk it again. I love salt, I normally salt everything, but this was too much even for me. So, I ordered the filet which was served with a jimaca salsa. I took my first bite of the steak and it tasted very weird. I asked my husband to taste it and he said it tasted like their grill was really dirty. I had to trim off all the edges, which as you can imagine, did not leave much meat. It tasted fine on the inside, so it was definitely what the grill left behind. I will never risk ordering beef there again. I will say that the jicama salsa was really good.

My husband had the stuffed halibut, which was actually very good. It is stuffed with an herbed cream cheese.

Right now I'm not sure that we will return for a while.

Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub - Milwaukee, WI - 2ND VISIT

A week later we returned (see post of 11/7/09). Our nephew loves this type of food, so we decided to return with him.

They say you can never go back and it's true. This experience was quite different than last week's. First it was very crowded, so the noise level was high compared to last time. There are two sides to the restaurant, so maybe the accoustics vary from side to side.

We were seated for a while before our server came to offer drinks. That's not a good way to start. It really seemed that she had too many big tables, so throughout the evening we were always wanting for something or sitting their with our empty plates in front of us.

The food, however, was still good except for one thing, which I'll address later.

The menu does appear to change daily. There are some staples as far as proteins, just a different preparation.

I again started with the hamachi (I'm dieting so there aren't a whole lot of other choices). The preparation was basically the same, but the price this time was $15. Again I'm going to say it's not worth it.

My husband started with abalone. He was so excited to see abalone on the menu. It's one thing he really likes that you rarely see. I even tasted it (I was a little leary), but it had a great texture and a wonderful flavor. It was served with matsutake mushrooms, delicata squash and verjus.

My nephew had the Kentucky Fried Quail which was served on top of a waffle, topped with a fried quail egg and maple syrup. Now if I weren't dieting this is what I would have ordered. I did get a taste and it was very good. The quail was actually bigger than I would have expected.

For entrees I had Pan Seared Hawaiin Uhu served with pumpkin gnocchi, french beans, pine nuts, tomato and brown butter. First, let me say the pumpkin gnocchi was unbelievable. I was really wishing that there was more on the plate. Skip the fish, let's have more gnocchi! Actually the fish was very good too, perfectly cooked. The beans were a little crispy for my liking.

My husband had the Wood-fire Grilled Elk Tenderloin served with sweet potato and foie gras bread pudding, almonds, french beans and a foie gras emulsion. He loved it, but didn't really notice any foie gras flavor. I tasted it, also liked it and I didn't notice that flavor either and I really don't care for foie gras. I was pleasantly surprised that the elk did not have any gamey taste at all.

My nephew had the Lamb Rack served with garbanzo beans and many other things he doesn't eat. So basically all he ate was the lamb. Now I really do not like lamb, but tried it and it too had no gaminess to it all all. This is where the food went wrong. He had three racks. Two were sitting on top of the third. The first two were perfectly done, very pink in the center. The third one was well done. It almost seemed as if the chef was trying to hide the well done piece under the two perfect pieces because my nephew did not notice it until the very end. He was very disappointed.

Because my nephew was with us, dessert was considered. I did not order anything but tried both things that were ordered.

There was a peanut butter tart with grape sorbet and frozen whole milk. Peanut butter & jelly! And that's exactly what it tasted like.

The other dessert we ordered was flourless chocolate cake served with ice cream, a chocolate covered pretzel, peanut butter ball and condensed milk caramel. The cake was the best part.

Even though our experience was not as good as the first time, it doesn't mean we won't give it another shot. This restaurant falls into the category of "for the prices charged it better be good every time". If not, we're done.

http://hinterlandbeer.com/

Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub - Milwaukee, WI

We were looking for something different and found this restaurant on Open Table. I believe we have probably overlooked it because of the name. To me the name gives a certain perception, which really turned out not to be true.

The atmosphere is so inviting. When you enter there is a really nice-sized bar on the left. The actual restaurant is up a couple steps. The tables are well-spaced, which is very important to me. I really don't like sitting along a bench where they always put couples. Usually tables are so close you end up listening to the conversation at the table next to you!

The server arrived promptly after we were seated and we had drinks right away. The wine by the glass is a little pricey, but the pours were decent.

Although our service was great, we overhead another server explaining the menu and he really went into great detail about the restaurant and how/why the menu changes every day. I was sorry we didn't get the full presentation.

The menu touts that they support local farms that practice sound agriculture and sustainable farming and that all fish is fresh and delivered daily from both coasts.

All the dishes are very creative and the entrees lean towards items you don't see routinely, like boar, bison and elk.

We started with appetizers. I ordered the Hamachi Sashimi which was served with chive and a mustard miso sauce. There was four pieces of sashimi presented very nicely. It was very good, but I would not say it was worth the $13 price.

My husband started with Elk Sausage Stuffed Calamari. Now that was worth every penny of the $12 price. It was served with a Roasted Poblano Cream Sauce. The flavors went very nicely together.

For entrees I had the Seared Diver Scallops served with morel mushrooms, quinoa, braised beef short ribs and a celery root emulsion. The portions are small, so you definitely need to order at least a salad or an appetizer in addition to the main course. Everything on my plate was excellent.

My husband had the Andouille Sausage Crusted Halibut service with fingerling potato, pancetta, sweet corn and bell pepper hash, chive aioli and a red hot butter sauce. This is similar to a dish he had at a related restaurant - Whistling Swan in Door County. We didn't even know they were related until tonight. This was just as good as the preparation in Door County. I tasted it and it
was very good, maybe a little too spicy for me.

We were very happy to have found this restaurant and look forward to coming back soon. It was a great surprise.

http://hinterlandbeer.com/