My Kingdom for a Spoon

I must have missed something. Spoons, which have been around far longer than forks, are disappearing from the restaurant scene. It's not just the high-end places, mediocre restaurants are no longer offering a full set of silverware either. It's just a fork and a knife. And yet, they have things in bowls. I'm sorry, but if you serve something in a bowl, isn't a spoon kind of a prerequisite? Didn't the bowl run off with the spoon in some children's rhyme? Are spoons more expensive than knives and forks? Are they too hard to clean? Honestly, I don't get it. I don't even get the selection. Why eliminate the ubiquitous spoon? Why not the knife? This isn't the middle ages where diners had to stab at some dish with a knife they carried around with them. This is the 21st century. We like our salads. With the exception of buttering bread now and then I haven't had a single dish in the last few years which required a knife. But eating dal, a lentil SOUP, as I did yesterday, or risotto, as I did today, or a nice tofu/noodle broth combo, as I did last week, well, I'm sorry, they require a spoon. Unless you want me to pick up my bowl and slurp from it. Honestly, I don't think anyone wants that. So don't make me embarrass you, or me, and don't make me beg. Just give me a friggin spoon.

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Afghan Bistro

With family members moving to Springfield, it has been a struggle to find good places to eat so far afield. After flirting with some chain restaurants near the mall, we tried a Pakistani restaurant (there are many, many Pakistani restaurants there), but it fell flat. Finally, someone suggested this amazing place. It's a little hole-in-the-wall in a strip mall. With oilcloth table coverings, the vibe seems questionable. For about a minute. Then you are warmly greeted and given menus with a plethora of choices. My party ordered a great number of items and every dish rose above expectations. The staff are eager to please and checked in to make sure everything was okay, from food to drink needs. When a member of my party dropped a piece of silverware on the floor one of the waiters swooped in with a replacement before we could even ask. But onto the food. We ordered the Potato and Leek turnovers, the Aushak (leek and sc...

Dera

Was looking for a good Pakistani restaurant in Springfield and this one had some of the best reviews, so I gave it a shot. Arrived for an early dinner to find some regulars around a table in a cavernous room. The restaurant staff looked at us like we had interrupted a private party. We sat and were grudgingly given menus after asking. Tepid water in questionably clean glasses were eventually brought. One member of the party ordered a salad. It arrived in a large mixing bowl and was mostly iceberg lettuce. A plastic basket of cold bread was literally "dumped" on the table, then the waiter disappeared. Eventually we were able to get someone to take our orders, which included a curry, a biryani and a kebab. Portions were huge and the rice, again, came in what looked like a mixing bowl. It was enough to feed ten. The food wasn't bad. Sometimes the seasonings were a bit heavy handed (particularly for the rice) but it was...

Junction Bakery & Bistro

Everything here was good. My party got a Tofu Stir Fry, Roasted Chicken Breast Sandwich, Crispy Flounder Sando, Sweet Potato Fries and a Chocolate Cream-Filled Croissant. The food took a while but arrived literally hot off the grill. The two sandwiches came with a plethora of side salad and a great homemade dressing. Portions were large and all of us took home enough for a second meal. The bill, with tax and tip, came to just under $75. As mentioned, it was good. Very good -- but not great. Everything came close to being great it just didn't cross the line. The cross-cut sweet potato fries were extremely munchable but the "Harissa Sour Cream" had a lot of sour cream and very very little harissa. The Tofu Stir fry had a nice mix for a cold day but needed a little more oomph (I borrowed salad dressing from my companions). Everything, including the Tofu and Flounder, were breaded and fried but didn't seem greasy until later....

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