Vent (about something stupid :)

Just have to vent.... its stupid, but i have to get it off my chest!

I went to an italian restaurant where I spent $30 on one pasta dish...

Now I understand how restaurant pastas are over 1000 cals, cause this one was drowned in oil. I already got the 'tomato sauce' but I can't believe how the pasta was completely swimming in tomato oil. I would have probably been better off with a cream/alfredo sauce??

And I ate it all as well cause I mean I paid $30 for it....

Talk about wasted money and calories. If it was at least enjoyable/good.... barely! I don't think I've had such bad/unhealthy pasta in my life! So dissapointed cause I was looking fwd to it a lot.

And the stupidest thing, I still secretly want to go back to try something else and hope that it wasn't drowned in oil cause the other options on the menu still sound good. But I'm so displeased at the moment I don't think I would.

Hm, I don't think I would pay $30 for one dish of pasta, but if I did and it was swimming in oil, I'd just fish the pasta out and leave all the oil behind.  It was probably the good oil, as in olive oil, but I doubt this will make you feel any better.

No i don't think i would that either, and if it was swimming in oil i couldn't have eaten it....eeewww.

Thanks for your understanding guys!

I did try to just 'fish out the pasta' but it was really hard cause they were parpadelle - so it was basically coatedddd with it....
And it was rather bland as well....

I hope it was at least olive oil.... although it was kinda orangey oil, from the "tomato" I guess.

Original Post by c_jamie:

I already got the 'tomato sauce' but I can't believe how the pasta was completely swimming in tomato oil. I would have probably been better off with a cream/alfredo sauce??

Well, there's more than one kind of tomato sauce in Italian cooking - not all of them are healthy.  It's typically a good idea to get a better description of the sauce from the server if the menu isn't clear.

If you're in such an upscale place that you're paying $30 for a plate of pasta, it wouldn't have been out of line to send it back, IMO. I know I would have.

Was that pasta covered with grated gold instead of parmesean cheese? (Tee Hee!) Seriously though, I don't think I have ever paid $30.00 for pasta and I live in a pretty expensive area. Good news is that if it was a truly Italian place it was mostly likely Olive Oil. I would give it another shot, but next time ask the waiter if they can go light on the oils. Or heck, just get the Alfredo!

Santonacci - The menu had said the sauce was "tomato al fresco white wine sauce"
As for sending it back, I'm not sure I could do that: "i expected tomato marina and not tomato oil!" They'd probably tell me that's how italians make it :P

Leslazz - it probably was a true italian place, cause most of the pasta options on the menu were 'in an olive oil'. (which I had thought I was smart to avoid, but it probably ended up being the same)
Yeah I ended up paying around $30.... it was on the more expensive side cause it was under the 'seafood' section I suppose, with its five big shrimps.

Hmph, I even got charged for drinking hot water.

i looked up what you said you had and this was the closest i could find but yeah traditionally lots of olive oil although this lady prefers to use less.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuEMJ_GuzpA

I love cooking.  :P

Last time I paid that much for food I was cooking a lasagna that I swear was close to 20lbs for a potluck.  Wasn't low quality ingredients either.  :F

Though I did eat at this fancy french resturant in a back in the hole place in Portland for a special occasion a couple years ago.  I had a 70$ plate and I don't really know what it was I ate, the menu's were french as well.  Was neat enough I suppose. 

There was a guy in the corner playing an accordion, he smelled funny.

Original Post by c_jamie:

The menu had said the sauce was "tomato al fresco white wine sauce"
As for sending it back, I'm not sure I could do that: "i expected tomato marina and not tomato oil!" They'd probably tell me that's how italians make it :P

It doesn't matter if that's how Italians made it - if you're paying $30 for pasta, you should get it the way you want.  I would have gone with - "This has a lot more oil than the menu description indicated - could I get this again but with less oil?"

I used to work in a restaurant that served pasta. While working out the pricing the Head Chef and I discovered it cost us 0.19c (AUS) to make one plate of carbonara. WE charged $24.

If you want to eat pasta, make it at home! Way cheaper and then you can add as little oil/sauce as you like.

I keep going to the Spaghetti Warehouse.  Don't ask me why, but I do.  I went there with my mom around a year ago and had a delicious chicken salad, and I love their bread with butter.  It's ridiculously good. 

So a month later I was excited to go there with my mother-in-law.  I got the same salad and snagged a few breads to take home, too.  Once again, my salad was delicious and I was excited to go back there some day.

Another month later I took Alex to the restaurant.  He hadn't been there since he was a kid, and we wanted to go somewhere nice after the ballet.  I decided to try an old favourite, lasagna.  I chowed down happily on the bread and was excited when they finally brought out the lasagna.  I took a huge bite and... spat it out.  It was disgusting.  It was made with sausage, which I detest, the cheese was burnt, and the marinara sauce had a really weird taste.  Almost like molded water.  I filled up on bread, packed up my lasagna, and let Alex eat it at home later.

I thought about giving it a second chance and we went there with my mom last week, this time wanting the salad but refusing to rely on one dish.  I tried the chicken parmesan.  I really don't like my meal served over pasta, and fortunately chicken parmesan comes next to the pasta, so I can eat that, then the pasta.  I tasted the chicken.  It was hard, rubbery, and whatever they breaded it in tasted like cardboard.  The pasta was undercooked for my taste and the marinara sauce was the same as on the lasagna.  I was really disappointed, so once again, I filled up on bread.

You'd think I would've learned my lesson by now, but no.  My aunt and uncle in law treated us to dinner there yesterday.  I did learn to get the salad, but my glorious salad was no longer a glorious salad.  For whatever reason, my salad was swimming in water.  I thought the dressing was watery and I'd put too much on, but after shifting things around on my plate a bit, I realised it really was swimming in water.  Alex and I filled three of the little 3 ounce butter cups with the water, and there was still plenty more swimming around.  I picked at whatever was on the top of my salad, filled up on bread, and we called it a night.  At the end, I poured two more little cups of water off my plate.

Will I ever go to the Spaghetti Warehouse again?  Probably.  The bread is just too good, and I'm a sucker every time.  We always walk away spending about fifty dollars on our meals and drinks, but the bread is worth it.  However, I've officially lost hope in their entrees and from hereon out, I'm strictly going for the bread.

Original Post by gg80:

I used to work in a restaurant that served pasta. While working out the pricing the Head Chef and I discovered it cost us 0.19c (AUS) to make one plate of carbonara. WE charged $24.

If you want to eat pasta, make it at home! Way cheaper and then you can add as little oil/sauce as you like.

 I don't dispute that we pay way too much for pasta in a restaurant.  The ingredients are usually quite inexpensive.

But when you calculate the cost, you have to include labor and overhead costs as well - part of the chef's salary/wages, electricity, gas, building rent and maintenance, kitchen equipment.... 

Original Post by cellulitedelight:

I keep going to the Spaghetti Warehouse.  Don't ask me why, but I do.  I went there with my mom around a year ago and had a delicious chicken salad, and I love their bread with butter.  It's ridiculously good. 

So a month later I was excited to go there with my mother-in-law.  I got the same salad and snagged a few breads to take home, too.  Once again, my salad was delicious and I was excited to go back there some day.

Another month later I took Alex to the restaurant.  He hadn't been there since he was a kid, and we wanted to go somewhere nice after the ballet.  I decided to try an old favourite, lasagna.  I chowed down happily on the bread and was excited when they finally brought out the lasagna.  I took a huge bite and... spat it out.  It was disgusting.  It was made with sausage, which I detest, the cheese was burnt, and the marinara sauce had a really weird taste.  Almost like molded water.  I filled up on bread, packed up my lasagna, and let Alex eat it at home later.

I thought about giving it a second chance and we went there with my mom last week, this time wanting the salad but refusing to rely on one dish.  I tried the chicken parmesan.  I really don't like my meal served over pasta, and fortunately chicken parmesan comes next to the pasta, so I can eat that, then the pasta.  I tasted the chicken.  It was hard, rubbery, and whatever they breaded it in tasted like cardboard.  The pasta was undercooked for my taste and the marinara sauce was the same as on the lasagna.  I was really disappointed, so once again, I filled up on bread.

You'd think I would've learned my lesson by now, but no.  My aunt and uncle in law treated us to dinner there yesterday.  I did learn to get the salad, but my glorious salad was no longer a glorious salad.  For whatever reason, my salad was swimming in water.  I thought the dressing was watery and I'd put too much on, but after shifting things around on my plate a bit, I realised it really was swimming in water.  Alex and I filled three of the little 3 ounce butter cups with the water, and there was still plenty more swimming around.  I picked at whatever was on the top of my salad, filled up on bread, and we called it a night.  At the end, I poured two more little cups of water off my plate.

Will I ever go to the Spaghetti Warehouse again?  Probably.  The bread is just too good, and I'm a sucker every time.  We always walk away spending about fifty dollars on our meals and drinks, but the bread is worth it.  However, I've officially lost hope in their entrees and from hereon out, I'm strictly going for the bread.

 i love the spaghetti warehouse for the same reason as you.. the bread. i hate the fact that their noodles are huge and fat.. so i never get anything with pasta when i go there. I have had the fried ravioli before. Of course, its not the best thing for you, but either is that delicious butter you just can't resist.

Good luck on your quest to find a delicious entree. It can be a tough one, because I havent had the best of luck their either. But i will never give up on the bread.