Adequate food in the midst of talking animals
Written: Jul 06 '01 (Updated Jun 16 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Decent, although uninspired, food.
Cons: Noisy and annoying.
The Bottom Line: It's not terrible- but having uninteresting food in a gimmicky and noisy atmosphere is not my cup of tea.
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| lapook76's Full Review: Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse |
I went to the Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse with my parents last night for about the millionth time. They like it because the food, albeit uninteresting, is reliable, and because it's one of the few decent meals that they can get close to their home. I think that if they had more restaurants in their area, they probably wouldn't bother with this one.
When you enter the restaurant, (which is easier said than done on a weekend night. Expect to fight throngs of fidgety children to get to the hostess, and then expect to wait at least an hour...), you are greeted by a hostess with a hokey-sounding name. They all have hokey made-up names, like "Bobby-Jo-Suzy" and "Moose". The restaurant is decorated to look like a Canadian lodge; there are various (fake, I think) animal heads and other parts stuck to the walls, gratuitous antlers everywhere, black and white pictures of Canadian mounties, etc. Last night, they had a fire going in the fireplace even though it was about 80 degrees outside. Go figure.
The thing about the animal heads is that they talk. So it's kind of like being in Disney while you're eating dinner, but in a far more annoying way. Every so often one of the animals stuck to the wall says something, but unless you are sitting right underneath one, don't expect to hear what it's saying- it's way too noisy in the restaurant to hear.
The service is okay- I find that the waiters and waitresses are friendly enough, and they generally get our orders right, but they seem very harried, do not check back frequently enough, and take a long time to bring drinks, etc. It took about a half an hour last night for our waitress to bring me my water.
Last night I ordered a spinach dip for an appetizer and was not impressed. It was basically cheez-wiz with some frozen spinach mixed in. It had a sort of slimy, chewy texture that I wasn't expecting. I normally get the giant fried onion (to be shared with the entire table- it's very large), which is pretty good, or the Whitewater shrimp, which are simply grilled shrimp served with garlic bread, and are actually pretty good. The appetizers cost between about $5-$8 each. They also bring out a chunk of dark, honey-flavored bread, which is pretty good. Some of the entrees, I believe the steaks and the pastas, come with a side salad.
I normally don't eat very much meat, but last night I was in the mood for a burger. I got the "Moosebreath" burger, which comes with sauteed mushrooms, (okay, but they were quite salty), and cheddar cheese, (again, weird, slimy, cheese. I don't know what was up with their cheese last night...). The burger was served with some limp seasoned fries and a pickle. I think it was $8 or so. My dad ordered a steak, which made him very happy. The steaks, I think run from $12-$18. My mother ordered chicken fingers, but got the appetizer portion because there isn't any difference between the appetizer and the platter except that the platter comes with baked beans. My boyfriend got barbeque chicken pasta ($12-$13, I think) which seemed bizarre to me, but he seemed to enjoy. The BBQ pasta seemed to be a mound of linguine topped with shredded BBQ chicken, then loaded with cheese and BBQ sauce on top. Hm.
From what I could see, there didn't seem to be many vegetarian options. There are a few fish options, including salmon and trout. I've had the salmon before, and it's decent.
I've never gotten a dessert at Bugaboo, so I can't report. There was a picture advertising a "s'mores" dessert at our table that looked pretty interesting.
If you have children and are looking for an adequate steak, maybe this is the place for you. However, it seems that there are much better options. As far as chain-y steak restaurants such as this go, I prefer the "Outback Steakhouse"- it's just less gimmicky and annoying, and the service is much better.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
lapook76
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Location: Arlington, MA
Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 40 members
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