review of Tony Packo's

[kittenscribble]

The only problem with our visit to Tony Packo's is that K makes his own version of chicken paprika, a recipe inherited from his grandmother... and that's what he was expecting when he ordered the same dish at dinner tonight. K's version involves stewing chicken in paprika, tomato, and other spices, and serving it over large bread dumplings. Tony Packo's version, on the other hand, was a lump of chicken breast served over a heaping mound of little bitty potato dumplings, with paprika sauce poured over it. K's sauce also uses approximately three times as much paprika, which makes it much spicier.

There's nothing wrong with Tony Packo's chicken paprika, per se. It's just not as good as K's version, at least in our humble opinion. Same goes for the cucumbers in sour cream, which K makes with garlic and vinegar. Tony Packo's version was much sweeter -- tasty, but again, not what K was expecting. We're thinking they might have used sugar and apple vinegar, but that's just a guess.

The chili that I got, on the other hand, was absolutely heavenly, fine ground beef drowning in sauce, rich with tomato and peppery spices. The hot dogs arrived slathered with the same spicy chili, and the whole thing was just... really good. The hot German potato salad came as a bit of a surprise, though. It tasted a lot like a savory sort of applesauce. Took me a few bites to get used to it, but after dinner, I really enjoyed it with the coffee.

And oh my goodness the coffee. I would not normally order coffee with dinner, especially on a hot summer day, but the coffee had an entire paragraph of praise in the menu, which piqued my curiousity. It turns out that Tony Packo's roasts their own beans, and the resulting brew is a smooth, wonderful, flavorful cup of coffee that was totally worth the $0.89. Accompanied the meal nicely, too.

At less than $10 per entree, the price is definitely right. The food was very good, the service was prompt and efficient, and I would go back for the chili and the coffee alone. Next time, we'll just make sure that K doesn't order anything that he's made before.

Comments

[proserpia.livejournal.com]

Same goes for the cucumbers in sour cream, which K makes with garlic and vinegar. Tony Packo's version was much sweeter -- tasty, but again, not what K was expecting. We're thinking they might have used sugar and apple vinegar, but that's just a guess.

One of the traditional german recipes for the cucumbers calls for small amounts of sugar. *I* think that makes the recipe revolting. I am of the school that makes it like Kerry.

hot German potato salad came as a bit of a surprise, though. It tasted a lot like a savory sort of applesauce.

That makes me a die a little on the inside, lol. As long as you enjoyed it, fine, but the recipe my family makes calls for bacon, onions, vinegar, and some other spices. Also, the potatoes are cooked and sliced. I've never seen it made into the consistency of applesauce.

Silly Ohio-ans.

I'm glad you're enjoying your trip so far and tell K I said hi! :)

[kittenscribble.livejournal.com]

So long as you're expecting sweet cucumbers, it's okay to get sweet cucumbers. If you're expecting cucumbers with a garlic bite so strong that you have to drink water immediately afterwards... well, then it's not okay to get sweet cucumbers.

Oh, I didn't mean it had the consistency of applesauce -- the potatoes were cooked and sliced. But it had the, hmmm, the savory-sweet taste that reminded me of applesauce. It had a sort of split personality: savory or sweet? I think the addition of bacon and onions would have been wonderful.

We got back today, but... K says hi back. And happy birthday. :)