Dinner at Earl's

I took a business colleague out to dinner this week at the 170 Street location of Earls'. I started off with a half order of pan bread with an olive oil/balsamic vinegar dip. It was a light, yet flavourful way to begin the meal. To drink, I had one of the featured craft sodas. Not too sweet, mine had a lemongrass base with lime soda and some orange.

For my main I had the Thai veggie bowl and added chicken for an additional $4.50. I have had this before, but with tofu as the protein. The lemongrass sauce had more of a kick than I remembered, and the combination of vegetables, chicken, and quinoa was very filling.

Roast Chicken at Earl's

Roast Chicken, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

Oh, Earl's. We used to be so close. Then, your menu became way over the top, and had few things I could afford, let alone eat.

Well, last night, I decided to give us another try at your campus location. I felt like living it up a bit, and so had the roast chicken, which was one of your featured items. I enjoyed the white wine sauce with mushrooms, except I could not find any mushrooms. I guess they were pureed into the sauce. Your chicken breasts were juicy, but I wish they had no skin - it was soft and unpleasant to eat, and much of the lovely sauce was piled on top and wasted as a result because I had to scrape the skin off.

Your carrots were tasy but not fork tender and were a struggle to eat at times. Your fingerling potatoes are very cute, and were lovely in the sauce, but had somewhat of an oily taste on their own.

I had a lime margharita on the rocks with my meal, which was on special. It was sour, but satisfying.

Oh Earl's, I fear this will be the end of our relationship. The fact that I did not enjoy the crowded, noisy, dark atmosphere only added to my resolve. In that respect, don't fret too much - after all, it's not you, it's me.