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Gossip Kitchen - Ajijic


jkgourmet

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(Those of you who remember me from last year know that we dine out quite a lot when we are here for the summer. Last year, many people on this forum suggested that giving a negative review after just one visit might unfairly have an adverse effect their businesses. I agree. This year, if I have any mixed feelings about restaurants, I am not going to post anything until I visit twice. If it's so bad that we do not want to return, I'm not going to report on it at all. To keep things equal, I'm inclined to follow the same rules, for really positive experiences, but may slip a bit on that one. :P And I'm not even going to bother posting about any of the old standby's or places that I know will cause an uproar. I sincerely hope that everyone finds this to be a better approach, and I thank those that politely pointed this issue out to me last year.)

Our first visit at Gossip Kitchen was a warm evening and we decided to sit outdoors. That lasted about five minutes until we realized that the traffic noise would make it impossible to talk, so we moved inside. Kinda of a funky, but cool vibe to this place - modern, jazzy, open kitchen concept. The menu is eclectic, to say the least, but has a lot of cajun-type dishes, along with curries, and African-spiced dishes.

We went on a Tuesday, which had three specials, all at 99 pesos - fried chicken w/mac n' cheese and greens, smothered pork chop with mashed potatoes and greens, and I can't remember the third one. Jay had the fried chicken, another person at our table had the smothered pork chop and I ordered curry chicken, requesting that it be made spicy. The fried chicken was 2 really small pieces of chicken (thigh and a drumstick) and only okay. The mac 'n cheese was pretty good, the greens very salty, but fresh. I did not taste the smothered pork chop, but it looked delicious, was a huge serving of two large blade chops. The man who ordered it declared it very good, happily took half of it home, but left those salty greens. My chicken curry was just okay. Nothing wrong with it, but I can do just as well with a packaged mix at home. It was, however, a decent size serving when I added the rice. We all shared a banana bread pudding with ice cream. I'm not a big desert person, but I will say the ice cream was good quality, the bread pudding fresh and tasty. Wine by the glass was fairly priced (40 peso I think) and just okay.

That menu was interesting enough that we decided to give it a second try. We dined later this time, so we could have sat outside now that the traffic had died down; but we liked the vibe of the place inside. Again, a Tuesday night, with the same chicken and pork specials, with the third special of BBQ shrimp at 120 pesos. We aimed at the cajun and fish dishes this time, getting a small bowl of clam chowder and a small bowl of gumbo (each 49 pesos, larger size was 69 pesos, I think). Jay ordered the Circus Cornmeal Catfish, while I had the beer battered tilapia - each about 79-89 pesos. The chowder didn't appeal to either one of us - very heavy on the thyme, light on the clams, thinner broth than I think it properly should be. Added some salt to try to pull out some flavor besides the thyme, which helped. The gumbo, however, was outstanding - perfect and delicious broth, big, whole shrimp, a decent amount of chicken, would have liked a bit more andouille sausage. Both were good size servings. Our fish dinners were a mixed bag. In both cases the fish itself was good (the tilapia was particularly fresh tasting and sweet). But the coatings just were too much, and overpowered the lovely fish. In particular, the "Circus Cornmeal" was coarse. By the time we both finished our last bites of it, we felt like we were grinding sand between our teeth. The remoulade sauce on the side was excellent - he should be doing a shrimp cocktail with this stuff. Sides were french fries with some kind of spice powder, which Jay liked, and I could take or leave, and ribbon pieces of some kind of cold vegetable that had been cooked in curry. I suspect it was cabbage. I like cabbage, and love curry, but this stuff was left behind by both of us. Good old coleslaw would be a better choice, IMO.

Contrary to prior reviews, we did not find the food too salty. Perhaps the owner is reading the boards? We both thought the service was friendly and accommodating. The inside and outside dining areas are handicap accessible, but be warned that the bathrooms are down some stairs and probably not accessible.

Would we go back again? For that gumbo, for sure. And we will. I'm already looking forward to getting two of the larger bowls and doing take out, with fresh bread and store bought wine waiting at home. THAT would make a damn fine dinner. I might go back and order that tilipia, requesting that it be broiled instead of beer battered. Jay wants to try the smothered pork chop. But I wish we had liked the rest of the food more.

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Gee, I know you're more than fair, and that's one of the reasons everyone follows your reviews as if you worked at The New York Times. I think that not posting your opinion on either side is negating your style. If we only posted on what's good, we'd never know what's going on in the real world.

PLUS, you always indicate whether it's your first visit, and are very liberal with the "could be startup problems" comments. In the end, your standard, unrestricted reviews are the best. I don't want to go to a restaurant, find out it's not up to par, and wonder if you've been there and just didn't report on it. Or when there's a great shrimp dish but a lousy beef dish, and wish I had known before I ordered.

So I'd give your posting an A for effort and a B for content... .

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Gee, I know you're more than fair, and that's one of the reasons everyone follows your reviews as if you worked at The New York Times. I think that not posting your opinion on either side is negating your style. If we only posted on what's good, we'd never know what's going on in the real world.

PLUS, you always indicate whether it's your first visit, and are very liberal with the "could be startup problems" comments. In the end, your standard, unrestricted reviews are the best. I don't want to go to a restaurant, find out it's not up to par, and wonder if you've been there and just didn't report on it. Or when there's a great shrimp dish but a lousy beef dish, and wish I had known before I ordered.

So I'd give your posting an A for effort and a B for content... .

Fair enough, Helper Guy. But you are unaware of some of the nasty PM's I received last year, as well as public comments on the forum (some of which the mods deleted). And I agree - giving a restaurant only one shot before blasting them as "lousy" in this town can be disastrous to a new, small business, and is unfair. Frankly, I don't need the hassle of the nasty remarks, or the bad karma of the unfairness. (Even the NYT gives 2-4 visits before printing anything.)

Truthfully, it gets to a point that I start to wonder why I bother. . . I guess because we've received so much good advice around here, I like to pay back.

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Jeanette,

I've been looking forward to your reviews and was pleased to read this one.

1. We were there three times. Two times we found the crab cakes very small and not worth the price and didn't order them again. One time the gumbo had one shrimp, no chicken and no sausage in either of our bowls. We never bothered to try it again! We ordered the corn muffin and found it to be tasty but expensive at about 18 pesos if I recall.

Overall we decided to use the three strikes rule - "three strikes, you're out!"

2. I really wish you would reconsider and tell us those restaurants you would not return to.

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Thanks, Jeannette for your review. I've been wondering about Gossip Kitchen and had the impression that it was expensive, OK food. Based on your reviews, I think that you have similar tastes to mine. That, I think, is a very important distniction to make as we all have different tastes and opinions when it comes to food. I'm sorry that you've had nasty PM's. I beg you to please continue your posts. I'm an appreciative reader!

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Given that most restaurants in the area are inconsistent, I wonder why any person would give serious consideration to reviews...the only consistent factor is they are inconsistent..but I guess it satisfies peoples ego to be a food critic

I give consideration to the restaurant reports on this forum and I think many others do, too. "Consideration" is the key word.

Some people are foodies, really capable of giving a helpful report to others on what a restaurant is like, from setting to service to prices to the food itself. I haven't noticed that knowledgeable posters are on an ego trip.

Only some restaurants are regularly inconsistent, not most. We come to know which ones they are and pass the word on. Favorite places have only an off day now and then. If you can't or don't want to be guided by what you read here, skip this forum. I find it helpful, sometimes fun.

Lexy

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Only some restaurants are regularly inconsistent, not most. We come to know which ones they are and pass the word on. Favorite places have only an off day now and then. If you can't or don't want to be guided by what you read here, skip this forum. I find it helpful, sometimes fun.

Lexy

Perfect answer.

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.but I guess it satisfies peoples ego to be a food critic

Thank you, Tobyjug. You've proved my point. Why bother posting one's OBJETIVE experiences and opinions, only to be accused of being egotistical?

To others, thanks for the kind words (on the forum and by PM).

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Thank you, Tobyjug. You've proved my point. Why bother posting one's OBJETIVE experiences and opinions, only to be accused of being egotistical?

To others, thanks for the kind words (on the forum and by PM).

I like your reviews. Saves me going to places where I wouldn't enjoy the food.......or where I would. Thanks. :020:

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I like reading the reviews of those who have tried a place I haven't. Usually if you wait a bit there appears more than one review and once you see a common thread emerge it can guide you in choosing a place to dine. By waiting for the common thread to appear I have been able to avoid places that would not have been to my liking and eventually disappear from the restaurant scene.

When the reviews are inconsistent and there is no commonality running through them then I try a place for myself and add my review to the rest.

No one should be castigated for their review. A review is only an opinion and should be accepted as such.

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Where did Gringal say she wouldn't be trying Gossips Kitchen - did I miss something in her reply??

Perhaps I inferred too much from Gringal's statement "Saves me from going to places where I wouldn't enjoy the food." I hope I was wrong when I interpreted it as meaning she wouldn't go to Gossips.

And I'm not castigating Jeanette for her review, at all. I appreciate her postings, as I do those from others. It's a great way to find out about new places, the types of food they offer, where they are, their hours, cuisine, their service, ambiance, prices, etc. But I like to make up my own mind after actually tasting the food myself.

I have posted reviews of eateries, too, and I hope they encourage people to try these places for themselves.

Afterall, humans have tens of thousands of individual taste buds that actually regenerate themselves every few weeks. One of the greatest pleasures of living here is the ability to try all of our local eateries and see which ones, as the French say, amuse bouche (amuse the mouth) for us.

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