Hi!
My wife and I went to Roland's in the strip last night and were
pleasantly surprised. We started out with a half dozen oysters on the
half shell. Though (or perhaps because) we are both oyster fanatics we
usually don't get raw oysters around here. Too many unpleasant
experiences. We were not disappointed this time. The oysters were
perfectly fresh, very nice. We also tried a bowl of the clam chowder.
Typically around here you get the 'chunky soup' variety of clam chowder.
Mercilessly thickened with corn starch, and crammed with potatoes. This
clam chowder was thin and rich with a very favorable ratio of clams to
potatoes.
For our main courses we tried the beer battered fish sandwich,
and the lobster roll. There was recently a thread here about fish
sandwiches. I
don't remember whether Ronald's was mentioned or not, but it should have
been. My fish sandwich was, first and foremost, huge. The batter was
nice, crunchy but not too thick, and the fish was pretty fresh tasting.
The only problem was the bun, a small and non-descript quasi wonder
bread type, way to small for the generous piece of fish. The restaurant
serves Mancini's bread in other contexts. A Mancini's braided roll would
nearly perfect this sandwich. Nevertheless, this was one of the best
fish sandwiches I've had in years.
My wife had the lobster roll, which is assembled as follows: A double
thick slice of Mancini's Italian Bread has its crust slit to form a
pocket. This pocket is crammed with lobster meat, and the whole thing is
thrown on a charcoal? grill. This makes for a very tasty sandwich, with
smoky, slightly charred bread providing a good background for the sweet
rich lobster meat. All in all this came to only 26 dollars( 31 with
tip), and I'll probably get two lunches out of the left-overs.
Full disclosure: My sister-in-law works there, and was our waitress.
RalphPittsburgh, PA
Review: Rolands
Someone wrote: > > Hi! > > My wife and I went to Roland's in the strip last night and were > pleasantly surprised. <snip> Rolands is THE place my wife and head for when hungry for raw oysters. Their steamed mussels are also the best in the city and their prices are better than most for these items. They have a great selection of beers, ales and stout on tap and make an excellent Bloody Mary. Although their menu is not that extensive, I've never had a bad meal there and they're in the Entertainment Book. Jim Smith
They also have a much better than average beer selection for Pgh. They're the only place I know in town that has Rogue hazelnut brown ale on tap. Kirk
Thoughts,
I went to Rolands last summer and a most unforgettable night. The
service was unbelievably lously and slow. I think they only had one
waitress for the entire back of the restaurant. What is worse is only
the food. I order scampi with rice and corn. The corn on the cob was
brown and cold and the scampi was too saturated in oil to find out if it
had any other flavors. Perhaps they have turned things around since
last summer, but I remain leary.
later pete> I went to Rolands last summer and a most unforgettable night. The > service was unbelievably lously and slow. I think they only had one > waitress for the entire back of the restaurant. What is worse is only > the food. I order scampi with rice and corn. The corn on the cob was > brown and cold and the scampi was too saturated in oil to find out if it > had any other flavors. Perhaps they have turned things around since > last summer, but I remain leary. I have to say that I had a somewhat similar experience last fall. Don't ask me why, but we all ordered some version of (mostly fried) seafood platters. None of the seafood or fish had any flavor, none seemed all that fresh, and the side dishes were so forgettable that I can't remember what they were except that we were disappointed. We went on a weeknight and the place was pretty empty. The quantity was huge and the price was reasonable, but that didn't make up for the lack of quality. This was a disappointment because we had enjoyed an earlier lunch upstairs on the balcony, which actually is a different restaurant. Upstairs and downstairs being separate also means that you can't get the downstairs draft beers upstairs, and you can't get the upstairs huge selection of bottled beers downstairs! Unless they have changed this... I should say that my husband did enjoy his oysters, but I wish I could say better things about the rest of the food. Jeanne