Crust and Redemption?

October 20, 2014 Nosa O

FOLLY: Last time we were here, it was an absolute disaster. Nosa didn't get his quesadilla and my burger was absolutely wretched. We decided to give Crust & Cream another chance, however. Perhaps it was opening day jitters. Happens to the best of us.

NOSA: First thing we noticed was the streamlined menu. They'd taken out the quesadilla and a couple of other things. THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP, GUYS! The waiters were super attentive unlike the turdbucket from last time. So attentive that every time they came over, it felt like they were coming to deliver some bad news. "We ran out of everything in the kitchen. We're sorry". Blame the PTSD.

FOLLY: I got the Pasta Carbonara while Nosa got the Philly Cheesesteak. He definitely doesn't learn.

NOSA: The Philly Cheesesteak was pretty good, like, way better than I expected. When the guy brought it over, I wasn't expecting much. They went with american cheese over provolone. That's a big red flag if you've ever had a cheesesteak. Also, there was this residual trauma from Folly's burger last time here. The fries weren't as struggle. They still tasted like the frozen fries you put in the oven, but this time they tasted like the instructions were followed.

Anyway, back to the cheesesteak. Their cheese choice was vindicated because the sandwich was so delicious and the sauce was just perfect. I've had lots of shit cheesesteaks before so I know my onions when it comes to shit cheesesteaks. This wasn't one.

FOLLYPOPS: Guys, so I think I stole Nosa’s order as this is how the conversation went when we were about to order:

Me: I’m really hungry so I think I want to get pasta.

Nosa: Says something about pasta carbonara.

Me: Yes, I’m getting the pasta carbonara.

He didn’t pick up on this so I don’t even know why I’m admitting it publicly. He even remarked that he was slightly jealous that he didn’t get the carbonara when our food arrived because we were both impressed by the plating, but he still didn’t realize that I stole his order. Nosa, I'm sorry.

NOSA: Good to know.

FOLLY: Anyways, back to what’s important, I LOVE pasta. While I was in College, I ate pasta almost every day. I also love creamy pastas. As a result, I consider myself well versed on the subject of pasta and I believe that three things make a good pasta dish:

The ratio of pasta sauce to pasta;
The seasoning of the sauce obviously; and finally
The tenderness of the pasta.

Inadequate pasta sauce stresses me out; I actually just cannot deal with it. Period. Thankfully, this was perfect and the pasta sauce completely coated the linguini. In fact, I didn’t expect carbonara to be this creamy, but as I mentioned earlier I love creamy pastas so this worked for me. Next, the linguini was perfectly boiled; it was neither chewy and nor was it comparable to baby food. That brings us to 2/3 using my earlier outlined grading system. However, if there was any area for improvement in my meal it was the flavouring, as I could taste notes of burnt garlic. I know what burnt garlic tastes like cause I’ve scorched garlic far too many times while making a similar white sauce.

NOSA: That's a lot of words for pasta.

FOLLY: Whatever.

Anyway , the menu description did not say my pasta was served with garlic bread so I wasn’t expecting it nonetheless it was a welcome surprise. It was warm and buttery – not even the slightest bit hard. Also noteworthy is the fact that you have an option to select chicken or shrimp to be tossed in there along with everything else. I forgot to choose so the chef helped me decide on shrimp and the kind waiter actually came to let me know the chef’s choice and that he hoped that I didn’t have any shellfish allergies.

NOSA: Where the bacon bits at doe?

FOLLY: I guess in making this executive decision for which I hold absolutely no grudges, the chef forgot to add the bacon. With that in mind, thank God Nosa didn’t order the carbonara after all as he would have seriously minded this omission! I didn’t, so all was still well.

POSTSCRIPT

NOSA: Crust & Cream definitely made up for their opening day debacle.

FOLLY: It was definitely “crust and redemption” this time around as I really enjoyed my meal.