 "Photo: The Olympian")
When it comes to eating in the Olympic Café, there is a profound difference in the quality of food you will get depending on when in the quarter you visit.
Those of you who eat there often may have noticed the progression of the quality over the past few months, but if you’re not one of those people, now is the perfect opportunity to give them another chance.
As you may be aware, I visited the café last week and sampled some of the food offered by the Culinary Arts students at the beginning of the quarter, and they did not get the best review.
This time, however, was different.
This time around I made an attempt to eat a similar meal, so I got the deluxe stuffed baked chicken with pan gravy, loaded mashed potatoes and creamy cauliflower with spinach.
I also had the stuffed red pepper. I know that an entrée only comes with one side, but I couldn’t pick just one, and none of the three let me down.
The chicken was quartered and had a mushroom stuffing between the skin and the meat.
For the gravy, the pan was deglazed with white wine and cooked with shallots.
Even though the piece I had was the last in the serving pan, the chicken stayed moist and tender and the skin was still crispy.
For my starch, I decided on the loaded mashed potatoes. Bacon, sour cream, cheese and butter were added to creamy mashed potatoes, which carried just enough flavor with them to let you taste each part without overpowering the flavor of the potatoes.
It should be known that I am not a big fan of cauliflower, and I never have been, but at the recommendation of the students serving I tried a bite of the creamy cauliflower. It was delicious.
It was made with spinach, cream cheese and then topped with cheddar cheese. Any cream-cheesiness that you would expect to take over the flavor of the dish was sedated by the cheddar cheese that it was topped with.
The last part of my meal, and I part that I added by pure impulse was the stuffed red pepper.
The pepper was halved and filled with rice, onion, tomato and seasoning. It was presented with the stem on, which gave it the unmistakable look of a red pepper.
The difference between the food I received at the beginning of the quarter and now is noticeable.
But at no point was the food bad, and I say that as a person who eats in the cafeteria at least twice a week.
Make the trip guys, it’s worth it. Besides, if you ask nicely, the people who work there are more than willing to tell you about food and what the different terms mean. And that’s just handy information to have.
So until next time Rangers, I’m no expert, I’m just calling it how I see it.
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