BISTRO 17

As I mentioned in the blog of October 11 I have been getting the gift certificates at restaurant.com so that I could afford
to eat out a bit more. A couple of weeks ago I bought a $10 certificate
for 80 cents for Bistro 17. The deal is you have to buy a minimum of
$20 of food and beverages.

The
Bistro is a small inimate restaurant right off the lobby of the
Renaissance Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. We got there at 2 PM just as they
were taking down their $12.75 buffet which is a 'special'  and therefore
not allowed with the certificate. We were the only customers the whole
time we were there but then it was after lunch time.

We decided to get two sandwiches so along with Allen's iced tea ($1.50) and my coffee ($1.50) we ordered a Reuben ($10.95) and a Cuban Sandwich ($10.50) which came with a side of salad and an order of French fries. The Reuben,
not quite up to delicatessen standards, had too much cheese and I love
cheese. The Cuban Sandwich was fine while the salad and fries were
average. A 18% gratuity is added to bills when using the certificates so with that and the tax the check came to $29.61 and minus the certificate the total, including the 80 cents came to $10 each.

The Bistro 17 is really a hotel restaurant and not one that anyone would seek out.

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BALAN'S

In
the 50s I lived in Miami Beach and  back then Lincoln Road was the
place to go and be seen. In 2010 that is more true than ever. We were
going to see "Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles" that evening in Miami and
decided to go down a little earlier, see Oscar who lives on Lincoln Road
and Alton Drive and get a bite to eat before the show. As Oscar wasn't
home Allen suggested a place they had eaten on Lincoln Road and so we
went to Balan's.

As most of the restaurants on the Road Balan's has an outside area where most of their clientele sit  under the
canopies running down the center of the Road. I prefer sitting inside
where the air conditioning is as does Allen.

I ordered a Quesadilla appetizer ($7.25) and Allen had the Cannelloni
($12.95) with iced tea ($2.25) There wasn't anything remarkable about
the food and the indoor part of the restaurant was sort of on the blah
side.

With tax, and the tip
included, which is becoming more and more common wherever there are a
lot of tourists, the check came to $$28.70 and we just gave the server
$30.

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SLICE PIZZA RESTAURANT

Using
another one of those $10 gift certificates we went to this downtown
restaurant which is mainly a lunch place for downtown workers. They have
a full menu and though you order at the counter they will serve your
food.

Allen had the Chicken Francese ($9.95) and iced tea ($1.85) and I had the Veal Parmigiana ($9.95) and
coffee ($1.25) both served with a house salad that is the kind
restaurants get in bulk bags. Both dishes were served with pasta and
garlic rolls. The rolls were swimming in oil and garlic while both the
chicken and veal seemed to be frozen also bought in bulk.

Our check, including tax and tip minus the $10 certificate, came to $18.23. We definitely won't be going back there.