Dinner Review #1

For our weekly dining out meal, my husband and I chose something a little more low-key and less adventurous than usual. We were tired. We just finished a busy week and the weekend isn't going to be any less busy. We didn't exactly feel like going out but didn't want to cook, either, so we finally decided on Hogan's Hideaway, a casual restaurant on Park Ave. It was a pleasant experience, a good mix of decent food and just the right kind of atmosphere. Unfortunately I had to notice a splatter of tomato sauce on our table as we were being seated, so of course I had to stare at it occasionally throughout the meal. The silverware was also dingy with dried rinse water patterns on it. That's the obsessive side of me speaking, though. My more gracious side says they were busy, and once the food comes, who cares? My wine (Mountain Road 2004 Pinot Noir, from New York, incidentally the most expensive glass on the menu) and my husband's beer (Hogan's Park Ave Ale) were excellent and our meals pretty good. I had a steak salad with blue cheese, red peppers and a roasted garlic dressing. I'm not usually a "salad for a main dish" kind of eater--that's a little too girly for me, but this salad had enough substance and my appetite was not as robust as usual so in the end I was satisfied. He had the Friday Fish Fry (cod-which I tasted and pronounced a little doughy as opposed to crispy, but I'm not a fish fry person anyway). The complimentary bread was a mixed bag--a soft white country-style loaf instead of the nice crispy crust we prefer, but laced with some kind of seed (either caraway or fennel, we couldn't decide) that made the flavor more exciting. The bill totaled $40.77 before tip, a little more expensive than what it was worth, maybe, but not bad.