Thursday, September 29, 2011

Restaurant Review: Oswego Grill

Oswego Grill
Location Visited: Wilsonville OR USA
www.oswegogrill.com
$-$$

The Oswego Grill has two locations in Oregon, the original in Lake Oswego and the newly opened location in Wilsonville.  They serve lunch and dinner and I have not yet dined as a dinner guest but have gone twice for lunch and the crowd is mostly business professionals and middle - upper class suburbanites.  I would not recommend this restaurant for young children.  The atmosphere is dark, dark wood tones accompanied by dark greens and black, booths with more of a 'mood lighting' and black cloth napkins (it may seem like a small thing but their napkins are terribly cheap.  While they are cloth, which is preferable, the fabric seems to smear rather than absorb and leaves you feeling like you need to wash your hands after you finish eating).

Starter - Iceberg Wedge Salad
Their Iceberg Wedge Salad with apple wood smoke bacon, blue cheese dressing and blue cheese crumbles is massive.  The lettuce is fresh and crisp, the bacon is smoky and the blue cheese is abundant and pleasantly subtle.  I can only eat half of this, you could practically have it as an entree but the price is very reasonable, something to the tune of $6.

Lunch Entree - Widmer Beer Battered Fish & Chips
A great, classic cod fish & chips.  The fish is the star with a good fish to batter ratio.  The batter is crisp and flavorful without overpowering the soft fish flavor. The french fries are partially skin-on, well fried and seasoned.  I did move my fish off of my fries right away so the fries didn't get soggy underneath the fish however.  Comes with a house made tartar sauce, which was pretty good but nothing to remember.  The coleslaw was terrible, some of the most bland coleslaw I have ever eaten, had two bites and pushed it aside.

Dessert - Strawberry Shortcake
An old-fashioned classic, reinvented for the fine dining experience. Made with fresh strawberries, scratch made biscuits and fresh whip cream.  The biscuit was sugar coated which was quite nice, the strawberries were sweet and the strawberry sauce was wonderful, helping to moisten the dry biscuit.  I did find myself wanting more whip cream, due to the biscuit being a bit dry and the large amount of strawberries served with it.

My overall thoughts, I enjoyed the meal quite a bit.  The food was consistent both times I have visited and I would go again.  Not sure if I would order the strawberry cheesecake again, I think it is one of those dishes that looks better than it tastes, but overall, good food and good atmosphere.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
A classic Banana Bread made with fresh apple sauce in place of butter by Lacey Johnston.
Serves 8 - 12.

  • 4 Apples, cored and cut into small cubes
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • 2 Bananas, mashed with fork
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/8 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 cup Chocolate Chips (optional)
  1. Spray loaf pan with non-stick cook spray, set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 325* degrees F.
  3. In a blender, puree apples, water and cinnamon, set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, mix baking soda, sugar, baking powder, flour, salt with fork.
  5. Add applesauce and eggs, mix with electric mixer till well combined.
  6. Gently fold in bananas and chocolate chips.
  7. Pour mix into prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes.
  8. Let cool for 10 - 15 minutes before removing from pan, then let cool on wire rack.
  9. Slice and serve, store leftovers in foil in refrigerator.