Dining News: Seasons 52 is 'Eminently Mediocre'
December 16, 2013
Seasons 52 is a restaurant that I've enjoyed on multiple occasions. Their concept is that they're an upscale chain restaurant that serves appropriately-caloried portions (unlike a restaurant like Claim Jumper's) at the Arden Fair mall.
Sac Bee restaurant critic Blair Anthony Robertson seems to take issue with both the portion sizes and the quality of their cooking.
During that same dinner, three of us ordered main dishes that simply didn’t hold up – for flavor, for cooking technique, for quality – at this level of dining and at this price point. The grilled shrimp with cavatappi pasta ($19.50) was the best of the bunch, mostly because the ample shrimp had a tasty sear that imparted additional flavor. The pasta was average and there was little seasoning or sauce to pull it together.
The lamb dish whetted my curiosity, for I wondered how they could pull off something rich and possibly decadent like this with a calorie limit. Thanks to a little bit of magical misdirection, the kitchen balanced the plating by stretching out the asparagus (overcooked and limp) across the plate, tucking the tiny serving of lamb on one end, then plunking down a dollop of mashed potatoes and a sweet balsamic reduction. It was a noble effort to trick the eye, but for $26.95, it added up to one of the dullest and skimpiest lamb dishes I can recall.
Read the entire story in the Sac Bee.
I went back and re-read my blog post on the place after my initial visit, and after multiple visits, I think it still stands. The restaurant's at the mall, and it's good for what it tries to be.
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