Good food and sub par service

Encore
I have driven by the Encore at least 10 dozen times since moving to Denver in 2007, but I had never attempted to try this restaurant, which is located on the same block of colfax as tattered cover, twist and shout and the chipotle.  I recently learned that one of my colleague's brother and sister own the restaurant that has garnered good reviews from the denver post, 5280 as well as westword which raved about Encore's fig and pig flatbread pizza.   The menu offers a large variety of dishes from sandwiches and salads to larger meat entrees and pastas.  I settled for the home made tagliatelle with lamb ragu and my friend ordered the mussels and fries.  The thick strips of pasta was cooked al dente and were tossed with the flavorful nice chunks of braised lamb.  The lemon rosemary infused ricotta added a nice creaminess to the dish but was well balanced by the peppery flavor of the wilted arugula.  My friend's mussels steamed with tomato, vodka cream and pancetta seemed to enjoy her dish, particularly the shoe string fries but casually mentioned that she would probably not order it again given the large variety of choices on their menu.

On a side note:  We waited for over 10 minutes for our plates to be cleared after dinner.  I spoke to my friend at school and she was not suprised when i mentioned that the service needed some attention.

Plate score: 8






Banzai Sushi
Located off of leetsdale road in South Denver, Banzai sushi's menu boasts a hundred options of sushi rolls.  I am often skeptical about sushi places that are not as well known with the risk of low turnover rates for their raw fish and as a result the increased chance of food poisoning.  But, my friend had a groupon, so i couldn't say no.  As i stepped into the restaurant, we were greeted by a old japanese lady who cheerfully directed us to the a two top near the sushi bar.  There were several occupied tables on this cold thursday night but by the time we left around 7:30, the restaurant was almost full.  The extensive number of crazy roll options (fish on outside, rice on outside, tempura rolls) was overwhelming so we settled for some classics:  salmon nigiri, california roll, yellowtail and scallion, shrimp tempura roll, avocado roll and salmon skin roll.  The california roll incorporated the japanese mayo and added a nice sweetness to the imitation crab.  The salmon skin was not crispy enough despite the nice assortment of veggies in the maki roll itself. Overall the sushi was fine and I left there with a happy and healthy stomach, but for similar prices and superior quality i will stick to sushi den.

Plate score: 7


TAG
A 9:30 reservation at TAG restaurant in Larimer square is a perfect start to a Friday night in LoDo.  I ordered the Barramundi, an Australian whitefish similar to stripped bass.   The filet was pan seared skin side down served with a tablespoon of mango chutney.  The chutney did not add nor detract from the overall dish but I was fascinated with the roasted sunchokes scattered on the plate.  I was not familiar with sunchokes, also known as jerusalem artichokes but they taste like a hybrid between an artichoke and a potato.  Its starchy consistency was a nice textural contrast to the fish and I've since considered making it for a side dish this christmas.  The lobster sambal (asian chili) butter sauce was smooth and creamy with a spiciness that lingered in the back of my throat and the pancetta added a nice salty flavor  to the sauce but the actual presence of the diced meat was unnecessary.

Other things to note:
The service was sub par.  Our waiter dressed in an ugly and form fitting chrismas sweater let our water glasses run empty for at least 5 minutes before attempting to refill them.  He also forgot one of our dishes and put in the wrong order for another but then proceeded to blame the kitchen saying "those bastards".  Sure, i've been a waitress and I 've blamed the kitchen for my mistakes, however i would not use that language in front of customers.  It could just be me.  I was happy with my food but I think that our waiter should have offered us a complimentary dessert for two of his mistakes.

Plate score:  8


Snooze
Trying to decide when to go to Snooze is a decision in itself.  On the weekends you can expect to wait between 45 to 90 minutes, luckily they have free coffee and a heated patio while you wait.  We decided to head to the ball park location right before 1pm and were pleasantly suprised to only have to wait 30 minutes for our round table booth.  The table decided on the huevos racheros, ham benedict III, the vegetable pot pie and I ordered the tuscano benedict,  We also ordered a single chocolate chip and blueberry pancake to share.  My tuscano benedict was a ragout of white beans, squash, tomato and kale with shredded parmesan served with two poached eggs and the cream cheese hollandaise on the side (by request).  I substituted the french bread with their homemade english muffin and was extremely pleased with the creative vegetarian approach to the benedict.  My only complaint was the benedict stack was served lukewarm where as the plate was curling iron hot ....something doesn't seem right in this scenario.  Serve things at the right temperature!

Plate score: 9


Happy Holidays everyone! my next post will be from the ATL.....aka the dirty south (Atlanta)