Broomfield Restaurant Reviews

Beth and I have visited Taru Sushi & Grill twice now, once for supper and once for lunch.  I wish I could say this restaurant was in Broomfield, but alas it’s in Westminster.

The original Taru was in Orlando, but they’ve either moved or expanded to Westminster.  The menu is extensive.  In addition to the usual sushi restaurant stuff, they’ve got more sushi rolls and other Japanese items.  The thing that caught my eye when we went in the first time was that they have tonkatsu.

On the first trip, we stuck with sushi and ordered onion soup, two house salads, the Lady Roll, inari sushi (tofu), sake sushi (salmon), and an asparagus & avocado roll.  The waiter was a little clueless, but the food was good.  Also, we had a coupon for free sake, so we had to try that out, of course.  It was hot and tasty.

The restaurant was pretty crowded for dinner.  I’d guess it was about 80% full.  The soup and salad were tasty, but probably not at all authentic.  The Lady Roll was really good, but I can’t remember what was in it!  The veggie roll was pretty plain, just as it was described in the menu.  The salmon was way good!  I asked Beth how she liked the inari, and she just said “It was OK.”

The manager came by to check on us, and recommended that next time we should try some of the other rolls.  She particularly likes the Mango Tango roll.

On our second trip, Beth and I went for lunch.  Beth just had the Lady Roll again, but I went for a bento box.  Beth liked the Lady Roll again, but the bento box was a real feast and a treat.  It had tonkatsu, a little California roll (which unfortunately was made with krab instead of crab), soup (I opted for the onion soup again), some white rice, a couple pieces of deep fried shumai (I didn’t care for that), and a couple of gyoza.  All that was only about $11!

I’ll definitely go back, if for the bento box lunch if nothing else.  Even though a good friend of ours is a sushi chef at a restaurant in Lafayette, Taru is a lot closer to home and has a wider variety of items on the menu.

Taru Sushi & Grill
303-460-8868
4880 West 120th Avenue #200
Westminster, CO 80020

www.tarusushi.com

Oh woe!  Lafayette, Colorado has a lot of great dining options, and possibly more variety than Broomfield.  But there’s a dearth of restaurants serving Sunday brunch, it seems.

Beth and I set out this morning around 11:00 to try to find brunch in Lafayette.  We knew Casa Alvarez had what used to be a well-known breakfast buffet on the weekend.  I checked their website and it lists the Saturday and Sunday breakfast buffet, though it doesn’t say what you’re likely to find.  Beth was in the mood for American breakfast foods, and I thought a mix of American and Mexican would be nice.  So we headed straight to Casa Alvarez.  But as soon as we got seated, I looked around and had a bad feeling.  We asked the waiter, and he said they stopped doing their breakfast buffet about six months ago.  The regular lunch menu didn’t have food on it that Beth was looking for.

So we left, and headed down South Public Road.  There are several restaurants in old town, but they’re mostly Mexican joints and I didn’t have any hopes that they would have American brunch.  So the next place we visited was Canopy Grill.  It was even listed in a book on great Denver breakfast restaurants a few years back.  But when we got there, the waitress told us they stopped doing breakfast about a year ago.  So we settled for lunch.

Louisville has Huckleberry and a few coffee shops.  Broomfield has The Egg and I and a few hotel restaurants that serve breakfast buffet.  But we’ve been to all those.  I just can’t think of a single full service restaurant that serves American style breakfast food in Lafayette.  Are there any?  What do people in Lafayette do when they want to go out for breakfast?

Today I had lunch at Cracovia Polish-American Grill.  At least I think that’s the name.  I’m still not totally sure what the exact name of this restaurant is.  The menu says “Cracovia – Your Family Restaurant – A Taste of Poland.”  When I arrived, about 12:30, there were three other groups of people there.  Two of them were speaking Polish and the third group was speaking English.  All the other patrons were middle aged or older, and most of them were dressed like they just came here from church.

When I walked in the door with my backpack slung over my shoulder, wearing shorts and sandals, several people turned and stared.  And I thought, “This place has only been open two weeks, so how can anyone develop in that short time a sense of ownership of the joint that they would stare at newcomers?”

The dark haired neighbor boy that used to live three doors down was there, as the busboy.  He’d just started a couple days ago.  There were three waitresses working the place, one of them a trainee.  They’d only opened 13 days ago, so I guess everyone’s a bit new.  The three waitresses all spoke both Polish and English, and were all in their late teens or early twenties.  I’m guessing they grew up in America to Polish-American families, because they all spoke American English fluently.

After I got settled, they brought me a menu, a glass of water, some bread, and a little bowl of white and brown stuff that I’m guessing is pork lard, with a spoon.  There was no butter, so I’m guessing the lard’s for the bread.  I tried some, and it was OK, but I’m thinking it must be an acquired taste.

I asked the waitresses what they would recommend, since everything on the menu sounded good to me.  One suggested the “schabowy” which is her favorite dish, so I decided to go with that.  Plus, she said her mother works in the kitchen so she guarantees that it’s good.  They asked if I wanted some kind of beetroot salad or pickles, and I went for the pickles.

When it all arrived, I found what I got was a platter with the schabowy on it.  That’s basically a schnitzel, a piece of pork pounded flat, breaded, and fried.  On the side were two scoops of mashed potatoes with some sauteed onions, and a little garnish.  On a separate plate were three halves of dill pickles.  It was all yummy, and I ate nearly everything (though I found I didn’t need the 3rd pickle).

They don’t have “to go” menus yet, so I had to ask for the regular menu back so I could write a few things down.  For appetizers, they have soups, borscht, and a beef tripe dish.  The main courses range from $5.25 to $12.99; I’m not sure if any of them are vegetarian.  The menu has a section of side dishes and salads that range from $1.50 to $3.25.  They have a desserts section with items called kemowka, rolada, and paczki.  (Note: my keyboard doesn’t have the funky characters from the Polish menu, so I’m spelling these things out using the letter in English that looks closest)

They also have the usual soft drinks, plus ginger ale and tonic, orange and cranberry juice, and tea and coffee.  They have a few beers to drink: Budweiser, Okocim, Lomza, Zywiec, and Piast.  And lastly, the menu had a few California wines.

I asked one of the waitresses how business has been and she said so far they’re more popular for supper than for lunch.  Yesterday (a Saturday) they were packed and there were so many customers even at 4 PM that the staff couldn’t have their traditional “family” meal together before the dinner crowd arrives.  She said most of them were from the local neighborhood, people who didn’t really know Polish food but wanted to try it out.

And I guess that description fits me, too.  It’s not a style of food that I really crave, but I can definitely imagine going back.  The food was very tasty, and reasonably priced.

Cracovia Polish-American Grill
8121 W. 94th Avenue
Westminster, CO
303-484-9388

I finally got a chance to try this taqueria in north Longmont. I’d seen it months ago, while driving through town, but didn’t stop. It’s not fancy, by any means, but what real taqueria is? It’s basically a fast food joint, with a couple dozen plastic booths filled with Mexican families. The menu is all in Spanish, but the girl at the counter speaks English. Best of all, they have tacos al pastor made the traditional way, with the meat cut off a rotating spindle like gyros (or shouarma in Israel).

I had sopes al pastor. The plate was so covered with shredded lettuce and queso fresco that I could barely even find the sopes, but it was all tasty. They have a nice salsa bar, with all the usual Mexican styles of salsa. And they have all the Jarritos flavors that I’m aware of, so I was able to get my tamarindo in a bottle. Hurray!

Someone (the shop owners, perhaps?) were trying to sell a bunch of DVDs and CDs in the store, as there were discs in their cases piled up all along one wall. This seemed to be a hit with the kids, who thumbed through all the Mexican pop stars giddily. In one corner of the restaurant, there was a dessert bar. I didn’t check it out, but it looked like they were making fresh fruit smoothies over there, but I also saw a guy walk by with a huge bag of chicharones. At least that’s what I thought they probably were.

The food was alright, but nothing outstanding. The ambience was on the blah side. All told, if I’m in north Longmont and having a craving for tacos, I’d go again, but I don’t feel a desire to drive all the way there from Broomfield just for the food.

Instead, I’d go to Taqueria Mi Barrio, our own local taqueria. The food there is just as good, if not better. And the service is more personal. Plus it’s only 2 miles from my house, instead of 20.

2333 Main St. #A

Longmont, CO 80501

303-772-7173

I finally got a chance to eat lunch at Mumtaz, the Mediterranean restaurant in Lafayette.  I’d seen a sign on the side of Highway 287 several months ago, but I guess I just don’t get to Lafayette very often around meal time.  And actually, I was planning to drive up to Longmont to try out a coffee shop and taqueria.  But I stopped by Mumtaz, and saw that they open at 11 AM, and that they have falafel.  So I stopped in for lunch.

The food is, supposedly, Lebanese.  The restaurant was started by a Lebanese immigrant who learned to cook from her grandmother.  And now her adult son runs the business.  I guess you’d call it a “quick service” restaurant, meaning that it’s not a “sit down and someone comes to take your order” type place, nor is it a “place your order and wait for it at the counter” type place.  The menu is pretty thorough, will all the Mediterranean basics – falafel, gyros, pita, hummus, baba ganoush.  You order at the counter, then go get a drink, and a few minutes later your order appears at the counter.

I ordered the falafel plate because I’ve been having a craving for Israeli style falafel lately.  Unfortunately, this didn’t really satisfy it.  The falafel plate included a lot of food.  It had 6 falafel patties, tahini, baba ganoush, hummus, green salad, and a big pita.  Everything was pretty much as I expected, but the falafel patties were different than any others I’ve had.  At Mutaz, they’re made from chick peas (garbanzo beans) plus fava beans, with garlic, onion, and other spices.  The batter is really, really thick, and so the patties were unusually chewy.  I like falafel when it’s crispy on the outside and then somewhat light on the inside, but this wasn’t like that.  And it was brownish purple instead of green on the inside, which was strange.  I guess that’s the fava beans.

I had just come from a coffee shop, so all I wanted to drink was water.  That’s just as well because I didn’t see any special drinks on the menu.  Just the usual American soda fountain stuff.  I did notice that the gyros are of the variety where they have a big spit of meat rotating on a roaster, and then they shave off pieces from the outside.  I like that sort of “fresh” meat a lot more than the grilled type.  So, since I didn’t really care for the falafel, I think when I visit next I’ll be sure to get the gyros.

And I will go back.  Mumtaz didn’t knock my socks off, but most of the meal was decent.  And it’s the only Mediterranean food (not counting Italian) that I think you’ll find in either Lafayette or Broomfield without going to the shopping mall.  The meal plate was about $8.25 with tax, but for the amount of food you get, I think it’s worth it.

588 North Highway 287
Suite 100
Lafayette, CO 80026
303-926-1400
www.mumtazfood.com

(by the way, their takeout menu/flyer has that website on it, but when I tried to visit their site, there was some kind of error and it wouldn’t load)