an unexpected fisher-price meal. sadly, not culinary big leagues.. went in for sunday brunch with the family after hearing that this place is pretty popular and attempts to use fresh, local ingredients, we trucked it out from port jeff, happy to have finally gotten to try the food.
looked like an empty mission cantina, spartan, with more random odd kitsch and a college bar like feel.
onward to the dining area looks like a dark, damp, cold and uninviting peter luger's. often not a reflection on the food, but in this case...
asked our waitress -------- what the bar had to drink.
"we have everything" was her response.
cute. thanks for the guidance. i came hear to eat, drink and spend money. help me do that, please.
i asked for a list, and she told me they didn't have a beer or cocktail list, just a wine list. she then stood silent.
a bit baffled, i asked for her to bring me the wine list. ordered a glass of an unmemorable meritage, that tasted like it had been uncorked for several days.
now on to the food.
unfortunately, none of what we ordered seemed to be seasoned, apart from the rib eye meat, and the overly seasoned and burnt fried chicken that came with the waffle.
we ordered:
the avocado d.b.l.t.
with duck bacon, lemon dill aioli, egg, brioche roll.
sounds good right?
wrong.
flat. it tasted like eating only the bread and sauce from a cold burger king whopper. fries were room temperature, which was slightly cold.
pan-seared rib eye
with mixed summer greens, roasted mushrooms, poached egg, ginger
vinaigrette.
no discernible seasoning; as a result more flatness. fries cold, bread cold, rib eye with cold rubbery chunks of hard fat, cold undercooked mushrooms ( tasted like store-bought reconstituted chanterelles: disgusting)
simple egg with crispy pork belly
egg over easy, tomato, arugula, lemon
herb aioli, brioche roll, garlic herb
pomme frites
-again, no discernible seasoning; as a result more flatness. cold fries and cool, rubbery pork belly.
fried chicken with waffle.
chicken was the only thing that had seasoning, in fact so much so that you could see the sea salt resting like a dusting of snow atop the burnt, deep-fried chicken, which was accompanied by a log cabin faux maple syrup and log cabin faux maple syrup with lots of, perhaps vinegar and much hot pepper added to it, unpalatable.
waitstaff was aloof and unconcerned, apart from the busser, who was professional and apologetic.
in closing, i'll quote the previous reviewer, who said:
"...when going to a nice spot like this, you expect more... i don't mind blowing money if thefoodjumps out, but all thisfooddid was fall short and i'm so so so disappointed. i really had high hopes.
at the end if your meal, your check will come in a little book where they want you to leave a cute little message, all but one that i noticed were rave reviews... the other was just some immature moron telling the waitress to take her top off or something. i'm surprised and a little bothered that tullulah's is as big of a hit as it seems to be, i had a pretty plain-jane meal, and mildly poor service...
in comparison to just about anywhere i've had similar dishes i'd go to the other spot (which again i'm actually sad to say, because upon walking in i really liked the vibe, the art, the crowd, and the damn sign out front)
oh well. worth the try... i guess... maybe... eh.
:(
..."
hopefully dinner will be better, though i have to say i am hesitant to try.