Today we have the two second round matchups in the first General Bracket, as we have a showdown between the king of Anchorage Asian dining in Dish and the Mexican delight Taco King, and a matchup between the Hawaiian favorites Hula Hands and the tops in Indian food Bombay Deluxe. Lots of matchups, lots of delicious, but there can only be two to leave this showdown to make the Elite Eight of Anchorage restaraunts. Who will they be?!
Matchup #1
Dish: Much to the chagrin of my coworker Dale, Dish took the first round win against Thai Orchid. To me though, it was a fairly easy matchup to decide because Dish just doesn't really do anything too wrong. They have a diverse and quality menu, their service is friendly, nice atmosphere, good location (close to my work), and are not too horribly priced. Plus, they're great with big parties.
One of their big problems though is they really don't blow me away that often. Save their extremely fresh tasting fish (unagi!), nothing stands out for them. Plus, there is the immediate issue with sushi for me: I simply don't want to eat it all of the time. It's more of a whimsical choice for me, which isn't their fault but a natural issue with their establishment.
Taco King: Ohhhhh Taco King. You're so reliable. Taco King is methodical in its crazy consistency, always being good, always being fairly inexpensive, and seemingly always hitting the spot. Plus they deliver, have three locations, and are fairly close to me. Throw in the fact that they have a go-to dish for me (Queen Tostada for the win!) and this is a pretty spotless little guy. While it's not a place where you're like "oh man, this is the best food I've ever had", there is something to be said about being always good. Taco King - you are always good.
The Showdown: For the simple reason that Mexican food is more consistently on my mind than sushi, Taco King wins. It's more consistent, it's way more inexpensive, it's crazy fast (I once ordered and ate in 9 minutes at Taco King), and they deliver! Taco King just does more right. I know many will disagree, but too bad. This is my competition after all!
Matchup #2
Hula Hands: Hula Hands has quickly jumped up the ranks of my go-to restaurants for a lot of reasons. Inexpensive and delicious food, go-to meals, surprisingly great beer list, close proximity to my place, extremely quick turnaround, plus I just love Hawaiian food. They also have almost absurdly friendly service...the place is just a gem. I can't really find any negatives in their formula, and for that reason they are a sneaky awesome contender of this tournament.
And for those that haven't eaten there...shame on you! This place is awesome. Get on that!
Bombay Deluxe: While I really enjoy Bombay Deluxe and their tasty meals and the crazy good Naan, they have huge negatives like the scary service that is the norm at their establishment. I'm not even going to pretend this is close.
The Showdown: Complete and utter domination. This is like Cornell versus Wisconsin. Hula Hands is a near perfect lunch/dinner spot for me, while Bombay Deluxe has more holes than the Indiana Pacers roster. Which makes me sad because I'm a Pacers fan.
Sigh...
Showing posts with label Bombay Deluxe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bombay Deluxe. Show all posts
General Bracket #1 (Round 2): (1) Dish vs. (5) Taco King PLUS (6) Hula Hands vs. (7) Bombay Deluxe
Monday, March 22, 2010
General Bracket #1: (2) Panda vs. (7) Bombay Deluxe
Friday, March 12, 2010
Today is a battle between two more massively under represented food types in Anchorage. Well, that may not be true for one of the choices. Still, Panda is a titan of Anchorage's Chinese food scene while Bombay Deluxe is the best of the very limited selection of Indian restaurants. But which of these choices should be your choice and almost certainly is always mine? Let's find out below.
Panda: This restaurant was called by one of the Top 10 places in the country to dine by USA Today in 2005. Let that sink in. Out of the thousands (millions?) of restaurants in the country, one of the allegedly best ten in the country is a Chinese joint in Anchorage, Alaska. Now that is surprising.
Especially, when you get down to it, considering that Panda is the apex of Chinese dining in a depressingly bad Chinese city, that isn't exactly saying much. While their food is fairly good and moderately priced, nothing really stands out as remarkably good about it. A lot of coworkers order it for delivery at my office and I'm always confused as to what the horrible stench is, and then bam, it's Panda. While it's highly regarded and nearly always busy, I've never been able to figure out what the big deal is with Panda.
Bombay Deluxe: I'm going to start with a major negative: the service. The service, at times, is mean spirited. I've been there with friends before where the server will come by and we will literally fear their presence as they roll their eyes and willfully ignored us.
Past that, the food is uniformly tasty and nicely priced. The Naan (Indian bread) blows me away each and every time I have it. Their beer and wine lists are nice, and everything compliments each other very well. One of the coolest things about this restaurant is each and every time it feels like I'm having my first experience again, because I always seem to try something new (besides the Naan...which is a must). You can't say that about a lot of places, and you have to appreciate a perpetually new experience disguised as a tiny restaurant in a very random strip mall.
The Showdown: Considering I basically said I do not like Panda, it probably isn't much of a surprise that I take Bombay Deluxe. But the win isn't just because Panda is not great, it's because Bombay Deluxe (besides the service) is fantastic. It's uniformly good and often surprising. If you haven't tried it yet, get on that!
Especially, when you get down to it, considering that Panda is the apex of Chinese dining in a depressingly bad Chinese city, that isn't exactly saying much. While their food is fairly good and moderately priced, nothing really stands out as remarkably good about it. A lot of coworkers order it for delivery at my office and I'm always confused as to what the horrible stench is, and then bam, it's Panda. While it's highly regarded and nearly always busy, I've never been able to figure out what the big deal is with Panda.
Bombay Deluxe: I'm going to start with a major negative: the service. The service, at times, is mean spirited. I've been there with friends before where the server will come by and we will literally fear their presence as they roll their eyes and willfully ignored us.
Past that, the food is uniformly tasty and nicely priced. The Naan (Indian bread) blows me away each and every time I have it. Their beer and wine lists are nice, and everything compliments each other very well. One of the coolest things about this restaurant is each and every time it feels like I'm having my first experience again, because I always seem to try something new (besides the Naan...which is a must). You can't say that about a lot of places, and you have to appreciate a perpetually new experience disguised as a tiny restaurant in a very random strip mall.
The Showdown: Considering I basically said I do not like Panda, it probably isn't much of a surprise that I take Bombay Deluxe. But the win isn't just because Panda is not great, it's because Bombay Deluxe (besides the service) is fantastic. It's uniformly good and often surprising. If you haven't tried it yet, get on that!
