AsLongAsYoureHappy.com » chicken

The Counter – Santana Row – San Jose, CA

Jo — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:27:32 +0000

At the beckoning of good friends, I visited The Counter for the very first time yesterday. The restaurant itself is a little snug, not a lot of room between tables, and extremely busy. The servers are friendly and perform their duties quickly and efficiently.

Instead of ordering a “signature” predetermined sandwich, I opted to choose the ingredients myself. The menu gives many options on what you want on your sandwich, from various organic toppings to an array of sweet and salty sauces. No mystery sauce here!

I ordered: 1/3lb Grilled Chicken (very moist and tender) on rustic ciabatta bread w/ sliced cucumbers, hard boiled egg, grilled onions, organic greens, and topped with a lovely flavorful pesto sauce. Yeah, kind of a weird combination… but it was delicious! The pesto sauce is really awesome…

The sweet potato fries are crunchy and soft at the same time. It came with a yogurt/sour cream like sauce.

I look forward to concocting another myriad of ingredients on a bun the next time I visit!

Marie Callender’s – Milpitas, CA

Jo — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:53:03 +0000

Usually, I wouldn’t want to put a restaurant such as this one on the site, but I thought that I’d make an exception this time. Since it was pretty late that night, my sister and I went to Marie Callender’s for a late dinner.

We ordered a Chicken Tenders appetizer, which came in a “cup” that was stuffed full of fries. Sort of a different plating style than I’m normally accustomed to seeing. While I like it, it does make it a little difficult to get to the fries without disturbing the stack of chicken tenders.

Main entrees ordered that night was the Chicken Pot Pie (my Grandpa’s favorite) and the Baked Cavatappi Pasta and Caesar salad combo. I quite enjoy the chicken pot pie as well, especially the nice flaky crust on top. The only thing I wish they would change about this dish is to include a pie crust for the bottom portion of the pie as well (instead of just having flaky crust on top).

I was a little surprised by the Cavatappi as it was pretty good good (for $5.99). I believe it didn’t have any meat as well, but the cheese was nice and melted. Caesar salad was pretty fresh, they went a little heavy with the dressing (I suspect maybe it wasn’t tossed well enough).

Amato’s Cheesesteaks – San Jose, CA

Jo — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:30:17 +0000

Over the last couple years I have been looking for a good cheesesteak shop closer to home, and last night I believe I found one. It was recommended to me by a friend a couple weeks ago. Although I should have gotten my cheesesteak with peppers, I still enjoyed my sandwich immensely. The portion sizes at Amato’s are HUGE. Even the “small” 7″ sandwich is enough to make you feel stuffed. Its actually quite humorous to see the cooks preparing the larger sandwiches, I think there was a 14″ sandwich being prepared when I was placing my order. I literally stared for like 10 seconds because I just couldn’t believe the visual size of the thing. O.O

Even though I ordered the “Steak Sandwich” that supposedly is only “just steak”, they still asked me if I wanted cheese and onions (I said yes ofc). I didn’t get charged extra either. The beef had just the right amount of ‘chew’, and the bread was soft (not crusty). The cheese was nicely melted and creamy. I also ordered french fries that I shared with a friend. The french fries are fried to a nomelicious goldeny crispy texture, and they are HOT. Fresh out of the fryer no doubt. I absoultely HATE soggy/soft french fries, and Amato’s fries are DEFINITELY NOT soggy or soft, they are super crispy. My friend ordered the “Chicken Sandwich” which is basically the same as the Steak Sandwich. The chicken was also unbelievably good (though I do prefer the flavor and texture of beef). The creamy cheese and chicken reminded us of a creamy chicken alfredo. :D

Definitely will be going back to this place, but am always on the look out for more cheesesteak shops in the area. Saw an ad in the Wave magazine of one that is also relatively closeby. Will give that one a try soon and do a sort of comparison.

Chicken Parmesan Ciabatta Sandwich – Milpitas, CA

Jo — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:33:34 +0000

So, a couple weeks ago (1/26/2010) I went out to dinner with my sister to a restaurant where we are almost always guaranteed bad service. The servers are negligent, mildly rude, and severely unhelpful. Half the time it takes us at least 15 minutes to get a server to even come to our table (this restaurant is a seat yourself type of deal). I chose to try something new, the Chicken Parmesan Ciabatta sandwich. Below are a couple pictures of what the food looked like when I received it.

Despite the negative service, this sandwich was actually quite NOM. The bread is a tad on the dry side, but the chicken was moist and flavorful. The provolone cheese was absolutely awesome! :D One thing I have to say though, the Caesar salad that came with it was kind of wilty looking… a definite no-no in my book. If you’re going to provide a salad, you better make damn sure that your salad is fresh.

My sister also ordered a-excuse me, several Midori Sours, also pictured below. I believe she said that they were extra sour that day… >.>