Marie Callender's

Eureka
December 24, 2005

Top of mind: Service was slow, even though there weren't many people there. Food was good.

Meals: Annette had Philly Chease steak, I had Rasberry Chipotle Salmon.

Annette mentioned there was not enough grilled onion in the sandwich (nearly none), though the beer battered onion rings made up for it.

My salmon was very good. The skin side was just caramelized, and the sweet/tart flavor of the rasberry really worked well with the fish. Rice pilaf was done correctly, It's difficult to ruin it, though I've seen it done. The Asparagus was perfect. It was not soggy and it was not rubber. It was tender, with a slight crispness to the skin.

Overall, I had an OK meal. The only problem was the slow service. I sort of expect it on Christmas eve (it was a late lunch on the 24th) but not when they're in the middle of a rush. What really bugged me is that I asked a busboy to get our waitress. He said he'd get her in a second after clearing the table. -- Not a problem. Of course, his buddy then showed up to talk to him about swapping shifts. Then his other buddy showed up to try to get him to swap shifts with HIM instead... Lucky for me, I flagged down another employee.

A genral note. I knew to order the salmon because we were having dinner in a couple of hours. Why exactly is it that the fish is never a big enough meal to fill a normal human? I'd like to be able to eat a salmon entree and not want more.