Not Everything is Good at Tutto Bene Restaurant in Ames

Tutto bene means ‘everything is good’ in Italian. Apparently, it’s also a well known name for restaurants, according to Google. Unfortunately, not everything is good with the Tutto Bene retaurant in our little town of Ames, Iowa.

Opened almost a month ago, the owner’s brother owns a Mexican restaurant, Cazador, which is pretty popular in Ames. Since Cazador is very close to my office, we go there for lunch quite often and was very surprised when we’re told that they’re opening an Italian restaurant. Although Mexican and Italian cuisine both use tomatoes as main ingredient a lot, they’re not quite the same. Mexican food uses tomatoes for the condiments, mostly. While Italian food uses tomatoes mostly as sauces. I did have some hesitation towards the Mexican-owned new Italian restaurant.

So the four of us went to try it out one day for supper. I’ve not been a big fan of Italian cuisine due to my disliking to tomato-based food (except for pizza). But in spite of our family eagerness to be open to try anything new -food especially- plus my daughter is a big fan of pizza and spaghetti while my son’s loving lasagna.

The location is not new to us. It’s located at the former building of Mexican restaurant O’Malley and McGees. Interior-wise there was not a big change; including the seating arrangement. The lighting was not too bright nor too dark. Rather formal table setting with table cloth, tall big wine glass, and real silverware. We were seated rather quickly by a well mannered Mexican waitress. “Alright, this is going to be good,” we thought.

Time to order the food. Hubby chose the antipasto platters for the appetizer, which he claimed as ’surprised’ to see it on the menu. ‘Surprised’ in a good way; more like ‘impressed’. Antipasto is the right Italian way to start a meal, and it cost $8. I ordered a chicken marsala (it’s ‘pollo marsala’ on the menu) for myself, while hubby ordered some kind of pasta dish. For the kids, we got them spaghetti with meatballs and lasagna.

 

The food was horrible. Started with the antipasto; the cured shrimp tasted old like ‘meat gone bad’ kind of taste while the marinated vegetables tasted weird. My chicken marsala was disappointing because the chicken felt like like rubber; like it was a frozen chicen breast and nuked in the microwave.  They served it with green and red bell peppers, which was the first time for me to see. Hubby’s pasta and Davi’s spaghetti were over cooked, while the meatballs were very chewy and tasted horrible. We were hoping that the lasagna would be better, but it was less than warm and hard to chew. The only thing we could eat was the bread.

Since we couldn’t finish the food and the kids were still hungry, we opted to leave to go elsewhere for dinner. “Would you like a box to take your food home?” the waitress asked. “NO!” hubby and I answered in unison. “No, thank you,” I smiled politely.

On our way home, we turned in to McDonald’s drive thru. Nothing is more reliable than the good ol’ artery clogging Big Mac!

International Food Fair with a Culture Clash

The four of us went to VEISHEA’s Cultural Festival and International Food Fair last week. It’s a good way to taste the globe in one day, without actually traveling. The admission was $3 per person or $8 per family plus 50 cents per food ticket. Most of the entree cost 4-5 tickets, while an appetizer  or dessert is about 3, and the drink is 2. Hosted at the South Ballroom of  Memorial Union, visitors need to pay the admission fee at the door. The food tickets were sold both outside and inside, and we purchased $20 worth of tickets. 

Countries representated were Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Japan, Brazil-Portuguese, Nepal, Chinese, Puerto Rico, Latin American, Egypt, Other African, Sri Lanka, Russia, and Argentina-Uruguay-Chile. Each country had a ‘booth’ and at least two items to sell. It’s a buffet style, so we got the food fairly quickly. The eating area’s big and nice, with a huge screen to display various video clips from each countries.

Even though the claim was to “Experienced food from around the world excellently prepared by International Student Council”, I knew better not to put our hopes high. Even though our little town has a lot of international restaurants with good food, doesn’t mean the international students could cook as good.

And I was right, unfortunately, starting off with Indonesia. Being an Indonesian myself, I was disappointed to find out that their only two dishes are not ‘presentable’. Their chiken rendang very soupy, almost like a lontong sayur, I thought it supposed to be like this. While their macaroni schotel was very dry and too salty. On the hand out flyers, the macaroni schotel cost  4 tickets, but one of the Indonesian girls told us it cost 8 tickets! Hubby told her, “I’m sorry but the flyer said it only cost 4 tickets.” The girl said while laughing weakly, “Oh. Yeah. Sorry.” Hubby looked at me with eyebrows raised and I gave him the same ‘lool’. As we were walking away, he asked me, “What’s up with that? The Indonesian girl tried to rip me off?” I said, “She better not. Maybe she got the wrong info or something.”

Our favorites was the Koshary, an Egyptian dish which is a mix of pasta, rice, lentil, chick peas, onion, garlic, and some chili sauce. This may sound horrible, but it was delicious. My son Dante was eating it like crazy, he went for second, even. Indian’s tandoori chicken was always good, a bit too spicy but not bad. Like the Argentinian empanadas, unhappy with the Chinese hot pot. Satisfied with the Egyptian hibiscus tea and Puerto Rican fruit punch, astounded by Indian’s Rooh afza or rose syrup. Delighted by Russian torta de bolacha, intrigued by Brazilian pastel de forno.

As we were getting full, I saw somebody had a plate of something which looked very familiar to me. “Hey… it’s klepon!” I shrieked. My daughter looked at me, “It’s a what pound?” I grabbed her hand and said, “No, no. Not what pound. Klepon. It’s an Indonesian dessert. Funny, I didn’t see that at the Indonesian booth.”

So we walked around to find where this is sold. Amazingly, it was at the Malaysian Student Association’s booth. Except, they called it Onde Onde, although it looks as green as Indonesian klepon, also with dried coconut shred on it. How bizarre. Davi was in line and a guy asked her, “What would you like to get?” Davi pointed at the klepon (or Onde Onde, I should say, because it’s their version). The other guy then said, “Oh, the Onde Onde! Good for you. It’s truly Malaysian.”

[Click on the picture to get a better view]

’scuse me? Truly Malaysian? Not entirely true. Because that is also our (Indonesian)  klepon. And I will be adamant about my klepon. Don’t be ignorant. Just like they’re claiming that Rasa Sayange folk song, the island of Bintan, wayang, and angklung is theirs. OK, maybe this klepon vs onde onde thing is not as harsh as the previous clash. And maybe they’re just ignorant students who don’t have a clue that their neighboring country has something similar. I sure hope this is the case. Because I’m getting tired of Malaysia’s claiming everything that is not necessarily our, but we have it too, as their only.

Geez!

Little Taipei

There are so many American Chinese restaurants in this country. I must emphasize on the ‘American Chinese’ part, because only a few of them really serve authentic Chinese cuisine. What started as a way to cater to railroad workers, in the 19th century Chinese restaurateurs developed American Chinese cuisine. They modified their food for American tastes, such as chop suey and sesame chicken.

There are so many of them, that I got jealous. If only the number of Indonesian restaurants are that many, even half of it, wouldn’t that be nice. In the Midwest, there are only a handfull of Indonesian restaurants around. I’m so lucky to have one in our little town of Ames, Iowa. Last time I checked in 2006, Chicago doesn’t even have one. I’m not sure about Minneapolis either. Madison, WI, has one (Bandung restaurant) which we visited in 2001 and is still in business!

Back to Chinese restaurants. There are approximately 9 of them in this 50,000-population college town (not to mention the HyVee ones). In my humble opinion, there’s only one that I’d consider ‘authentic’ and it’s ‘Little Taipei’. This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in town. Located in Campustown, this restaurant is never slow. Always full of customer; Asian or not. Moved recently to a nicer building, Little Taipei is always constant in providing good food. Like [most] Chinese restaurants, you shouldn’t expect too much of good service. They don’t have waiters who’d take your order, keep checking on you every 1o minutes or so, or bring you the bill.

You come in, go to the counter, and be prepare to answer these questions:

1. “For here or to go?”
2. “What do you want?”
3. “Spicy, no spicy?”
4. “What to drink?”

For question number 2, if you’re not a regular or if you happen to miss the big list of menu mounted on the wall (right after the entrance door in the alley, and again inside the restaurant), you’ll get flustered. They have so many categories; under ‘Rice’, ‘Noodles’, ‘Chicken’, ‘Beef’, etc. I usually go with the ‘Specials’ like Bulgogi Pork, Teriyaki Chicken, and Angry Catfish. The official menu on the wall is in English. The unofficialone is written in Chinese characters, and more… challenging. I don’t remember quite exactly what they called but there is one I’m particularly intrigued about: ‘Sour Stomach’. That’s right. I’m not sure if this dish will make your stomach sour (sick) after eating, or it’s an inside lining of an animal stomach (I’m guessing cow?) cooked in sour sauce. Well, that doesn’t sound very convincing either. 

Anyway…

After you decided what you’d like to order, then you pay (they no longer accept checks). Then, the cashier/order-taker would -which I probably am the only one who find this interesting- yell out the order into a microphone. Now, what would be the purpose of a mic? I’m guessing it’s for the cook back in the kitchen. But why yellling? You could just talk normal into the mic, and they should be able to hear it. The kitchen is just right behind the wall. Plus, there’s a window on the wall so they could definitely hear the yelling. Plus, after the customer pays, the cashier/order-taker would put the order slip up on the ‘thingy’ on the other side of the window.

So, expect to hear a loud,”CHICKEN FRIED RICE!! TO GO!! NO SPICY!!” or “MAPO TOFU FOR HERE!! SPICY!!” every now and then while you’re eating there. On a slower time of day (around 3:00 or 4:00 pm), you’ll hear less. But this doesn’t seem to bother the patrons at all. As most of them are college students, who don’t expect to dine in a fancy restaurant and just want something good, cheap and fast. Most of the dish is $5.00 and you’ll get plenty of white steam rice.

Bali Satay House

Jokingly, I told my husband that the only reason I agreed on to move here from my beloved country Indonesia was because it has an Indonesian restaurant: ‘Bali Satay House’. But to be honest, Doug did sell their name to ‘lure’ me as if living with him here is not a good enough motivation.

The owner, Iwan Muljadi (‘om Iwan’ as I call him or ‘captain Iwan’ as my kids bestowed him) claimed that it’s the first Indonesian resto in the Midwest. But I do know this, there aren’t so many Indonesian resto in the US that could last long and survived in the food service. As we travel within the US or around the world, we learned that they aren’t as many Indonesian restaurants as Chinese’s. For some reason, Indonesian restaurants just can’t survive.

Unsure about the exact year they started, when I got here in 2000, Bali Satay was just a small cozy shack in Campustown. Cafetaria-like seatings with plastic utensils, a small kitchen, but with loyal customers. Limited Indonesian menu like gado-gado, lamb fried rice, and chicken satay were their selling points. Back then, the pricing was dirt cheap. This attracted college crowds into flocking Bali Satay.

Then along came demanding customers who wish to see a better Indonesian restaurant in town and don’t mind paying more -like us. Our friends said that they really like the food but don’t fancy the idea of  eating in. At that time, I feel like Bali Satay was my home away  from home and I ate there often. But in the summer, the restaurant’s hot and humid while in the winter, it’s freezing. Uncomfortable. So having listened to his customer’s comments, the owner made a big decission to purchase a bigger restaurant few doors down and moved Bali Satay in. I think it was in 2004.

Better seatings, better utensils, better ambiance, and more variety of food.  Combining Indonesian and Chinese cuisine, their a la carte menu now has more Indonesian dishes other than gado-gado and the like. You’d see in the Indonesian entree group: ‘Mie Ayam’, ’Ayam Goreng Mentega’, ‘Cumi Goreng Mentega’, ‘Kwetiau Goreng’, etc. While for appetizer, you could order ‘Somay’, ‘Risoles’, and ‘Fried Tofu’ among the Chinese appetizer like Egg roll, Spring roll, Crab rangoon, etc. Better improvement comes with higher price. Same goes with Bali Satay. But the good thing is, it didn’t stop the crowds from coming. What usually priced as a $5.99 fried rice is now $7.99. ‘Specials’ are more expensive, even. Dishes like ‘Soto Madura’, ‘Lontong Sayur’, ‘Nasi Campur’, and ‘Sweet n Spicy Salmon with Sambal Terasi’ are tagged $8.99.

I know it’s impossible to have the exact taste of food or drinks like I used to taste back home. Not only it’s hard to find the exact same ingredients and spices, it’s also because the restauranteer had to adjust to the local’s liking, therefore Americanizing the Indonesian dishes. ‘Es Campur’ here is good, but nothing like what abang-abang (street vendor) sells in Jakarta. Although the ‘Es Alpukat’ (avocado shake) is amazingly similar to home, and the ‘Es Duren’ (durian shake) is something that only the brave (unless you are Indonesian!) would order.

Too bad, Bali Satay does not maintain their food quality very well. Once my daughter’s favorite, their Chicken Satay was uncooked a coule of time we ordered. The empal (sweet marinated beef) in Nasi Campur that had made our friends fell in love, was too tough to chew every now and then. Too bad. The service isn’t the greatest either. That’s actually what stopped us from coming in so often, beside the food quality issue. But lately I’ve been coming back, and they have better waiter/waitress. Fast(er) service too, I notice.

One of Iwan’s brilliant ideas was to turn Bali Satay into a nightclub. Soon after the restaurant’s hour is over (9:00ish at night), admission is charged to watch the live band/DJ. There was even a ‘Drag Queen’ show one night. The nightclub serves snack (from the appetizer menu) and booze from the recently built bar. We went there once to see the ’reggae night’ with the [supposedly] DJ from the Caribbean. It was quite fun!

India Palace

 

 

I’d be very happy to be a vegetarian IF only I could cook as good as these people or have them promise to stay open forever and ever. Indian food is amazingly delicious and their veggie dish are out of this world. When I go to an Indian restaurant, I normally played it safe and order the food I’m familiar with. It all changed when ’India Palace’ came along. Ideally located at Campustown, India Palace took over what was known as an underground pizza restaurant. Been here for about 7 months now (not very sure, though), India Palace is growing strong.

I tell you what makes this place worth a visit:

• Amazing buffet lunch for $5.99 per person. Hot and delicious food; naan bread, rice with peas, veggie dish, tandoori chicken, salads, and desserts.
• Their mango lassi.
• Reasonably priced package for dinner. For instance, ‘Maharani’ package is a good deal for two person meal; easily fed our family of four.
• Ideally located in Campustown, easily reached from everywhere.
• They maintain the quality of the food.
• Very friendly (too friendly, sometimes) owners.

I only have an hour lunch every day at work. Sometimes it’s just not long enough if I have errands to do. It takes me 15 minutes to drive home, then another 15 minutes back. In half an hour, I need to prepare and eat my lunch, let my dog out to do his business, call him back in, also take care of my business before head back to work. So when I have to do errands or just don’t feel like going back and forth home, I’ll call hubby to ask him to join me for lunch at India Palace. He loves this place as well, not too hard to persuade him to go there to have lunch with me. It’s just a 5 minutes drive away from my office. Park the car, put a qurter into the parking meter slot, walk in to the restaurant, got seated, answer “Water’s just fine for me”, up again to grab the food at the buffet, eat, get up again to get more food, eat, then pay. All of this in less than 25 minutes.

When we’re done eating and in line to pay, there’s a loooong wait already for people waiting to be seated. This is usually happens around 12:30 pm. So if you happen to be about in Ames, is looking for a good place for lunch (and liking Indian food, of course), this is the place to be. I’m not a 100% sure, but I think kids eat free for lunch (or is it half price?) and they do have booster seats for the kids as well as high chairs for toddlers.