Heights West

Hello Heights West...lively looking joint, isn't it?  Well, I think my friends at Starbucks...Rusty to be exact, recommended this place, so here I finally am, with Justin. 

I'm a little worried driving up...as you can see.  It's not an attractive restaurant, not even in an ecclectic kind of way.

Sign, a little hard to see.  Nestled here behind this beatiful landscaping.

Inside and I think I'm starting to feel a little regret, but thankfully I see Justin and am ready to explore.

The menu is really simple.  They have two choices for lunch each day.  Yeah, that's the menu.  You don't have any other options than those two items.  Isn't that a little restrictive and presumptuous?  On the flip side, is the dinner menu, with the freedom to choose from several options.  But, for lunch, you have two choices, daily.

We order and I'm just looking around...my eyes are exploring our surroundings...I'm a little confused, but the more I sit there, the more I like it.  However, let me be clear, I don't love it.  There are things I like about the decor and things I don't.  They have faux bricks...it's a first for me.  They have these large patterened sheets strangely arranged on random spots on the walls and ceiling.  Oddly, I find that I like it and don't all at the same time...it's all very confusing and I find I'm very unsure what I think.

What artistry...so visually appealing isn't it?  I had some anyways, what I realized is that you just can't go wrong with ciabatta bread and butter.  Our waitress is very friendly and nice.

Well of course I got the pot roast with mash potatoes and peas since I'm not a cooked salmon fan.  Look at the marbling on the edge of this meat.  It was a little...very little...tough, but it was really good.  I liked it, it was salty and flavorful.  The mash potatoes tasted really homemade, you could see the potato skin...I love potato skin!  The gravy looked homemade too and looked like it was made of real beef juices. Even the peas were good...I just wished there was more of it.  I don't typically eat all my mashed potatoes, but I did this time.  Everything just tasted like good old homemade cooking.

Justin got the salmon croquette.  I had a bite of it and I tasted shrimpy and a slight hint of seafoodiness, which I don't like, but I actually thought overall it was tastful anyway.  I thought it stuck to the homemade theme, Justin liked it, said as he got more into the croquette it tasted a little bit more seafood.

You know, I walked in a little worried, not really that pleased by the aesthics, but I left feeling like I got the place.  It's good old fashioned homemade cookin.  Is that supposed to be in some primped up joint or pretentious looking building?  I can see they tried with the aesthics, but it was probably too much work and they gave up and said damn it, who the hell cares, the food is good.  The building and decor is good enough.  I think behind this restaurant is probably a small family, maybe mama or papa or...grandma or grandpa, maybe someone running it from passed down recipes and they just decided one day, they can cook and they want to own and run a small, modest joint with just some good old fashioned home cooking.  I liked it, it was a nice experience.  Wednesdays are Pot Roast and Salmon Croquettes.