A Plug for the Competition

While perusing the restaurant reviews on Urbanspoon, I came across a blog that occasionally includes brief comments on restaurants around town, but also covers so much more about San Antonio. It's called Urban Spotlighthttp://urbanspotlight.wordpress.com/, and is written by somebody named Debbie Sultemeier. I don't know who she is, but she clearly partakes of all the cultural activities that this wonderful city offers; something I used to do, and sometimes wish I still did. But now maybe I'm too burned out on all that culture stuff. 

Anyway, if you're interested in what goes on in SA, check it out.

Canyon Cafe

I don't know how many years ago Canyon Cafe opened -- it's been a while -- but we were there within a month or so of its birth. That's unusual for us; we tend to say "we need to try this new place," and then promptly forget about it for six months or longer. I think it must've been suggested by friends more eager than we to rub their thumbs along the cutting edge of fashion. Anyway, it was a long time ago, and we weren't impressed. After that, we didn't go back for many years, until someone held some event there that we attended, and at that point we found that things were greatly improved. Since then, we've been back a number of times, and if it weren't for the sheer number of excellent restaurants in town, plus the number of interesting-but-unknown restaurants, we'd probably go much more often.

There are several nice touches that help make Canyon Cafe an enjoyable experience, in addition to very good food prepared with a flair. The decor, to me, evokes the quiet wealth of San Miguel de Allende, without all the dusty streets, stray dogs, and loud tourists in inappropriate clothing. It's a façade, of course, a mix of Southwestern decay and post-modern cheap, but it's effective. And the chips and salsa are particularly good here: the baskets of tostadas contain a mix of chips, some seasoned, some sweetened, some regulár, that never fail to surprise in a good way. And at the end, the cold white chocolate tamale presented to all the diners is a unique and special treat.

I won't bother describing the particular dishes we tried; everything we've had at Canyon Cafe since we renewed our acquaintance with it has been delicious and interesting. The house margaritas are a little on the dull side, but they, too, are effective. And really, isn't that the main thing in a margarita?

And Now For Something Completely Different?

There have been a lot of times I've gone to one restaurant or another on the strength of recommendations I've seen or heard from friends, acquaintances, web sites and local newspapers. The place I chose today, I chose because it came in tops in one of those meaningless "Best Of The City" articles, probably in the local throwaway weekly, but maybe in the regular so-called local newspaper. 

I pass the Bagel Factory, at 15909 US 281 North, between Thousand Oaks and Brookhollow, several times a week on my way to the gym, but since the access road is one way the other way, I have never stopped there. I've had some of their bagels a couple of times, giveaways at the gym during occasional promotions, but it's hard to judge a product fairly when it's been sitting around in the open air for hours. (Of course, it probably makes no real difference, since otherwise it's been sitting around in a large display case just as long. But best to make the trial as fair as possible, and avoid even the appearance of circumstantial bias.)

So this morning I picked up my friend Rick after my workout and we headed on over to the Bagel Factory.

When you walk in, you're greeted with a call of "Welcome to Bagel Factory" by people behind the counter. I've seen the same thing at Cici's Pizza, but with more feeling. Here, it struck me as an unenthusiastic and automatic greeting. Maybe it would have helped if the employee had actually looked at us when we came in, but she continued doing whatever it was she was doing.

In addition to about 18 different types of bagels, the store offers sandwiches and drinks. That was what we had come for. I chose the "supervisor," a breakfast sandwich with egg, cheese and bacon (sausage, ham and chorizo also available). Choosing the type of bagel was difficult, but I narrowed it down quickly. I couldn't see having such a sandwich on a chocolate chip bagel, for example, or orange-cranberry (though that might've been good...). I finally settled on the honey-wheat variety. Rick went with a "Polish bagelache," a link of Polish sausage wrapped in bagel dough and baked. (The menu offers a choice of three add-on items; his had cheese and jalapeños, but I'm pretty sure he didn't order it that way.) We both had coffee.

The shop offers two types of coffee, plus decaf: French Roast, and Café Blend. We both went with the Café Blend, which was powerfully strong but not quite as potent as the acid sold as coffee in certain national chain coffee houses. It's a good sign when a single packet of sweetener is sufficient for a cup of coffee. This cup required two or three.

Rick's "bagelache" seemed to have been heated in a microwave, because the bagel dough, while soft and tasty, was chewy in the way that microwave radiation produces. The thing was so hot on the outside that it was impossible to hold long enough to take a bite; and when it had cooled off enough to hold, the sausage proved to be almost cold inside.

My bagel sandwich wasn't any better. The bagel itself seemed dry, the bacon was undercooked and limp and strangely flavourless, and the egg was utterly tasteless. It looked like some kind of pre-fabricated egg-substitute, dragged out of a freezer and zapped. Only the cheese had flavour. 

The place was clean and spacious, and even had three shaded tables outside, which is nice in good weather; although the traffic noise of 281 might make that a dubious virtue. Prices were reasonable, and might even be considered excellent value if the actual product were better.