Back around the first of May, I received an email from Danielle Dussult, Account Associate at MS&L Worldwide for Bonefish Grill, a marketing firm, asking us to review the Bonefish Grill and another comparable restaurant. For doing this, she sent us two $25 gift certificates, one for the Bonefish Grill and the other for Red Lobster. She also sent a nice fish spatula. We thank her for these items. Look at the review for Bonefish Grill and Red Lobster that will correspond with these photos. I will start with the Bonefish Grill photos.
Here is the Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer. This is really a good appetizer.
I had the Diablo Shrimp Fettuccine. This was very good, but I think it had too much sauce on it and it was a little spicy. I think it would have been better with less sauce.
Robin had the Long Fin Tilapia. The tilapia tastes like a fresh water fish – Gout de Terrior. And the shrimp tasted like the Song of the Sea – Chansons del Mare. That is very difficult to do in Boise.
We took pour daughter and her friend with us. He had the Fish and Chips and he said they were very good. She had the Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos and said they were spicy hot.
We shared a Key Lime Pie for dessert. I did not get the intense lime flavor, nor did Robin.
The Crème Brûlée was really very good. Smooth and creamy as it should be. The caramelized sugar was good.
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Here are the photos from the Red Lobster.
For an appetizer, Robin and I had the Wood Grilled Shrimp on Brochette. A good appetizer.
I had a combination platter called Seaside Shrimp Trio. It had Walt’s Favorite Shrimp, which was a little too salty, Shrimp Scampi, good, and Shrimp Linguini Alfredo, very rich. Not as good as the Bonefish Grill, Diablo Shrimp Fetticine.
Robin had the Chef’s Grilled Tilapia. She said that the flavor of the tilapia was hidden by the soy sauce. It was not as good as the Bonefish Grill.
The Apple Crisp had very little apple in it and the cake base was overwhelming.
The Key Lime Pie was more like a NY Cheese cake. It was heavy and not light.
So there you have our opinion. The rankings?
Red Lobster – 2 1/2 Stars
Bonefish Grill – 3 1/2 Stars
Our reviews are based on the following statement and have been for many years now.
We will endeavor to critique these restaurants on (1) Ambiance, (2) Food Presentation, (3) Food Quality, (4) Service and (5) Cost. We will rate these places from one (1) to five (5) stars. A 1-Star restaurant deserves the comment, “That’s good enough for this year” and a 5-Star restaurant is superb and deserves a note home to Mom. There is nothing wrong with a 3-Star restaurant – We would take friends and relatives to a 3-Star restaurant and we will return to a 3-Star restaurant.
There was one other contributing factor to the Red Lobster loosing this contest: We had to ask for table settings and napkins. To me, this is a huge mistake and should never happen at any restaurant. But then too, the food was just OK. You can see all of Our Reviews by following the link.
The other night we wanted some seafood for dinner. So we made up some Orange Roughy. A very mild white fish that can be totally flavor-covered if one is not careful. If you poach it, be careful. This was poached and then the tomato and herbs were added for 2 minutes. Long enough. Then, add some pasta to the tomato blend and let it heat through. The tomato sauce has 1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes, fresh Corn (not from our garden), Greek Oregano, Chive, Shallot, light Garlic, Coriander and Parsley in it. (All herbs from our garden) The photo shows pretty well what you end up with. Don’t ask for the recipe …. there isn’t one. It’s called Cooking By Taste. I really like the pasta done this way. Almost like a hot salsa. Cheers!
Boise Foodie Guild 