Hot Spot Cafe - $$

When we walked in, there wasn't really anyone to greet us. Well, there was a guy who didn't speak a lick of english, so the word "greet" is used very very loosely. He was smoking outside and motioned for us to go in. Then, he handed Laurie a menu. Apparently, I was invisible that day. I picked up my own menu, thank you very much. So far, not so good. I had to fight a big fat urge to say, "Let's go somewhere else." But, that would not be true to the Dinette pledge.

Ambience: Budget quaint. Small round tables with tablecloths, fake flowers, and paper napkins stuffed in the glasses. Jazz music. NO a/c! Aack! It was 100 in the Valley!! Faux brick walls, and white lights. The lights were off when we walked in, and when we ordered. Good thing the menu had big pictures. Point and eat! They turned on the lights when we got our meal. Sometimes it's good to see where you put your fork. Not always, but sometimes. Maybe he wanted us to see how the plates were presented. I gotta say, they looked spectacular. And, he gave us our very own ice bucket! It made us feel very special. We need to get out more.

Free stuff: I ordered 2 drinks - a yogurt drink, and a soda. When he rang it up, he said, "One is complimentary." AWESOME!!

Food: Laurie - veggie sampler which had roasted tomato, rice pilaf, roasted eggplant slices, cucumber/tomato salad, hummus - all were yummy. But, the falafels were dry. She had a pear-apple soda, which was fabu. 3 forks.

Me: Kabob combo plate = 1 to-die-for-melt-in-yer-mouth chicken kabob, and a nothing-to-write-home-about-I've-had-better ground beef lule kabob. It also had hummus, which had too much tahini, rice pilaf, salad and tomato. I had a tarragon soda. Yep, tarragon. As in - the spice you use once for a chicken dish and throw out a year later. Who'd have thunk to make a soda out of it? I wanted to try something new. That was DEFINITELY new. It tasted like licorice. 3.5 forks.

Bathroom: Well...hmmm...I'm no interior designer, but after sitting there for a minute, I decided that there are 2 colors you should never paint a bathroom - yellow and brown. Actually, you shouldn't paint a yellow base with a dark brown texturing technique. It just reminds me too much of...well...the bathroom. Otherwise, it was clean and not being used for storage!

Service: The owner, who spoke english, came out and took our order, served us, and then left us alone. Just the way we like it! Just drop the food off and no one gets hurt. It's that simple. He'd pop his head up every so often to see if we were finished. 5 forks.

Overall: This place started with some negative points, and like a phoenix from the ashes, renewed our hope in them. It's too bad we were the only ones in there the entire time. The food was good, sodas were interesting, and the service was nice. We'd definitely go back. 4 forks.

Next up: Original Thai Restaurant in the 7-11 strip mall.